“There’s a Friggin’ Capybara!” episode artwork

EPISODE · May 27, 2026 · 1H 1M

“There’s a Friggin’ Capybara!”

from Audio Unleashed · host Brent Butterworth & Dennis Burger

We’re on Patreon! Find us at https://www.patreon.com/AudioUnleashed This week, Brent and Dennis kick things off by considering whether lack of cred is as big a problem with audio critics as it is for music critics, and debate whether or not Billy Joel is one of our greatest songwriters, even though both of them would happily pay to never hear “Uptown Girl” again. Then they dig deep into the latest retro revival sweeping through the speaker industry: field coils. Are electromagnets better for inner detail than permanent magnets? What do they do to microdynamics? We report; you decide. And wrapping up the conversation for most listeners, they riff on the announcements of two radically different personal audio products: a $7500 “quad-brid” IEM from Campfire and an adorable little headphone amp and DAC from Fosi.    💿 “The Audiophile Society's Speaker Test and System Optimization Album”: https://theaudiophilesociety.com/collections/albums/products/the-audiophile-societys-speaker-test-and-system-optimization-album. Use code AudioUnleashed25 for 25% off.    📖 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   Dennis’ relaunched YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@AdventureswithCPAP   Brent’s audio projects: 💿 The Audiophile Society's Amazing Fabulous Magnificent Speaker Test Album (engineered by Brent with VO by Dennis): https://theaudiophilesociety.com/collections/albums/products/the-audiophile-societys-speaker-test-and-system-optimization-album   💿 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   💿 Plaid Pants, Brent’s latest album! https://cygerbutterworth.bandcamp.com/album/plaid-pants   Further Reading:  “The NYT ‘Greatest Songwriters’ List is an Absolute Disaster” by Rick Beato: https://youtu.be/Dr2nuKFM33s?si=CgxO5cQpIhZhkpby “Watch This NYT "Music Critic" Embarrass Himself...AGAIN” by Rick Beato: https://youtu.be/IQTMkjQvHoc?si=b0kbWV9mIH7_HqWg “Rick Beato Versus the NY Times” by Ted Gioia: https://www.honest-broker.com/p/rick-beato-versus-the-ny-times “Jon Caramanica is a bad cliché” by Brad Mehldau: https://bradmehldau.substack.com/p/jon-caramanica-is-a-bad-cliche Jones and Cerreta: https://jonesandcerreta.com/ “The HiFi Five Episode 29: Field Coil Loudspeakers” by The HiFi Five: https://www.youtube.com/live/NW0FBrwVq1w?si=os6YvtuUurs7WA9O Campfire Audio Chimera - Quad-brid IEM: https://www.campfireaudio.com/products/chimera Fosi MD3 MagDac: https://fosiaudio.com/pages/fosi-audio-md3-magnetic-dac-headphone-amp

We’re on Patreon! Find us at https://www.patreon.com/AudioUnleashedThis week, Brent and Dennis kick things off by considering whether lack of cred is as big a problem with audio critics as it is for music critics, and debate whether or not Billy Joel is one of our greatest songwriters, even though both of them would happily pay to never hear “Uptown Girl” again. Then they dig deep into the latest retro revival sweeping through the speaker industry: field coils. Are electromagnets better for inner detail than permanent magnets? What do they do to microdynamics? We report; you decide. And wrapping up the conversation for most listeners, they riff on the announcements of two radically different personal audio products: a $7500 “quad-brid” IEM from Campfire and an adorable little headphone amp and DAC from Fosi.    💿 “The Audiophile Society's Speaker Test and System Optimization Album”: https://theaudiophilesociety.com/collections/albums/products/the-audiophile-societys-speaker-test-and-system-optimization-album. Use code AudioUnleashed25 for 25% off.    📖 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   Dennis’ relaunched YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@AdventureswithCPAP   Brent’s audio projects: 💿 The Audiophile Society's Amazing Fabulous Magnificent Speaker Test Album (engineered by Brent with VO by Dennis): https://theaudiophilesociety.com/collections/albums/products/the-audiophile-societys-speaker-test-and-system-optimization-album   💿 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   💿 Plaid Pants, Brent’s latest album! https://cygerbutterworth.bandcamp.com/album/plaid-pants   Further Reading:  “The NYT ‘Greatest Songwriters’ List is an Absolute Disaster” by Rick Beato: https://youtu.be/Dr2nuKFM33s?si=CgxO5cQpIhZhkpby “Watch This NYT "Music Critic" Embarrass Himself...AGAIN” by Rick Beato: https://youtu.be/IQTMkjQvHoc?si=b0kbWV9mIH7_HqWg “Rick Beato Versus the NY Times” by Ted Gioia: https://www.honest-broker.com/p/rick-beato-versus-the-ny-times “Jon Caramanica is a bad cliché” by Brad Mehldau: https://bradmehldau.substack.com/p/jon-caramanica-is-a-bad-cliche Jones and Cerreta: https://jonesandcerreta.com/ “The HiFi Five Episode 29: Field Coil Loudspeakers” by The HiFi Five: https://www.youtube.com/live/NW0FBrwVq1w?si=os6YvtuUurs7WA9O Campfire Audio Chimera - Quad-brid IEM: https://www.campfireaudio.com/products/chimera Fosi MD3 MagDac: https://fosiaudio.com/pages/fosi-audio-md3-magnetic-dac-headphone-amp

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“There’s a Friggin’ Capybara!”

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This episode was published on May 27, 2026.

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We’re on Patreon! Find us at https://www.patreon.com/AudioUnleashed This week, Brent and Dennis kick things off by considering whether lack of cred is as big a problem with audio critics as it is for music critics, and debate whether or not Billy...

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