HiWire

Studios have moved on from Pacific Microsonics equipment, so the stock of HDCD recordings is diminishing relative to the output of new material. I was sad about the feature getting pulled from the new Oppo players, but Charlie Hansen has been writing for a while that the features were hardly ever used (i.e., the HDCD light still comes on when neither Peak Extension or Low Level Range Extend are used). Still, I'd like to hear my Roxy Music HDCDs properly decoded someday. At this point, I've got a bunch of SACDs that I'd like to try, but I've only been able to listen to the Redbook layer until I find the right SACD player. The search continues... (yes, I know there are other players like the Marantz, Luxman, Esoteric, etc.). My other not-so-secret plan is to save up for a Chord DAC. I auditioned the Mojo (and loved it) a while ago and I'm saving up for some of their black magic. Hugo 2, TT 2, Mojo 2, or whatever else comes down the pipe and/or upgrade my headphone amp to an ECP Audio box.

And another one bites the dust – Sony discontinued the UHP-H1 and replaced it with the UBP-X1000ES. Stereophile's Kal Rubinson damned the quality of the analog output with faint praise ("The UHP-H1's analog audio outputs were serviceable. Bass power and extension seemed lacking; the midrange and treble were clean and detailed, but with a hint of glare."): https://www.stereophile.com/content/music-round-81-classé-sigma-mono-amplifier-sony-uhp-h1-universal-player-page-2 The new player plays 4K movies, but I suspect it has fundamentally the same mission as the UHP-H1 – beat Oppo at a lower price. The UHP-H1 stayed at about $349 for most of its life, although it was discounted in a few places. The new UBP-X1000ES retails for $599, but doesn't look like it's built any differently. I think it will probably sound exactly the same as the UHP-H1 through its analog outputs. Oddly, it was initially sold only to custom installers, but it seems to be widely available now. It's a basic life lesson – you can't get something for nothing (or a low price). I'll keep an eye out for new SACD transports (I gave up on HDCD – Naim seems to be the only one keeping that flame burning), but they seem to be disappearing quickly as digital files and streaming services become mainstream. I still love the sound from my Arcam FMJ CD36 player as well. I'm looking forward to upgrading my home system with PMC twenty5.24 speakers when I save enough cash.

Marvin Gaye – Let's Get It On (I tried to find Mobile Fidelity's version of What's Going On but it's out of print and going for relatively high prices. The Japanese SHM-SACD is also out of print and barely available but it is SACD-only rather than a hybrid disc like the Mo-Fi)

My post-punk exploration is paying off... Jefferson Starship's "Jane" popped up randomly (nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition): Exegesis here: https://www.gq.com/story/wet-hot-american-summer-jane-jefferson-starship-great

Yes, I'm reading them in order. Bond's struggles are more human in the books – he deals with physical injuries, exhaustion, fear and depression (particularly in You Only Live Twice, after his wife is murdered by Blofeld). According to the Wikipedia entry, The Spy Who Loved Me was badly received by most critics: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Spy_Who_Loved_Me_(novel) I've always enjoyed the Bond novels as escapist fantasy and they'll probably remain in print for a long time.

I gather it was an unsuccessful experiment... James Bond doesn't show up for a long time and the action was perfunctory. Fleming wasn't a particularly nuanced writer – nobody thought he was a literary genius at the time, but his books were huge bestsellers nonetheless. The writing style seems antique at this point and I think it was already old-fashioned in his day, but my most recent epiphany about Fleming's James Bond books is that many of them were written like romance novels for men. It seems strange in retrospect that it took me so long to figure this out, but that is probably because the films put so much emphasis on action and special effects while the novels get inside James Bond's head. There are lots of funny/eccentric things in the Bond novels like Bond admitting how much he enjoys breakfast or arguing about why he preferred to carry a "lady's gun" (according to Major Boothroyd, aka Q). Ian Fleming and James Bond love eggs: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2724480/007-s-greatest-weakness-Not-girls-martinis-boiled-egg-On-50th-anniversary-Ian-Fleming-s-death-one-thing-never-knew-James-Bond.html

This is a real oddball in the James Bond canon. The story is told from a woman's point of view... the plot of the book is completely unrelated to the movie screenplay with the same name.

Adam and the Ants – Kings of the Wild Frontier

Finished playing Shadowrun Returns (all of it – Dead Man's Switch, Dragonfall, Hong Kong, and some user-generated campaigns) and loved it... However... I started playing Divinity: Original Sin (from the same Steam sale) again and it is incredible. At the time, I was trying to decide between it and Pillars of Eternity, but this game makes PoE look like Pac-Man. Gorgeous and funny... the voice actors are obviously having a ridiculously good time.

Happy Birthday!

Thanks, guys!

Listening to my Shuffle now... it's the tiny one with a big sound. Not looking forward to replacing it – the out of warranty fee and battery service end up costing more than its original price.

I'll miss having the option of an inexpensive iPod... my 3G 4GB iPod Shuffle is serving me well, but sales have probably fallen off a cliff in recent years.

Television – Marquee Moon

Simple is best. I've got old gear anyway, so I won't put myself up as a guinea pig if it's unnecessary. Every new standard has taken a while to implement correctly and consistently, whether it was USB, FireWire, Bluetooth, etc.

Yes, I'll probably start with an adapter if I have to hook up to USB Type-C. I think it will be a few years before this stuff becomes standard, and there aren't any new functions at the moment.

I've been thinking about getting a new MacBook and I realized that Apple has changed all the ports. Everything is Thunderbolt 3/USB 3.1 and the headphone jack lost its optical output with the 2016 models: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/7818763?start=0&tstart=0 Have you guys done any research on DACs with Thunderbolt 3/USB 3.1? I think everyone is going to be using USB Type-A to Type-C adapters until manufacturers release new products. Yes, I realize that there isn't an immediate benefit to using Type-C connections for audio. It looks like an opportunity to sell stuff all over again.

Roxette – Look Sharp!

Various Artists – Ninja Cuts: flexistentialism

No price on the SRM-T8000 yet at Munich: http://www.hifiplus.com/articles/munich-high-end-2017-headphones-personal-audio/?page=2

Good call. I'm buying a few new Macs at work and the 8GB limit of the MacBook Air is starting to look like a deal-killer. The 12" MacBook needs full Thunderbolt 3 speed instead of USB 3.0 in the next revision. Everything else inside is roughly comparable to the bigger MacBooks, otherwise.

Here's a question: are the Thunderbolt 3 ports running at full speed on both sides of the 2017 13" MacBook Pros? https://support.apple.com/en-ca/HT207256 The non-Touch Bar 13" MacBook Pro (MacBook Escape) seems to be a decent middle ground: http://appleinsider.com/articles/17/06/10/review-apples-new-kaby-lake-13-macbook-pro-without-touch-bar-unexpectedly-speedy-vs-2016-model

Schneider Electric says SLA batteries last about 3-5 years: http://blog.schneider-electric.com/it-management/2014/08/28/recommendations-prolonging-life-ups-battery/ That matches my experience with my APC and CyberPower UPS at work. People claim that APC is overly-conservative in their battery ratings (some of their UPS units will stop working until you get a new battery, based on the installation date of the current battery), so you might be able to get a longer life out of an SLA in your Liebert, as long as you can keep the batteries near their optimum temperature (77°F). You did the smart thing... if the replacement you ordered works properly, you can budget for more of them. If the other batteries are showing the right voltage and they can take a charge, you can leave them for now.

Gravenhurst – The Ghost In Daylight