[stvnharr]

Three months since the last activity here.
That is usually not good.

[Dart87]

Bump!

Any updates on the slave V4 board for balanced connections?

[tortugaranger]

Three months since the last activity here.
That is usually not good.

Hi All,

Yes, things have been quiet on the Tortuga channel here but that doesn't mean things aren't happening.

Here's the update.

Over the past several months I've been dealing with all of the following either at the
same time or right after each other.

I've had 2 surgeries on my right eye starting with a vitriectomy to correct
for a macular hole. A few weeks after recovering from that I developed severe cataracts in same eye resulting
in cataract surgery and recovery. The good news is all of that has gone extremely well and well worth
the aggravation and discomfort. Then more recently I got hit with a case of the shingles which if you've been
through it yourself is no fun at all. You go through all that and try to get work done. Good luck.

Then there's the 1,000 sq ft Tortuga Audio shop that is under construction. I am the general contractor. That
means I'm responsible for the design, the permits, the execution and managing all subcontractors and related
parties.

Then, I decided it was finally time to tackle the complete refactoring of the entire V4 codebase because of all the
technical debt that had accumulated over the years. Since this was a slow period anyway, why not. Well that
turned out to be an epic bit of work which is only now winding down. The good news is that effort will result in a
more robust and reliable system.

Then, I decided it was time to revisit both the solid state and the tube buffer products that Tortuga Audio offered
back when. These have both been undergoing huge redesigns to the better. A slow deliberate process that will
come to an end later in the first half of 2026 with announcements to follow.

Then, I decided it was time to revisit the website and decide how best to handle that going forward since the
world of ecommerce and websites is evolving rapidly. Chances are good that the website will get converted from
Wordpress to "something else" that will likely make use of a static website builder.

That is all a ton of work and preparation for the future which hopefully will arrive later this year.

And that's why you haven' t seen much of me lately.

Cheers,
Morten

[MttBsh]

OK, but what have you been doing in your "spare" time??

Having experienced shingles a few years back I know that alone can take you down hard, I hope 2026 finds you in good health. In saying "revisit both the solid state and the tube buffer products that Tortuga Audio offered back when" could that be read to mean that you may be offering finished products again in the future? That would be great news for those of us with two left thumbs and for whom DIY = non-starter.

[tortugaranger]

In saying "revisit both the solid state and the tube buffer products that Tortuga Audio offered back when" could that be read to mean that you may be offering finished products again in the future? That would be great news for those of us with two left thumbs and for whom DIY = non-starter.

Yes, I'm planning on offering finished products again. The timeline for doing so remains soft. I have to finish construction of the new shop and get that operational first. The framing, siding and electrical work are almost all done. Insulation, drywalling and painting remain to be done. And then the garage door goes in.

The product line will have to remain limited to only a couple of items and variants. 1) passive LDR preamp, 2) solid state buffer, 3) tube buffer.

Until such time as product release is imminent and locked into a timeline, I'm not going to speculated further on timing.

[ArthurDent]

Good to hear you've made it thru the 'storm' and are out the other side in good shape Morton. I'd presume you've gotten the shingles vaccine now it's passed, a worthwhile investment having had them many years ago. Tough enough to try and run a business, but to be a GC at the same time is daunting. Finding good and timely contractors in the PNW is not an easy thing. Hope you got good ones and progress to completion of the shop moves smoothly.

Will look forward to future developments, keep us posted. 

JD

PS  Won't be long till you can break out the flip-flops again.