Thank you for asking. It's rather touching that some of you still visit and inquire but I've been on a bit of leave from regular posting. Indeed I've been on a bit of leave from audio generally. Several factors are at play, not least a change in my life arrangements, but most importantly, I confess I started to lose interest around the time MQA arrived and people started arguing endlessly about who heard what and who was in the pocket of others etc. Throw in the endless measurement and evidence debates about DACs, cables and prices, with the sense that every few years the same tired arguments are made, and the whole business seemed to wear my interests down. I still love the music, still listen to everything, still play guitar but I think I found the ratings, attention-grabbing and, frankly, lack of attention on music, all a bit pointless in the end.
While I appreciate the efforts many reviewers put into the schedule, and the needs of manufacturers to get their wares in the window, I don't feel terribly energized by yet another release of some 1970s AOR, a pair of cheap headphones, or the latest math-marveling budget DAC. Since I was never the type to get megabuck items to check out (I know my place in the food-chain), I just started saying no to putting a new interconnect in my system on someone else's timeline when I knew it would be hard to say anything original or useful about the experience. This is not t say I won't be drawn back but with no formal affiliation and no great enthusiasm for streaming or roon-ing (yet), I'll just keep musing on occasion here as bits and pieces take my fancy or some recording moves me, while getting my reading kick from Herb Reichert's columns.
Peaceful holidays to all.
