AAW A3H

I did not even know he was Singaporean! So many more local context memes I could have deployed

 

qué?

 

I'd like to clear up some misconceptions and certain comments that got my jimmies slightly rustled, as well some last parting words

1) I was not provided with any free review units from AAW. Marvey probably meant what he said as a joke, but it's rather asshole-ish to even insinuate that I, after spending my own hard-earned money and thinking "hey I really like this more than I expected, I should write something about it" would be in cahoots with the manufacturer themselves for some flowery language and less-than-cynical viewpoint, going as far as to say that my words were something straight out of some marketing handbook from some dubious Chinese factory.

I'll concede that that section was probably not to SBAF's tastes. Hell, I'll admit that it is useless for the most part. But I did it anyway to exercise my writing skills during my downtime in conscription before I go back into academia in a few months. And let me clarify one more time if you're about to make more jokes at my expense: the review was all of my own doing and out of my own initiative. Barring the overuse of descriptors and general fluff, I still very much stand by my points, amateur or otherwise.

2) It is the first time I've heard that the abundance and resolution of relevant pictures was apparently a bane for reviews. I was told that it was the lack of said visual information that severely limits the helpfulness of a review, so I opted for a more liberal approach. I thought I represented the build quality and various noteworthy points of the gear in question rather well.

2.5) My stance on Singlish is rather liberal, but I feel should not be used in an international forum where most users would simply misconstrue it as broken English. It doesn't send a good message and destroys our reputation as Singaporeans. While I may use Singlish verbally on a daily basis with other locals, I don't think it's a healthy expectation for me (and other locals) to use it on more internationally-based websites.

3) I also don't really like the lurk moar mentality that most messageboards have. There is a clear divide between lurkers and contributors since, well, lurkers are pretty quiet. I wasn't expecting such a huge backlash for my write-up since I don't have a lot of gear to begin with, and have only written about 3-4 reviews in the 5 years I've been in this hobby. It wasn't meant to be authoritative, neither was it meant to be a way for me to be propelled as a "senior member" (seriously, where are you guys getting these assumptions from?), but rather as a way to contribute a perspective on a product that has little to no reviews on the internet thus far. I'd much rather take the dive and modify my review in accordance to member input and other advice, but overwhelmingly negative response has been rather off-putting.

Despite this, while this was a rather bitter experience, I wholeheartedly appreciate all your advice. Most of you have been very helpful to me to improve my future writings, special thanks to @Griffon for the harsh, but very in-depth breakdown of my initial writeup. Truly thankful for the aid.

Signing off as a forever-lurker,
crinacle

 

@crinacle This is a small forum that has a well-defined culture that aims to keep the discussion lean and meaningful - no one should have to sift through 96000 responses in any thread.
I think even a couple of hours spent reading here and looking at other reviews would have clued you in. Anybody posting here should be asking themselves if they are contributing in a meaningful way according to the values this place operates by.

 

@crinacle If you re-read what you wrote, you'll find that you're trying to import expectations from other forums here. E.g. "I was told that it was the lack of [pictures]...", "..the lurk moar mentality that most messageboards have." Every forum has its own culture, and you can't treat them all the same. Take SBAF for what it is: SBAF, no more, no less. If you want to contribute to a forum you've got to follow its culture, at least at the beginning; to insist on doing things your way from the start (which is, in effect, what you were doing) will win you no friends.
On writing: it certainly seems that you're making a real effort. But if you want to improve your writing, read more. The review on HF has awkward expressions every few paragraphs ("to put it short", "fully sealing seal"), and you'll likely get no feedback on those points on audio forums.

 

Eh what's your problem, limpeh use Singlish as limpeh see fit. Not happy F off. Stop imposing holier than thou/expectations on others.

What reputation shit or broken english you talking about. Fact is that international visitors to Singapore and even YouTube viewers love and admire our unique Singlish, for its efficiency and simplicity. Why look down on your own native language even if it's a mixture of different languages. Which other country despise or critic their own countymen for not using perfect English or for using their regional slangs?

What is perfect English when there's American Spelling and British Spelling along with all the internet memes and hashtags in this day and age.

I guess you still live in pre-internet times, where you can not google for the word you don't understand.

 

Even though this came off to a somewhat amicable end, I've been coming to think lately as a longtime SBAF lurker that the lack of definition in the supposed "SBAF culture" and general attitude towards inexperienced posters has been cropping up as a problem. Of course, that's not to say that the criticisms @crinacle received were undeserved as the signal/noise paradigm has a meaningful ideological basis, but I don't see the repeated process of redirecting new, potentially constructive posters to the introduction thread while dishing out thorough criticisms of their hard work as sustainable or helpful in the long-term.

I understand that SBAF members value meaningful discussion on audio very highly and find no problem in discriminating against reviews that resemble the shills in HF, and I definitely don't think Marv's Manifesto being written is any closer to providing a real solution, but I do think identifying the current divide between members who've already seen the plankton and those who are figuring out how to contribute as a real problem is a useful first step to take.

 

@crinacle While I can see why you would take umbrage at Marv's sidesplitting parody and the various people suggesting you might be a shill, from their perspective at the time your work had all the hallmarks of it. I am not sure how familiar you are with our local scene in the upper echelons (likely not too much so, given the range of gear you referenced), but overwhelmingly many of our "reviewers" are irredeemably corrupt, something that the people here have taken note of. They take free review samples, or even have a business interest in selling the product they reviewed, all without ever disclosing this information in the review. Add that to your mimicking their formatting and style, and you can see how we would react that way.

It's not an immediately obvious thing, but one way you could have picked up on this and other forum nuances is by lurking moar.

There are a few of us here who would be more than happy to help you out and let you try our gear. I'll personally be back over Christmas.

 

Good points @Aelms, but I think the process of carefully and critically lurking/ investigating this place is the first step in becoming a meaningful contributor.

 

This may be a somewhat unpopular opinion, but I'm personally all for the current 'SBAF culture', whatever that may entail. Not to disparage the competency and / or earnestness of newer / less experienced members, but the fact of the matter is that reviews (particularly comprehensive, fully-fledged ones) must be held to the utmost standards, not for its own sake, but in the context of such a hobby. Many, myself included, simply aren't qualified enough to do so, by virtue of a variety of different factors such as 1) minimal experience with reference / benchmark gear, 2) lack of holistic audio knowledge, 3) inability to articulate oneself sufficiently.

Certain key members here have sporadically stated that SBAF exists in part to fight the good fight against the lavishness of spending propagated by Head-fi culture.

If the cost of high SnR, high content standards, and accurate information is free / liberal discussion, then so be it.

 

Yep. I like the bar analogy. People can see you come in. You don't have to sit in a corner alone (full lurker mode), but it's probably best to sit at the bar and just listen to other people do their thing. You can join the conversation at some point but people will let you know if you are participating enough or too much. After a while people recognize you and some will become more friendly with you or be willing to listen at least. Over time you become a regular and have enough of a feel for the place to act how you please without bothering anyone.

On a less abstract level, I really do see the shortcoming in your review as having no helpful references to other common and well-liked gear so that we can interpret your impressions. I also wanted to write some reviews when I started out in the Changstar community but realized I just hadn't heard enough to say much more than "I like this, I am hearing ___, I'm glad I bought it." Once I made it to a few meets, heard some loaners, I was really able to offer thoughts (and interpret others' thoughts) in a much more useful way. Nothing wrong, at all, with sharing your impressions, but you wrote a very long review for a product we haven't heard of with nothing most of us can compare it to.

Imagine a camera review. "I like the way this camera looks, it took really good pictures, it was pretty easy to use but the menus were sort of clunky. Definitely worth the money." How do we know it's worth the money? Are the menus any more or less clunky than similar products? How do the looks of the camera compare to similar products, or more expensive or less expensive products? How do the pictures compare, directly, with other products? If you don't have answers for those questions, you are offering a personal anecdote much more than a review or a proper comparison.

 

I came here to read a review of the Little Dot.

 

Now pardon my harshness and other member's trolling...

Now that you seem to suggest that you're simply trying to be a casual contributor (correct me if I'm wrong), a "contributor" (not the green tag here, but the real deal contributor) may mean things far beyond your perception. Good intention of sharing gear assessments is not even close to the first qualification of being a contributor. Here's why:
- A contributor will have far more influence on his forum members' purchase decisions than an average member, therefore
- A contributor is more likely to make a difference in the sales of gear he assessed, therefore
- A contributor may have a greater responsibility for the relationship among his forum, the readers, the dealers, and manufacturers.

So a contributor had better be equipped with
- Sufficient knowledge to back up his claims and assessments;
- A strong mentality when his claims and assessments are challenged in any way;
- An honesty unaffected by forum's group thinking nor manufacturers' and dealers' temptation.

While it is true that every single honest gear opinion (I have no doubt you're not a shill in any way) may be a contribution to some degree, a big review like yours is more likely than not to be perceived as an attempt to make a real deal contribution and an attempt to establish a strong foothold as a real deal contributor, given the context of a small but compact community, as well-versed by MuppetFace.

SBAF contributors know as @Marvey stated that they never take ourselves seriously, but they take audio seriously. Not only because they have a passion for the sonic unicorn, but also because they're fully aware that they are in some way helping people make the best use of their money. The intention of becoming a real contributor is taken seriously here, and lurking is one of the very necessary means to collect more knowledge. Like here: http://www.superbestaudiofriends.org/index.php?threads/rb2016-credentials.2830/, such attempts, no mater formulated in whatever way and out of whatever intention, will be put under scrutiny from both knowledgeable members and the hard trolls.

I think I have made my points clear. I hope some day you can come back with better knowledge and mentality, and face skin thick enough to stand a round of GAU18, instead of lurking forever - you're killing yourself's potentials.

 

I think this thread has been helpful. SBAF is like graduate school - there is an expectation that most hand-holding is at an end and that one's task is to learn how to be an effective contributor to the community here.

 

For those interested in learning abit of Singlish:

 

I think this is the most comprehensive resource on Singlish:
http://www.singlishdictionary.com/

This article explains why Singlish was formed due to the multiracial/cultural society we live in:
http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-33809914



Singapore in a nutshell:
Civil Society (Everyone is expected not to litter, queue in orderly manner and observe traffic rules). Misbehaviour results in heavy monetary fines, long jail time or even corporal punishment(caning of buttocks) for repeat or serious offenders.
Clean Air/Clean Water/Clean Environment (Strict laws on Industrial/Vehicle Emissions and etc)
No Serious Drug Problems (Drug trafficking of a few grams can result in death by hanging)
No Gun problems (Absolutely no civilian has a gun in Singapore)
No Major Organised Gangs/Mafia (We have a FBI equivalent Police body that neuter their growth to almost zero)
Civilized Police Force (No Police Rough handling etc). Singaporeans have no issues with usage of wide spread Police CCTV Surveillance Cameras etc.
Racial harmony* (No White Supremacist, No Black Movement)
Religious harmony* (No Ocults and No significant Religious violence/crimes)
Super Safe environment for women and children(24hrx7days)

*Example:
Muslim, Catholic and Hindu sitting next to each other in a train: