[FastAndClean]

here is innerfidelity measurements database - https://diyaudioheaven.files.wordpr...fidelity-allgraphs-updated-alphabetical-2.pdf

 

[Redcarmoose]

That last guy they had, could not hold Tyll's jock! Really miss that guy....for all the work he put in, it seemed only a few dedicated readers appreciated him! I hope his custom made mobile-home-truck is still going strong!!!

More than a few; that’s an understatement.
I was researching the AKG k701 headphone as I was about to buy it in 2006. A Google search brought-up Tyll wearing the k701 headphones at an early 2006 Head-Fi meet. He was the first person I saw on Head-Fi. I also thought, wow what an idea; a web site about headphones, these people are really into it.

 

[zeromacro]

I miss Tyll, he was the only reviewer I really trusted. There are too many sponsored reviewers now, and albeit much better production value but little to no substantive / credible info. Everybody uses graphs now with the typical audiophile jargons but it's amazing how it still leaves me so clueless of what the headphones are really like.
Bought both the HE500 and Clears based on his reviews and they have both been phenomenal. He wasn't always right, but I always knew he's give his honest opinion.

 

[Redcarmoose]

I miss Tyll, he was the only reviewer I really trusted. There are too many sponsored reviewers now, and albeit much better production value but little to no substantive / credible info. Everybody uses graphs now with the typical audiophile jargons but it's amazing how it still leaves me so clueless of what the headphones are really like.
Bought both the HE500 and Clears based on his reviews and they have both been phenomenal. He wasn't always right, but I always knew he's give his honest opinion.

Just went back to Tyll’s revisitation of the Sennheiser HD580, HD600 and HD650. He goes into the argument about the legendary veil and the smiley which was created to show the beating of a dead horse. The original dead horse.

The article goes on to explain how to disassemble and re-put together the headphones. About the history of faulty connection pins. It’s more involved than any review you would typically read today. He goes on to describe the character differences between the three headphones in a clear and down-to-earth fashion that’s a template of how to make an easy to understand review of something. No BS, just a deep understanding of the concepts at hand regarding the three models and how they are interrelated.

 

[plakat]

That reflects my impression as well: he was consistent and offered his honest opinion, without imposing it as the unquestionable truth on the reader. His taste/preference was not exactly mine at the time (though I now tend to like a bit more warm headphones), but he knew about his taste (labeling some descriptions as influenced by this) and never cared about pleasing vendors (i.e. writing only about models he liked or at least cared about).

I really miss this integrity today. Every "we received this model for free, but this does not change our opinion in any way" reminds me of this. All so-called professional reviewers today seem to accept donations, which, to me, is simply wrong and lets me question whom they actually serve (besides their wallets of course). Which, in turn, makes me ignore all those pretty essays that boiled down to "don't harm future business relations".

 

[tomb]

here is innerfidelity measurements database - https://diyaudioheaven.files.wordpr...fidelity-allgraphs-updated-alphabetical-2.pdf

Thanks so much for this - thought it was lost forever!

 

[Redcarmoose]

I hope everyone understands that when you see a new “recommendation list” that “list” is simply Tyll’s “Wall of Fame” concept taken and brought into 2020? His ideas are so deeply ingrained into the entire headphone subculture that people don’t recognize them as his. Obviously now we also have tier lists which go further to take IEMs and headphones and create a hierarchy. Still the Wall of Fame was a big deal and people were mental about it. If a headphone was added or removed there were reverberations which would take place. People actually thought those “wall lists” he made were the word of God.

Zeos Pantera has the wall of Recommendation Headphones, which is a 100% copy of “The Wall of Fame”. When HBB makes a “rec” it’s the same Wall of Fame concept. I could go on and on but it’s even surprising to me in 20/20 hindsight how much Tyll’s influence has flooded the future of this hobby. Pretty much every review video on YouTube has some small relevance to Tyll’s first review videos. People could simply copy his style and improve their communication skills. IMO

The “Wall of Fame” is an objective delineated list of truth missing from a hobby generally understood as purely subjective. The objective “truth” is the information people are looking to find simply by logging into Head-Fi. A recommendation list is simply a guide in a consumer world full of false advertising.



The other concept was the show interview videos. So we had this nice intelligent guy in a Hawaiian shirt prancing around shows. Note how unassuming and pleasant he was. In those videos he’s not trying to prove how smart he is.........but simply letting the person he is interviewing show a new or interesting concept which may be of interest to the viewer. This is the exact way to do a video show report and he did it first for headphones. IMO

 

[Redcarmoose]

That reflects my impression as well: he was consistent and offered his honest opinion, without imposing it as the unquestionable truth on the reader. His taste/preference was not exactly mine at the time (though I now tend to like a bit more warm headphones), but he knew about his taste (labeling some descriptions as influenced by this) and never cared about pleasing vendors (i.e. writing only about models he liked or at least cared about).

I really miss this integrity today. Every "we received this model for free, but this does not change our opinion in any way" reminds me of this. All so-called professional reviewers today seem to accept donations, which, to me, is simply wrong and lets me question whom they actually serve (besides their wallets of course). Which, in turn, makes me ignore all those pretty essays that boiled down to "don't harm future business relations".

What about the legendary 8.7 score given out as not great great but not bad....... as an ongoing phenomenon at various high profile reviewer sites? Such a score undermines the basic need for reviews in the first place. With mostly 8.7 out of 10 scores, a resource meant to show a objective reality ends up simply a show for advertising.

In contrast a reviewer critical of faults....obtains the golden key to review empowerment...........go figure???

Nothing is perfect, and while there are actual good and bad methods and outcomes in music replay.....reviewers need to be able to give realistic criticism to provide an opportunity for better headphones to be noted.

Samples allow reviews of IEMs DACs/amps, cables and headphones not normally found. Just because a reviewer gets something for free doesn’t mean a guaranteed great review. With any degree of moral integrity the reviewer needs to be able to sleep well at night.......knowing their words may inspire the masses to purchase using hard earned cash. The real issue is sorting out the true goals of the reviewer, as people are typically inspired by various positive attributes, and critical of different issues than you may find offensive. Finding common ground is the key. Tyll was able to find a wide range of followers (who maybe didn’t share his sound signature taste) but felt his passion for the hobby sincere and learned none-the-less.

 

[plakat]

Samples allow reviews of IEMs DACs/amps, cables and headphones not normally found. Just because a reviewer gets something for free doesn’t mean a guaranteed great review. With any degree of moral integrity the reviewer needs to be able to sleep well at night even though their words may inspire the masses to purchase using hard earned cash. The real issue is sorting out the true goals of the reviewer, as people are typically inspired by various positive attributes.

I'm not against samples, but I do see it as mandatory to either send them back or give them out to readers in some kind of lottery etc. I don't think its a good idea to have any personal gains from the relationship with manufactures.
I don't advocate for professional reviewers buying all the stuff -- then they are in this financially once again, with a bias. As you said, figuring out the real goals of the reviewer is the problem. And solving that becomes easier when samples are returned I think. Innerfidelity had a clear policy on that (and it was better than what many sites now use, simply stating that they did receive the item free of charge...)
My fear is that moral integrity gets compromised when a publication starts to live off advertising. Which is a widespread problem in the "web of free" of course...

 

[Redcarmoose]

 

[Redcarmoose]

 

[FullBright1]

Actually, a new Editor did replace Tyll.
He lasted about a year, obo.
He didnt have the "touch", and so........gone.
Here is for example one of the first "new" IF monthly updates, after Tyll left.
-

Latest Additions June 2019 T.H.E. Show 2019: Where Art Thou Headphones? I'm a fan of The Bard just like most other prose knuckle draggers, so I try to sneak in a little Shakespeare to my headlines whenever I can. But it seemed particularly apt considering so few headphone-centric showings at this year's T.H.E. Show due to the fact, according to Director of Social Media and Marketing Emiko Carlin, that feedback from exhibitors was more two-channel. Read More >> Cleer Audio Flow Review I've been following the folks at Cleer Audio for a couple years now, starting back when they were just showing prototypes of their NEXT headphone. Everyone I've met at the company has shown a passion for their work and an openness to feedback which is quite rare in my experience. Audiophiles are not known for holding back when it comes to negative comments, so I applaud them for being so open to taking input from the community. Read More >> Bose Launch New $399 Noise Cancelling Headphones 700 When I'm travelling around the city - be it in a car, cab, bus or a train, the headphones I see the most - other than earbuds and Beats - are of the noise-cancelling variety. And of those noise-cancelling headphones I notice, it's the Bose Quiet Comfort 35 that dominate the landscape here in Vancouver. Read More >> Redscape Audio Software Headtracker Review This review took quite a bit longer than is usual for me, typically the longest part of my review process is allowing time to get over the 'honeymoon' or 'new toy' syndrome which inevitably comes with unboxing fresh gear. This time however I was a bit stumped as to just how to describe the actual piece of kit itself. Read More >> InnerFidelity Podcast No.11 with Heinz Renner of AKG, Philips and LB Acoustics The AKG K1000 is a headphone classic. Its truly open design has placed it in the annals of audiophile history alongside some of the most iconic pieces of personal audio. In this episode, InnerFidelity interviews Heinz Renner - one of the original designers of the headphone and long time engineer for both AKG and then Philips. Read More >> Munich 2019 Show Coverage Is Here! The intrepid Herb Reichert samples the headphone wares from the show floor. Read More >> MOZero Wireless Headphone Review My first impression of the MOZero was a casual run-in at a local audio store. I don't encounter too many headphones that I don't know at least something about, outside of a few vintage collectibles and some consumer brands from Asia. Nothing struck as particularly extraordinary at first, $150 USD wireless Bluetooth headphones with some active noise-cancelling capabilities.

 

[DiederickFritz]

Last I checked, IF became a shill blog for headphone manufacturers. Gone were the in-depth teardown and reviews... I miss the reviewer who would nerd out over the guts of a headphone and give a thorough analysis of the sound, but still be able to recommend “fun-sounding” headphones. If anyone knows a reviewer like this then pls tell me.

 

[Redcarmoose]

Last I checked, IF became a shill blog for head manufacturers. Gone were the in-depth teardown and reviews... I miss the reviewer who would nerd out over the guts of a headphone and give a thorough analysis of the sound, but still be able to recommend “fun-sounding” headphones. If anyone knows a reviewer like this then pls tell me.

There are very few weirdos into headphones like us. IF couldn't even find one.

 

[kman1211]

Honestly I miss having Tyll in this hobby, no one has really ever filled his shoes and even thought I have different tastes and didn’t always agree with his reviews; he was one of the best and most trustworthy reviewers and personalities in this hobby. It was a sad day when he left and honestly the community doesn’t feel the same without him.