2:30am and I’m in the office, alone. Instead of attempting to go home after a long day and pretend I’ll be able to make it in time for a first-thing meeting, I figured it was easier to stay in. Friday is going to be an easy day anyway, I tell myself.

While drinking a “coffee” (an espresso with the rest of the normal-sized cup filled with milk. As I do.), my eyes fall upon the dim light found in the tubes of the Little Dot 1+ Amplifier. I start wonder if I could capture that light, the way I see it now.

Moments later, Lightroom is booted up, the USB cable yanked from my DAC and is plugged into my trusty old Canon d400, proudly standing on its three Gorillapod-provided legs. Attached are a tube extender, lens adapter and Nikon 50mm f/1.4 lens, closely aimed at the Little Dot. After 5 or so photos of “too dark”s and “yikes, focus!”..s, the first shot (seen above) comes dripping into Lightroom, my work MacBook Air frantically parsing the RAW data to provide me with a 100% view to confirm that, yes, it’s in focus. I think. Sort of.

A faint whisper of light close to the tip of the tube, the tiniest dot hinting at its humble warmth.

A few more shots follow, and more parts are added to the tube extender. Just a little closer then, what does that part look like? The near microscopic beauty of hardware, you can almost see the music fly through the connectors and tubes. The future, certainly, is here, as it has been for many years now.