[AlwaysForward]

I watched his review, and I don't believe bias had anything to do with his negative review. I have had a few pairs of IEMs and headphones that I reluctantly agreed to review, thinking that they wouldn't be good, including one Bluetooth pair that promised the moon, and I was surprised to find they were all much better than expected.

It'd probably be more fair to say that I almost perfectly called the actual shipping time after the first delay. I've been through so many product launches in the last 10 years, and waited over 3 years* for various headphones (before Kickstarter existed!) that I'm more realistic. I'm still waiting on one Kickstarter project (though it's not audio gear).

*It would have been 6 years if I hadn't had the option of getting a deposit refund on one amp.

Right. My comment about bias is related to the optics of each(potential?) review? Previously, he posted a video stating concern that they might not ship (e.g. OSSIC-X) but wasn't too hard on them and stated he was hoping they would be great. However, that did come back around in some of the comments here. Internet opinions are a fickle thing. Though you were dead on in your original guesstimates for the timeframe.

I think there's enough shared sentiment between two high visibility that some commenters could pick up on optics of potential bias. Specifically, because members had called this out in the thread in connection to his affiliate partnerships. Which lead me to assume that the comment around affiliate links in your channel was focused around managing expectations around said optics around the review? If so, perhaps this is a good angle to consider. Which would re-enforce that a delayed review would probably be best from a brand-management perspective.

 

[AlwaysForward]

The KEF LS50W "review" is just plain bad....He also suspiciously seems to like almost everything from Massdrop.

I think this is the real conversation changer for his channel for me. I think it's fair to dislike the LS50W. I love my pair and his opinion wouldn't change my fandom of his channel. And I was getting into it. He seems like a cool person.

But just this week, he completely changed his opinion on the AEON now that Drop has a variant. That 180 turn is bewildering.

 

[SDBiotek]

Let's put all the babbling over the one video "review" to rest and stop junking up this thread. We would all like to learn more about the Ora headphones. Yes, I am just as impatient to know more as any other project backer here, but I hope we can use this thread as a source of useful information.

 

[gikigill]

I think this is the real conversation changer for his channel for me. I think it's fair to dislike the LS50W. I love my pair and his opinion wouldn't change my fandom of his channel. And I was getting into it. He seems like a cool person.

But just this week, he completely changed his opinion on the AEON now that Drop has a variant. That 180 turn is bewildering.

He might not like the LS50W sound but you cannot ignore the tech and its flexibility.

Two things that he completely ignored in his review and what makes the LS50 so popular.

 

[AlwaysForward]

He might not like the LS50W sound but you cannot ignore the tech and its flexibility.

Two things that he completely ignored in his review and what makes the LS50 so popular.

To this point: he mentioned not being able to hook up his computer via USB, which was odd. It’s primarily how I use mine. And all the DSP is so trick. I’m actually using it like this right now and have it tuned both to my room and controlling my subs in concert. Everything runs off of my laptop, the LS50W and my powered subs. It’s such a trick system.

 

[SDBiotek]

This is not a thread about set ups for Kef speakers...

 

[SureSh0t]

I think this is the real conversation changer for his channel for me. I think it's fair to dislike the LS50W. I love my pair and his opinion wouldn't change my fandom of his channel. And I was getting into it. He seems like a cool person.

But just this week, he completely changed his opinion on the AEON now that Drop has a variant. That 180 turn is bewildering.

I really don't trust Josh. I trusted Tyll, then metal571, now there's Max Settings and apparently crinacle is doing full size reviews now. Josh has shown that when something has a lot of money and cache involved he's not to be trusted. He recently got chewed out for Massdrop link shenanigans and lack of disclosure.

I'm suspicious of anything from Mr. Memers, the guy who nearly finished an electrostat without putting a dustcover in it, claims not to care about measurements and yet most of his products measure religiously flat. Doubly so in collaboration with Massdrop.

However Josh has ears, and he has little to no ulterior motive with this product. Yet, it is probably the most or one of the most negative reviews he's ever put out. Hence my lack of optimism. But I'll be grateful my $300 weren't wasted if he's wrong.

 

[Beagle]

TBH, by the time you weigh in, we’ll have a lot of reviews already.

While I’m not exactly a fan, I don’t think that you have put out any “shill” type optics that I’m aware of. I don’t think that should be much of a concern here.

However, you have a shared similar negative position in this thread that Joshua had on his pre-review. Thus, there are bias optics in place at the moment.

Thus, I think waiting to weigh in is best at this point, for optics and branding purposes. If they suck, you can take the “called it” narrative. If they’re great, the “I was completely wrong for doubting”

Ultimately, regardless of the outcome: since you skipped the early review sample offering, waiting is probably the best thing from a branding perspective at this point in time.

Good grief. You are joking here, right?

 

[pila405]

@robert-eric
Where is the promised update? This is the end of the week already...

 

[AlwaysForward]

Yeah, in the US, it's an entirely new week beyond the 23rd...

 

[DixieLandBlues]

Yep - this is getting a mite nerve-wracking. My record in crowdfunded items is 50% delivered to or beyond expectations, 50% nothing delivered, excluding Ora - and of the failures, several continued with regular updates & looked on track right up until the wheels came off and the company or creator vanished (note that I'm not saying that is happening here).
The testimonials from people for whom sound is their livelihood were what convinced me to give Ora a punt, but silence in place of a scheduled end-game update after getting a bad review is inducing some nerves while hoping it's just Christmas related delays.

Ah well - we have all already paid for these headphones years ago, so at this point waiting a little longer costs nothing more - and optimism is better for your health in any case!

 

[Beagle]

Yep - this is getting a mite nerve-wracking. My record in crowdfunded items is 50% delivered to or beyond expectations, 50% nothing delivered, excluding Ora - and of the failures, several continued with regular updates & looked on track right up until the wheels came off and the company or creator vanished (note that I'm not saying that is happening here).
The testimonials from people for whom sound is their livelihood were what convinced me to give Ora a punt, but silence in place of a scheduled end-game update after getting a bad review is inducing some nerves while hoping it's just Christmas related delays.

Ah well - we have all already paid for these headphones years ago, so at this point waiting a little longer costs nothing more - and optimism is better for your health in any case!

IMO I think we're better off to wait until an item is actually released and pay a bit more for something that actually exists. A bit less stressful on the nerves. Mind you, that sort of behavior guarantees that it never gets off the ground. But genuinely great products do find a way to get into the marketplace.

 

[HipHopScribe]

IMO I think we're better off to wait until an item is actually released and pay a bit more for something that actually exists. A bit less stressful on the nerves. Mind you, that sort of behavior guarantees that it never gets off the ground. But genuinely great products do find a way to get into the marketplace.

Yeah, with crowdfunding you definitely have to be wary about the possibility that they're not able to secure funding through traditional means for good reason. Not always the case obviously, but it's a big risk

 

[Midgetguy]

There have been few who have heard the headphone and even fewer who have written/video impressions of the experience. Can we PLEASE hold the knives away from each others throats until after we have production units in hand? Literally no one in this thread (that isn't the maker) have heard it yet.

 

[SDBiotek]

There have been few who have heard the headphone and even fewer who have written/video impressions of the experience. Can we PLEASE hold the knives away from each others throats until after we have production units in hand? Literally no one in this thread (that isn't the maker) have heard it yet.

In case you hadn't noticed, this thread had been locked temporarily...for a reason. We'll see other reviews soon and hopefully units will begin shipping to backers. All that is required is a bit more time, patience, and...more patience.