Shure SE215 earphones
There are moments on Leonard Cohen's Famous Blue Raincoat where his backing singers (Corlynn Hanney and Susan Mussman since you ask) draw breaths between their ethereal la-la-las, adding a sensuality and a dimension to the song I thought I knew well. I've been listening to Famous Blue Raincoat on and off for 40 years and this fine detail has for all that time completely eluded me. That gives you an idea how good the Shure SE215s, a pair of in-ear headphones, really are. Then I tried a little Miles Davis and Gil Evans on one of my favourite pieces of music, Concierto de Aranjuez. The detail on the castanets was just there, Miles floated in with that dreamy horn solo, and later the timpani came in precisely as Gil Evans wanted it: "just a whisper, a little cushion of air". Perfection.
As you have by now probably gathered, I am rather taken with these SE215s. While they are never going to be as good as the top-of-the-range over-ear models, they offer a rich and detailed sound that I am not used to getting from in-ear 'phones. Vocals are warm and full-bodied and yet there is detail and clarity, though they do lack the bass that you'll get from over-ears. Another criticism is that they are awkward to fit into the ears – you have to loop the cord over the top of your ears before snugly inserting the earbud and the body of the headphone. It is a bit tricky but once inserted they are very comfortable, and a range of interchangeable buds of different sizes and materials – included in a travelling kit – means you can adjust to your particular physiognomy.
I'm not entirely convinced about the claims of sound isolation but it may be that I haven't yet found the perfect buds. At 120 from Richer Sounds the SE215s are far cheaper than the top-of-the-range in-ear Shure SE535s (466) and, although I haven't tested the 535s, I can't believe they are four times better. My point is that if you have resisted in-ears in the past, you may want to try the SE215s. They are great value and worth it for those la-la-las on Famous Blue Raincoat alone.
Nespresso U
Much to my shame I must confess that I am a Nespresso owner and a Nespresso coffee addict. It's a bit like being a Moonie. Once you've signed up to this domestic coffee cult, you're pretty much hooked for life. And I do actually like at least six of the 12 coffee blends in the sleek metal capsules we Nespressites call "pods". So, add to the product mix the Nespresso U Coffee Machine range by Krupps (from 182 for the smallest version to 253 with milk foamer from Nespresso.com). This sleek designer machine will deliver your coffee in just 25 seconds thanks to new fast-heating thermoblock technology and has three soft-touch controls that offer ristretto, espresso or lungo. And thanks to a power save mode the machine turns off automatically when not in use.
MacBook Air, upgraded
Apple has upgraded its 13in MacBook Air with Broadwell processors (fifth generation of the Intel Core i5), faster flash storage and better graphics as well as an upgrade from Thunderbolt to Thunderbolt 2. The Air remains the go-to lightweight laptop that has led the field for five years. There are two screen sizes – 11.6in and 13.3in – the latter has a flash drive three times faster than the best Windows laptop, while the smaller machine is 50% faster. It is just 17mm thick, weighs 1.35kg and has a quoted battery life of nine hours. However the Air doesn't come with a multi-million pixel retina screen like the MacBook Pro's, so I guess we shall have to wait for the next generation. 1,199 with 128GB storage and 1,410 with 256 GB storage from Apple.
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