[Tony-Hifi]

Hifiheadphones and SoundMAGIC are pleased to announce that we will shortly be sending one of our headphones, the (new and refined) Vento P55 on tour for Head-fi'ers to try out and review. 

We're looking to arrange a mini tour within the United Kingdom. We would like five volunteers to try the Vento P55, write a review and then send it on to the next reviewer.

To apply, simply copy, paste and complete the info below in a reply in this thread. We’ll close applications in seven days time and then choose and contact the selected reviewers. I will co-ordinate these tours and will be your point of contact for any questions.

Head-Fi username:
Location (City within the UK):
SoundMAGIC products previously used:
Source gear:
Link to a previous review:
 
Terms:

• Each tour member is responsible for the cost of shipping the headphones to the next person in the program.
• Tour members must provide real names and addresses for tour purposes.
• Tracking numbers are required for shipments between tour members.
• Standard tour listening periods will be strictly seven days. If you think this turnaround is too quick or inconvenient, please do not apply. 
• Tour members should notify via Head-fi message when the headphone is received/posted.
• Tour members are asked to take good care of the headphones, packaging and accessories.
• Tour members agree to write a review of the Vento P55 in the Head Gear section of Head-Fi.org
• Users who do not follow these terms or do not submit a review will not be considered for further tours.

 

[ejong7]

  • Tour members are asked to take good care of the player, packaging and accessories.

Just making sure. Is this a new pair of headphones or a DAP?

 

[Tony-Hifi]

You have spotted my deliberate mistake, unfortunately there are no prizes on offer this time. (thanks for the message, all updated now)

 

[Change is Good]

Big soundmagic fan, here. Bummer this isn't available in the US, but great to see them getting some publicity in the UK. I really hope to read great things from those who get in on this tour!

 

[smial1966]

Perhaps it's just me thinking this, but isn't it a bit much expecting reviewers to pay the forwarding postage costs onto the next person? Afterall, these are £150 cans and hardly high end, which isn't to demean them in any way but they're not rare or exclusive, so what does the reviewer get out of this apart from listening to a pair of mid-fi headphones? Are Hi-Fi Headphones offering reviewers a discount code on purchases in recompense? I just don't think that reviewers should be out of pocket financially.

P.S. Just to clarify, I have no interest in reviewing these headphones.

 

[Change is Good]

Perhaps it's just me thinking this, but isn't it a bit much expecting reviewers to pay the forwarding postage costs onto the next person? Afterall, these are £150 cans and hardly high end, which isn't to demean them in any way but they're not rare or exclusive, so what does the reviewer get out of this apart from listening to a pair of mid-fi headphones? Are Hi-Fi Headphones offering reviewers a discount code on purchases in recompense? I just don't think that reviewers should be out of pocket financially.

P.S. Just to clarify, I have no interest in reviewing these headphones.

So, because they're lower end with no perks reviewers shouldn't even bother? Yet, if they were summit-fi, only then should reviewers feel justified to pay for shipping? That's some pretty messed up way of thinking man. Not everyone in the community can afford all the high end stuff. Swaying others into believing this isn't worth it because they have to pay for shipping (one way) on a low end product is basically saying screw the low end market that's interested in reviews of this product.

Edit: If I was in the UK I'd gladly review these at the cost of shipping to help those from making an impulse buy (myself included) on a product with barely any community feedback.

 

[Takeanidea]

Andy, I am wholeheartedly with you. I appreciate your support for us reviewers. I have made the decision that unless I can get more time with the review items I can no longer be a part of the review process which makes me sad that the community at large hasn't yet pushed for more time. But I think it will have to happen eventually with the pressures of working full time. More time would offset the cost of posting these headphones on. I was the first headfier in the UK to receive the 1st version of the P55 and I thought they were not so good  so it would have been interesting to see what had been done to rectify that.
Have had a great time with the reviews and provided you can squeeze in the time needed to do this properly in a week then you'll have a lot of fun. But the terms are too strict for me now. I'm out

 

[Change is Good]

I understand the timing involved with reviewers and their schedules. Pushing it off for being a low cost product with no benefits is what didn't sit well with me. It came off as if only the high end stuff is what should intrigue reviewers in tours that involve them having to come out of pocket for shipping to the next location.

 

[smial1966]

Sorry but you've totally misconstrued the purpose of my post. I was trying to point out - in retrospect albeit somewhat hamfistedly - that a commercial organisation should surely ensure that amateur product reviewers don't incur a financial cost for appraising their equipment. So my point applies generally and irrespective of an items cost, I just wasn't very clear about this and apologise for any initial obfuscation on my part.

So, because they're lower end with no perks reviewers shouldn't even bother? Yet, if they were summit-fi, only then should reviewers feel justified to pay for shipping? That's some pretty messed up way of thinking man. Not everyone in the community can afford all the high end stuff. Swaying others into believing this isn't worth it because they have to pay for shipping (one way) on a low end product is basically saying screw the low end market that's interested in reviews of this product.

Edit: If I was in the UK I'd gladly review these at the cost of shipping to help those from making an impulse buy (myself included) on a product with barely any community feedback.

 

[ejong7]

  Andy, I am wholeheartedly with you. I appreciate your support for us reviewers. I have made the decision that unless I can get more time with the review items I can no longer be a part of the review process which makes me sad that the community at large hasn't yet pushed for more time. But I think it will have to happen eventually with the pressures of working full time. More time would offset the cost of posting these headphones on. I was the first headfier in the UK to receive the 1st version of the P55 and I thought they were not so good  so it would have been interesting to see what had been done to rectify that.
Have had a great time with the reviews and provided you can squeeze in the time needed to do this properly in a week then you'll have a lot of fun. But the terms are too strict for me now. I'm out

I totally understand how you feel about the duration. But I can also understand why they are reluctant to do it. Oh well.

 

[Takeanidea]

Hi Eu-Jin,I can't for the life of me understand why every tour has to be restricted to 7 days each - that's every single tour..... What difference would it make if it was a fortnight? It would just take some of the pressure off and might even end up in a better informed better presented review 

 

[glassmonkey]

  Hi Eu-Jin,I can't for the life of me understand why every tour has to be restricted to 7 days each - that's every single tour..... What difference would it make if it was a fortnight? It would just take some of the pressure off and might even end up in a better informed better presented review 

Let's look at this from a more on high perspective. When Tony and Soundmagic send out a tour unit, they are doing so largely as a promotion tool. HiFi Headphones runs a brick and mortar retail shop as well as their online wing. Brick and mortar is expensive, and why you don't see a ton of local AV shops. The review sample costs Soundmagic a small amount, and this amount is easily made back by the promotion of their product, the same is true for HiFi Headphones. HiFi Headphones may even sell the tour unit to one of the participants, in which case that buyer would probably get a discount. Because HiFi Headphones and Soundmagic aren't paying for the shipping, this is a very smart move on their part--they are getting free advertisement.
 
From the reviewer's perspective, they are getting the opportunity to audition something they wouldn't otherwise hear for the price of a movie ticket or less. They will also potentially be able to buy the unit at a discount if they like it. For folks like me who are trying to get started as serious or semi-serious reviewers, you are far more likely to get exposure by working with HeadFi sponsors. Tour reviews hit the front page more often, as there are more parties who benefit from it. As a reviewer getting more exposure increases your likelihood of being approached for further reviews. This isn't without benefit for the reviewer.
 
I'd like review periods to be 10 days. I think this is a good compromise, but understand that the goal of the company is quick promotion at launch of a new product, so they want less time.

 

[smial1966]

Micah,
 
We all understand the promotional and economic benefits of companies sponsoring equipment reviews by users, otherwise this marketing practice wouldn't occur so frequently on head-fi. My point is that the reviewer (by paying onward postage) is effectively part subsidising the cost of any review tour. It's analogous with taking a car for a test drive and the garage insisting that you refill the fuel tank ready for the next person who'll drive it!
 
Anyway, I've laboured my point and won't flog a dead horse anymore.

     
 
Quote:

  Let's look at this from a more on high perspective. When Tony and Soundmagic send out a tour unit, they are doing so largely as a promotion tool. HiFi Headphones runs a brick and mortar retail shop as well as their online wing. Brick and mortar is expensive, and why you don't see a ton of local AV shops. The review sample costs Soundmagic a small amount, and this amount is easily made back by the promotion of their product, the same is true for HiFi Headphones. HiFi Headphones may even sell the tour unit to one of the participants, in which case that buyer would probably get a discount. Because HiFi Headphones and Soundmagic aren't paying for the shipping, this is a very smart move on their part--they are getting free advertisement.
 
From the reviewer's perspective, they are getting the opportunity to audition something they wouldn't otherwise hear for the price of a movie ticket or less. They will also potentially be able to buy the unit at a discount if they like it. For folks like me who are trying to get started as serious or semi-serious reviewers, you are far more likely to get exposure by working with HeadFi sponsors. Tour reviews hit the front page more often, as there are more parties who benefit from it. As a reviewer getting more exposure increases your likelihood of being approached for further reviews. This isn't without benefit for the reviewer.
 
I'd like review periods to be 10 days. I think this is a good compromise, but understand that the goal of the company is quick promotion at launch of a new product, so they want less time.

 

[Tony-Hifi]

Hi Head-fiers
 
Wow, this review tour has brought up a few issues that we obviously needed to take a look at.
 
Thanks for all your feedback by the way, this has been very helpful. We do need some rules in place so we can manage these tours, but at the same time we need you guys to tell us what fits in with what you need so you can enjoy the experience. At the end of the day we are all here because we like to enjoy music through headphones and earphones, this is all meant to be a fun thing to do!
 
Postage costs: I guess the issue we have here at our end is not the paying for onward postage, but how we can manage this and what method we can use to make the payment.
 
So with that in mind we are more than happy to pay onward postage costs by making payments directly into a reviewers PayPal account, we will look into other payment methods in the future, but for us right now this is a quick and simple solution, apologies for those not using PayPal, we will try to expand this option in the future.
 
Review time: We would love to offer more review time with these headphones and where possible we will do this on subsequent tours, however our experience has shown us that when you factor in the time the product is with the reviewer, the time spent being shipped between reviewers and than factor in any unexpected delays, it can take and has taken two months to get four reviews completed in the past.
 
 
Please feel free to message me if you have any suggestions, feedback is the lifeblood of our business and will always be appreciated.
 
Tony.

 

[Takeanidea]

I am so glad the debate has opened up. There are reviewers out there who are probably afraid to push for more time or less costs incurred because they know it will pit them out of the reckoning for now and for the future. There are others who are far more qualified than me on headfi who have lost interest in new product evaluation due to the strictness of the conditions.
Headfi is a huge concern and we can work out a solution that'll benefit all parties. And , in @Tony-Hifi we have someone who has supported us really well in the UK , someone I have worked with several times in the past with no problems at all.
What is obvious to me , is that these products are getting lots of publicity and it's our hard work that's providing the coverage on headfi, we're doing it for free and we're doing it under an unacceptably small time constraint. That is my only beef, the principle about the postage is a valid one and one which had not occurred to me before. I can afford the postage and I suppose that's why I'd not been concerned about it. 4 reviews in 2 months is not enough obviously , there needs to be more posts on the general forum with impressions scattered around like is done by @moedawg140. This would give some life to the product whilst it's being evaluated and reviews are being polished