Hi All,
As you may know, Tortuga Audio has been using the 7-function silver aluminum Apple remote for close to 10 years now. Unfortunately, Apple recently discontinued the production and sale of that remote.
I've evaluated several alternatives and have selected a simple alternative 7-function remote that fully mimics the functionality of the Apple remote. The key differences between the Apple and the new Alternative are as follows:
1) Alternative is made of ABS plastic vs. anodized aluminum
2) Alternative is shorter, wider & thicker (and in my opinion is easier to hold and use)
3) The Menu and Play buttons are located above the circular 5 button control rather than below it
Both remotes use the same NEC IR protocol and generate essentially the same Apple command codes, hence no changes to the Tortuga Audio firmware are required to use the Alternative remote.
As with the Apple remote, you'll have to "pair" the remote to your preamp before the preamp will respond to the remote although you have 1 chance in 256 (0.4%) that your preamp will respond to any random new Alternative remote without having to pair it first. To pair the remote, press/hold in the encoder pushbutton on your Tortuga preamp for 20+ seconds until the unit enters "pairing mode" and then press any key on the remote. What happens during pairing is the preamp "learns and remembers" the ID of the remote which is some random number between 0 and 255.
You can buy a new alternative universal Apple remote from Amazon for around $11 (delivery excluded) - see link below. I will eventually sell these directly as well for a few $ more.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0C2VFHLW5/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
