Audio Unleashed

We’re on Patreon! Find us at https://www.patreon.com/AudioUnleashed This week, Brent and Dennis kick things off by investigating whether translating the words of non-English speakers in a way that suits your agenda might be a promising new business model for bad audio websites. Then they’re joined by SoundStage! founder Doug Schneider for a post-mortem on Dennis’ historic and fateful appearance on The HiFi Five. Wrapping things up for normies, they respond to a request from numerous Patrons to look into New Record Day’s power cable conversion testimony to answer the question: Is it worthwhile to do a deep dive into the testing procedures of people who haven’t themselves done a deep dive into the subject of testing procedures? 📖 Get your copy of the 4th edition of Floyd Toole’s legendary book, Sound Reproduction: The Acoustics and Psychoacoustics of Loudspeakers, Rooms and Headphones with DISCOUNT CODE 25SMA4: https://www.routledge.com/Sound-Reproduction-The-Acoustics-and-Psychoacoustics-of-Loudspeakers-Rooms-and-Headphones/Toole-Olive-Welti/p/book/9781032761930 Brent’s audio projects: 💿 Plaid Pants, Brent’s latest album! https://cygerbutterworth.bandcamp.com/album/plaid-pants 💿 The Audiophile Society's Headphone Evaluation and Spatial Audio Test Album (engineered by Brent): https://theaudiophilesociety.com/collections/albums/products/the-audiophile-societys-headphone-evaluation-and-spatial-audio-test-album 💿 tics by Flip City, mixed by Brent https://davidaaron4.bandcamp.com/album/tics Further Reading:  Veteran Speaker Designer Reveals the Top 3 Reasons Why Designers Can’t Build Great Speakers Anymore: https://www.headphonesty.com/2025/11/veteran-designer-explains-why-speakers-declined/ GPM Monitor One: il bookshelf di riferimento by G.P. Matarazzo: https://www.avmagazine.it/articoli/diffusori/2077/gpm-monitor-one-il-bookshelf-di-riferimento_index.html Test: Sonus Faber Lumina II by G.P. Matarazzo: https://www.avmagazine.it/articoli/diffusori/2051/test-sonus-faber-lumina-ii_index.html The HiFi Five Episode 6: Guest Dennis Burger of SoundStage! by The HiFi Five: https://www.youtube.com/live/OORvfQh_zjo The Most Pathetic Excuse in High-End Audio (Ep:94) by SoundStage! Network: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3e7dD-Yij0 I Tried to Debunk Power Cords & Conditioners… and Failed Spectacularly by New Record Day: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WIWVDNiRCiM

We’re on Patreon! Find us at https://www.patreon.com/AudioUnleashed This week, Brent and Dennis once again stare the impending A.I. apocalypse in the face and ponder about what it all means, especially for audiophiles. As a palate cleanser, they then bring in their buddy Geoffrey Morrison of SoundStage! Solo to discuss some fancy new replacement ear tips and how they may affect the sound of your earphones. Then they ask why audio journalists don’t have methodological standards that measure up to a bass-playing comedian on the internet. 📖 Get your copy of the 4th edition of Floyd Toole’s legendary book, Sound Reproduction: The Acoustics and Psychoacoustics of Loudspeakers, Rooms and Headphones with DISCOUNT CODE 25SMA4: https://www.routledge.com/Sound-Reproduction-The-Acoustics-and-Psychoacoustics-of-Loudspeakers-Rooms-and-Headphones/Toole-Olive-Welti/p/book/9781032761930   Brent’s audio projects: 💿 Plaid Pants, Brent’s latest album! https://cygerbutterworth.bandcamp.com/album/plaid-pants 💿 The Audiophile Society's Headphone Evaluation and Spatial Audio Test Album (engineered by Brent): https://theaudiophilesociety.com/collections/albums/products/the-audiophile-societys-headphone-evaluation-and-spatial-audio-test-album 💿 tics by Flip City, mixed by Brent https://davidaaron4.bandcamp.com/album/tics Further Reading:  50,000 AI tracks flood Deezer daily – as study shows 97% of listeners can’t tell the difference between human-made vs. fully AI-generated music: https://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/50000-ai-tracks-flood-deezer-daily-as-study-shows-97-of-listeners-cant-tell-the-difference-between-human-made-vs-fully-ai-generated-music/ Azla SednaEarfit Mithryl and Flare Magic Tips Aftermarket Eartips by Geoffrey Morrison: https://www.soundstagesolo.com/index.php/equipment/accessories/473-azla-sednaearfit-mithryl-and-flare-magic-tips-aftermarket-eartips I bought the most EXPENSIVE Guitar Picks on the internet by Davie504: https://youtu.be/0JaOCZhjpaQ?si=5F-B3BgGktUWxIF3

We’re on Patreon! Find us at https://www.patreon.com/AudioUnleashed This week, Brent and Dennis weigh in on whether or not cheapaudioman is really telling the truth about tubes that nobody else is talking about, and answer the literally burning question: Is buying a McIntosh 275 really a death sentence for your chihuahua? Then they dive deep into the philosophy of intention-driven audio, whatever the heck that is, and ponder whether a monastery is really the best place to learn how to calculate standing-wave frequencies. Next, they engage with a LinkedIn post from Steve Temme of Listen, Inc., mostly as a backdoor excuse to talk about THD (total harmonic distortion) and how much it matters, or doesn’t. 📖 Get your copy of the 4th edition of Floyd Toole’s legendary book, Sound Reproduction: The Acoustics and Psychoacoustics of Loudspeakers, Rooms and Headphones with DISCOUNT CODE 25SMA4: https://www.routledge.com/Sound-Reproduction-The-Acoustics-and-Psychoacoustics-of-Loudspeakers-Rooms-and-Headphones/Toole-Olive-Welti/p/book/9781032761930   Brent’s audio projects: 💿 Plaid Pants, Brent’s latest album! https://cygerbutterworth.bandcamp.com/album/plaid-pants   💿 The Audiophile Society's Headphone Evaluation and Spatial Audio Test Album (engineered by Brent): https://theaudiophilesociety.com/collections/albums/products/the-audiophile-societys-headphone-evaluation-and-spatial-audio-test-album   💿 tics by Flip City, mixed by Brent https://davidaaron4.bandcamp.com/album/tics   Further Reading:  The Truth About Tube Amps Nobody Is Talking About by cheapaudioman: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIGVeHUPg0g Synergistic Research: Cables, Power, and the Philosophy of Intention-Driven Audio by Michael Horne: https://tmraudio.com/blog/synergistic-research-cables-power-and-the-philosophy-of-intentiondriven-audio/ Why Headphone Target Curves and THD Don’t Tell the Whole Story by Steve Temme: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/why-headphone-target-curves-thd-dont-tell-whole-story-steve-temme-strme/

We’re on Patreon! Find us at https://www.patreon.com/AudioUnleashed Tony Stark once famously said, “We have a Hulk.” Brent and Dennis have a secret weapon much more powerful than that. We have a Floyd Toole! And this week, we sit in conversation with him about the release of the fourth edition of his legendary book, Sound Reproduction, and why it has a different subtitle this time: The Acoustics and Psychoacoustics of Loudspeakers, Rooms and Headphones. 📖 Get your copy of the 4th edition of Floyd Toole’s legendary book, Sound Reproduction: The Acoustics and Psychoacoustics of Loudspeakers, Rooms and Headphones with DISCOUNT CODE 25SMA4: https://www.routledge.com/Sound-Reproduction-The-Acoustics-and-Psychoacoustics-of-Loudspeakers-Rooms-and-Headphones/Toole-Olive-Welti/p/book/9781032761930 Brent’s audio projects: 💿 Plaid Pants, Brent’s latest album! https://cygerbutterworth.bandcamp.com/album/plaid-pants 💿 The Audiophile Society's Headphone Evaluation and Spatial Audio Test Album (engineered by Brent): https://theaudiophilesociety.com/collections/albums/products/the-audiophile-societys-headphone-evaluation-and-spatial-audio-test-album 💿 tics by Flip City, mixed by Brent: https://davidaaron4.bandcamp.com/album/tics Further Reading:  Dr. Floyd Toole: An Oral History 1 on the SoundStage! Audiophile Podcast: https://www.soundstage.life/e/dr-floyd-toole-an-oral-history-1-two-ears-and-a-brain-transistors-rules-and-data/ Dr. Floyd Toole: An Oral History 2 on the SoundStage! Audiophile Podcast: https://www.soundstage.life/e/dr-floyd-toole-an-oral-history-2-ab-tests-bass-athena-brains-rooms-hearing-listening/ Read These 2 Books to Know More about Speakers than Most Hi-Fi Reviewers Do by the SoundStage! Network: https://youtu.be/YfIde7VTA7g?si=XjxdvEhY52wdzDvi The Biggest Lie in Audio by Brent Butterworth: https://www.soundstagesolo.com/index.php/features/246-the-biggest-lie-in-audio

We’re on Patreon! Find us at https://www.patreon.com/AudioUnleashed First things first this week, Brent and Dennis wonder why Wired is doing pretty good blind panel testing when actual audio publications almost never dare, or bother. Then they have a conversation with their buddy Joe Mariano, aka Joe N Tell, about his new speaker measurement and target-curve-calculating app Magic Beans. How does it fare against Brent’s bazillion years of measurement experience and Dennis’s kazillion years of calibrating audio systems? Finally, Dennis asks Brent WTF a “notoriously musical” CD drive even is.    And for Patrons: Can Bowers & Wilkins and other former Sound United brands maintain their identity under their new Samsung/Harman umbrella? And should they?   💿 Michael Gaughn’s Jour et Nuit on Bandcamp: https://michaelgaughn.bandcamp.com/album/jour-et-nuit   Brent’s audio projects: 💿 Plaid Pants, Brent’s latest album! https://cygerbutterworth.bandcamp.com/album/plaid-pants   💿 The Audiophile Society's Headphone Evaluation and Spatial Audio Test Album (engineered by Brent): https://theaudiophilesociety.com/collections/albums/products/the-audiophile-societys-headphone-evaluation-and-spatial-audio-test-album   💿 tics by Flip City, mixed by Brent https://davidaaron4.bandcamp.com/album/tics Further Reading:  We Asked Audio Pros to Blind Test Headphones. The Results Were Surprising by Chris Haslam: https://www.wired.com/story/we-asked-audio-pros-to-blind-test-headphones-the-results-were-surprising/ Joe N Tell: https://joentell.com/ Magic Beans: https://magicbeansaudio.com/ Gramophone Dreams #101: The Shanling ET3 CD transport by Herb Reichert: https://www.stereophile.com/content/gramophone-dreams-101-shanling-et3-cd-transport