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Slight health scare. Went down with the "cold from hell" in October last. And it seemed to come back four or five times over the next 5 months. Feeling wrecked most of the time. Considered Covid, so took a test - negative. Eventually made an appointment, and saw the Trauma nurse at the practice. Put a blood oxygenation clip on, and sounded my chest "It sounds really rattley ". So packed into one morning in mid March, I ended up with a course of kick ass antibiotics, a full spectrum blood test, and a chest X-ray. Saw the Trauma nurse again yesterday. Antibiotics worked wonders, so the problem must have been an opportunistic bacteria had moved in. Blood test was all nominal (who knew there were 5 different kinds of white blood cell; not me), and chest X-ray was completely clear. So finally after 5 months of recurring misery, I'm finally firing on all cylinders again! Back in the gym, leading 14 mile walks, and running. Happy days!

The first completed DIY project in 3 years and in my new workshop lives! It's a battery powered Philips TDA1541A based stereo DAC, About 18 months ago I needed something to kick start me back into DIY after breaking down my old setup and moving to Florida. So I built a 10'x11' room in one of the garage bays and proceeded to slowly unpack. I ran across a few threads about the TDA1541 and became curious. This is what I settled on for the first try. It's on a test board I put together so I could mess with different power supplies and experiment with controlling relays to turn the power on and off. It's sounds surprisingly good! Very easy to listen to, the vocals are up front and full of details. It's only been running for about an hour so the highs are a little bright but we'll see what happens after a few days. I'm also feeding it an I2S signal from a PCIE to I2S bridge that's running off the switcher in the PC so I'm hoping a better PSU for the bridge will add further improvements. I have what I need for a balanced setup and then two chips paralleled in a balanced config so that along with a display for the Arduino are coming. Let the flames begin!

Trey Anastasio at the Tennessee Theater in Knoxville

Time to watch Kiss Kiss Bang Bang again.

Probably not going to do anything. I'm pretty sure that I prefer PCM to DSD. I still really like the Res. Audio Opus 21 I bought, and still have my Rotel RCD-991 (PCM63) and RCD-855 (TDA1541A) if needed. I use the 991 as a transport for the Opus as the shitty DVD drives they used back in the 2000's given most of the good mechs had been disco'd by that time leave a lot to be desired. I can't tell any difference in sound between the internal drive on the Opus vs. the Rotel -> S/PDIF -> Opus. I did build one of Pedja Rogic's AYA DAC something or other back in the day. @morphsci has that or at least did.

yup and Tombstone... RIP doc.

Binged that over the weekend. Very well done (I thought) and scary as this kind of shit could actually occur/be going on. A bit disturbing!

Watch Adolescence first, but The Pitt is a pleasant surprise.

I hear this one as you carry the people you love with you always, even after they leave this life.

Happy 2026 birthday Steve

Here you go photographers (at least sunny 16 folks). https://petapixel.com/2025/03/28/this-watch-can-tell-you-the-exposure-settings-for-your-film-camera-nodus-obscura/

Sorry Al. RIP Tom. That offer still stands!

New Union Station. Impecably recorded, as always. A good system tester.

RIP Tom {{hugs}} Al That was a long battle, grateful that you and family got the extra time with him. and yup fuck the fuck out of cancer...

RIP Val Kilmer. Age 65 from pneumonia, having survived throat cancer.

RIP "Iceman" https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/01/movies/val-kilmer-dead.html?unlocked_article_code=1.8k4.H74x.9mrEgB85Xg6K&smid=url-share https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/val-kilmer-dead-top-gun-doors-tombstone-batman-actor-1236178966 There is that rapid reload. https://www.reddit.com/r/MilitaryGfys/s/Ne0o9gnpt0 Not forgetting his debut.