Welcome back! In this episode, Darren, designer of an amplifier that TAS just named "2021 Product of the Year (huzzah!)," takes us patiently and steadily through a basic concept involving operational amplifiers, or amps-on-a-chip, explaining how feedback is heavily used in many modern op-amps to broaden what, in some cases, is a staggeringly low bandwidth to begin with. Don't worry - if Duncan can understand this by the end of the show, so can you. Don't miss more questions and a surprising yet ...
Dec 15, 2021•2 hr 2 min•Season 1Ep. 67
It's beginning to look a lot like winter (finally), the chestnuts- er, questions are piling up, and the guys thought it would be fun to try to answer them all. In this episode, questions about capacitor burn-in, DIY projects, tube noise, outriggers and more are answered, and the album of the week is not one, but TWO lovely albums which share a lot in common. They come by different origin -- from Great Britain and France -- each with their own unique vibe, and somehow they sound great together. D...
Dec 08, 2021•2 hr 7 min•Season 1Ep. 66
In this episode, hosts Darren and Duncan discuss preamplifiers, starting with the "why" and continuing through the "what" and "how". Some preamplifier makers out there are aiming for a neutral sound... but is that really what we want in a preamplifier? Darren's opinion on this as one of the possible roles of the box in the middle of a system chain might surprise some. This week's album recommendation features an amazingly out-of-the-box young cello player and his debut album from a few years bac...
Dec 01, 2021•1 hr 59 min•Season 1Ep. 65
The HiFi podcast audience is in for a treat this week, as the guys sit down with their friend and mentor, Paul McGowan, for a wide-ranging discussion about HiFi audio and other things. Paul shares what's going on lately with his recording project, jumps in with the guys to answer a listener question about black backgrounds, and offers a look back at some periods of time in audio's recent past when things were really happening. The album of the week is the second one we've picked from famed drumm...
Nov 24, 2021•1 hr 38 min•Season 1Ep. 64
We all started somewhere with this hobby, and we were all beginners at one point. But compare being a beginner now, after decades of the growth of the internet, to learning about the audiophile hobby in the 70s, 80s or 90s. There is almost too much information available now, and too many choices and paths to take. It's no wonder that some beginner audiophiles struggle to figure out where to start. In this podcast episode, the hosts go through their steps for the beginner and highlight where he o...
Nov 17, 2021•2 hr 5 min•Season 1Ep. 63
In this episode of The Hifi Podcast, the guys deliver a more focused and nuanced set of guidelines for evaluating gear, whether it be components, speakers or cables. The topic comes up on the podcast again and again, because it's the literal backbone of the audiophile hobby. The ability to listen and perceive subtle differences is so important, and it becomes easier over time, after lots of exposure. Following these rules will ensure the listener maximizes the evaluation process, truly getting t...
Nov 10, 2021•1 hr 48 min•Season 1Ep. 62
This week, a listener question once again prompts the podcast topic, and while the guys don't exactly agree with the premise, its a great excuse to talk about the subject matter: How to optimize and get the best from a low-cost audio system. Questions about intermodulation and power round out the early segment, and this week's album pick features one of the best instrumental recordings the guys have heard in a long time. This podcast is powered by CommonGround Cables Whisper power cable. Read cu...
Nov 03, 2021•1 hr 22 min•Season 1Ep. 61
In a recent episode, hosts Darren and Duncan talked about a system's ability to collect and drain RF interference through the connected enclosures and low-impedance paths to ground. In this show, the guys -- and Darren specifically -- drill down further into high frequency bogey man land. Are modern chassis boxes even good at being faraday cages? How do designers maximize effectiveness in removing RF from a circuit, and what about tubes? Lots of questions answered in this fairly geeky episode of...
Oct 27, 2021•2 hr 9 min•Season 1Ep. 60
This episode gets a great start thanks to so much goin on in Darren's two systems at home, including the reintroduction and repainting of the Dunlavy IVa system, cables burning in and the planned LPS addition to his reclocker. Also, his parents are in town, which means there are now distinctly fewer electrical components to trip over on the ground. Questions about the Matrix X-SPDIF 2, hexagonal listening rooms and more are answered, and the fellas are saved by a listener with a solid explanatio...
Oct 20, 2021•2 hr 11 min•Season 1Ep. 59
Have you noticed the absolute proliferation of cool digital audio products in the sub-$500 market lately? With so much buzz around new class D modules and affordable R2R DACs and even budget speakers that are "specs monsters", the hosts of The Hifi Podcast believe now is the best time to be a budget audiophile. There are some interesting quirks in some of the eye-poppingly cheap gear from China, with occasional designs focused solely on being impressive in one area or specification. Still, the s...
Oct 13, 2021•2 hr 28 min•Season 1Ep. 58
No speaker DIYer likes to read a paper about the effects of edge diffraction on speaker baffles AFTER cutting out the driver holes. An inch left or right, and that tweeter could have sounded much better. No DIY amplifier builder wants to miss out on that important forum post where a fellow DIYer discovers an error in a schematic. DIY audio projects can provide immense listening satisfaction to the adventurous audiophiles who attempt them, but sometimes, challenge and trouble can hide around ever...
Oct 06, 2021•2 hr 22 min•Season 1Ep. 57
"Not all distortion is horrible" is a notion many come to observe at some point along the audiophile journey. Maybe that's not the best way to put it. How about, "some distortions are less horrible than others". In past episodes of The Hifi Podcast, Darren and Duncan have talked about complex versus simple distortions, and the fact that simple circuits and simple devices distort simply. And simple distortion is much, much more tolerable to our ears. Intermodulation distortion (IMD) is a complex ...
Sep 29, 2021•1 hr 37 min•Season 1Ep. 56
The owner of a very popular U.S. hifi audio cable maker calls hifi audio "a drug." And he's not wrong at all. Think of the yearning to listen after periods of being away from our systems. Think of the teleportation to a different place when everything's clicking. Think of the times we had to bargain, beg and borrow to upgrade to the next best thing. And on that topic, think about how we chase the audio dragon and are always interested in "better," or at least "different." Hifi is a drug, and in ...
Sep 22, 2021•1 hr 26 min•Season 1Ep. 55
When it comes to wave frequencies, sound waves we can hear live near the absolute bottom of any spectrum you wish to peruse. Sound waves are not electromagnetic or radio waves, but to an RF engineer they might as well be “DC.” And sound waves, though different, can in one way or another be affected by these other guys. Radio frequency and electromagnetic waves can influence the electronics we use as source gear or amplifiers, thereby changing the sound waves we hear. None of this is news, especi...
Sep 15, 2021•2 hr 19 min•Season 1Ep. 54
For podcast hosts Darren and Duncan, the hifi audio expo Rocky Mountain Audio Festival was more than their "hometown show." Years before the two worked in the industry, the show represented a connection to the whole world of audio, accessible through a portal just down the road. It was as close to audiophile teleportation as it got for the guys. In more recent years, it took on a new feeling as the two began to represent their companies and transition to the other side of the audio show affair. ...
Sep 10, 2021•2 hr 6 min•Season 1Ep. 53
As a listener, being restricted by a budget is a form of not getting your lunch for free. A designer might look at a single objective as the highest priority -- and then have to perform all kinds of feats to make that happen. A musician may want more sub bass on a mix than is prudent. And on, and on. There are so many examples of places in audio where clever ideas simply can't compete against the laws of physics. In this episode of The Hifi Podcast, the guys and their regular guest host Chris Br...
Aug 25, 2021•1 hr 36 min•Season 1Ep. 52
When bringing a vintage piece back to its original glory, whether as a DIY project or with the help of a professional, you have to decide if the restoration is going to attempt to use vintage parts from the same era (if that's even a possibility), or whether newer and better components should be used. This is more of a temptation with speakers, as material science advancements have wrought incredible performance increases over the years. But it's also more challenging with speakers. Speaker driv...
Aug 18, 2021•2 hr 17 min•Season 1Ep. 51
In this episode, the guys talk about harmonic distortion and the difference in sound between a steel beam hitting a concrete floor and a stack of bamboo hitting the same floor. What does a cheaper Class D amplifier have in common with the steel beam? What is negative second order harmonic? And what's so interesting about square waves for measuring amplifiers, when music is made of sines? These questions and more are answered as hosts Darren and Duncan discuss the nature of harmonics, and how dif...
Aug 11, 2021•2 hr 2 min•Season 1Ep. 50
When hifi speaker makers offer more than one "flavor" of speaker, it's typically to satisfy both audiophiles who seek more resolution, and those who want a more "fun" speaker. This is a wise move, as neither camp is likely to be swayed by a middle-of-the-road compromise. One of the joys about the audiophile hobby is that you don't have to compromise your desired path. What sounds good to you IS good for you. It's because of this that we see so many approaches to the same objective in hifi audio....
Aug 04, 2021•1 hr 58 min•Season 1Ep. 49
This week's episode is spurred from a listener question about how The Hifi Podcast hosts Duncan and Darren actually go about shooting out different pieces of gear in a reference system. Some say you should move quickly between A and B to avoid getting caught in biases and to stay within the "auditory memory window"; others suggest taking things slowly and letting subtle differences build up in your mind with time. Well, you must be new to hifi audio if you don't know that there are a ton of ways...
Jul 28, 2021•1 hr 52 min•Season 1Ep. 48
Harmonizers. Resonators. Grounding boxes filled with dirt. Green dots, quantum tunneling, past-time-disentanglement, beeswax, tellerium, C37 lacquer, nano liquid... the list goes on and on. What some folks in the hobby consider heretical snake oil, others have tried and found some degree of success in their audio journeys. But where is the line? Perhaps the "madness line" is different for each person, and since this is supposed to be a fun hobby, perhaps there is no line that needs to be drawn. ...
Jul 21, 2021•2 hr 9 min•Season 1Ep. 47
It begins with a flip of a switch, and often on the first power-up of a new component. What's supposed to be one of the most fun parts of the experience descends quickly into horror when the dreaded HUMM comes through the speakers. Most of us have heard this horrible noise before, but it isn't always clear what the cause is, exactly. In this episode, engineer Darren takes us down to the ground as we try to understand voltages, currents and potential differences on our ground lines. This week's a...
Jul 14, 2021•1 hr 30 min•Season 1Ep. 46
In this episode, the hosts look back on the last year of podcasts, as this week's marks a year of recording for Darren and Duncan. Listen on to find out why this isn't the 53rd episode, and hear about how the idea for this show came about. From inventing new circuits while hiking in the woods to red lights and ribbon mics in the back yard, it's been an exhilarating and rewarding journey. This podcast is powered by CommonGround Cables Whisper power cable. Read customer reviews and order your own ...
Jul 07, 2021•1 hr 45 min•Season 1Ep. 45
Being the right distance away from your speakers, and in a position in the room that minimizes room influence is a large part of the effort of creating audiophile sound. This is mostly what you hear when the topic of the sweet spot comes up. But today, the guys focus on the physical makeup of that area, and how it affects the sound. How comfortable are you? What's directly behind your ears? How high are you sitting? What's the mood like, and where are the distractions? These questions and more a...
Jun 29, 2021•1 hr 54 min•Season 1Ep. 44
The audiophile hobby is a lot like cooking, and it behooves the chef to expose himself to as many sonic flavors as possible. But the audiophile hobby is also expensive, and like car collecting, the possibility of a wide range of exposure requires lots of time, money and probably a mix of both. This week on The Hifi Podcast, hosts Darren and Duncan pinch themselves about their years of access and exposure to all sorts of hifi gear, and they sort out for each other what devices and products have c...
Jun 23, 2021•2 hr 26 min•Season 1Ep. 43
When it comes to selecting a room for an audio system, many factors come to play. And many constraints need to be managed in order to get something reasonable for music playback. At the same time, a listening room at a ranch in Texas will have little in common with one in an apartment in Hong Kong. In this episode, Darren and Duncan discuss the needs of both rooms, and talk about the ideal conditions all of our rooms should aspire to. Two listener questions are tackled, one about taming a system...
Jun 16, 2021•2 hr 12 min•Season 1Ep. 42
In this episode of The Hifi Podcast, hosts Darren and Duncan talk about one simple trick that will help you know you're on the right path when it comes to speaker setup and system integration. Following their advice, when you throw frequency response analysis out the window, literally, you're left to focus on elements of timing. And if you do this, it might just get you thinking about what's important in a hifi stereo system. This week's album recommendation comes from another legend of his chos...
Jun 09, 2021•1 hr 16 min•Season 1Ep. 41
In the used hifi market, shipping skills pay the bills. Which bills? Who knows. Heartache bills, perhaps. Seriously though, shipping knowledge specific to hifi (admittedly bizarre products that are fragile, heavy, delicate and absurdly weighted at the same time) can help prevent the abject tragedy of smashed hifi gear. In this episode of The Hifi Podcast, Darren and Duncan talk about the challenge of buying and selling hifi gear on the used market, but specifically look at shipping challenges. F...
Jun 02, 2021•2 hr 16 min•Season 1Ep. 40
Does a stereo system have to present floating, 3D images in order to be considered truly hifi? Does it need to be called "holographic" in order to be enjoyable? Does a bear poop in a toilet? Holographic sound may be one major thing both of The Hifi Podcast hosts chase, but it's not the only thing to love in a hifi system, by far. Regardless, many in the audiophile hobby are after this sort of fun, and as Darren and Duncan discuss, the elements which can have an effect on the holographic presenta...
May 26, 2021•1 hr 41 min•Season 1Ep. 39
Taste is the reason we get into hifi audio, being the driver of our interest and also being held captive by our changing interests along the journey. The longer you spend in the audiophile hobby, or more specifically the more you improve a system and make it more revealing and resolving, the better the chance your tastes in music and perhaps sound character overall will evolve. This is all part of the trip that is this gear-laden, expensive and dizzying hobby. A hobby where the goals change cons...
May 19, 2021•1 hr 19 min•Season 1Ep. 38
