diff --git a/daily-finds.log.md b/daily-finds.log.md index d589b2a..2308c29 100644 --- a/daily-finds.log.md +++ b/daily-finds.log.md @@ -986,3 +986,10 @@ Graduated from find captured 2026-05-13, source: Six Colors. Hero: single screenshot. Replaced the find's icon-based hero with the actual product screenshot from `lexfriedman.com/gnome/screenshot.png` (726×466, 89 KB) — the icon was a misleading hero for the grid since Gnome's interest is the menu-bar interaction, not the app glyph. Single-image format matches hyperkey/alcove/tot — no carousel since the source page only has the icon + one screenshot. Category: `interface` (same bucket as alcove, dockdoor, monocle). Editorial note: Gnome's text-in-GIF Apple-Vision OCR is the underappreciated feature — "type 'don't call me Shirley' and the Airplane! GIF surfaces" — so the body leads with the hotkey workflow but earns its second paragraph from OCR. Lex Friedman's own copy on the product page is delightful (the post-trial Weird-Al-or-Rick-Astley freemium gimmick is a keeper); the review preserves the gimmick without copying his voice verbatim. + +## 2026-05-13 — review: zenteek-music-player + +Graduated from find captured 2026-05-13, source: r/macapps. +Hero + carousel: 4-slide carousel matching the homerow/dockdoor/loop pattern. Pulled screenshots from `zenteek.app/img/` and `/img/v2/`: library view (the homepage hero), graph-search, visualizer, and DSP. The /player page on zenteek.app exposes ~18 named feature screenshots in `/img/v2/1.png` and `2.png` pairs — a richer-than-typical asset set. Total page weight ~4.3 MB across the four PNGs. +Category: **`music` — new category proposed**. None of the existing categories (interface, indie, writing, terminal, etc.) fit a music player well. `indie` would have matched the blip precedent but Zenteek's defining feature is the audio domain, not the indie-ness. The new `music` category page auto-generates at `/categories/music/`; future captures for music apps land cleanly there. +Editorial note: subtitle preserved from the find. The body deliberately names Audirvana, Apple Music, and Roon as comparisons rather than dancing around them — Zenteek's positioning is sharpest in contrast to those specific apps, and the audience for this review already knows them. diff --git a/src/content/find/2026/05/zenteek-music-player/index.mdx b/src/content/find/2026/05/zenteek-music-player/index.mdx index c7f191d..af1d84a 100644 --- a/src/content/find/2026/05/zenteek-music-player/index.mdx +++ b/src/content/find/2026/05/zenteek-music-player/index.mdx @@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ topics: - macos-apps tags: [macos, music, audio, indie] description: "Library-focused Mac music player inspired by iTunes — built for large local collections, all major audio formats, and external DAC users." +promotedTo: zenteek-music-player --- Most modern music players are optimized for streaming a single track at a time, with library views relegated to an afterthought. Zenteek inverts that: the library is the app, with iTunes-style smart playlists, robust format support (FLAC, ALAC, DSD), and first-class handling of external DACs that audiophile-grade apps usually fumble. Years in development, finally public. diff --git a/src/content/reviews/zenteek-music-player/dsp.png b/src/content/reviews/zenteek-music-player/dsp.png new file mode 100644 index 0000000..7f17527 Binary files /dev/null and b/src/content/reviews/zenteek-music-player/dsp.png differ diff --git a/src/content/reviews/zenteek-music-player/graph-search.png b/src/content/reviews/zenteek-music-player/graph-search.png new file mode 100644 index 0000000..0662110 Binary files /dev/null and b/src/content/reviews/zenteek-music-player/graph-search.png differ diff --git a/src/content/reviews/zenteek-music-player/index.mdx b/src/content/reviews/zenteek-music-player/index.mdx new file mode 100644 index 0000000..4865f37 --- /dev/null +++ b/src/content/reviews/zenteek-music-player/index.mdx @@ -0,0 +1,53 @@ +--- +name: Zenteek +subtitle: A native Mac music player for collectors and DAC owners +date: 2026-05-13 +category: music +tags: [macos, music, audio, indie, hi-fi] +description: "Native macOS music player from a solo developer in the iTunes-as-library tradition — built for FLAC/ALAC/DSD collections, external DACs, and the experience of owning your music rather than streaming it." +link: https://zenteek.app +linkText: zenteek.app +source: "r/macapps" +fromFind: zenteek-music-player +--- + +import slide1 from './library.png'; +import slide2 from './graph-search.png'; +import slide3 from './visualizer.png'; +import slide4 from './dsp.png'; + +
+
+ Zenteek's main library view — large album artwork, dense metadata, keyboard-navigable collection browser. +
The library view opens to your collection — large artwork, dense metadata, keyboard-fast navigation.
+
+
+ Graph-based search panel pivoting from an album to its label, artist, year, and tags. +
Graph search: every album, artist, label, year, and tag is a node — pivot from one to another without losing place.
+
+
+ Real-time audio visualizer rendering frequency-domain motion in a quiet, restrained style. +
Visualizers — tasteful real-time motion, not a Winamp skin shop.
+
+
+ DSP settings panel with parametric EQ curves, headphone correction profiles, and bit-perfect playback indicators. +
Studio-grade DSP — parametric EQ, room correction, headphone profiles — with bit-perfect end-to-end playback when you want it off.
+
+
+ + + +> A native macOS music player in the iTunes-as-library tradition, by a solo developer who spent years on it. Built for collectors with thousands of local FLAC/ALAC/DSD files and the external DACs that audiophile-grade apps usually fumble. $79 launch / $99 regular, one-time purchase, 14-day trial. + +Apple Music optimizes for streaming. Roon optimizes for whole-house audio. Audirvana optimizes for audiophile playback. None of them optimize for *the experience of owning a music collection* — flipping through cover art, reading credits, tagging, building playlists, simply getting lost in your own library. Zenteek is the app written for that experience. The window opens to your collection; recommendations don't. + +The library view is CoverFlow-style: large artwork, dense metadata, fast keyboard navigation. Search is graph-based — every album, artist, label, year, and tag is a node, and you can pivot from one to another without losing your place. "Records I tagged 'late-night listening' from labels I've bought from before" is a single query. Smart playlists, mixtapes, and manual curation are all built in. + +Bit-perfect playback end-to-end with first-class external DAC support. Studio-grade DSP for room correction, parametric EQ, and headphone correction — the audiophile features Audirvana is known for, but with a UI that doesn't fight you. Visualizers are tasteful, not Winamp-skin-shop. A mini player is there for when the full window is too much. + +$79 launch / $99 regular, one-time purchase, no subscription. macOS 13+. The developer is building in public — the r/macapps thread has already shipped several feedback-driven updates, with AirPlay multiroom and Plex integration on the roadmap. The honest limitation: this is software with assumptions baked in. If your collection is 95% streaming, you are not the customer. diff --git a/src/content/reviews/zenteek-music-player/library.png b/src/content/reviews/zenteek-music-player/library.png new file mode 100644 index 0000000..610ea13 Binary files /dev/null and b/src/content/reviews/zenteek-music-player/library.png differ diff --git a/src/content/reviews/zenteek-music-player/visualizer.png b/src/content/reviews/zenteek-music-player/visualizer.png new file mode 100644 index 0000000..5a7f312 Binary files /dev/null and b/src/content/reviews/zenteek-music-player/visualizer.png differ diff --git a/src/lib/hero.ts b/src/lib/hero.ts index 19f7faf..dc6eb5a 100644 --- a/src/lib/hero.ts +++ b/src/lib/hero.ts @@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ import tablepro from '../content/reviews/tablepro/hero.png'; import timelined from '../content/reviews/timelined/hero.png'; import tot from '../content/reviews/tot/seven-dots.png'; import valchooseBarfBags from '../content/reviews/valchoose-barf-bags/hero.jpg'; +import zenteek from '../content/reviews/zenteek-music-player/library.png'; import antinote from '../content/reviews/antinote/swipe.mp4'; import cotypist from '../content/reviews/cotypist/hero.mp4'; @@ -56,6 +57,7 @@ export const heroes: Record = { timelined: { kind: 'image', src: timelined }, tot: { kind: 'image', src: tot }, 'valchoose-barf-bags': { kind: 'image', src: valchooseBarfBags }, + 'zenteek-music-player': { kind: 'image', src: zenteek }, antinote: { kind: 'video', src: antinote }, cotypist: { kind: 'video', src: cotypist }, dockdoor: { kind: 'video', src: dockdoor },