The Hifi Podcast with Darren and Duncan
Hi-Fi engineer Darren Myers (Parasound) and marketing guy Duncan Taylor (YG Acoustics) discuss all things HiFi audio, covering such audiophile topics as speakers, amplifiers, DACs, preamplifiers, vinyl, cables, music, stereo soundstages, tweaks, adjustments and a whole lot more.
Episodes
March 27, 2024 • 35 mins
When someone named Spammy emails you, you have a choice: flag as a phishing threat, or read in entirety? Well, we do get a kick out of seeing the moniker appear in our mailbox, from a listener whose skewering takes leave us chuckling every time. While most emailers use the show email to send questions, Spammy mostly offers witty commentary with no indication of a need for help and gives off the sense that he's seen it all. But this...
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March 5, 2024 • 52 mins
By popular demand, we present the new lost Dunlavy episode. Longtime listeners know that Darren and Duncan originally recorded 10 podcasts before publishing the very first one, as practice. One of those, referenced in early talks about the guys' dearly beloved Dunlavy speakers, was a thorough explanation of how they landed them for free, and insights gleaned from owning them. As requested, the guys do another complete Dunlavy-focus...
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February 10, 2024 • 38 mins
With apologies for the delay, and for the audio which was nearly impossible to fix, the guys are back to answer a question from listener Rob Shrode. This episode is about the idea of a special price point threshold in each product category above which one can expect substantial performance improvement compared to below the threshold. As usual, it's not as simple a topic as it seems. The recommended album of the week is the eponymou...
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January 23, 2024 • 28 mins
The HiFi Podcast is back with a tech-centric take on FM Radio, answering a listener question and delving into why so many audiophiles gravitate toward it as a favorite source. As so many conversations do, this one meanders toward noise and distortion, but Darren's take on the loveliness of the sound of FM may surprise you. Brazilian musician Fabiano do Nascimento joins an elite group of artists with more than one album recommended....
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January 15, 2024 • 38 mins
In this episode, a listener requests a deeper dive into room treatment for optimizing sound in a HiFi listening space, and the fellas oblige. In fact, Darren and Duncan leap at the chance to talk about the curious look of some commercial treatment products, bemoan the high prices of some seemingly cheap-to-develop elements, and generally touch on many important elements of the entire equation. The Album of The Week this time hits a...
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January 8, 2024 • 43 mins
Welcome to the new season and new format for The HiFi Podcast. This time, the boys are back and apparently recording under a popular confluence of flight paths, but if you can get past the air traffic noise, this episode is one you don't want to miss. Darren dives deep into the makeup and uses and pros and cons of Gallium-Nitride Field Effect Transistors, or GaN FETs. This is thanks to a listener question, and if you would like to ...
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September 15, 2023 • 23 mins
Apologies for the wait. Apologies for the sound glitches and skips in this one - still figuring out the new mobile recording rig. But the boys of The HiFi Podcast are back, and in this pre-season announcement, Darren and Duncan explain the plan for the next chapter of the podcast, which will now be divided into seasons and feature shorter but more focused episodes. Listen through to the end to hear the new album of the week, and st...
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May 8, 2023 • 193 mins
Fresh off the heels of AXPONA (and right on the precipice of Munich), Duncan talks about the details involved in planning a show appearance and gives a behind-the-scenes look at the show from a manufacturer's perspective. Questions about capacitors, audio literature, gain balancing and more are answered, and this episode features not one, but two recommended albums. Saving the best for last, the show finishes with an interview with...
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June 8, 2022 • 90 mins
After a visit to chez Tweak to hear the always-improving desktop system, Darren decided to push Duncan into a project the best way he knew how: by giving him a pair of Seas Excel tweeters and posing the question, "what if you had state-of-the-art soft domes in that thing?" Talking, of course, about Duncan's improbably excellent 2-day speaker project, and in this episode the guys talk about the next possible iteration of the silly l...
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June 1, 2022 • 134 mins
In this episode, PS Audio design engineer Darren Myers takes us through the process of designing printed circuit boards, which are known as PCBs. It turns out there are tons of considerations in play when selecting the material of a PCB, and determining the position of components and the makeup of the traces. Listener questions about tweaks and credibility are answered, and this week's album recommendation is a fascinating release ...
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May 25, 2022 • 111 mins
In this episode, the pros and cons of the integrated amplifier are covered in typical Hifi Podcast style. Darren shares impressions and experience from the perspective of a designer, and both guys try to frame the situations where the integrated approach is either better or... not better. This week's questions share a common theme which takes Duncan back into recording engineer jibber jabber, and the solo viola de gamba performance...
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May 18, 2022 • 92 mins
In this episode, Darren and Duncan reflect on their experiences with friend and mentor Bascom King, whose recent passing has taken a great mind from the HiFi community. Bascom was an audiophile engineering legend and responsible for many incredible amplification designs over a long career. Hear about how he inspired so many, and learn a little about his upcoming posthumous amplifier release, the BHK 600 amplifiers. The guys also re...
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May 4, 2022 • 110 mins
In this episode, Darren asks Duncan questions about recording different instruments. Duncan dives into a number of pro audio topics en route to categorizing instruments by their difficulty in recording. A question about powering Dunlavy speakers is answered, and several listener-emailed music recommendations are shared. This week's album is the latest from an artist whose music has been picked for the album of the week before, but ...
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April 27, 2022 • 126 mins
The guys are back in the saddle after a week off, and this time sitting down with the designer of the curious tube monoblocks that are living in Darren's Wilson system at the moment, a local audiophile friend and engineering technician named Jordan Kamper. Jordan describes his thought process behind those and other DIY creations of his that the guys have heard. Listener questions about "hybrid digital" and fiber optic Ethernet conv...
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April 13, 2022 • 111 mins
Darren's and Duncan's DIY speaker project from several years back is the topic du jour in this episode of The HiFi Podcast. The guys offer tips and inspiration in describing the DIY journey from beginning to completion, from driver choice to final damping moves. This week's album recommendation is a soothingly simple recording of jazz standards from two delicate players playing in a sonically glorious room.
This podcast is power...
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April 6, 2022 • 128 mins
PS Audio speaker designer Chris Brunhaver is back this week, and spends some time demystifying the common speaker specifications used to judge speakers. He and the guys share what's been going on with them lately as well, which is has been plenty. This week's album recommendation is a rare electronic album that borders on audiophile, and involves an artist's struggle with losing and regaining his hearing over the course of the pand...
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March 30, 2022 • 105 mins
In this episode, hosts Darren and Duncan reach again into the questions inbox to answer listeners who have emailed in their audio curiosities. Roon compatibility with BluOS devices, how and where to use ferrite cores, eliminating RF from nearby 5G towers and other questions are answered. This week's album recommendation features a rare gaffe, where the guys talk about their album pick but describe the name of a different album enti...
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March 23, 2022 • 120 mins
In this episode of The Hifi Podcast, hosts Darren and Duncan reflect on what motivates each to work in the industry and try their best to bring something new to the scene. Darren talks about his evolution in amplifier design, why he puts effort into discovering unique and new topologies and what motivates him these days after many circuits discovered. Duncan discusses how his upbringing inspires him to design cable products that br...
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March 16, 2022 • 124 mins
In this episode, a guest with a lot of experience in music streaming and streamer technology joins the podcast. Ari Margolis, a young dad, local audiophile and friend of the guys stops by to chat about Aurender's approaches and technology, and to help answer common questions about the art of high-end streaming for the modern audiophile. Naturally, a listener question about streamers is discussed, and Ari even picks the album of the...
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March 9, 2022 • 141 mins
In this episode, the guys tackle a range of listener questions. Balanced phono inputs are explained, including why they aren't as common in phono preamplifiers. Duncan shares more about his DIY Ripole subwoofer and why he hasn't talked about it lately, CD ripping is discussed, A/B switch devices for gear evaluations are considered, and more. This week's album recommendation reaches back into the library for a gem from a Brooklyn-ba...
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