Fosi Audio - VOL20 in rooExtend?

Audio Gear Talk rooExtend
1

@DrCWO
Hi DrCWO,
Have you seen that Fosi Audio has launched a “Wireless Volume Control Knob”, named “VOL20”?
It is an bluetooth-device, with a very long battery lifetime. I think this is the perfect alternative for the “Microsoft Dial”, which is not in production any more.

This would be a nice, low budged, extra volume knob for your rooExtend, don’t you think?
Kind regards, Frank.

2

Hi @Frank_M,
I saw a video of this project and what I saw did not make me happy. The knob seems to be quite flappy and instable.

Did you get one? What do you think about the quality of the knob spindle bearing?

Best DrCWO

3

Hi @DrCWO,
I indeed have the Fosi Audio VOL20. The knob is indeed not so sturdy as ex. the Microsoft Dial, but it is also only a rotating knob. You don’t have to push it. And that makes that it is acceptable. Especially since the price of the VOL 20 is half the price of the Microsoft Dial.
Compared to the Nuimo, its battery lifetime is very high (when turning of the lights, what I would do immediately).
So personally, I think it would be a good alternative for the Microsoft Dial and the Nuimo, as both are out of production.
Kind regards, Frank.

4

Hi @DrCWO ,
I opened the VOL20, and I must say that it is well constructed inside. The rotary-coder has a metal shaft. Except of the fact that it is a little bit “flappy”, I think it will last very long. That is my opinion after a look inside.
Also the feel of the knob while turning it is good.
Kind regards, Frank.

1 Like
5

Hi Frank,
MS-Dial is sold on many platforms so seems to be still available :+1:

My recommendation is to get the QuickKeys controller with rooMax instead of the MS-Dial. Nearly same price as MS-Dial and much more functionality.

Nevertheless I’ll keep an eye on the Vol20 and if the MS-Dial will be available no more this will be a candidate to support.

Best DrCWO

6

@DrCWO
Thank you for your explanation. But not everyone wants to have something as big as the QuickKeys Controller. This is very small and not so visually intrusive.
Kind regards, Frank.

1 Like
7

Just ordered one off Amazon to tickle my knob fetish a bit.

We’ll see what it’s worth next week.

8

Well… That escalated quickly – Amazon just dropped off the VOL20 this morning.

Impressions so far: it does feel heavy and well made. The top half has a bit of play, causing the wobbliness seen in the video. In practice however you don’t experience this as such – it all feels solid with some heft. The spindle bearing is a bit coarse, but with well defined notches allowing for fine-grained volume control.

The VOL20 pairs with anything and identifies as keyboard:

Screenshot 2024-12-08 at 13.41.13
Screenshot 2024-12-08 at 13.41.13928×528 36.6 KB

This means that all knob commands (vol up, vol down, play/pause, next, previous, mute) are sent as keyboard commands, making this the easiest knob I have ever worked with. :wink: I don’t have a good feel for the Bluetooth reconnect speed from sleep as of yet, but all looks fine so far.

My current setup is a Mac mini M4 hidden in the TV cabinet. I capture the keyboard commands with BetterTouchTool and map them to a variety of options:

  • A set of Python scripts controlling my KEF LS60 directly via pykefcontrol;
  • A set of shell scripts controlling Roon via rooncommandline (my speakers being RoonReady means that volume commands are valid for any source);
  • A set of Applescripts manipulating the Spotify client running on the mini directly;
  • A set of keyboard shortcuts sent to the Roon app running the background;
  • Having the volume commands captured by Volume Control, a nifty little app that maps the volume keys to Spotify or Apple Music, instead of the system volume.

These all work just fine. Almost boring actually… You may just want to order one, @DrCWO. :wink:

3 Likes
9

So will it work with Roon out of the box on a Mac? Don’t care about other apps.

10

At @GregD would this work with Roons HA support?

11

I expect it would need specially written code, assuming they make the api available.

1 Like
12

Out of the box, it works on system level – the dial and button functions of the VOL20 do exactly what your media and volume keys do. When Roon is the active player, play/pause, next en previous work. Volume only works when your volume keys work as well (for Roon this is only valid when using System Output – otherwise the system volume is controlled).

You can to remap the volume/mute keys to Roon commands. I do this with BetterTouchTool: on a desktop vol up would be mapped to CMD-Up-arrow and sent to the Roon app specifically.

2 Likes
13

Thanks will look into that app.

14

A few days in, I find the VOL20 responsive and waking from sleep quickly and consistently. It’s easy to reprogram the little button, so I changed mute to turn the speakers off and added a playlist to previous.

Amazon has a 20% discount ATM. Just ordered three more. :slight_smile:

1 Like
15

You can check this out.

Fosi Audio VOL20 to control any Roon Zone.

1 Like