Vibelink Remote Request Please

[Witterings]

Give it a F**^^g remote control ..... this Amp is SO near and yet SO FAR ..... if it had a remote I would have instantly bought one but WiiM Pros and Minis, the only way to take advantage of the higher quality DAC in the Vibelink is with Optical out and if you use the Pro / Mini for volume control it degrades the SQ.

I have other things I'd like to plug into the RCA and I have Zero interest in walking around the room every time in order to switch the input in order to do so.

So many people saying this amp could be great but it's stuck in "No Mans Land" and that, in my opinion would be a major reason why.

 

[Aquaman]

There is obviously the WiiM Amp Ultra which I'm sure is blinding, but not everybody wants to use WiiM as a streamer, or they already own a Mini, Pro, Pro Plus or Ultra so you're paying £180 more for something you don't need.

I guess peope wanting a Vibelink without owning a WiiM streamer will be a minute minority.
The Vibelink is more or less an accessory to the WiiM streamers. Close to a lifestyle product. Those not dedicated to WiiM have a wide choice of similarly speced TPA amps.

 

[Witterings]

I guess peope wanting a Vibelink without owning a WiiM streamer will be a minute minority.
The Vibelink is more or less an accessory to the WiiM streamers. Close to a lifestyle product. Those not dedicated to WiiM have a wide choice of similarly speced TPA amps.

WiiM are a commercial company who I'm sure probably want to make as many sales as possible and there are thousands of amps sold to people who don't have WiiM streamers, I'm sure any commercial business would want to maximise their potential audience / sales and not just limit it to only those that have a WiiM Streamer.
When you say there's a wide choice, it depends what your criteria are, I came across the Vibelink as I have a width limitation of 25cm and there are very few within that constraint with anywhere near 100 watts into 8 Ohms.

There are also very few with the same power at a similar price point.

 

[MotleyG]

WiiM are a commercial company who I'm sure probably want to make as many sales as possible and there are thousands of amps sold to people who don't have WiiM streamers, I'm sure any commercial business would want to maximise their potential audience / sales and not just limit it to only those that have a WiiM Streamer.

If you look at the suggested input devices for the Vibelink, they are all of the preamp Music Streaming devices from WiiM. Often these would have been paired with existing amplifier devices. And the initial demand was for WiiM to create an amplifer with a similar footprint to the Ultra to build that experience, or perhaps to get rid of the older amplifier once they had experienced WiiM. All of these devices already have a remote control included, so this would just become an unnecessary added cost.

If you haven't already purchased anything, you have no obligation to buy one a standalone streamer and a Vibelink at the same time. Just go straight into the options for a WiiM Amp, Amp Pro, or Amp Ultra and get a one-box streaming+amplifier solution. All three are well under your 25cm width constraint.

 

[harkpabst]

Would you prefer a wake-up by an incoming signal and auto-shut-off? Actually this is my preference for an amp. But I thought I was alone in this.

Definitely yes. This is how it works with no input signal for >30 but <60 minutes.

And the initial demand was for WiiM to create an amplifer with a similar footprint to the Ultra to build that experience, or perhaps to get rid of the older amplifier once they had experienced WiiM. All of these devices already have a remote control included, so this would just become an unnecessary added cost.

Yep. The real question for me is why the Vibelink Amp was even equipped with a volume control at all. I didn't see that coming.

Obviously, WiiM tried to please the desktop Hi-Fi users, too, in particular those asking for an analogue volume control.

The result has been quite a bit of confusion what this amp does or does not try to be. For me it's always been the expected power amp with an additional (unnecessary) volume knob instead of a gain switch. I understand why some ask for a remote control, but a motorised pot and a matching remote would have had to be developed from the ground up. I'm not sure how many potential customers are waiting for exactly that.

 

[EddNog]

Definitely yes. This is how it works with no input signal for >30 but <60 minutes.


Yep. The real question for me is why the Vibelink Amp was even equipped with a volume control at all. I didn't see that coming.

Obviously, WiiM tried to please the desktop Hi-Fi users, too, in particular those asking for an analogue volume control.

The result has been quite a bit of confusion what this amp does or does not try to be. For me it's always been the expected power amp with an additional (unnecessary) volume knob instead of a gain switch. I understand why some ask for a remote control, but a motorised pot and a matching remote would have had to be developed from the grounds up. I'm not sure how many potential customers are waiting for exactly that.

The included volume control is analog, not digital. The benefit to an analog volume control is that it attenuates the entire signal, including noise (lowers noise floor), to the potential detriment of left/right balance at low volume/high attenuation.

-Ed

 

[harkpabst]

The included volume control is analog, not digital. The benefit to an analog volume control is that it attenuates the entire signal, including noise (lowers noise floor), to the potential detriment of left/right balance at low volume/high attenuation.

-Ed

Yes, and there are just as many drawbacks to analogue volume control as there are to digital volume control.

 

[EddNog]

Yes, and there are just as many drawbacks to analogue volume control as there are to digital volume control.

Preaching to the choir. I’m not asking for (this type of) analog volume control. I would’ve wanted a relay-controlled ladder volume attenuator, which does not have the drawbacks of potentiometers. The relay-controlled volume ladders also happen to be easier to control with a remote.

-Ed