During the last couple of decades, photoacoustic and photothermal techniques have been used extensively for the study of thermal properties of condensed matter and for thermal wave probing of all kinds of materials and structures. In this paper, we will give a brief account of the basic aspects of the successful standard photoacoustic model with acoustic microphone detection and of a setup with an alternative detection technique with a pyroelectric transducer. The possibilities of these measuring schemes for the simultaneous measurement of the specific heat capacity and thermal conductivity will be illustrated with results from a study of the Curie point of gadolinium and for liquid crystals.