Its a matter of execution. It needs to feel solid in the hand with smart essential button layout. Needs sturdy button feel with reassuring feedback. I’ve had great remotes of both material as well as bad. I have a Pass Labs remote that is an excessive metal brick with awful button layout and execution. I bought a plastic SofaBaton as a replacement and it is far more pleasant to use. There is more to great remote design than the material.
2 months ago | 3
I remember back when Cambridge Audio gave nice metal remotes with their Azur range. Within a year all the regularly used digits rubbed off and after 18 months the volume up and down became temperamental. OK not 'high end' but I've had some plastic remotes last years. The one with my Exposure is plastic, but really good.
2 months ago | 4
Metal remotes leave me in fear of dropping it on my tile floor. The shock wave when it hits is not good for a circuit board or batteries. You pick it up and hear pieces rattling around inside. TV remotes are much better.
2 months ago | 2
And why do they keep putting that inane keypad on the remotes. Has anyone in the free world ever used one of those in the past 20 years, even if they have a CD player?
2 months ago | 4
I don't know what a suvery is. 😁 I love the full metal remote that comes with the Laiv Harmony dac and HP2a pre. It's incredibly well designed and made. No sharp edges, responsive buttons and good signal. If you don't like your remote it's easy to buy a full aluminium learning remote from China with an incredibly strong IR LED. No need to point or even pick it up. Just put it next to you and push a button. I think it's a shame that expensive brands just add a generic plastic remote with luxury gear. 👋🏻
2 months ago | 1
One of my pet peeves is when reviews or comments dwell on a disappointing remote... Unless there is something critically flawed about it. Also, I do feel like remotes for equipment at the absolute very top of the market should be flawless, as everything at the top of the market should be, but further on down... Just make sure it works
2 months ago | 3
I bought a quite expensive Musical Fidelity pre-power combo. It came with a very cheap run of the mill plastic remote. And it doesn't even work well, nor it's intuitive. I'm in the process of finding a remote to copy the main functions, then remove the batteries and place it in a drawer. Thus I voted for a metal remote. If I pay such amounts of money I expect a quality remote, the remote is very important for the functionality of the device for me
2 months ago | 1
My living room has a bunch of remotes but two of them are used most often. One is the Samsung TV remote, which is made out of plastic and is pretty much the same as sold with every Samsung TV for the past 10 years or so (mine is 7 years old). The other is the remote that came with the Buchardt i150 integrated amplifier. It's made out of solid aluminum and I'm pretty sure I could knock out a goat with it (not that I ever tried). Now, the plastic remote is in pristine condition, works exactly as it did in day one, and looks almost exactly the same (a few scuffs and shallow scratches, barely visible), even though this remote gets way more use (my kids prefer the TV over the stereo, for some unexplainable reason), and is 3 years older. The aluminum remote, on the other hand, already has one very large "scar", where it once hit the table and the black color peeled off, leaving an ugly dent of "naked" aluminum. Plus the color is also gradually fading off the bottom of the remote, simply from being repeatedly placed on the (ceramic) coffee table. And on top of all that, the supposed "sturdy" build quality of the aluminum remote means that I have to fetch an allen key and unscrew two tiny screws (and make sure they don't roll away) every time I need to replace the batteries. So it turns out that the supposed "high quality" remote is the least favorite part of the amp (which I generally really like). I'll take a well built plastic remote over a fancy metal/aluminum one every time, as long as the plastic one is indeed sturdy and long lasting. Alternatively, I think it would be really nice if remote control frequencies and codes would be more standardized or regulated, so we could all use a universal remote for all of our appliances, saving money and e-waste in the process (similar to what happened with phone chargers).
2 months ago | 1
I prefer a quality metal one though it's not a deal breaker. What I really wish that designers would focus on is the actual internal volume control. I see units costing more than $3 to $4k & beyond with these rk27 alps volume controls. They are good but why put all these expensive parts like boutique caps, resistors, rca/xlr jacks & then use a $15 volume wiper? It is such a vital piece & just upgrading to a $150 stepped, series, ladder, or shunted will give you an upgrade worth way more than $150 bucks spent somewhere else in the unit. Just my opinion 😊
2 months ago (edited) | 0
Pursuit Perfect System
SUPER SIMPLE SUVERY (MKII) - When it comes to REMOTE CONTROLS for HIGH END HiFi products how do you feel about plastic remote controls? Thanks
**Answers tweaked for the MKII version of the survey**
2 months ago | [YT] | 21