Level
100+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Sep 20, 2016
- Posts
- 214
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- 27
Warning.......long!
It's obvious a number of manufacturers have significant issues with their software development process. The cycle to develop fully functioning firmware can be a bit of a holy grail, all the moreso when the rapid development of new products forces coding for now legacy devices off the table. Writing software at this level is expensive and let's face it, where is the incentive to the continued enhancement of firmware for a device now considered out of date? With hardware designers duelling it out for the latest piece of turf, and keeping the manufacturing wheels in motion to produce thier items at lower costs, legacy software design is too often relegated step child status.
With many manufacturers most hardware development is way out in front of the software that drives it. Obviously the current business model is focused on keeping up with what is currently parked in the Jone's driveway. So many individual forums on specific gear talk about UI flaws and shortcomings. Maybe it's time manufacturers spent a bit more time on firmware development at least with respect to digital players, or alternatively for example, license RockBox and be done with it. We all know it's a winning platform. This is just one of several possible choices to improve firmware standards.
Funding software development is expensive, I empathize with that. But if you're not going to do justice to the hardware then why bother? These guys don't see the forest for the trees because their concentration is bent on design, making next years models compete with what their competition is doing. Last years models are passé....throw the dog a bone now and again, that's seems about it if you're lucky. You bought it, you're stuck with it. We’ll have a model upgrade out next year for about the same money.
This repeating cycle mirrors several other industries once overstuffed with builders in their early days; so many models, so many competing for the same dollars with essentially similar products. For end users it's a real struggle to keep abreast of the latest developments to help ensure our dollars are most effectively spent.
Let's face it, if you haven't the interest, inclination, or time to spend combing the many forums, ask many questions, conduct your own research, read numerous reviews, compare specs and finally, weigh prices vs. features then you are severely disadvantaged. And I get that the countless hours spent are part of the fascination with this hobby. I also happen to think it's already a bit out of hand. Measured by tangible levels of buyer dissatisfaction (we’re very polite about it), and far too many drawers storing working but unloved gear, in turn creates a semi-false economy as buyers are induced to upgrade to better features and higher quality. The industry term is 'repeat customer' and perceived as a very good thing. Brand loyalty. But is it really only that? Might the buyers opinion be that our time is being wasted investing field time reading specs instead of enjoying the music for which this industry is purposed to exist? Put succinctly, our buying power isn't valued as highly by manufacturers as it is by we audiophiles, in spite of contrary claims.
If I manufactured cars and discovered the first thing my customers did was ditch the seats for something more appropriate I’d be asking myself, ‘Why are we making seats that people don’t like?
I’m a bit frustrated it’s so hard to match audiophile components; it wears me down, my time and my wallet. I come to the marketplace with $1K and over a period of several months purchase several models of audio player, IEMs, and an amp, and still find myself more frustrated than satisfied. And NOT listening to music! One by one the players get returned; the IEMs require an amp with my latest choice of player (no mention anywhere about that); I can’t be sure these IEMs are the ones I’ll like because my dap choices thus far have been unable to properly drive them; the amp needs to have DAC capability to work with my computer….and on it goes. Given the miniscule availability of reliable information I feel it would be easier buying the right airplane than a simple audiophile system.
Honestly, if it weren’t for the web and so many incredibly helpful contributors, this industry would not exist as it does. Everyday I am awed at the level of helpful kindness and depth of knowledge shown by fellow citizens, it inspires my belief in humanity. I really so love you all, you’re my friends, my neighbourhood, my sense of community. Let it never be forgotten it is US who help make the industry what it is. It’s US who help enable manufacturers to do what they do. And all too frequently it is US loyal customers who pay the price for the lack of respect we truly deserve.
And yes, manufacturers put their heads, hearts, and wallets on the line to bring us these fantastic technical offerings which often blow our minds. They have and continue to accomplish great things, and bless them for that. But does a buyer need to be in the industry for a year to understand what is actually being said, what is really meant, and what things work or don’t work by themselves and with each other?
I feel manufacturers could do a much better job of describing their component capabilities, what the general requirements will be for cans, IEMs, amps and dac’s (using widely accepted components, not specs alone) and in the process make it much less complex for newbies (and their money) to enter the hobby and be happy right out of the gate.
Maybe manufacturers don’t realize this need exists but in my opinion it certainly does. It could be stated for example, that dap Model ‘A’ is ideally suited to iem models similar to G, E & F, and to amp/dac models similar to J, K & L. If you want new customers to come into the industry you owe it to them to make it easier to wisely choose their gear. Surely that is a path to growth. You know this issue is real when you see the endless posts asking, Can you compare this item to that item running on this model and that model? This is perhaps the single most common request in all the audiophile forums.
And lastly…
I came into this hobby with excitement and a willingness to learn. I knew I was entering foreign territory, yet I have a strong urge to own a high quality, portable audio system.....maybe even two. I didn’t anticipate being tortured but I have.
Undaunted, I push forward a little wiser, more cautious for sure, and with a greater sense of patience in weeding through the bafflegab to find my solution. With a larger budget I’d own a Lotoo LPG or RWAK380 with some nice monitors and be sitting in my recliner with a big grin on my face. And if I only had $200 to spend I’d probably be happy with whatever I got. It’s the middle of the industry where all the confusion reigns, somewhere between $250 and $2,500.
No coincidence this is where the greatest competition does battle for our hard won coin. With the exception of those sitting comfortable in their hard won knowledge, no doubt gained over many years, I feel we could use some help from each manufacturer in recognizing the need to better deliver their offerings to the masses in ways we can better appreciate and understand. In the past this was largely a hobby of experts, now it’s a field open to anyone with an interest in quality sound, a web browser, time and some money to spend.
When market sifting begins, and it always does, we the buyers exert significant influence over which companies have the best chances of survival. It may be prudent to keep in mind there are a finite number of buyers and dollars to go around. Adapt or die, something has to change.
...........of course I could be so off base none of the above matters...yeah, maybe it is just me.
It's obvious a number of manufacturers have significant issues with their software development process. The cycle to develop fully functioning firmware can be a bit of a holy grail, all the moreso when the rapid development of new products forces coding for now legacy devices off the table. Writing software at this level is expensive and let's face it, where is the incentive to the continued enhancement of firmware for a device now considered out of date? With hardware designers duelling it out for the latest piece of turf, and keeping the manufacturing wheels in motion to produce thier items at lower costs, legacy software design is too often relegated step child status.
With many manufacturers most hardware development is way out in front of the software that drives it. Obviously the current business model is focused on keeping up with what is currently parked in the Jone's driveway. So many individual forums on specific gear talk about UI flaws and shortcomings. Maybe it's time manufacturers spent a bit more time on firmware development at least with respect to digital players, or alternatively for example, license RockBox and be done with it. We all know it's a winning platform. This is just one of several possible choices to improve firmware standards.
Funding software development is expensive, I empathize with that. But if you're not going to do justice to the hardware then why bother? These guys don't see the forest for the trees because their concentration is bent on design, making next years models compete with what their competition is doing. Last years models are passé....throw the dog a bone now and again, that's seems about it if you're lucky. You bought it, you're stuck with it. We’ll have a model upgrade out next year for about the same money.
This repeating cycle mirrors several other industries once overstuffed with builders in their early days; so many models, so many competing for the same dollars with essentially similar products. For end users it's a real struggle to keep abreast of the latest developments to help ensure our dollars are most effectively spent.
Let's face it, if you haven't the interest, inclination, or time to spend combing the many forums, ask many questions, conduct your own research, read numerous reviews, compare specs and finally, weigh prices vs. features then you are severely disadvantaged. And I get that the countless hours spent are part of the fascination with this hobby. I also happen to think it's already a bit out of hand. Measured by tangible levels of buyer dissatisfaction (we’re very polite about it), and far too many drawers storing working but unloved gear, in turn creates a semi-false economy as buyers are induced to upgrade to better features and higher quality. The industry term is 'repeat customer' and perceived as a very good thing. Brand loyalty. But is it really only that? Might the buyers opinion be that our time is being wasted investing field time reading specs instead of enjoying the music for which this industry is purposed to exist? Put succinctly, our buying power isn't valued as highly by manufacturers as it is by we audiophiles, in spite of contrary claims.
If I manufactured cars and discovered the first thing my customers did was ditch the seats for something more appropriate I’d be asking myself, ‘Why are we making seats that people don’t like?
I’m a bit frustrated it’s so hard to match audiophile components; it wears me down, my time and my wallet. I come to the marketplace with $1K and over a period of several months purchase several models of audio player, IEMs, and an amp, and still find myself more frustrated than satisfied. And NOT listening to music! One by one the players get returned; the IEMs require an amp with my latest choice of player (no mention anywhere about that); I can’t be sure these IEMs are the ones I’ll like because my dap choices thus far have been unable to properly drive them; the amp needs to have DAC capability to work with my computer….and on it goes. Given the miniscule availability of reliable information I feel it would be easier buying the right airplane than a simple audiophile system.
Honestly, if it weren’t for the web and so many incredibly helpful contributors, this industry would not exist as it does. Everyday I am awed at the level of helpful kindness and depth of knowledge shown by fellow citizens, it inspires my belief in humanity. I really so love you all, you’re my friends, my neighbourhood, my sense of community. Let it never be forgotten it is US who help make the industry what it is. It’s US who help enable manufacturers to do what they do. And all too frequently it is US loyal customers who pay the price for the lack of respect we truly deserve.
And yes, manufacturers put their heads, hearts, and wallets on the line to bring us these fantastic technical offerings which often blow our minds. They have and continue to accomplish great things, and bless them for that. But does a buyer need to be in the industry for a year to understand what is actually being said, what is really meant, and what things work or don’t work by themselves and with each other?
I feel manufacturers could do a much better job of describing their component capabilities, what the general requirements will be for cans, IEMs, amps and dac’s (using widely accepted components, not specs alone) and in the process make it much less complex for newbies (and their money) to enter the hobby and be happy right out of the gate.
Maybe manufacturers don’t realize this need exists but in my opinion it certainly does. It could be stated for example, that dap Model ‘A’ is ideally suited to iem models similar to G, E & F, and to amp/dac models similar to J, K & L. If you want new customers to come into the industry you owe it to them to make it easier to wisely choose their gear. Surely that is a path to growth. You know this issue is real when you see the endless posts asking, Can you compare this item to that item running on this model and that model? This is perhaps the single most common request in all the audiophile forums.
And lastly…
I came into this hobby with excitement and a willingness to learn. I knew I was entering foreign territory, yet I have a strong urge to own a high quality, portable audio system.....maybe even two. I didn’t anticipate being tortured but I have.
Undaunted, I push forward a little wiser, more cautious for sure, and with a greater sense of patience in weeding through the bafflegab to find my solution. With a larger budget I’d own a Lotoo LPG or RWAK380 with some nice monitors and be sitting in my recliner with a big grin on my face. And if I only had $200 to spend I’d probably be happy with whatever I got. It’s the middle of the industry where all the confusion reigns, somewhere between $250 and $2,500.
No coincidence this is where the greatest competition does battle for our hard won coin. With the exception of those sitting comfortable in their hard won knowledge, no doubt gained over many years, I feel we could use some help from each manufacturer in recognizing the need to better deliver their offerings to the masses in ways we can better appreciate and understand. In the past this was largely a hobby of experts, now it’s a field open to anyone with an interest in quality sound, a web browser, time and some money to spend.
When market sifting begins, and it always does, we the buyers exert significant influence over which companies have the best chances of survival. It may be prudent to keep in mind there are a finite number of buyers and dollars to go around. Adapt or die, something has to change.
...........of course I could be so off base none of the above matters...yeah, maybe it is just me.
