[snuffkin]

Hi,
My question may seem a bit strange, and maybe to some the answer is clear - "Well you want to become a reviewer- start writing reviews" - and I totally agree with that statement. But - I would appreciate if any of the well known reviewers here on head-fi would share his/her personal experience, and give some thoughts on how to get started.
 
Thanks!
 
 
 

 

[XATS]

1. Don't review gears you don't own

 

[cifani090]

A year ago, i was also looking at the same thing you want to pursue. I wrote a review on a Violectric V200 Headphone Amp. I must say, it wasnt easy as you have to listen carefully, and type at the same time lol. There was at least 10 hours of writing and getting everything down, not including 20-100 hours of burn in time that you should put in. From my review, i has hoping to be an author for Stereophile, but my dreams were crushed after talking to an editor. Short and clean, the review sucked and was not good enough for them. What i want you to know if that unless you are a good author,etc,etc; only write reviews for your pleasure and your willingness. A few on the best reviews on Head-Fi recommended this to me, and i will pass it on to you;
 
 
"When I write a review I try to approach it as if I were reading it. What is the product? Who gave it to me? When did I get it? Where can the product be purchased? Why is the product good/bad? How did I go about testing it? Then I try to write it in simple English. That said, I think the majority of problems in writing comes from the styles that are often encouraged in schools. I didn't really learn how to properly write until I become involved in the legal system. If you want to learn how to write and communicate your thoughts clearly, I would highly recommend you read the following book"- LFF

 

"Of course I only write reviews here for leisure. I won't be writing reviews for a magazine or any other thing like that. This is my hobby and I won't be mixing work with my hobby. You do also have to realize who you your audience is. Stereophile is a pretty well known magazine and have high standards and plenty of gear they review is very high end. You could take a look at some of HeadphoneAddict's reviews or Skylab and then see how they do it since they are pretty well known reviews and for the most part well written as well"-rawrster

 

[snuffkin]

@cifani090 - Wow! Thanks for taking the time to share your experience and thoughts - I really appreciate it!
 
In fact I was not looking to be a reviewer for a magazine like "Stereophile", but to do it as a hobby. The question is , I guess, how can I become known so that vendors would send me items for review. I am sure I have to write my own reviews of the stuff that I do have first, the question is how many reviews does it take to become known enough to get items from the vendors. As far as I can understand from briefing trough this forum there are reviewers that reviewed dozens, if not hundreds of items (headphones, amps,dacs...). So can someone start fresh and become a relevant reviewer as far as the vendor concerned enough to send items for review ?
 
Thanks!

 

[shigzeo]

You know, every single person that has a powerful reviewing personality here started with gear they love or hate and just wrote. My first review? Probably just some collected thoughts on the UM2 or the ER4S, both which I traded and saved for. Later, I did the same with the Futuresonics M5 and later others. It just goes that way. Whatever you have, test it, get to know it, and if you love it, write about it. Why do you love it? Is it made well? Does it sound good? Is the price good? Does it favour any one of those facets over the others? Why?
 
I tend to favour first: build/cable quality and ergonomics; and second: sound, for the very simple reason that no matter how good an item sounds, if I can't use it, say as a portable earphone comfortably, then I simply won't use it. Or, if it is a great sounding headphone but it hurts my head, the chances that I'll even listen to it are slim. 
 
Decide what you find important. Don't emulate everyone else, but if you do, emulate the good stuff. Don't just throw out long reviews just because the others do. If you can say the same thing in half the space, do it. 
 
Have fun, but don't chase the golden goose of free goodies as that will undoubtedly taint your reviews and quite possibly your reputation. If you get hold of them, rejoice. But always enjoy what you listen to and don't lose ground.
 
AGAIN: the people you see reviewing hundred of things generally borrow and trade them. I think you are looking at this all wrong to tell the truth. 

 

[juman231]

Although I do think your writing style and components to include is a big factor, if I were a vendor of a new product,I would want the reviewer to have some reputation as a reviewer who can give neutral opinions on the product. Also, he/she'd have to own products from other companies that are in the same level as my product so he can offer comparisons...
 

 

[snuffkin]

@shigzeo Your words got me thinking and that is always a good thing
 
Thank you for sharing your personal insights and experience.
 
BTW, I've read few of your reviews here on the site, and they were really well formed and informative.
 
@juman231 
 
I know, that is my main concern exactly. I guess that's the main reason I should make if for the fun of it and not out of expectation to get stuff from the vendor.

 

[juman231]

Yeah...I'd love to review for fun, but to get to the level where you're offered stuff, instead of asking vendors for stuff to reveiw, it's probably gonna take some time/money =[..
 
I'm actually planning to take a shot at reviewing a ATH-M50 and SR60 review. Haha. Don't know how that will turn out, but for the time being, I'm doing it as a give-back to the community.

 

[snuffkin]

I, for once, don't mind asking if it means that I actually will get stuff for review. As you said - reviewing high grade equipment of your own costs a LOT of money.

 

[Uncle Erik]

I make a point of not writing reviews. Comparisons and quick summaries are OK, but I avoid doing outright reviews. Part of this is because I don't want my impressions colored by friendship with manufacturers. I'm not saying the better reviewers are biased (they always disclose relationships and are above-board), but I'd rather not tread that line. Also, being on staff here makes me want to stay away from anything that might look like an official endorsement from Head-Fi. While on that point, the mods and admins do not get discounts or free gear from manufacturers. We're volunteers and I've bought everything I have at the same price everyone else did.

Anyhow, there are a few things you can do to increase your credibility as a reviewer.

One, go to as many live performances as possible. If a local school is putting on a concert, go. Go to bars and listen to live bands. Get as much live experience as possible. Further, if you don't play an instrument, start playing one. Some instrument must appeal to you, so get one and learn to play it. Learn some music theory and composition, too. This might seem a tangent, but live performance is the baseline. Don't just compare one unit against another. You want to compare the gear against your personal experience of live music.

Second, if you want to sharpen your writing, you need to read. A lot. Not just reviews of audio gear, but dip your toes into literature. No, it's not boring - the good stuff is gripping and cannot be put down. You'll absorb a lot from great writers. That will percolate around upstairs and fuse with your personality. Do not expect that to happen overnight; just start reading good books and it will happen on its own. If you need book recommendations, try the "What Are You Reading?" thread. In addition to literature, mix in essayists and the better columnists. Don't focus too much on analyzing them, just read and enjoy. Your brain will subconsciously take care of the rest. But it is essential that you expose yourself to as much good writing as possible.

Third, don't make the reviews about yourself. There is one notorious review site where the reviewers spout paragraphs of purple prose to show how clever they are. Don't be like that. Just don't. Keep the focus on the product, don't preen your feathers or onanize.

Fourth, you need a technical and practical understanding of the gear. Do you know how a voicecoil works? Do you know the differences between electrostats, ribbons, AMTs, and planars? Do you know the difference between an OTL and a transformer coupled amp? The difference between single-ended and push-pull? There's plenty else. I'd strongly recommend building a CMoy. You'll learn a lot. You'll also get the skills to build more complex projects. You need an understanding of what's going on inside the box. You also need an understanding of what parts cost and an idea of the labor. Without that, you won't know if someone is selling an el discounto circuit for four figures. (And plenty of that goes on.) You need to be able to recognize the difference between great value and a profit-grab in a fancy box.

If you can do all this, you'll be a highly-respected reviewer. No, you can't do it tomorrow. Think two or three years out. But you can start going to live performances a couple times a week, pick up a guitar (or anything interesting), find some good books to read, and build a CMoy. Do those and you'll be ahead of most amateur reviewers right away. A few years on when you're playing with a band or community orchestra, have a good 100 great books under your belt, and have built something like a Beta22 or a complex tube amp, you'll kick ass as a reviewer. You'll have a strong point of view when it comes to accuracy, you'll be able to make judgments as to whether something is worth the money asked, and you will have filtered a bunch of great authors into your writing.

 

[Asr]

Reviewers like Skylab and HeadphoneAddict get sent items for review essentially because the vendors who send them gear not only see them as established members, but that they also have influence over the Head-Fi community. Lots of people make their buying decisions based on a Skylab or HeadphoneAddict review and the vendors know this - so the vendors (who are obviously in the business to make money) send them gear and hope for a positive review to drive sales.

I'd suggest attending meets if you just want to hear audio gear, as that would require less time and effort. In addition to writing the actual review, being a reviewer involves communication with the vendor (so good communication skills are a must), being reliable (they have to know you won't keep something), good critical-listening ability, and sending items back (and in the case of Head-Fi this means you have to pay for shipping) along with everything shipping involves (having shipping materials, being in close proximity to shipping services, etc). If your goal is to get exposed to a variety of audio gear you'll save yourself a lot of time if you just attend a meet - the whole process of writing reviews is extensive and folks like Skylab and HPA, among others, have done it over a period of years. It's not a quick thing.

You can write your own fan reviews of course, lots of other Head-Fi members have done it, but expecting to get anything out of vendors sending you items is an unrealistic expectation. It can be work writing reviews (especially for free) and the rewards are few. And unless the motivation is a selfless one (i.e., adding to the knowledgebase available on Head-Fi), I don't see how anyone could be bothered to write free reviews on Head-Fi when it's an extensive time & money investment.

As far as reputation goes, there are 2 primary factors that drive that: (1) extensive positive feedback from the FS forums, and (2) post count & join date - people with earlier join dates and larger post counts are more "known" and are usually more reliable because they've been around for some time. Positive FS-forum feedback is more essential - without it, no one has any idea if a certain person is trustworthy or not. It's no coincidence that people like Skylab and HPA have been Head-Fi members for years, have large post counts, and have 100%-positive feedback. People like them are highly visible in the forums (and hence draw the attention of vendors, who tend to look at how influential certain members are for seeking out reviewers).
 
Uncle Erik has some very good points about the review writing itself but the best-written review in the world won't do much for people who don't "market" themselves and aren't seen as influential.

 

[Uncle Erik]

Good points, Asr!

You're absolutely right about attending meets and getting to know people. This is still a small community and most of the active members have met each other. Plus, the meets are really fun - they're not entirely about listening to gear.

 

[mrarroyo]

Reviews/Impressions/Comparisons are nothing more than a person's impression on a given piece of gear. Too much weight is at times given and in reality we do not know the person's experience, choice of music, complementing gear, etc which all combines to "color" the persons comments/evaluation.
 
I too believe in attending meets to first meet the people and then to spend a few minutes with the unit the person is interested in. Sometimes we do not realize how big or heavy (ugly and thus lack of WAF) a unit may be. For example I read a lot of good comments on the AKG K340 and bought one which I right away sent to Headphile to get it modified, it sounded AMAZING but ... it was very heavy and I eventually sold it. My point is that even after attending a meet and testing the gear you may not truly know it until you have lived with it in your dwelling.
 
Lastly, we must all keep a sense of balance. Pairing a $5,000 headphone with a $50 amp or source will in most cases not produce the best results overall. Of course if you got a great deal or are in the process of upgrading the lower cost items you should be OK. Good luck.

 

[Skylab]

First of all, you have to decide if you really want to actually be a reviewer, and if so, why? My motivation for starting down that path was that I really like trying stuff out, and I enjoy sharing my findings with people. But to do a good job reviewing takes a considerable amount of time and energy, and quite frankly, especially in the beginning, money. When I started reviewing stuff on head-fi, I had to buy everything I wanted to review. After quite a while of doing that, I started to get some manufacturers reaching out and offering to loan me gear to review. But that was after I had already written dozens of reviews of stuff I had bought in order to review it. And even now, some of the loaners I get I end up paying return shipping costs when I am done with them, although some manufacturers cover that. So there is even some ongoing cost when you get to the point of getting loaners.

Then there are some manufacturers who are not so nice to deal with. While most are great, I had one portable amp maker send me an email instructing me to change my review! When I refused, he backed off, but he had been pretty rude about it. Another threatened me when the he did not receive the review loaner back. Turned out the post office had attempted to deliver the item three times and then eventually returned it to me. Totally his fault.

And you better have a thick skin, too. I've had head-fiers call me all kind of names, publicly and privately, because I didn't like their favorite product. Want proof? Go back and read the thread of my review of the HD800, although the most egregious posts were of course removed by the mods.

So in short, make sure you REALLY want to be a reviewer before you set out to become one, because you will invest a bunch of time and money, so you need to be sure you want to do it. I still enjoy it...most of the time

 

[cifani090]

 
Quote:

First of all, you have to decide if you really want to actually be a reviewer, and if so, why? My motivation for starting down that path was that I really like trying stuff out, and I enjoy sharing my findings with people. But to do a good job reviewing takes a considerable amount of time and energy, and quite frankly, especially in the beginning, money. When I started reviewing stuff on head-fi, I had to buy everything I wanted to review. After quite a while of doing that, I started to get some manufacturers reaching out and offering to loan me gear to review. But that was after I had already written dozens of reviews of stuff I had bought in order to review it. And even now, some of the loaners I get I end up paying return shipping costs when I am done with them, although some manufacturers cover that. So there is even some ongoing cost when you get to the point of getting loaners.

Then there are some manufacturers who are not so nice to deal with. While most are great, I had one portable amp maker send me an email instructing me to change my review! When I refused, he backed off, but he had been pretty rude about it. Another threatened me when the he did not receive the review loaner back. Turned out the post office had attempted to deliver the item three times and then eventually returned it to me. Totally his fault.

And you better have a thick skin, too. I've had head-fiers call me all kind of names, publicly and privately, because I didn't like their favorite product. Want proof? Go back and read the thread of my review of the HD800, although the most egregious posts were of course removed by the mods.

So in short, make sure you REALLY want to be a reviewer before you set out to become one, because you will invest a bunch of time and money, so you need to be sure you want to do it. I still enjoy it...most of the time

Wow Skylab, even i didn't know that. Even for those people out there looking to do a review, dont let the companies intimidate you. The reviews people are looking to do 8 times out of 10 are fine, but the companies will try to get false info out on the product, so that people will buy it.