[wink]

Ooooh.... Disclosing on our secrets.
Indeed two Vidars which I can't afford unless I rent out my cathedral of a body.

Your kidneys are available for purchase, perhaps...? Maybe, also an eyeball (you have 2, right?)...?

I think we can leave cassettes out of any potential future product mix.

Talk to Mike, maybe you can convince him to do a CD player.

As long as the ON/OFF switch is on the front....

He's a terrible reviewer so you can just ignore anything he says.

Thats why he has such a huge profile and following (Gold & Platinum eared snobs are endemic in the High-Fi multiverse)....

 

[Pietro Cozzi Tinin]

Maybe, also an eyeball (you have 2, right?)...?
..

Yes. One made of steel and the other made of epoxy.

 

[wink]

Yes. One made of ebony and the other made of ivory.

FTFY....

 

[artur9]

Thats why he has such a huge profile and following (Gold & Platinum eared snobs are endemic in the High-Fi multiverse)....

Either he started at CNet when it had like 3 daily views or he's someone's relative. They are the only possible explanations.

 

[trellus]

Either he started at CNet when it had like 3 daily views or he's someone's relative. They are the only possible explanations.

What's up with dissing Steve Guttenberg in the Schiit thread? I don't think he's an audio god or anything, but it seems unwarranted to be so completely dismissive, and it's not like he's the Stereophile reviewer schiiting on Schiit products. Kind of confused here.

 

[mike138]

What's up with dissing Steve Guttenberg in the Schiit thread? I don't think he's an audio god or anything, but it seems unwarranted to be so completely dismissive, and it's not like he's the Stereophile reviewer schiiting on Schiit products. Kind of confused here.

Agreed. He's an audio reviewer for an overall electronics website, not a specific, audiophile-oriented website like Head-Fi. His writing isn't meant to go in depth with terminology most people wouldn't care about. It's meant to act as an intro to a product and talk a little about how well it achieves what it aims to be, and draw a comparison with a (usually) different product, not a similar one, so that a casual audience can get the gist of what a product does.

 

[liamo]

Each piece of equipment I have that Steve has reviewed he has heaped praise on so I can only assume he has great taste. I doubt there’s any other reviewer with the name recognition and exposure Steve gets. Since CNET isn’t a dedicated audio site and aren’t reliant solely on audio ad revenue there isn’t a built in bias. He does seem to champion quality at less expense for the masses which is a good thing and draws more into the hobby I would think and he doesn’t seem afflicted with nervosa pedantry. A serious downside, I know. An Onkyo amp with Elac speakers isn’t going to get anyone around here drooling but I’m sure there’s someone out there right now listening to that setup who in 20 years will be a self appointed annoying expert and we’ll have Steve to thank.

 

[mike138]

Each piece of equipment I have that Steve has reviewed he has heaped praise on so I can only assume he has great taste. I doubt there’s any other reviewer with the name recognition and exposure Steve gets. Since CNET isn’t a dedicated audio site and aren’t reliant solely on audio ad revenue there isn’t a built in bias. He does seem to champion quality at less expense for the masses which is a good thing and draws more into the hobby I would think and he doesn’t seem afflicted with nervosa pedantry. A serious downside, I know. An Onkyo amp with Elac speakers isn’t going to get anyone around here drooling but I’m sure there’s someone out there right now listening to that setup who in 20 years will be a self appointed annoying expert and we’ll have Steve to thank.

I probably started reading CNET's reviews around 2012 or so. I only ever remember Steve crapping on one piece of equipment and that was the Pono player. Actually, I only found out about Schiit because of Steve's reviews. I don't live in an area where there are brick and mortar stores selling good audio gear, so the only options were whatever Koss or Sony headphones Best Buy had, and they were always really low end models.

Through Steve I found out about all these audio companies selling reasonably priced gear. I put together my headphone rig (Hifiman HE-400i + Schiit Magni/Modi 2U stack), and TV rig (Marantz receiver and Monoprice Premium speakers) based on his reviews and I've been really happy with them for years.

 

[Pietro Cozzi Tinin]

Here's an interview with Steve and Jason.
The man is always sympathetic and has not one grain of fraudiophile arrogance.


EDIT: I regarded @artur9 's as a joking reason for @AudioBear not to go back to tubes. Not as a way to throw Steve under the bus. In this context it was a funny remark.
I hope I'm right in this.

 

[Alcophone]

That third picture. Ouch! ...... iFi nano...............
Look at it here in Marvey's DAC chart of awesomeness.

Haha, I saw that, too It surprised me after reading all those favorable reviews. And it's doing a fine job as far as I can tell (at home, too). The alternative right now is the Sound Blaster E5, which provided those black elastic bands I have wrapped around the iDSD to make it less scratchy. That would probably look more cringe worthy! (I should do it)
And the Jotunheim DAC module, I'll try that today as well.
In the long run, I want an Yggy, of course. But I still have some financial responsibility left, so that'll have to wait a few more weeks.

 

[Mr Rick]

Speaking of reviewers. Has anyone else noticed that Mr Z reviews ( YouTube's most profane audio reviewer ) unboxed a Vidar and Freya last night?

 

[KoshNaranek]

What's up with dissing Steve Guttenberg in the Schiit thread? I don't think he's an audio god or anything, but it seems unwarranted to be so completely dismissive, and it's not like he's the Stereophile reviewer schiiting on Schiit products. Kind of confused here.

The issue that I have with Steve is that he sometimes contradicts himself from one review to the next. The lack of internal consistency makes it impossible for me get more out of his reviews than: I did/didn't like this equipment at the time.

To me, this is either sloppy writing or sloppy thinking. This makes it less useful.

 

[Alcophone]

Speaking of reviewers. Has anyone else noticed that Mr Z reviews ( YouTube's most profane audio reviewer ) unboxed a Vidar and Freya last night?

Hah, that should be fun! Lately, he's moving on to less budget minded gear, it seems. He's going to run out of "best thing ever" type products fast :-D

 

[ashirin]

I don’t think Steve’s reviews are the best but they're fun and generally informative. Also, as others have pointed out he writes for Cnet, so you have to consider his main audience. Frankly, I like the selection of gear he covers, and I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that his review of the first generation Magni and Modi is what first introduced me to Schiit. That eventually became my first big audio purchase and those are still my desktop headphone amp and DAC. And he still covers a lot of affordable stuff (his most recent reviews include the $99 Magni 3 and the $30 Koss KPH30i, both of which he praised).

 

[AudioBear]

I too always read Steve's reviews. I think he has a point of view that needs to be considered. A pleasant change from frAudiophile reviewers. As regards inconsistency between reviews: he's human. Audio reviewing is subjective and mood has a lot to do with how a product strikes a reviewer. That's part of why we all read many reviews of the same item and the forums. I particularly appreciate Steve's almost 100% positive reviews and comments about Schiit products. He's knows his Schiit! I don't know, maybe if he writes a glowing review of a Schiit product with glowing tubes I'll buy it. Sigh, I know that when I buy a Freya I will try the tubes and then I'll be hooked. What's next?. A turntable? This Schiit is killing me.