Friday Newsletter #43

Life Move Fast Like A Movie, So Quick

Happy Friday everyone and chalk up another one. Hope you're all doing good and well out there as we plod onwards into the future. Feel free to sit here a spell or mosey on to the updates 

Greetings all and welcome to Feb...febroo...February. Gotta make sure I sound it out every time. The Chinese new years holiday is officially underway so things will be slowing down a bit for some of the projects around here, but we've got plenty going on elsewhere so we'll keep chugging along while they celebrate. Down below we've got one such project with a cool company named ETA who designs and builds headphones over in Brooklyn so feel free to check out them updates or come waste some time with me while I yell at the clouds. 
 
Waste some time. Time is an especially interesting concept to me. I don't know if anything is more uniquely human than our understanding and obsession with time. Other than maybe the way we contradict ourselves constantly about it. 
 
We value it highly enough to try and maximize how we use it, but then turn around and squander it at every possible avenue. We lose it, we kill it, we waste it, and are always trying to gain it, but there's a finite amount from the very first second you have it. Whether you were born rich or not you won't know until you run out.
 
Time is the one true resource we have that is entirely ours to control. Everything else is just putting it in a different dress and hat. We trade it with others. We make it a tangible good through whatever currency. For the people we value we give them our time. And for others we don't have it. 
 
There was a sweet spot there somewhere in the 1900's where we managed to have more time than we had obligations and distractions. Before that time window and you spent nearly all your time working to survive, and now after it we have to fight off the endless onslaught of corporations fighting for every second they can get. Algorithms and little red dots on bells doing everything they can to keep you looking for a little bit longer and in exchange you get what? More things to look at? Little hits of dopamine so you'll sit through an ad? 
 
As usual I don't have much more than ruminations to offer since I don't think I have any grounds to lecture or give advice. I'm no less guilty or wasteful after all.
 
But I suppose I bring it up to say, whether it's reading these words, or writing back with your own; I'm aware of how special it is and do appreciate everyone out there who chooses to spend some of their time here with us.
 
Anyway, I won't take any more of your time on this one so I hope you all have a great time out there and look forward to seeing you next time.  

Apos 𝒙 Updates

Some quick updates from the team on our various Apos 𝒙 projects

• Apos x ETA Headphone Project: We are excited to be collaborating with ETA Audio, an up and coming headphone brand founded in Brooklyn and known for the their unique 3D printed headphones such as the Ada and the Mini. We've launched an interest check page and more details will be provided in future updates
  
  
• Druid: The community has been asking us to work with Sparkos on an op-amps since launch so we've reached out to Sparkos to see what we can offer and we'll provide updates here
  
  
• IBEX and Gaming IEMs: Progress on these two is going to pause for a bit as our partners in China take off for Chinese New Year. Expect many more exciting updates in March
  
  
• Apos x PFS Lydian Amp: We are in the process of improving the amplifier gain settings to ensure the noise floor is usable with sensitive IEMs.  The amp will likely add a switch to choose between high and low gain to allow flexibility.  We are also working on some cosmetic refinements to the overall look of the amp

Salad Updates

Quick updates from Andy on various Salad projects

The HALO release has been a great success! Over 50% of the HALO's we made have sold in the first 2 days?! That level of interest and support really means a lot to us. We can't wait to get the HALO's out to everyone. 
 
Our weekly free listening sessions continue to grow, and we've been having a blast. It's great to be able to hang out for a night and let folks listen to the speakers, check out the current SA-XC prototypes, and see the things we are currently working on. 
 
We are currently concentrating on the SA-XC Turntable to finalize its specifications, design details, and secure the local manufacturing we plan to use. This has to be done well and done right, it's a no compromise product.  
 
If you have any feedback, suggestions, or just want to say hi feel free to reach out to us directly from our website or on the APOS forums!
 
Andy

Community Updates

Some going ons with community things. Polls, interest checks, and any other cool things that may be happening here or there 

Meetups! We've currently got three big events that we plan to attend over the next few months. First one is in a couple weeks here in the SF Bay area, then in March we'll be heading to the east coast for CanJam, and lastly swirling into to the greater Chicago area in April. If you're near any of those or already plan on coming then come say hi and check out some gear!  
 
HiFiCon Audio Meet Feb 21, 2026
CanJam NYC March 7-8, 2026
AXPONA 2026 April 10-12, 2026
 
Kunal wanted me to let everyone know that Tom finished our very first corporate training video! For reasons unknown it was rejected, but it contains a lot of useful information for anyone confused about DACs and amps so we thought it would be a waste to sit on a shelf. Enjoy! 

Fixations

These are some of the things we're currently obsessed with around here. Music, science, tools, toys, etc. Hopefully we'll find something new and interesting for you every once in awhile. I'm always looking for new fixations so If you've got something you want to share with myself or the Apos community email me at alex@apos.audio 

Tom
Not to sound intimidating, but I've been getting into iPod modding.
 
I got a 5th gen (with the Wolfson DAC) on ebay a couple of years ago, but only just got into the modding branch of the niche when the battery life started going downhill over the last few months. Replacing the battery was super easy. It only took about 5 minutes and a $12 battery replacement, which you just plug in with a ribbon cable. I'm not a tinkerer. I can barely solder. But that mod gave me a reckless amount of confidence. 
 
I'm currently awaiting some parts from AliExpress to arrive, so I can swap out the ancient harddrive with an SD card reader. Once again, the parts were under $20, and based on the tutorial video I watched, should only take about 10 minutes to do. I'm looking forward to moving from the stock 30-odd gigs to a terrabyte, which will let me fill its belly with all the ALAC files I own. After that, I'm kind of considering doing the USB-C mod, but it requires some serious tinkering, and I'm really pretty sure that I'd fry the board.
 
There are other mods you can do like upgrading to Bluetooth, replacing the screen, or swapping to a new case, but at a certain point it gets a bit fussy and heady (ship of theseus), and the whole point, after all, is to have a simpler device that I don't subject to the hedonic treadmill and just, you know, enjoy.

Alex
I don't know why the algorithm decided to surface this into my life, but a THE FIRST TAKE of "Wind" by Akeboshi got uploaded. This song was played over the ending credits to the first season of Naruto way back in 2002 and I'm reminded of how incredibly nostalgic music can be. I don't think I'd heard this song in over a decade at least, but the second that warbling little sound and first piano note floats into my ears around the 2:15 mark, I'm instantly in high school again. Then the flute comes in and it's something beyond memories. It feels like I might suddenly wake up and remember I forgot to finish my trig homework. 
 
I think it's still a good song regardless of the nostalgia? I don't know. You can decide, but I'm definitely doing my part to get that view count up. 

Feedback

And that's all folks. If you made it this far and have any opinions or ideas I'd love to hear it. Good, bad, whatever. Email me at alex@apos.audio and let me know. Thanks and have a good weekend.