Ok I will start the :boom:
Steve Guttenberg: does this guy have an actual opinion? It seems like everything he review sounds so awesome.
Mike Mercer wins my Shilltastic Shill award. That piece he did on the McIntosh DAC (D2500? whatever the darn thing is) was too much poo
Mike Mercer wins my Shilltastic Shill award. That piece he did on the McIntosh DAC (D2500? whatever the darn thing is) was too much poo
This guy, Merv P. Changstar, thinks everything is Schiit. Can't be arsed to read 'reviews' where nuthin's good. He's the anti-shill and is single handedly ruining the universe of audio.
What(crap)hifi: They seem to love audiolab, niam, arcam and cambridge audio. What's in common here? UK bias? I don't know. walk the plank2
What(crap)hifi: They seem to love audiolab, niam, arcam and cambridge audio. What's in common here? Union Jack bias? I don't know. walk the plank2
I should also add, Fremer gets points for calling out PS Audio both on a mediocre sounding product AND significant sample variation. Stay classy PS.
Every 6moons review: Am I on planet earth? Why don't I understand what sound characteristics they are talking about? Is it audiophile lingo? Nope. Can't find it on Internet or anywhere else. Guess the level of acadamic sound science/mambo jumbo is really way beyond my low human intelligence. Why can't I click on some of the reviews links on the site?! Oh wait I am really dumbfked.
Once a rep of Audioquest told me "if you want to know the goodness of our cables, subscribe to WHF and read a bit more. you need to knoe more about cable science."Hahahaha! You made my day.
Geez...
I mean, Mercer loved the Audeze EL-8? :vomit:
once I heard the Hugo for Myself and compared to what most people wrote about that Joke.. i lost confidence in almost everyone.
Speaking of hifiguy528...
Uses a ultra high end USD$930+ Audioquest Diamond USB Cable on an entry level(according to him) USD$1499 DAC. (USD$2429+ in total)
Who the hell does that? Why not just spend $2429 into higher grade usb/dac amp?
I mean, Mercer loved the Audeze EL-8? :vomit:
This guy on the other hand, I f-ing love this guy. I wish he would review way more stuff than he does.
http://noaudiophile.com/Zu/
- What Hi-Fi is a site for wankers. Part of the British Hi-Fi industrial-media complex. No product gets less than four stars and everything from Chord gets five.
NO HARM, NO FOUL
- Steve Guttenberg sorta comes off as a clown. He writes for CNET. No harm.
- Mercer is honestly passionate about the stuff. I get where he is coming from.
- Fremer has done good things. The cartridge test get's him a get of out jail free card.
- Macedonian Hero isn't deaf and certainly isn't a shill. The problem is that he is about two years behind everyone else, hasn't been exposed to a lot of different top notch stuff (he's in Canada on the East Coast and doesn't go to meets), and he gets super excited when he hears new stuff. He came off as extremely annoying in the past because he would crash HF appreciation threads pull off crap like T1 > PS1000; or T1 > HD800; or WA22 is awesome; so I think that stigma of extremely annoying guy stuck with him unfortunately. If you give him time to upgrade his gear and build a good setup, he eventually figures it out.
- What Hi-Fi is a site for wankers. Part of the British Hi-Fi industrial-media complex. No product gets less than four stars and everything from Chord gets five.
- Srajan Ebaen. Only moderately dangerous because he doesn't make any sense / no one knows what the fuck he is saying.
- Skylab. People didn't know his preferences, which he never clearly stated. More than a few peeps on Changstar were stupid enough to buy the Leben CS300 piece of shit that Skylab rated #1 in his top 10 list (It was always top X lists, never descriptions of sound). Shit, I bought a Darth Bayer and LCD2r1. That was enough for me.
- John Grandberg. I think he's local in the Bay Area, but I have never met him. Don't think he's ever shown up to meets. I have strong suspicions about him. Seems to have a lot of craptastic China gear and some higher-end OK items here and there. I know the Chinese MoTs will give people free or heavily discounted gear if you can assure them a positive review. I wonder about anyone who thinks the Yulong DA08 is a listenable DAC. On the other hand, I don't he has actually heard anything we would consider great sounding gear, so maybe he is totally earnest. In the end, too hard to read between the lines, but he does leave clues. To be fair, maybe just a different focus. Most Pyrates don't want a stack of mid-fi craptastic gear that costs slightly too much for what it is.
- Headphonia is harmful. A lot of people don't realize that he sells shit in his store. There have been a couple of instances were comparative reviews on his site favored the shit that he sold. He's also said shit like the HD700 was awesome sauce that as was good as the STAX 'stats. I dunno if that was Sennheiser obi-wan'ing him or he wanted to be obi-wan'd. Really makes no difference. At one time, he even said he would trade his HD800 for an HD700. Anaxilus tried to do the trade, but Headphonia backed out. It's sad because he started well out enough. Also, anyone who likes RSA Darkstar has shit for ears. Heck, even Warren publicly wrote on HF that the Darkstar was a POS, albeit a very powerful sounding POS.
DANGER WILL ROBINSON!
- Jude Mansilla is probably the most dangerous person to the hobby. Mainly because of the level of control that he has. He definitely plays favorites based on who is paying him or who might have the potential to pay him. You can sell a lot of stuff if you pay him enough and his the ring on his hand. Independents like us to have no room to run big meets because Jude now runs three or four big meets in California (after he realized that the meets we ran got bigger and bigger, and that there was a shitload of money to be made). The problem with the HF meets is that they are no longer meets. They are now tradeshows where normal people can't afford anything shown. You don't meet people with really fantastic sounding cheap or moderate priced rigs anymore. Warren tried to have featured hobbyists at the last CanJam, but it ended up like a stupid afterthought or joke.
Techpowerup and Tomshardware occasionally post headphone reviews. Please don't! Those amateurs don't know what they're listening to and only look at the price tag.
and the 57 cent Realtek chip on your motherboard is just as good as anythingMost DAC chips are pretty cheap, you know?... It's not just about the DAC.
Video that cracks me up every time I watch it:
Best review of a headphone ever:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L34S4Tt1EuQ
Most DAC chips are pretty cheap, you know?... It's not just about the DAC.
Relatively cheap yes, not that cheap. Most top spec sigma delta chips run around $10.
Anybody here understands what Srajan is trying to say? ;D
My two picks are Gutternberg and Mercer. Their threshold for what should be considered high-end audio is as abysmally low as it can get. I'm ashamed to admit that some of my early purchases were influenced by these guys, but after learning the lesson the hard way, here I am.
What can you tell me about these guys/gals? How reliable are their reviews?
- John Atkinson @ Stereophile
- Tyll Hertsen @ Innerfidelity
- Spritzer (Birgir) @ Mjolnir Audio
- MuppetFace (Romy)
- Warren P. Chi
- Anakchan (Sean)
- Currawong (Amos)
On a side note, I'm curious about what Anaxilus's real name is (all I know is that people call him Mike).
I believe purrin/purr1n/merv's was Marv Chen.
- John Atkinson @ Stereophile
- MuppetFace (Romy)
What can you tell me about these guys/gals? How reliable are their reviews?
- John Atkinson @ Stereophile
- Tyll Hertsen @ Innerfidelity
- Spritzer (Birgir) @ Mjolnir Audio
- MuppetFace (Romy)
- Warren P. Chi
- Anakchan (Sean)
- Currawong (Amos)
Darko is a lot better than Lavorgna and Connaker, if far from perfect. He's usually pretty open to criticism at least, and doesn't just go silent like Chris.
Connaker is an idiot. He knows enough about computers to sound competent but not enough about electronics in general to make informed decisions about what he's recommending. He's the kind of reviewer who is incredibly dangerous.
Hey, if you need advice for best audiophile hard drive and processor combo, where else are you gonna go other than CA?
ok so its not just me I tried reading his caps guide and some of the claims he makes are just facepalm
http://www.computeraudiophile.com/section/c-p-s-489/ good luck.
If a DAC has any sort of sonic coloration, it's broken. This DAC is fine.
Seems NSFW, Are they a audio review site or some kind of porn mag?
http://www.stereomojo.com/
Latest review on parttimeaudiophile.com: http://parttimeaudiophile.com/2015/07/04/review-beyerdynamic-t-1-headphone/The T1 was more important than anything by Audeze or HiFiMAN? facepalm His reasoning for the claim is worse than what I'm used to getting from my intro students. Many of the reasons he adduces are bad not only in the sense that they don't establish the truth of his claim, but also in the sense of being bad things, i.e. bad states of affairs that should be lamented with tears and sackcloth rather than enthusiasm.
= :vomit:
The T1 was more important than anything by Audeze or HiFiMAN? facepalm His reasoning for the claim is worse than what I'm used to getting from my intro students. Many of the reasons he adduces are bad not only in the sense that they don't establish the truth of his claim, but also in the sense of being bad things, i.e. bad states of affairs that should be lamented with tears and sackcloth rather than enthusiasm.Speaking of which, it's very challenging to find a review that is not positive about the T1, let alone talk of it as if it's a big mile stone of headphones. :(
Speaking of which, it's very challenging to find a review that is not positive about the T1, let alone talk of it as if it's a big mile stone of headphones. :(Hence the need for Changstar.
He is a good reviewer, but his gears seems mid-fi at best.
http://www.lachlanlikesathing.com/
I take ALL reviews with
not everyone lives in the Bay Area, NYC, Chicago, and so on, to hear gear first-hand.
There is NO substitute for listening to something YOURSELF with music you are 'familiar' with
So what? He is honest about his preferences and like Tyll so you do not have to ask "why?" but rather "what is the audio set-up?"
His efforts to create informative and balanced content are admirable.
I am guessing he is using Geek pulse or ODAC/O2 and other DAP for reviewing the headphones(he didn't list the gear in his chain).
I feel that if he had access to even higher end gear, his review would have given us even more information about the headphone's full potential that is not limited/weakened/affected by his mid level gear, if the headphone he is reviewing is a very capable one.
Take for example, in this review, Dan used his higher grade MSB Analog Dac and his Audio-gd Master9, but he also paired the headphone to mid-tier dacs like the oppo HA-1
http://headmania.org/2015/06/28/oppo-pm-2-headphones-review/
TLDR: More equipment grade allows the reviewer to access the gear's performance better.
What about Frank I, Headphone Guru?
Lachlan "likes" and informs or dislikes and informs. I appreciate what he does.
What did people think of David Mahler's "Battle of the Flagships" write-up?A load of work and pretty impressive effort, imo.
What did people think of David Mahler's "Battle of the Flagships" write-up?
I think Mahler's gigantic comparison is highly valuable for several reasons:
1. He seems to be economically strong enough that he doesn't appear to be thinking price=quality (i.e. W3000, Qualia). Therefore I think he can make a good judgement on an absolute scale.
2. The comparison covers quite a lot of headphone history of the recent 15-20 years.
3. He substaintially tells where he came from.
4. He doesn't claim absolute shit nor drives any hype.
Mahler's comparisons is one of my favorite posts on HF
What did people think of David Mahler's "Battle of the Flagships" write-up?
What about the famous headphone reviewer ... Dale Thorn ?
Removing more people from the list, I also don't trust people that listen with their eyes. There are so many people that, I think, already know what buzzwords they're gonna use before they even listen to a piece of gear. That could be subconscious, I'm not sure. Are there tubes? Talk about warmth. Solid state? Say it's harsh. Does it measure very well? Say something about it being 'sterile'. Is there wood involved? Mention it sounding 'organic'. This goes on and on. I've even noticed what seems to be a pretty high correlation in terms used depending on the color of the gear (copper colors > silver, manufacturers).
Extra protip: Generally, if the review rambles on and on, they're probably making a lot of shit up in their mind.
The Mahler thing is largely a regurgitation of the info/impressions I gave him of high end HPs through tons of PMs over the course of maybe half a year.
The Mahler thing is largely a regurgitation of the info/impressions I gave him of high end HPs through tons of PMs over the course of maybe half a year.
The Mahler thing is largely a regurgitation of the info/impressions I gave him of high end HPs through tons of PMs over the course of maybe half a year.
Shameless repost:
I love ljokerl reviews.
What about the famous headphone reviewer ... Dale Thorn ?
What about the famous headphone reviewer ... Dale Thorn ?
The second shooter on the grassy knoll? I don't trust him, his account is nothing but a front for the military industrial complex p:/
The Mahler thing is largely a regurgitation of the info/impressions I gave him of high end HPs through tons of PMs over the course of maybe half a year.
I don't trust stereophile, 6moons, etc whatsoever and will only go to one of those sites if I'm trying to find out something specific about the gear (year it came out, etc) or to see measurements. That pretty much leaves forum reviews...
I like forums reviews much more than professional reviews, but I either don't trust or don't agree with a large portion of users. I don't trust people that give their input on everything, because they usually fall into 1 of 2 categories:
1. People that write long reviews of lots of gear. Usually seen on HF. There are a couple of genuine reviewers, but most seem more interested in building up a name for themselves or getting free shit for positive feedback.
2. People that comment on every piece of gear. Seen on every forum. These are usually people that go to lots of meets or have a local Hifi store and get to listen to things for 30 seconds in noisy conditions, oftentimes with other variables in the chain they're not extremely familiar with. Very misleading and it shows in the inaccuracy of their impressions.
Removing more people from the list, I also don't trust people that listen with their eyes. There are so many people that, I think, already know what buzzwords they're gonna use before they even listen to a piece of gear. That could be subconscious, I'm not sure. Are there tubes? Talk about warmth. Solid state? Say it's harsh. Does it measure very well? Say something about it being 'sterile'. Is there wood involved? Mention it sounding 'organic'. This goes on and on. I've even noticed what seems to be a pretty high correlation in terms used depending on the color of the gear (copper colors > silver, manufacturers).
What remains are the people whose impressions I can trust, however even lots of these people are missing something I find important: experience. The two components that make up experience are quality time spent with very high quality gear and quality time spent with a breadth of different gear. Going to meets is a great way to get experience, but it doesn't compare with actually having that piece of gear in your home and in your system, thus I wouldn't classify it as quality time.
The importance of having quality time with very high quality gear is that it raises the bar for what you know is possible with a headphone system. A person who has only owned Audeze and Grados won't know what an expansive soundstage is, but they probably think they're hearing it...until they upgrade to a T1 and then they're hearing what they consider an expansive soundstage...until they upgrade to a HD800 and then they're hearing what actually is an expansive soundstage for HPs. Despite this, they were arguing with the HD800 owners about their Audeze and Grados having a nice soundstage (because they're coming from iBuds) at the beginning until they actually know better. Basically, think MacedonianHero. Now apply this to every aspect of sound reproduction and couple it with the constantly revolving door of HF noobs and you probably start to see why this is a problem.
The importance of having quality time spent with lots of different gear is that it gives you the ability to rank and sort the different aspects of sound signature for all the gear you've had said high quality time with.
What's this all mean? I generally find myself agreeing most with the people that own/have owned/have borrowed lots of different high quality gear in their own home and in their own system. purk, muppetface, anetode, radio_head, prepro, marv, spritzer, mahler, etc etc etc. Just giving examples, not trying to name drop.
Everybody has biases that you learn to read and acclimate to, and once you do I find you can get some very reliable info.
Extra protip: Generally, if the review rambles on and on, they're probably making a lot of shit up in their mind.
It is called "Patriot Park" in Russia. Disney has nothing on this one...
This dude. I read a review from him some time ago that was informative but pretty funny. I had forgotten about him, but thanks for bringing him back to our attention.
erm, really? his homepage at http://noaudiophile.com/index.php (http://noaudiophile.com/index.php) announces:
"Headphones suck, and why: A dissertation on the folly of ear cans"
LOL popcorn
Treble
It seems a great deal of enthusiasts seriously dislike the top end of this headphone…and I can absolutely understand why: it is muffled, reserved and extremely slow. However, it offers a bite and brightness to it that reminds me a lot of the Stax 007 in the manner that electrostatic served up its top end. It is musical and I enjoy the brightness because it lacks hiss and snap, which is a rare combination with treble experiences in general in the headphone world. Yes, it feels oddly setup, perhaps even lacking in engaging qualities, but you can easily get past that when you realize the treble offered is of a solid substance and weighted tonality type. Odd, but satisfying.
http://headfonics.com/2015/06/the-mdr-z7-by-sony/2/
I think we should be REALLY careful of reviewers who gloss over serious glaring issues with the equipment or try their best to deflect the issue away.
This is how Michael Piskor(24bit), Headfonics flips issues around.
Been waiting for that one considering the rest of his article are funny, useful, and informative. I wonder WTF he's going to say?
I think we should be REALLY careful of reviewers who gloss over serious glaring issues with the equipment or try their best to deflect the issue away.
This is how Michael Piskor(24bit), Headfonics flips issues around.
Been waiting for that one considering the rest of his article are funny, useful, and informative. I wonder WTF he's going to say?
I know the guy more personally. He just likes the smoother sound that a good tweeter will give you. FR/tone focused in terms of his listening priorities. And given most headphones do have treble irregularities it makes sense. FWIW he asked me a while back to recommend a TOTL headphone and I told him to try the LCD2. Go ahead and laugh. I knew he wouldn't have lasted more than 10s with the HD800 and I figured he would at least appreciate the solid bass that the Audezes provide (this was pre-Fazer) coming from speakers. He returned it for nebulous reasons that he didn't describe well to me.
I would also just love an amplifier that had two outputs with independent volume controls. That would just be heaven sent for gear comparisons.
They do exist:
http://www.amazon.com/rolls-HA43PRO-CH-Headphone-Amp/dp/B00102ZOQC
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1020697-REG/polsen_hpa_4x2_pro_stereo_4_channel_hp.html
I would also just love an amplifier that had two outputs with independent volume controls. That would just be heaven sent for gear comparisons.
I will be completely honest and say I vainly read through this entire thread looking for my name to come up (thanks for the nice words!)
Yeah it seems like professional audio gear seems the way to go to find such an amplifier. Lately I've been thinking of just buying one of the new Thunderbolt Focusrite interfaces once they become available. The higher end models have 2x independent volume controls and I'll have a box for experiments with RMAA / podcast recording etc. And I trust Focusrite more because they publish so much about their models: http://us.focusrite.com/usb-audio-interfaces/forte/specifications
We could always add you to the list! But honestly, I doubt you would get any votes for being untrustworthy. Maybe a few because we like to mess with each other here.
What did people think of David Mahler's "Battle of the Flagships" write-up?Love it. Obviously he doesn't need the money or gear. He seems to be sharing his honest opinions and I like it.
The other being |joker| with his massive iem rating thread100%. He's a nice guy too. For some reason he likes me so no complaints there =P
In his recent video appearances, Jude looks physically more frail(less body mass/muscle) than he was a few years ago?
uh oh here we go.
"wasting away and dying of <insert contagious disease here
John Darko did an almost wordless review of the he1k and gave it a knockout award.
http://www.digitalaudioreview.net/2015/07/hifiman-he-1000-headphones-review/
"John likes words. Words about music. Words about hi-fi. Words about music and hi-fi."1HE1K must be low-fi then.
1. But no words about the HE1k
John Darko did an almost wordless review of the he1k and gave it a knockout award.
http://www.digitalaudioreview.net/2015/07/hifiman-he-1000-headphones-review/
In his recent video appearances, Jude looks physically more frail(less body mass/muscle) than he was a few years ago?
(click to show/hide)
Darko is far from the only one to give the Mytek DAC a "Super Plus Blue Moon Special" award. Almost all reviews I've seen of it have been extremely positive. Same for the PS DSD.
Nomax is coming from the open-end-professional forum.
He claims to be active in the headphone scene since decades, going to meets to talk to developers and headphone freaks.
In Germany, there is the objective hifi-forum and the subjective open-end. Nomax just hypes everything he likes or rather he can listen to before others can do. He's never negative. He just wants so share the joy of the headphone hobby. Here's his own hype-thread, where he gets attacked a lot.
http://www.open-end-music.de/vb3/showthread.php?t=6634 (http://www.open-end-music.de/vb3/showthread.php?t=6634)
Nomax is coming from the open-end-professional forum.
He claims to be active in the headphone scene since decades, going to meets to talk to developers and headphone freaks.
In Germany, there is the objective hifi-forum and the subjective open-end. Nomax just hypes everything he likes or rather he can listen to before others can do. He's never negative. He just wants so share the joy of the headphone hobby. Here's his own hype-thread, where he gets attacked a lot.
http://www.open-end-music.de/vb3/showthread.php?t=6634 (http://www.open-end-music.de/vb3/showthread.php?t=6634)
"Trust No One" - Herod
I find music (and audio) reviewers to be an oxymoron.
In order to get jobs (20th Century) or be read by many people, one must be expert at writing words. So, reviewers that we find at major sites are invariably verbally oriented people.
While this does not automatically preclude them from also being perceptive about the non-verbal world, it does make it unlikely. You can see this by comparing the quantity of reviews of instrumental music to that of "songs". Sites like Rolling Stone and Pitchfork base their appraisals of popular music largely by the quality and import of the lyrics of songs, and mostly ignore the music and instrumental performances.
Similarly, a "wordsmith" who can also charm companies into sending him $40,000 pieces of gear, is less likely to be someone who has spent thousands of hours comparing micro-details or listening to the effect of phase shifts.
The fact that I've already bored you, due to my lack of writing skills, is a good example of the above. :)
In order to get jobs (20th Century) or be read by many people, one must be expert at writing words. So, reviewers that we find at major sites are invariably verbally oriented people.
Similarly, a "wordsmith" who can also charm companies into sending him $40,000 pieces of gear, is less likely to be someone who has spent thousands of hours comparing micro-details or listening to the effect of phase shifts.
The fact that I've already bored you, due to my lack of writing skills, is a good example of the above. :)
Thank you. I consider myself a pretty poor wordsmith, but pretty good at developing meaning and spewing it out colloquially.:)p13 :)p13
Writing bad reviews always gets the most interesting (and greatest quantity of) replies for me.
Writing bad reviews always gets the most interesting (and greatest quantity of) replies for me.My bad review of the Teac UD-501 caused more derisive and belittling replies than anything I've ever written. So many people spent $800 because of shill reviews and from assuming that more "numbers" and features made it better.
Conspiracy theory: Maybe there's a Hidden/unwritten rule in audiophile reviews in that you cannot write a total negative review of a major(or future potential) site sponsor. walk the plank2
Taken from Salvatore's "secret rules of reviewing"
1. Never anger any protected audio industry entity, such as:
A. An important current, or potential, advertiser; including manufacturers, distributors or retailers, or...
B. Any other audio establishment which has a "personal relationship" with you.
2. Delay acknowledging any serious problems with a "protected" component until you give another rave review to the "updated" model which replaces it and "corrects" the problems.
3. Avoid making any direct comparisons with a "protected" component, but if you have to, follow these "Solutions":
A. Compare the component only to older and/or obsolete models, especially from the same manufacturer. (See Rule #2 above).
B. If Solution "A" is not possible, compare the component to "competitors" costing either MUCH more or MUCH less.
C. If both Solutions "A" or "B" are not possible, "neglect" to mention the actual names and model numbers of the rival components that you compare it to in the review.
D. If Solutions "A", "B" or "C" are all not feasible, and you must compare the model to a current, similarly priced (and "protected") competitor that you must name, then you must be:
1. As ambiguous as possible, and you must also...
2. Never describe any problem as "serious" (See Rule #3.E)
3. Never proclaim one model to be clearly superior to the other(s). In short...
4. Both (or all) of the components must be seen as equally desirable and of similar value.
E. Problems or imperfections that aren't obvious (such as no bass below 40 Hz with small speakers), may be described as "serious" (easy to hear) only when using Solutions "A", "B" or "C".
However, any problems described when using Solution "D" must always be "subtle" and "difficult to hear", or even described as an "advancement" if possible.
4. You must never inform readers if an "audiophile" accessory or tweak is also available in a generic form at a fraction of the price that the "protected" manufacturer is charging (Blue Tac and RFI rings etc.).
5. Any and all "transactions" between you and any of the parties mentioned in Rule #1 must always be kept strictly Confidential. Accordingly...
A. You must never divulge the actual price, if any, you paid to "purchase" your reference components or accessories, or any extra costs you paid, if any, to have those same components updated, modified, repaired, replaced etc.
B. You must never divulge any "gifts", "favors" or "perks" that you received from the "protected" audio entities, or those with whom you have a "personal relationship".
6. You must never mention the actual costs, even at retail prices, of the parts that are used to manufacture the component.
7. Further to Rules #4 & #6, you must never state, or even imply, that any component or accessory is "over-priced".
8. The more corrupt your magazine is, the more you shall proclaim your honesty.
9. Magazines shall never divulge the actual percentage of their advertising revenues to their total revenues.
10. OVERRIDE CLAUSE- Some of the preceding rules (#1, #2 & #3) may be ignored only in the event of either a serious (and apparently indefinite) breach of the "personal relationship" between the audio company and reviewer/magazine, and/or the termination, or non-payment, of their advertising contract.
Connaker at CA is definitely following these rules pretty closely these days. Once upon a time, he would directly compare products with other, competing products that he had recently reviewed, and also compare to his own, home built "CAPS" server. That's all gone. Competitors are NEVER mentioned in reviews now, and any questions in the comment section at the end of a review asking "how does this compare to..." are always ignored, no exceptions.
My bad review of the Teac UD-501 caused more derisive and belittling replies than anything I've ever written.
Thank you. I consider myself a pretty poor wordsmith, but pretty good at developing meaning and spewing it out colloquially.
Could be a guy trying to establish a reputation so he can position himself to get lots of free gear, permanent loaners, or discounted gear in the future.
I'm on the other side of the fence now... if only you guys how many smooth operators were trying to get "accommodations" on the Studio. Lots of "wink" "wink" shit.
Mike Mercer is the worst for me. Never misses an opportunity to name call his "mentor" who recently passed (RIP) as if that in any way legitimizes his spurious jizz-markie approach to everything he gets his hands on. Terrible command of the English language (when did that stop being a requirement for people who choose to write for publications?), always catering to the vendor, and his ridiculous love for everything Audez'e regardless of how terrible it is, does himself and his employers a great disservice.
Mike Mercer is the worst for me. Never misses an opportunity to name call his "mentor" who recently passed (RIP) as if that in any way legitimizes his spurious jizz-markie approach to everything he gets his hands on. Terrible command of the English language (when did that stop being a requirement for people who choose to write for publications?), always catering to the vendor, and his ridiculous love for everything Audez'e regardless of how terrible it is, does himself and his employers a great disservice.
Reading Nomax and Music Alchemist in the HF Diana thread gave me a huge headache
Posters like Music Alchemist are the worst. I cringe every time he posts. He's one of the top posters on HF simply because he's on the site all day long. What rustles my jimmies the most is the kind of advice he gives to newbies. He spends at most a week with his headphones before trading them and thinks he knows what's best for everyone with his limited experiences.
I hope it is second nature for you to avoid reviews that start or are based on the "new-toy-syndrome"?
Yeah, I'd much rather read a review from a competent hobbyist (or professional) that has spent several years with an item than the fotm reviews from those chasing free gear and attention, often making sure to drop announcements of their upcoming reviews on the forums. Who are you again?
Who is his mentor?
I would also just love an amplifier that had two outputs with independent volume controls. That would just be heaven sent for gear comparisons.
Perhaps borderline necro but this product should be right up your alley: http://spl.info/de/produkte/monitor-controller/2control/uebersicht.html