The Current State Of Physical Media In HiFi
What is the current state of physical media? CD players all but vanished a few years ago. Vinyl had a resurgence. How do things sit in the current market? The Occasional Podcast offers up its take on the situation this week with an interview from Drew Baird from Moon-Audio.com.
In this episode, Drew and host Brian Hunter talk about the current state of physical media, the CD and more. The Season 11 finale of The Occasional Podcast covers off on a variety of subjects, including the benefits of a little variety in your rig and why the 6NS7 is the best tube ever made (controversy!).
The Occasional Podcast recently discussed the idea that the term “Yacht Rock” might be offensive to some, interviewed Stereophile’s Michael Trei, covered the Florida Audio Expo 2025, The Best Vintage Amplifiers To Buy At A Garage Sale, interviewed Jason Stoddard of Schiit Audio, and covered the future of digital and class D with Michal Jurewicz of Mytek and High End Munich 2024, but previous episodes include how tos, tips, tricks and education in all things high fidelity audio from episodes like last week’s Hot Headphones For The Holidays, an Interview With John Devore, Measurements explained with Andrew Jones, 3 things to know about streaming audio, 5 things to consider when buying a tube amplifier, interviews with Steve Guttenberg, how to’s and more from audio’s greatest talents, including Michael Fremer, another interesting conversation about the History Of The BBC’s LS3/5a Loudspeaker, A Beginner’s Guide To Tube Amplifiers and A View From The Booth: Reference Systems, Accuracy & Why Audiophiles Love Jazz So Much: including rare interview with the late audio legend engineer Al Schmitt. The finale from season 5 includes the yearly “best of awards” and you can also find episodes covering British HiFi, Subwoofers/Setup/Tips, and the how to: Budgeting From Entry Level To High End. Season 4 highlights include Joseph Audio, Pro-Ject Turntables, and Rob Watts. One can still download this season’s educational show with TOP’s Beginners Primer To High Fidelity Digital Audio alongside the latest on Two-Way Speaker Design. Fan favorite What Is Mastering? What Happens When An Album Is Remastered? is also still available as well. If you are interested in further exploring the analog realm, the Guide To Buying A Turntable (and records) might point you in the right direction.
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