[Deiz]

So, my interest in headphone audio began in 2003, or so. I checked out Head-Fi briefly, but my interest waned as at that time I didn't really have the funds to get into the hobby.

In late 2004 my interest resurged, and I picked up a pair of HD212s from a local dealer (At an outrageous price. Didn't know about Headroom back then.) and I was pretty happy for about two years. In late 2006, the left channel of the cable gave out, and the dealer wanted $25 to replace it. Not worth it, considering their cost new.

So, I started reading Head-Fi. In early 2007, I finally wanted to contribute, so I joined up.

I've noticed that over time, the level of cruft (especially in the headphone forum) has risen dramatically.

There's a perfectly useful sticky with recommendations at various price points and form factors, but given how long it's been around versus its view count, I surmise that it's not often viewed by new members.

Instead we get a pile of subjective threads asking for the "best" headphone for a specific genre, or at a certain price point - And decidedly, if there were actually such things, there would only be one manufacturer of headphones. Plus, if there were, they'd be listed in a sticky. It seems dedicated members of Head-Fi end up becoming search directories for new, lazy members.

I suppose I'm just tired of seeing the same threads rehashed every day or two. In general, I miss the level of coherent discussion in those forums. The amp forum is less infested, but I still derive more enjoyment from the Sound Science because there are zero cruft threads.

Google search. 2,360 results for "Best headphones for". It's either genre, a specific instrument, a price point. Hell, there are even 281 that are titled "Best headphones for me?" There are other wordings, but I don't need to dig them out, as you can see half a dozen examples of these threads every time you visit the headphone forum.

Is it just an evolving laziness of the current generation? When I have a problem, or want to learn something, I Google, view mailing list archives, ask a friend, and if none of those avenues help, I ask others. Seems most people skip to the last step.

All that said, is the cruft increasing, or am I just evolving into a crotchety old man?

 

[panda]

with an increasing amount of people you are going to find more kinks in the chain... nothing you can do about it.

 

[noremedy]

I think panda put it right, but i guess everyone starts out that way. - The varying levels of annoyance from new members is repaid when they gain knowledge and experience in the audio area - some obviously go different ways. But if 1/10 people turn into someone such as Uncle Erik with his knowledge, answering their questions due to their 'laziness' or lack of knowledge on how to use the forums is worthwhile - in my opinion.

 

[Currawong]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Deiz /img/forum/go_quote.gif Is it just an evolving laziness of the current generation?

Yes, but it's been a problem throughout history. People go out of their way to avoid making an effort. Maybe there needs to be a newbie forum for these kinds of things, so we can ignore it when we hit "New Posts" (add &exclude=forum-number to the new posts url) but it would just add more complexity to what is already an insanely complex and crowded forum.

 

[apatN]

This forum is all about headphones. People come here to find new stuff, talk about it etc. Not a big deal and I guess I speak for us all when I say that it was the way we found this forum in the first place.

I do agree that the stickies aren't read as much as I would like. The 'best headphone for' is getting frustrating. Maybe the mods can make some sort of auto-message asking very kindly 'Have you read the stickies, newb?' whenever a low-poster wants to start a thread in the headphones section.

 

[ZephyrSapphire]

The only way to stop this is for the mods to be stricter IMHO. Allowing such repetitive threads wastes our time and bandwidth

 

[tk3]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ZephyrSapphire /img/forum/go_quote.gif The only way to stop this is for the mods to be stricter IMHO. Allowing such repetitive threads wastes our time and bandwidth

I agree, I wouldn't mind if there was a stricter policy regarding these threads.
This has nothing to do with elitism or driving away newbies, but many of the people who make those threads typically don't put in any effort to try to get what is suitable for them.
Instead they just want an answer spoonfed to them to a question where there is often no clear cut answer.

I think the example of a good newbie is one that has done their reading on what is available, and is able to describe well on what is:

-their budget and upstream components
-sort of headphone they're looking for
-their music preferences
-what they are looking to improve soundwise
-a number of models they are considering so people can tell them "why" a particular headphone is better suited for their tastes than others among those.


On the other hand, most of the threads are just of the kind that asks "hay what are best headphones for $100" and takes another 5-10 posts for people to ask the above questions.
Just a waste of space and bandwidth IMHO.

 

[Karl H]

This thread made me chuckle a little.

I haven't been contributing very long to this forum, but I have been using forums for many years now. I'm also rapidly becoming the grumpy old man I said I never would be, and before time too.

The things you're describing aren't particular to Head-Fi, I can assure you. The internet isn't just the realm of geeks anymore, hasn't been for a while, and it'll never go back to that either. It can be frustrating when the same old threads keep popping up, and you do sometimes wonder if anyone has the ability to use a forum search function, read stickies, or even use Google.

I disagree with the notion that these threads are a waste of time. My view is that eradicating them will only make the forum appear more elitist than it already can, and forums (especially the popular ones) do appear that way to many new members, particularly if said new member is new to the internet itself.

For some, the longer you use a forum, the less tolerant you become of new members. Noremedy's point is a very valid one I think. Without new members, the forum cannot evolve. The 'passing ships' will do just that, but you will get those who stay, learn and contribute because they have a genuine interest. It would be a shame to lose members such as these, whatever the forum.

Personally, I find the best way of dealing with threads I don't like is by ignoring them. It's not difficult. I would bear in mind though that just because a member is new, or has a low post count, it doesn't automatically make them an 'n00b'. Threads like these may have the best intentions, but simply stating "it has nothing to do with elitism or driving away newbies" doesn't mean that it won't.

 

[moogoob]

I agree with Karl H (your username has the same first name and initial as an uncle of mine... freaky!) in that the entire internet is littered with newbies. Going through my first posts here, I get embarrassed with the stupid questions I asked. And that was less than a year ago.

Some graduate to become good, contributing members whose wallets hurt. Other, well, never will. It's the way of any discussion forum with an open membership.

 

[krmathis]

Yeah, its simply a result of Head-Fi gaining popularity and a steep increase in members.
All those "BEST headphone for $50, ..." threads are quite annoying. So are all those questions who clearly would have been answered if the poster had taken time reading the sticky threads (ex. Why can't I post in the FS forum?).

Oh well!

 

[ph0rk]

It would be a simple matter to require new posters view X number of threads or pages of threads before posting, which would work for me.

Also, a new thread limit of one per day for members with less than 150ish posts or in the first month would help, too.

 

[Calexico]

150 posts and first month are sort of unreasonable. Most members can figure out general forum etiquette in a day of browsing through a few topics.

 

[ZephyrSapphire]

I disagree with Karl H. We need newbies who are actually serious enough to make an effort. Not spoonfed. I'm slowly seeing this forum devolve into, "Oh, I don't need a home amp for my big cans, I can just get a portable" due to the constant stream of new portable amps and their.. biasful ads and favouritism. This forum is for people who want to become an elitist when enjoying music to begin with. Not for those who plan on looking for some cheap solution just to get more bass because their white earbuds broke.

 

[redshifter]

hEy GuYz!!! LOL!

wutz the KrunKest headphone for under a benjamin?

 

[digger945]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Deiz /img/forum/go_quote.gif Is it just an evolving laziness of the current generation? When I have a problem, or want to learn something, I Google, view mailing list archives, ask a friend, and if none of those avenues help, I ask others. Seems most people skip to the last step.

It's probably a toss up between laziness and the "I'll ask these guys who know everything about headphones" thinking. I really wanted to ask a lot of questions when I first joined HF, and when I did, it was always within an already established thread, after doing a little bit of research both here and on Google.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Karl H /img/forum/go_quote.gif I would bear in mind though that just because a member is new, or has a low post count, it doesn't automatically make them an 'n00b'.

It's not difficult to tell these experienced/knowledgable "low-post-counters" from the casual-listener-wanting-more n00bs.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ph0rk /img/forum/go_quote.gif It would be a simple matter to require new posters view X number of threads or pages of threads before posting, which would work for me. Also, a new thread limit of one per day for members with less than 150ish posts or in the first month would help, too.

It would be swell if we had some additional checkboxes in the UserCP:
◊Check here to ignore users with less than ??? posts.
◊Check here to ignore threads started by users with less than ??? posts.