The Hifi Podcast with Darren and Duncan

In this episode, the guys explore the reasons behind why some products -- mostly preamplifiers -- invert the signal phase. Darren explains that it's a decent reason behind the practice, and how to adjust to it in your system if you've got a piece of gear that does this. Earlier on, a question about a difficult room setup is fully discussed, offering reasons behind why the space is challenging, and...

After the usual intro segments, this is another hefty episode of listener questions. Topics covered include finding speakers that jibe with a hyperacusis condition, locally served music files versus streamed, updates on Darren's server experience, and more. In the middle of the podcast somewhere, hosts Darren and Duncan point folks who want to contribute to the 'cast toward a local audiophile in n...

It's been a hell of a week here in Colorado, and after the fires and the fallout, the idea of how to protect your hifi system from danger and disaster seemed like an appropriate topic for this week's podcast. In this episode, Darren and Duncan discuss inrush currents and voltage spikes associated with some of the problems Mother Nature can throw at you, as well as flooding and more, and they offer...

Just about a year ago, a listener in Brooklyn, NY reached out with some ideas about building an all-Klipsch-Heritage-based dancehall and party space in the basement of his new house. In the year since, he got right to it, wasting no time and creating a space that his producer friends and he believe puts on some of the best-sounding dance parties in the whole region. In this episode, he checks back...

As audiophiles, we listen in many different styles and sizes of rooms. Our spaces to setup well-tuned systems are, more often than not, the only ones we're given to work with. On the other side of the coin, sometimes it's the gear we already have which tells us what kind of space it should be in, and more specifically, how close we should listen. In this episode, Darren and Duncan talk about the p...

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...

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 G...

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 recommendat...

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...

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 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 exposu...

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 ha...

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...

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...

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, w...

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...

"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 simpl...

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...

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...

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 t...

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...

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 incredi...

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 que...

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 go...

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 you...