2023 - My Favourite Stuff
Welcome to the fourth edition of My Favourite Stuff! Honestly, I fully expect to one day go to bed on January 1st, and wake up a week before Christmas.
🤷♂️
Will it surprise you to know that most of this year's list is related to music? My first post in 2023 was entitled De Vinyl and, as it turns out, those words (and that holiday project) were to set the trajectory for the next twelve months. As I wrote in a follow-up Kage story, vinyl was a gateway:
“…for the first time in years, I don’t simply hear music—I stop, I explore, I choose, I listen…
Filling a room with sound is transcendent: there is air and movement and vibrating particles interlocking, bouncing off walls and piercing the skin. Resonances like mantras and soft meditations. Character borne of chipped paint, old wood, and glass. It’s the sound of ghosts, of unrelenting memories, a realm of contemplation and awe and alchemy.”
Effusive? A tad, I admit. I mean, it's a stereo not a revolution… sheesh. However, it does show how important it's been for me to reconnect with a focused listening experience. But let's set that aside for a sec, and begin with the few nonmusical entries. As always, this list is in no particular order. And full disclosure: if there’s a link it’s likely Amazon (affiliate).
All images shot with the GFX 50S and GF 120MMF4 R LM OIS WR Macro — processed with TRIADS 01 (AVE01 or BAS01)
This is a big one, and yet: is it peculiar that I've barely mentioned this new computer? No pics, no real story beyond a few lines here and there. Look, my previous machine (the M1 MacBook Air) blew me away. Completely and utterly. I wrote about it over and over. But in a way, that M1 was a reset in terms of how I now look at a computer. I don't fixate on RAM or clock speed anymore, or chipset, or GPU…mainly because I know any Mac will meet my needs. If an entry-level laptop never flinched at any task I threw at it, for over two years…what's left to worry about?
So this Mini and its M2 Pro chip stepped in, took over, and that's it. Exports are faster, Logic will theoretically run more plugins than before, but my day to day hasn't been dramatically altered. Which is great. Once technology becomes invisible, all that's left is to do something with it.
So, no story.
And that's just fine and dandy.
I wrote reviews of the X-H2, the X-H2s, AND did a film project for the X-T5—so I've already spilled a lot of words about this generation of Fujifilm cameras. But the X-H2 is the one I chose to spend my money on and, true to expectations, it's become the workhorse. The sensor is fantastic, I love the no-nonsense ergonomics, love the camera's versatility.
No regrets whatsoever.
Solid.
I'm still digesting the images, and I've barely touched the words. What a beautiful book, and project. The hats, the mirrors, all those ghosts beaten and revealed in dust...
Towell's work makes me want to forget everything I've ever done, everyone I've ever been, and start over.
That’s it for the non-musical stuff! Told ya.
A quick disclaimer before we continue: I love music. Obviously. Always have. I'll never, however, pay $10k for a three-foot long XLR cable, in some impossible pursuit of audio Nirvana. Mostly because I don't believe there's a single piece of gear in existence that would sound the same to any two pairs of ears. We're all aging biological instruments, all contending with audible frequencies in various states of decay. And our capacity for wishful thinking stretches to our senses: we can add elements to reality as easily as we can obfuscate them. Our brains are talented con-artists, i.e we hear what we want to hear, see what we want to see.
Sitting down, listening to an album and feeling joy—that's the only test for me. And I once achieved this "bliss" wearing Koss headphones plugged into a Sears stereo system so...I leave you to draw your own conclusions ;)
Any gear below is simple, entry-level hardware that won't break the bank, and sounds good to my ears.
My old, nightclubbing-indie-musician-standing-too-close-to-loudspeakers-for-too-many-years ears.
This was the first piece of the musical puzzle (you can see this little thingy in the De vinyl post from last January).
I needed a phono pre-amp and ordered this one, without putting much thought into it. I originally plugged it into my studio mixer, and loved what I heard. Especially on Coltrane's Blue Train Tone Poet remaster (which inspired the Needles & Poets post).
When I switched to the Harman Kardon, however (see below), I re-directed the turntable's outputs to the amp's built-in phono stage instead. But I quickly noticed most albums sounded…weaker. Lacking cohesion, or excitement (note my use of very scientific terms here). Anyway, I switched back to the Phono Box and the shine came back. Nothing to do with EQ, either: I don't hear coloration or anything artificial—records just sound tighter somehow.
Surprising.
Harman Kardon HK3300 Stereo Receiver
This was the tv (source unknown).
The Resurrection. I bought this receiver in the early/mid 90s, back when my TV was still an impressive JVC 13-incher. With rabbit ears. When video was a battle between VHS and Betamax (or was it over by then? I forget).
I'd been using the amp since last June, but after fifteen years spent in storage, some of the pots were a bit finicky. So I recently opened it up, gave it a good dusting, sprayed contact cleaner everywhere, and now it's good as new. Well, close enough.
For a thirty-year-old, entry-level device, it sounds surprisingly full-bodied. Some recordings—jazz albums especially—can really make it sing. It'll probably get replaced by a new integrated amp at some point (I'm leaning towards Yamaha or Cambridge), but I'll feel a tinge of sadness when it goes back to the shelves. A lot of memories here.
Hey! Maybe one of our kids will use it one day?
Maybe?
I absolutely love these. I did a lot of research before making a decision, which can be tricky, and confusing. Ultimately it’s a leap of faith. But I've been nothing but pleased—even with an amp that is, on paper, less than ideal at driving them.
There's no crazy thumping bass, no sparkly highs threatening to smash a window. Just a very pleasant, warm, and natural sound.
Vinyls are fun, but we're an Apple Music family, so I wanted a DAC to take advantage of the service's hi-res audio option. This one works wonderfully. [1]
The C100 is the latest entry from S.M.S.L: it's clean, comes with a remote, even features a screen that displays the track's sample rate (not common at this price point). Did I mention how tiny it is? It's ridiculously small. Probably because it's also bus-powered: the USB-C port is used for both digital audio input and power (min 5V device).
FYI, I used it straight from an iPad Pro with zero issues. That said, I didn't want to stress about power, so I ended up adding an Apple USB-C Digital AV Multiport Adapter we had lying around. I wasn't sure it could power both the iPad and the C100, but it does: I run a USB-A to USB-C cable from the adapter to the DAC for audio; plug a charger into the same adapter for power. Done. [2]
Why the iPad and not the Mac? Well, that's an interesting question with a very technical answer. On iPadOS (and iOS) the audio output sample rate is variable: if a track is playing at 44.1 kHz, a connected DAC receives 44.1 kHz; if it's playing at 192 kHz, the device gets 192 kHz. Makes sense, right? But on a Mac the sample rate is fixed: it can only output one sample rate, which needs to be set through the Audio Midi Setup utility. So if you want to stream 24bit 192 kHz audio files, you need to set the Mac's DAC output to 192 kHz. But this means that anything encoded at a lower sample rate will get upsampled (to 192 kHz), which, ironically, is likely to degrade the sound quality of those files.
I much prefer an iPad on that side table anyway…;)
I needed a replacement cartridge and stylus, and…well, that's it. This model is part of Audio-Technica's swappable system, with other (more refined) types of styli available should I ever feel the urge to upgrade (although I wouldn't pick anything too advanced for my old Pioneer turntable—maybe a microlinear stylus, for longevity, when this one's due for a replacement).
Happy with this.
The Coltranes
Finally, these are the two vinyl records I bought in 2023. New ones, that is: I got a deal at a yard sale for a bunch of used classical albums, then got a few more from my mother-in-law's collection. But I've otherwise happily been spinning my old library.
I discovered the music of Alice Coltrane [3] through Apple Music. Actually from my friend Robert who pointed me to Ptah the El Daoud. But Journey in Satchidananda marks her transition to a more personal, mystical, musical style that would come to define much of her life and work. Like Blue Train, this is a re-release from the original analog masters, and it sounds incredible.
Both albums are beautiful objects in their own right too, with 180g vinyl and thick gatefold covers. The kind I once lost myself into...
Special Mention: Obsidian
You're probably thinking ugh, not again? Yes. But I have a recent, specific reason for including it on the list.
Our Apple One subscription just went up another $7 per month; most of the food we buy is now either more expensive, or reduced in quantity/size, or both. Usually both. The trend these days, it seems, is to pile it on.
When I saw a new post on Obsidian's blog announcing changes to their Sync service, I figured it would be more of the same. Another company raising its prices because because because. But no: Sync is getting faster, and adding storage options, without a price increase. Plus: as a current user, my storage was bumped from 10GB to 50GB—as a special thank you for being an early adopter. [4]
So, Obsidian again: I use it every single day, it gets better with every update, and now there's more bang for the same buck.
…
So that's the 2023 selection. Hope you enjoyed it. I'm a bit earlier than usual this year, so no holiday wishes just yet ;)
Later
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The Big Question, of course, remains: does it make a difference? Theoretically. Maybe. The 24bit part does, if only in terms of available headroom during recording and mastering. Now, can we hear 96 kHz or 192 kHz? Brian Eno still releases work at 44.1 kHz which does give me pause. What's clear however, is that albums released in hi-res format are usually mastered for a higher quality experience, and THAT's audible.
Actually, I didn't have a long enough USB-A/USB-C cable so I'm passing through a USB extension. And it still works.
She was married to John Coltrane in 1965, until his untimely death in 1967. They had three children together.
This deal is also available to anyone who signs up before 2024. After this, the options will be 10GB or 100GB.
