The death spiral of periodical publishing really has left quite a void in the world of home entertainment, tech and auto hardware reviewing. Magazines have become so beholden to their advertisers that honest reviews are thing of the past.
Unfortunately the online world offers very little in the way of honest reviews since so many people will buy something that works and then never leave a positive review (I'm guilty of this since I usually only leave a review on sites like Amazon if the product fails to deliver as promised or expected). On the other hand one does often see lots of complaints.
But as I stated audio equipment is not the only thing that suffers from bad reviewing, automobiles and most tech hardware (especially Apple) rarely gets an honest review. Word of mouth from people one trusts is one of the few options left.
The death spiral of periodical publishing really has left quite a void in the world of home entertainment, tech and auto hardware reviewing. Magazines have become so beholden to their advertisers that honest reviews are thing of the past.
Unfortunately the online world offers very little in the way of honest reviews since so many people will buy something that works and then never leave a positive review (I'm guilty of this since I usually only leave a review on sites like Amazon if the product fails to deliver as promised or expected). On the other hand one does often see lots of complaints.
But as I stated audio equipment is not the only thing that suffers from bad reviewing, automobiles and most tech hardware (especially Apple) rarely gets an honest review. Word of mouth from people one trusts is one of the few options left.
my feeling about this is that we just have stuff too good for what we actually need. it has come to a point where improvements are so small that 1 guy with a bias or a marketing plan, can shift public opinion away from actual quality with no more than "I tell you that stuff rox".
the fact that we get influenced so much by nothing more than charms, to me is a proof that we're really too ignorant about what we buy, we pretend like we care, but we clearly don't. and also proof that quality doesn't really matter anymore because even the crap is in fact better than most older products.
a car will take you where you need to go, even the crappiest computer will log you onto facebook. so most of the time, we argue about who's best simply because of our ego not because it really makes a difference. and often that shows in amateur reviews. for pro stuff I'm 100% with what you said.
I trust virtually nothing on this site, but I do appreciate Brooko's thorough approach and Project86's lack of issues with aural acuity. Nice to read a review by someone who isn't deaf. There are also a few folks in the tube threads who really know their stuff.
Web-based, blog-type reviews are pure comedy. Some of these people can't even spell "review."
Magazine-wise, I trust John Atkinson for speakers and electronics, and Myles Astor for analog. That's it.
Why so jaded? I've been doing this a long time. Even worked in the industry, where I had more gear shuffle its way through my room than most folks see in magazines during their lifetimes. No exaggeration. Still do, but to a much lesser extent, but I digress. Having heard the various components in my own system and later having read the reviews, let's just say that our respective opinions didn't always mesh well. My advice, find an experienced reviewer who hears and places emphasis on factors similarly as you, and follow him.
I believe everything I read, 100% of the time. I buy everything they tell me to. (I'm a model citizen, I know.) I mean, why else would someone bother to publish something on the Internet if it wasn't true?
I've had to make some sacrifices after being enlightened by all those fancy reviews, but being a hobo with only the finest five figure audiophile cables is worth it. But I'm not stupid. I know well enough to disguise the cables (by wrapping them in beads) so no one cares enough to snatch 'em.
Perhaps I should have invested more into the headphones, though...
Even street cats look down on me with their trendy newfangled fashion 'phones.
Then there are the old-school cats who kind of get on my nerves what with all the vintage elitism. (At least I'm humble about my extravagant spending habits to the point of financial ruin.)
But those hip-hop cats are a bother to deal with.
(Ugh. Those guys are the worst. Just who do you think you are, Chewbacca?)
Humans wishing they were cats...
Cats wishing they were humans...
I've seen it all. Such is the life of an audiophile hobo.
beLIEve!
ehehe. I'm having too much fun with this. Really, though, I don't "believe" anything I read per se; instead, I absorb the info with a "Hey, that's interesting, maybe I'll look into it later." agnostic attitude. Agnostic as in I don't claim to know the absolute truth. And I certainly am not so presumptuous as to tell someone else what they are hearing. (That's one reason most Head-Fi'ers avoid this section of the site. I am always deeply insulted when I hear a night and day difference and some random person tells me I'm such an incompetent audiophile that I'm merely imagining it -- as if something so obvious could be imagined.) Since more often than not my personal experience is drastically different than that of others in reviews, I have resigned myself to the fate of simply not judging something until I hear it with my own ears. I assimilate online info primarily to determine what I might be interested in hearing next and in the future.
I also don't usually "believe" either side of any debate. What a waste of time... Those who think something won't make a difference refuse to even use the product and then make claims about how it sounds (which, by the way, is a violation of the website's terms of service)...and those who perceive a significant difference normally are not willing (or able) to test their perception via ABX tests and the like...so those like me who want to find out the real truth (not theory) end up not being helped at all, having to figure things out for ourselves.
I kind of learned I just liked reading reviews. I believed them for a while then I didn't care, I just wanted the words to wash over me. Somehow the reviews were like music. I didn't want a strong critical review, I just wanted to read about another of those pretty and expensive audio devices that made nice music, regardless of truth or cost. I was part of something, like a cult with it's own system of thinking. I just needed more magazines, heck I didn't even need more equipment just more reviews.
I kind of learned I just liked reading reviews. I believed them for a while then I didn't care, I just wanted the words to wash over me. Somehow the reviews were like music. I didn't want a strong critical review, I just wanted to read about another of those pretty and expensive audio devices that made nice music, regardless of truth or cost. I was part of something, like a cult with it's own system of thinking. I just needed more magazines, heck I didn't even need more equipment just more reviews.
I kind of learned I just liked reading reviews. I believed them for a while then I didn't care, I just wanted the words to wash over me. Somehow the reviews were like music. I didn't want a strong critical review, I just wanted to read about another of those pretty and expensive audio devices that made nice music, regardless of truth or cost. I was part of something, like a cult with it's own system of thinking. I just needed more magazines, heck I didn't even need more equipment just more reviews.
+1 to the comments about the perilous lack of quality prevalent in internet fora / blog posting, especially equipment "reviews".
Another interesting correlation (a depressing one, at that) can often be found when comparing the sheer volume of declarative, "technical" review posting (or simply declarative technical posting, say about basics of sampling theory) with the knowledge of the posters.
"Acknowledged experts" (read: high post count; audio website founder; audiophile e-zine publisher; "highly-respected forum member"; "manufacturer/designer of well-regarded audiophile equipment"; audiophile who has spent $X00,000 on equipment/room; etc etc) are often people who, sadly, clearly have neither technical background nor actual comprehension of what they are writing about. But they are fabulous self-promoters, website-click-monetizers, very good at extracting cash from consumer pockets...
Far too many "producers", "recording session supervisors", "recording engineers", or engineers from one domain (say equipment / semiconductor backplane/communications cross-connect); repeatedly publish misrepresentations/mistakes about other engineering domains (say, digital signal processing). Does nothing but mislead the uninformed persons who are seeking credible knowledge, and, worse, sully the honest efforts of others who are experienced - and who stay within their domains when writing from their expertise.
+1 to the comments about the perilous lack of quality prevalent in internet fora / blog posting, especially equipment "reviews".
Another interesting correlation (a depressing one, at that) can often be found when comparing the sheer volume of declarative, "technical" review posting (or simply declarative technical posting, say about basics of sampling theory) with the knowledge of the posters.
"Acknowledged experts" (read: high post count; audio website founder; audiophile e-zine publisher; "highly-respected forum member"; "manufacturer/designer of well-regarded audiophile equipment"; audiophile who has spent $X00,000 on equipment/room; etc etc) are often people who, sadly, clearly have neither technical background nor actual comprehension of what they are writing about. But they are fabulous self-promoters, website-click-monetizers, very good at extracting cash from consumer pockets...
Far too many "producers", "recording session supervisors", "recording engineers", or engineers from one domain (say equipment / semiconductor backplane/communications cross-connect); repeatedly publish misrepresentations/mistakes about other engineering domains (say, digital signal processing). Does nothing but mislead the uninformed persons who are seeking credible knowledge, and, worse, sully the honest efforts of others who are experienced - and who stay within their domains when writing from their expertise.
Well if you go by the top graph results folks who are at Head-Fi and who responded to the question gave a 10% score of 45% so far. So we are at a very low review level of trust. I think everyone feels that reviews need to be taken with caution as we are swimming in an industry flooded by opinion and personal taste, having so much of the subjects containing results that are no way definable or measurable.
Being it is a hobby you also have folks who are armchair enthusiasts flooding their hobby boards with their own take on things. The other section is the educated pros which are schooled and are experts at graphs and theory in practice. Never listed on the front page does it say reviews by professionals only.
You get what you pay for and the information is freeeeeeeeeee.
Starting after WW2 a new industry started with the emerging middle class unmarried male. Music was used as a tool for seduction as so the equipment had seduction too. Finally money to spend and time to enjoy it.
The magazines represented a lifestyle and an earning level. All they had to do was fill the mind with information as the dream was there waiting.
Come on people .............the new bachelors are out there just waiting to give you their money, take it, take it, take it!
I kind of learned I just liked reading reviews. I believed them for a while then I didn't care, I just wanted the words to wash over me. Somehow the reviews were like music. I didn't want a strong critical review, I just wanted to read about another of those pretty and expensive audio devices that made nice music, regardless of truth or cost. I was part of something, like a cult with it's own system of thinking. I just needed more magazines, heck I didn't even need more equipment just more reviews.
Audio reviews really do turn me on sometimes. Very stimulating and magical. It's more entertainment value than anything.
What I look for, more than anything else, is consistency. If a dozen or more reviewers all experience the same thing, it gives it a bit more weight, though it certainly doesn't prove anything. Just a nice thing to see, in terms of deciding what to focus my attention on.
Starting after WW2 a new industry started with the emerging middle class unmarried male. Music was used as a tool for seduction as so the equipment had seduction too. Finally money to spend and time to enjoy it.
The magazines represented a lifestyle and an earning level. All they had to do was fill the mind with information as the dream was there waiting.
Come on people .............the new bachelors are out there just waiting to give you their money, take it, take it, take it!
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