Arcam RBLINK Audiophile Bluetooth Converter, Black

Excellent

This is a great piece of kit but beware; it will cruelly show up any weaknesses in your 'digital chain'. I received mine very recently. I have been experimenting with BBC iPlayer via a Samsung Galaxy s5 'phone into a fairly high-end stereo set-up. When it's all running sweetly, the sound quality is glorious BUT digital glitches and fluffs are frequent. This is clearly no fault of the Arcam, the 'phone sits about 2 metres from it with no other processes running and in an area of strong reception from the home hub which is also otherwise 'un-exercised'. There are no obvious sources of radio-frequency interference within the house - but who knows what the neighbours are up to?! I am inclined to blame the fibre broadband - which can be exceedingly slow - and consequent buffering failure. But whatever the explanation, the interference does not make for happy listening. Podcasts - pre-downloaded - seem probably to work better but there are still occasional imperfections - which do not recur on rewind / replay so must be put down to Bluetooth transmission / reception glitches. All of these experiments thus far have been with R3 downloads - which are high quality / high bit-rate hence likelier to run into difficulties. It's been said before of course but for reliable digital sound, nothing beats a direct wired connection.

Just purchased this on the strength of the other reviews. I used to use an Arcam AirDac (now discontinued). The sound quality of the AirDac was amazing, but suffered from intermittent drop outs due to our very poor home wi-fi signal. So as soon as I spotted this new device that worked off more reliable bluetooth, and not wanting to pay more for the AirDac's replacement (the irDAC), I jumped at the chance!Now I am a fan of streaming direct from my own, personally remastered (thanks to Platinum Notes software) high quality mp3 library sat on my Mac. Personally I think web streaming lacks the quality and you have no control over the limiting. My 320kb/s mp3 files sound pretty damn fine, so do my 24bit Beatles collection.Now the only other thing I will try is pairing this rBlink to my AirDac via the digital coax port. This 'should' deactivate the DAC in the rBlink turning it into a simple bluetooth receiver and allow the AirDAC's superior DAC to take over, meaning I'll get the best of both worlds.MacBook Pro > rBlink > AirDAC (via coax) > Rega Brio R (amazing amp) > 2 x Dynaudio 2/6s (clean, neutral sound).Happy days! :)

I bought a new laptop that had awful sound, so decided the way round it was to connect it up to my hi fi via Bluetooth.I initially bought the Logitech Bluetooth adaptor that just wasn't up to the job, so progressed onto the QED UPlay Plus, which was a bit better, but still not good enough for me.So was it to be third time lucky? The answer to that is a massive yes, there is no comparison between this and the other adaptors I have tried, the sound quality is smooth and has enough volume to pump the sound through a hi fi (the others were very quiet indeed and you had to have the volume on full to hear much).The design of this is a little strange with inputs/outputs on the front and the back, but I've got it hidden away from sight, and there are no issues with the signal,it feels beautifully made too, being metal rather than plastic.I can wholeheartedly recommend this item.

So I like my vinyl and analogue, never really had a decent DAC or much success with Bluetooth. I did a but of research and this uses the AptX codec which seems to be better than the standard SBC default. I had a 'Pure' £20 unit, replace it with the Arcam and the difference is night and day. It's a bit pricey but if you have a decent system you'll notice the difference. I guess it's not super high end but it does the job.

Item very good but I did not need it so I have returned and been refunded. Thank you

Blown away by the quality of sound coming via this , I have top of range arcam amps and CD player and the sound is not too far away from playing a CD. Unleash all the music you need via Spotify or Apple Music and you will be sorted for a very long time in terms of music enjoyment and variety , another wonder product by arcam ..👍👍👍👍👍

This is a great bit of kit. My hi if is only a few years old and of very good quality including a current Arcam amp, so this allows me to stream through the system. Early days, but sound quality seems as good (or pretty close) to that from a CD or record. Simple to use. Another good piece of equipment from Arcam.