For those of us who have Hi-Fi and A/V systems which predate Bluetooth, its omission is an increasingly frustrating point. Given that almost every device capable of musical playback released in the past four or five years has this as a standard, its inclusion on more modern equipment has gone from a begrudging-obligation, to an absolute necessity for manufacturers.
If you’re one of the people who missed out first time around, you’ll more than likely have noticed more and more Bluetooth ‘receivers’ having popped up of late. These handy devices allow a spare Auxiliary input on an amp to be used to provide Bluetooth where it wasn’t previously available. As with any new product, there are good ones and not-so-good ones. Wanting to focus on the former, today we’ll be looking at one of the best out there: the ‘Miniblink’ from the venerable Arcam.
Introductions out of the way, I always like to opine on what we’re looking at build-wise, and at what we’re getting in the box. This didn’t take long! Manufacturers are in a tricky position with this type of gizmo, because the bit that makes it all work is tiny – and so the case that holds it all together only needs to be, too. The circuitry inside the Miniblink is housed in a small, pebble-shaped plastic shell, which features the sum total of ONE button. Said button is used to send the necessary signal to whichever device is attempting to connect, and, well that’s about it really. There’s a mini-USB on the top which is used for the supplied power adaptor (the Miniblink requires power to work), and a 3.5mm output, needed for connecting to your amplifier of choice. All these bits are in the box, and whilst the leads aren’t great quality, it’s nice that they’re included.
The circuitry and its implementation are really what make any electrical product tick, and at the heart of this receiver is a Burr-Brown PCM1502 digital to analogue converter. This particular chip is used widely across Arcam’s award-winning range of pocket sized DAC’s and receivers, so it makes sense to use it here, too.
So then, time to fire it up – I skipped the manual for this one! Given the amount of great new Hi-Fi amps we’ve seen come through the door recently, I was pretty spoiled for choice when it came to matching ancillaries. Musical Fidelity’s latest effort, the M3si was last through the door, so was picked here. Speakers used were the floorstanding Focal 716.
Winter’s arrival on these already chilly shores gives me a great chance to dip into some classic, softly-lit Jazz – and nothing fits the bill better for a cold, post-delivery morning than Duke Ellington & John Coltrane playing the Jazz standard ‘In a Sentimental Mood’. Two masters of their instruments deliver a wonderful performance, and the Miniblink stopped my phone’s low bit-rate files from giving a lifeless rendition as it did when using the direct headphone output into the amplifier. The track was spatially much more open and detailed through the little Arcam, with great richness to the tone of Coltrane’s sax. Lovely stuff.
Wanting something with a bit more energy, Daft Punk’s ‘Homework’ album was next onto the playlist. The French duo were at their dance-y best in their earlier years, belonging to a burgeoning French House-music scene, that was churning out some of the finest examples of the genre. Around the World saw their arrival into the mainstream, and its funky, disco-tinged bassline and bouncy 4/4 beats still sound as fresh today as ever. As the track got into its swing, the heat was turned up in the chilly demo-room, considerably. Again, the music had depth, the bass was taut and room-filling, and the head-nodding, foot-tapping factor was turned up to 11.
Switching back to the headphone output directly saw all of the soul fall out of the music. The soundstage shut itself in, the music was less expressive and ultimately, the desire to listen was lessened because of this.
From the point of view of sheer musical enjoyment, this little box is worth its price tag alone. That it does all of this from the comfort of the couch makes it a must for music lovers across the land. Hugely recommended.
Author: Chris, Liverpool store
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