iFi Marks International Women’s Day with Women in Audio Roundtable

iFi’s Sound Progress: Women in Audio brings together voices from journalism, music production and community advocacy to discuss representation, perception and the barriers that still shape the audio industry. Announced on 5 March ahead of International Women’s Day on 8 March, the discussion is now available online via iFi’s YouTube channel.

The panel features Becky Scarrott, Audio Editor at TechRadar; Linette Smith, Co-founder and News Editor of HiFi Pig; Rhiannon Gray, a British music producer and engineer; and Emily Jones, Industry Lead for Yorkshire Sound Women Network. According to iFi, the conversation explores overlooked audiences, shifting roles across both consumer and professional audio, and how social media and community-led initiatives may help open the door to broader participation.

That makes the campaign more relevant than the usual brand-led nod to International Women’s Day. Audio, particularly on the hi-fi side, still carries a stubborn reputation for being male-dominated, both in engineering and enthusiast culture. A forum like this does not solve that, but it at least moves the conversation beyond tokenism and toward who gets heard, who gets represented, and whose products are actually designed for.

iFi also leans on recent hearing research to support the wider theme. A 2025 University of Bath announcement, tied to a Scientific Reports paper, said women demonstrated on average around 2dB greater hearing sensitivity than men across the populations studied, with the researchers also noting stronger speech perception in related testing.

That gives iFi’s broader point some scientific footing, although the relationship between hearing sensitivity and product marketing is not entirely straightforward. More sensitive hearing is not the same thing as a single “female listener” profile, and the reality is likely more complex.

Alongside the campaign, iFi is also drawing attention to its recently released GO link 2 portable DAC/headphone amp. Official product information says the new model supports PCM up to 384kHz, includes iFi’s S-Balanced circuitry, and adds compatibility with iFi’s Nexis app for over-the-air firmware updates and filter customisation. The device is listed on iFi’s site at £59.

The product tie-in is hardly unusual in brand-led campaigns. Still, in this case, the discussion remains the stronger point of interest, emphasising industry voices and representation rather than the hardware itself.

Kate Paciuch, European Marketing Manager at iFi audio, framed the initiative as part of a broader push for more inclusive thinking inside the industry, saying that better innovation happens when more voices help shape the products, strategy and direction of the sector. That is hard to argue with. Hi-fi has often been good at talking about fidelity, but perhaps less so at examining who is included in the listening room or the boardroom.

For more information visit iFi Audio