The HiFi Hobbyist Podcast

alan gillies
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This podcast is part of the HiFi Hobbyist Multichannel project for people whose hobby is High Fidelity audio reproduction. It started life as a blog in 2020 and has expanded to include videocasts and AI-generated audio discussions. The HiFi Hobbyist podcast is a new channel that aims to discuss the issues raised in more detail through a dedicated audio podcast channel where in-depth talks will be alternated by AI discussions of the same issue. We will also produce occasional special editions. Our goal is to publish once a week. You can visit the main HiFi Hobbyist site at hifihobbyist.net

  1. 5d ago

    The remastering work of two great British audio engineers

    Welcome to the third episode in this mini-series about the production of vinyl records and other physical media music formats. It has been inspired by attending a talk by Miles Showell, a renowned audio engineer which reminded me that my Hi-Fi only sounds as good as the material as I play on it. In this episode, we will compare Miles’s work to that of another great audio engineer, Steve Wilson. If you haven’t listened to last week’s episode, I do recommend that you go back and listen to that first, as we will revisit some of the topics discussed last week, this time with practical examples. In next week’s episode, we will generate a discussion comparing the work of these two artisans. The music accompanying this episode features extracts from the Planets Suite by Gustav Holst. Our audio extracts are provided by Musopen.org and played by the USAF Band and the Skidmore College Orchestra. These recordings are in the public domain.

  2. Oct 9

    The role of mastering and remastering

    Welcome to the second episode in this mini-series about the production of vinyl records and other physical media music formats. It has been inspired by attending a talk by Miles Showell, a renowned audio engineer which reminded me that my Hi-Fi only Sounds as good as the material as I play on it. In this episode, we will focus on specific aspects of production notably mastering of the recording in preparation for final production. If you haven’t listened to last week’s episode, I do recommend that you go back and listen, but you can listen to this one first, if you like! In next week’s episode, we will focus on the work of two of the great audio engineers associated with the mastering process, Steve Wilson and Miles Showell. After this, to conclude the series, we will generate a discussion comparing the work of these two artisans. The music accompanying this episode has been generated by the Hi-Fi Hobbyist with the help of Mureka AI software. We revisit some of the brass band music, which has proved most popular on our partner Pixabay site, under the tag mediahobbyist We hope that you enjoy this mini-series and if this is your first visit to the Hi-Fi Hobbyist podcast that you will explore previous episodes. To ensure that you don't miss any episodes in the future please follow our podcast wherever you listen to them.

  3. Oct 2

    Producing a vinyl record

    Welcome to this mini-series about the production of vinyl records and other physical media music formats. It has been inspired by attending a talk by Miles Showell, a renowned audio engineer who reminded me that my Hi-Fi only sounds as good as the material as I play on it. In this mini-series in the first episode, we will consider how vinyl records are produced from the recording session to the production of the final record that we can play on our turntables. The following episode will then focus on specific aspects of production notably mastering of the recording in preparation for final production. The third episode we will focus on the work of two of the great audio engineers associated with the mastering process, Steve Wilson and Miles Showell. To conclude the series, we will generate a discussion comparing the work of these two artisans. The music accompanying this first episode has been generated by the Hi-Fi Hobbyist with the help of Mureka AI software. It features a couple of musical sweets in a baroque style played by a trio of violin, flute, and harpsichord. We hope that you enjoy these episodes and if this is your first visit to the Hi-Fi Hobbyist podcast that you will explore previous episodes. To ensure that you don't miss any episodes in the future please follow our podcast wherever you listen to them. In the first part of this episode, we will consider the role of the master tape in the recording process.

  4. Sep 25

    A generated discussion about the role and future of Samsung in Hi-Fi

    In recent years, Samsung has emerged as a major player in the global hi-fi marketplace. This episode is the third in a series of podcasts that seek to understand how and why this has happened and what the implications are for Hi-Fi hobbyists. The Hi-Fi Hobbyist has a personal interest here, Mark Levinson, the manufacturer of my amplifier, is one of the brands acquired by Samsung. In the first episode of the series, we considered the history of Samsung from a local company in Korea to major electronics conglomerate and their acquisition of Hi-Fi brands. After this, we considered what this means for both Samsung and for Hi-Fi Hobbyists now and in the future. This third episode is a generated discussion about the implications for their Hi-Fi brands, and their Hi-Fi hobbyist customers. The music that accompanies this podcast is more from the 24 Caprices for Solo Violin written by Niccolò Paganini between 1802 and 1817.  The recordings were recorded, produced and published by Gregor Quendel, and distributed by classics.de. They are included here under a Creative Commons - Attribution-Non-commercial 4.0 International licence We hope that you enjoy the podcast.  If you do, and this is your first episode, please go back and listen to previous podcast episodes. To avoid missing any episodes in the future, please follow us wherever you listen to your podcasts.

  5. Sep 18

    Why did Samsung acquire its Hi-Fi brands?

    In recent years, Samsung has emerged as a major player in the global hi-fi marketplace. This podcast mini-series seeks to understand how and why this has happened and what the implications are for Hi-Fi hobbyists. The Hi-Fi Hobbyist has a personal interest here: Mark Levinson, the manufacturer of my amplifier, is one of the brands acquired by Samsung. In last week’s episode, we considered the history of Samsung from a local company in Korea to major electronics conglomerate. After this, we considered how they acquired their portfolio of Hi-Fi brands. In this week’s episode, we will consider what this means for both Samsung and for Hi-Fi Hobbyists now and in the future. The music that accompanies this podcast is designed to recreate two of the great jazz genres of the 1920s and 1930s, Dixieland jazz and Boogie Woogie piano. The music was created by the Hi-Fi Hobbyist for this podcast using Mureka AI software. We hope that you enjoy the podcast.  If you haven’t listened to last week’s episode, please do go back and listen to this and other previous podcast episodes. To avoid missing any episodes, please follow us wherever you listen to your podcasts.

  6. Sep 11

    Samsung and its role as a major player in the Hi-Fi market

    In recent years, Samsung has emerged as a major player in the global hi-fi marketplace. This podcast seeks to understand how and why this has happened and what the implications are for Hi-Fi hobbyists. The Hi-Fi Hobbyist has a personal interest here, Mark Levinson, the manufacturer of my amplifier, is one of the brands acquired by Samsung. In this first episode, we shall consider the history of Samsung from a local company in Korea to major electronics conglomerate. After this we will consider in more detail their acquisition of Hi-Fi brands. In next weeks’ episode, we will consider what this means for both Samsung and for Hi-Fi Hobbyists now and in the future The music that accompanies this podcast is from the 24 Caprices for Solo Violin written by Niccolò Paganini between 1802 and 1817.  The recordings were recorded, produced and published by Gregor Quendel, and distributed by classics.de. They are included here under a Creative Commons - Attribution-Non-commercial 4.0 International licence We hope that you enjoy the podcast.  If you do, please come back for next week’s episode, or go back and listen to previous podcast episodes. To avoid missing any episodes, please follow us wherever you listen to your podcasts.

  7. Sep 5

    The generated debate about the audio characteristics of valve and transistor amplifiers

    Back in December, the Hi-Fi Hobbyist podcast took a first look at the use of valves and transistors in Hi-Fi components. Valves or strictly thermionic valves are the British terms for what U.S. Hi-Fi Hobbyists call vacuum tubes. In this series of episodes, we are taking a deeper, more detailed look at the topic. In the first episode, we looked at the underlying scientific theory, and the theoretical implications for sound quality. In last week's episode, we looked at examples of real-world amplifiers and considered why the reality is more complex than the basic science might suggest. In this final episode, we have fed the data to two AI protagonists and prompted them to debate the merits of valves and transistors. This debate is conducted in American English, so unlike the previous two episodes, this debate sometimes uses the terminology of vacuum tubes alongside valves. In this episode, the music accompanying the podcast is classical music supplied by classicals.de. It features the 1924 arrangement of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue for two pianos. Rhapsody in Blue was originally written as a composition for solo piano and jazz band.  It was commissioned by bandleader Paul Whiteman, the work combines elements of classical music with jazz-influenced effects and premiered in a concert titled "An Experiment in Modern Music" on February 12, 1924, in Aeolian Hall, New York City. This recording has been made for CLASSICALS.DE and released in 2025 under a Creative Commons - Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 International licence. It has been chosen because pianos are often cited as a difficult instrument for Hi-Fi systems to reproduce. In order to make sure that you don’t miss any future episodes why don’t you follow the Hi-Fi Hobbyist podcast wherever you listen to your podcasts?

  8. Aug 28

    The reality of valve and transistor amplifiers

    Back in December, the Hi-Fi Hobbyist podcast took a first look at the use of valves and transistors in Hi-Fi components. Valves or strictly thermionic valves are the British terms for what U.S. Hi-Fi Hobbyists call vacuum tubes. We will use the term “valve” throughout these podcast episodes. In this series of episodes, we are taking a deeper more detailed look at the topic. In last week’s episode, we looked at the underlying scientific theory, and the theoretical implications for sound quality. In this week’s episode, we will start by looking at examples of real-world amplifiers and then consider why the reality is more complex than the basic science might suggest. In the final episode, we will feed the data to two AI protagonists and let them debate the merits of valves and transistors. In this episode, the music accompanying the podcast is music created by the Hi-Fi Hobbyist with the help of Mureka AI to evoke the rock and pop music from the 1970s and 1980s. It starts with a largely acoustic track that borrows from the roots of rock and roll, before gradually moving on to different forms of rock, first southern rock, then the kind of smooth rock that characterised many American bands in the 1970s, before finishing with a good old British style rock track. This kind of music has traditionally been thought to be better reproduced by transistor amplifiers than valve amplifiers.

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About

This podcast is part of the HiFi Hobbyist Multichannel project for people whose hobby is High Fidelity audio reproduction. It started life as a blog in 2020 and has expanded to include videocasts and AI-generated audio discussions. The HiFi Hobbyist podcast is a new channel that aims to discuss the issues raised in more detail through a dedicated audio podcast channel where in-depth talks will be alternated by AI discussions of the same issue. We will also produce occasional special editions. Our goal is to publish once a week. You can visit the main HiFi Hobbyist site at hifihobbyist.net

Information

  • Creator
    alan gillies
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    70
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2025 All rights reserved.
  • Show Website
    The HiFi Hobbyist Podcast

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