Just to add a bit to what @generic and @Polygonhell said, I’ve found that the effect of the tube amp varies significantly with both what headphone is connected and the source material. Some tracks really bring out the warmth while others may show off the harmonic distortion. And many tracks don’t sound much different at all.
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So you’re calling for the return of 4-hour podcasts 
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Sacrifices must be made for the truth to be revealed! 
Apologies if this has already been suggested, but I would love to geek out and learn about how the physics of different amplifier topologies or quality of circuit components affects sound, and whether there are any misconceptions about what really matters (e.g. capacitors vs. output transformers, capacitor types, etc.).
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I think it would be great to see a discussion about quality of life features.
For example, I love how my RME ADI allows me to double tap one of the face buttons to switch between four different headphones/IEMs in a complete way (volume, gain, EQ, and other settings are saved and restored).
The RME ADI also allows me to know the current volume of my audio because it displays real-time voltage output after EQ and all other processing.
These features are so valuable to me. I wish they could be found in every decent DAC/amp.
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Edit: added a TLDR
TLDR:
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What is the right way of conceptualising and talking about the differences in sound that an amp makes? - E.g. what is happening in audio terms when a Topping A90 sounds dead and lifeless, when one amp sounds flat and another adds depth, and when an amp has more ‘headroom’ and higher damping factor vs a less powerful device?
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What is tube sound?
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Please list your music recommendations in the video description to make them more accessible.
I’m really interested in this idea too, not only from the perspective of specific amp topologies and components, but also known positive or negative qualities of individual amps (or possibly dacs), to the extent there is actual credible information available about this stuff. For example, I’ve been working my way through listening to all the old Headphones Show livestreams, and in quite a number of them Resolve talks about how the Topping A90 sounds dead and lifeless. I’ve heard other reviewers (e.g. WaveTheory) describe it as having good transient detail in the leading edge of tones but with nothing following behind, such that the decay is too quick and so music sounds like it lacks weight and is compressed, deadened or flattened. I’ve heard that this can be the result of measurement chasing designs that use too much feedback (I can’t profess to understand the details).
For me personally, I have a Singxer SA-1, which I find makes the bass sound soft and woolly compared to my Chord Mojo 2. Some have described the amp as having a ‘smooth class A sound’, but I perceive it as definitely missing bite, edge and detail for (at least) bass tones that is present with other amps. It is famous for having a set of 4 capacitors in the signal path which can be bypassed using shunt jumpers (the so-called DC offset mod), which I am looking forward to doing and comparing myself (I have tested that there is no DC offset on my Mojo 2 so in theory should be safe enough). Others have described the result of the mod as brightening up the sound of the amp, or giving it a better sense of liveliness, which I don’t doubt given my understanding that capacitors can block low frequencies.
Also, if the amp is affecting the decay of a tone, does that mean there is actually something happening in the time domain? Or is it perhaps something about having flattened harmonics (i.e. so you hear the fundamental but not the harmonics that should be present in the decay)? With apologies for raising time domain stuff (which Mad Economist seems to hate), I genuinely don’t know, but am very interested.
Also, some amps are said to add soundstage depth, and others are said to be flat. Why is this? Is it about damping factor? If damping factor is affecting the sound, what is the appropriate way to conceptualise this? It’s clearly affecting the frequency response at the eardrum (because a headphone might sound different on different amps), but does that mean it is affecting the frequency response at the headphone, notwithstanding that when the amp itself is measured it might not sure any deviations from a flat frequency response?
As a related but different point, I’m interested in exploring the concept of exactly what tube sound is, which Collinshc67 mentioned above. I have an Xduoo TA-26S (a darkvoice-clone style OTL amp), which does seem to ‘open up’ my HD 6XX and HD 560s in a way that my solid state / class A amps don’t. It’s hard to describe the perception - it feels like wider soundstage is one result, but I’m not sure if it’s the only one. Why would that occur as a result of the amp? Is it changing the frequency response of the headphones? Is it likely to be distortion? Damping factor? Impedance interactions? Or is something else going on?
Also, just as a final side note, I’ve been really enjoying the music recommendations that you guys have been doing. One small request though please - Listener has been asking the other hosts to put the recommendations in the chat, but could you possibly put them in the video description as well? Sometimes they are difficult to understand, or remember. If I’m listening to the podcast somewhere and can’t make a note of what was recommended, it’s a bit of a pain to go back and try to find the exact point in the video (and exact point in the chat, if the audio is unclear, which it sometimes is). Putting them in the description could be a more enduring way of recording them.
Btw I’ve been listening to your guys’ content for about the past year and a half, but am pretty new to the forum and have recently started posting comments on youtube under my handle MichaelJBus - love your work, and always look forward to your livestreams and other videos.
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Oh heck. Why not a segment on tubes and tube rolling in general. With an explanation of different types of tubes, common tubes. Holy Grail tubes, getters, tube dampers, biasing, and perhaps cost to performance. I’ve not gone down the rabbit hole - I stay in the rabbit hole’s anteroom. My Lyr3 is using the Solid State tube substitute most of the time, but I have a real decent OTL amp at work and I tube rolled about $600 or so before I stopped and decided that it was good enough. And that’s with 4 tubes (Eufonika H7M)
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Also perhaps this has been covered, but a review of various DSP technologies and how they compare to (or compensate for) traditional hardware approaches for sound reproduction. For as much as I’ve spent on audio equipment, I still find myself getting just as much musical enjoyment from listening to something like the AirPod Pro 2 (perhaps because it makes it easy to just forget the gear and enjoy the music), but is there something about the software side of things that contributes to this (just like the way images from modern smartphone cameras are as much about computational photography as they are about lenses and sensors).
Would love to hear a discussion about inclusion in the Hi-Fi space? Maybe things to consider as we try to grow the hobby and keep listeners coming in from newer age groups and demographics
i feel that it can be very off-putting for the uninformed to try and learn about headphones and audio enjoyment more generally
loose list of ideas I feel like play into this:
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unwarranted snark (largely on forums)
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lack of proactive efforts to include everyone (do we really think the gender ratio is this skewed naturally?)
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limited videos targeted to people who have no clue about the space
to conclude I think the space could be much bigger and more representative than it currently is
broadly people love music, they might not be interested in gear, but in my experience they love to hear their favorite songs in higher quality ( ~fidelity~ some might say)
Are DDC’s of value? Why? Why not?
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So I know EQ has been brought up several times, but not quite from the angle I’m thinking of: I don’t think you’ve ever gone in-depth much on “EQ-ability” and its limits, how much you can push which headphones with EQ, what bad things start to happen with lots of dB, higher/lower Q, maybe it gets worse with deep cuts right next to high peaks, what to look for in headphones to get better EQ-ability, what are the most EQ-able models you each know (maybe per price-bracket). I remember there was a list of single-number EQ-ability scores for a lot of headphone models on the old GoldenEars website - could we get some equivalent estimate today for newer models by looking at each headphone’s distortion vs. frequency curves or something?
LE:
Also, trade-offs, what examples you know of EQ-ing toward neutrality/transparency and losing some other oft-reviewer-mentioned desirable sonic characteristic. Or just generally EQ-ing for one benefit and losing another.
Also, EQ correspondents of “legendary” qualities like slam, if you’ve been able to reproduce them in headphones not known to have those qualities stock.
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I’d be interested to hear your take(s) on personalized HRTF profiles by Embody (0). This popped onto my radar with the recent Call of Duty release, and their integration with “Immerse powered by Embody” (1). The claim is that through picture(s) of your head / ears, they can calculate a (close approximation of a) persons HRTF, and as a result improve spatial audio. I’m mostly curious as to your thoughts on whether it’s possible to get a decent approximation of a persons HRTF in this manner, and why (or why not). I figure it’s adjacent to the usual audiophile discussions, but could be entertaining and provide another reason to talk about HRTFs and what not.
This was good until she started using the concept of “Listening with an HRTF on the other hand…” as a marketing phrase. That’s probably not the way this term should be thought about, since the same would be true if you’re just listening to a headphone with a ‘good’ FR.
Just the (IEM) tips, please.
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I back that, I’d be keen to hear about IEM tips. I have a couple sets of iems that fit okay but want to get new tips and am overwhelmed by the contradictory info out there and don’t know where to start.
They certainly might cover it in depth, but in my experience most fitment issues can be easily solved with memory foam tips. They last only 1-3 months with regular use but are quite inexpensive. Example:
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The problem is the effect that foam tips have on the sound. This is largely what I would love to see covered, how different bores and materials can affect sound. Obviously, the amount which an IEM is affected by a tip will vary from one IEM design to another.
IMO you are overthinking this. The tip-induced sound changes follow from achieving a good seal in the ear canal. Most IEMs are meant for use with a standard bore.
Some people’s ear canals have odd shapes whereby getting a seal can be difficult or uncomfortable with flappy silicone rubber or flanged tips. Foam sidesteps fitment issues and simply creates a good seal. Also consider that many IEMs have a sound vent to shape the character and improve sound quality. The vent remains open and standardized with any tip, and the sound quality often becomes poor and weird if the vent gets covered.
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Not sure if this is in the scope of the podcast, but I would love to hear a discussion with Badseed, Optimum, Gadgetry, Fresh reviews, or someone like them about competitive advantage with audio equipment.
Another idea could be talking with professional musicians and talking to them about their relationship with audio equipment. From my experience, almost none of the musicians I know even really care about their music playback equipment past just buying the industry standard stuff, and you would probably expect more musicians to care about this kind of thing.
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Could we have a discussion on reconstruction filters on DACs? Apart from NOS or Slow filters with heavy treble roll-off, do varying degrees of sharp filters make an actual difference?