A New Schiit Audio DAC? The Occasional Podcast Opens Season 15 With One Of Hi-Fi’s Most Candid Personalities
Season 15 of The Occasional Podcast begins with a familiar guest and a question that deserves considerably more attention in high-end audio: What would happen if the industry spent a little less time raising the ceiling and concentrated on raising the floor?
Host Brian Hunter is joined by Jason Stoddard, co-founder of Schiit Audio and one of the hi-fi business’s more candid voices. Stoddard is an engineer, entrepreneur, author and unusually effective storyteller—a combination that makes him particularly well suited to a format where the conversation can roam beyond specifications and chassis dimensions .
The Season 15 premiere explores what “raising the floor” could mean for the audio industry. Flagship products may demonstrate what is technically possible, but affordable equipment is where most listeners actually enter—and often remain—in the hobby. Improving that experience can potentially do more for hi-fi than producing another limited-edition component whose price is best expressed in square footage.
Hunter and Stoddard discuss the realities of developing accessible audio products, the compromises that matter and the ones that may be little more than audiophile mythology. Is there a new Schiit Audio DAC on the way? The conversation also examines Schiit Audio’s continuing evolution, its growing presence in two-channel sound and the challenge of adding features without turning straightforward equipment into an app-dependent household appliance.
As expected, Stoddard brings both technical perspective and an ample supply of stories from behind the curtain. Product development is rarely a straight line, and some of the episode’s most revealing moments concern the decisions, mistakes and unexpected detours that never appear in a launch announcement. That candor has always separated Stoddard from the carefully polished executive interview—and makes him an especially entertaining guest.
The episode should appeal to longtime Schiit owners, headphone listeners moving toward loudspeaker systems and anyone curious about how an independent American audio company balances engineering, manufacturing and price. It also offers a useful reminder that better hi-fi does not necessarily need to become more exclusive, complicated or expensive.
Season 15, Episode 1 of The Occasional Podcast is available now through Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube and other major podcast platforms.
Listen now—and discover why raising the floor might be more important than chasing an ever-higher ceiling.
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Speaking of new gear, Jason just posted a press release for a new Schiit Audio DAC. The Bifrost 3 was announced just this week!