The Head-Fi Healing Thread

Discussion in 'Tales from the Bully Pulpit' started by Madaboutaudio, Oct 10, 2015.

?

Does Head-Fi Make You Feel Like You've Been Touched by an Icky Politician?

  1. Yes

    45 vote(s)
    45.9%
  2. No

    24 vote(s)
    24.5%
  3. I love Jude!

    30 vote(s)
    30.6%
Multiple votes are allowed.
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  1. LeSpookySkelington

    LeSpookySkelington New

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    So you don´t think most discussion on Head Fi are very superficial and pointless? I think it´s highly problematic when people get bullied into buying expensive gear, that the probably don´t need, while others profit and censor any criticism.
     
  2. LeSpookySkelington

    LeSpookySkelington New

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    I don´t disagree but I still think it´s valid to criticize the practices over at Head Fi. It is by far the biggest place for discussing headphone related stuff on the webs and most people are not really aware of the commercial side at all. Tricking others into spending thousands of dollars on gear in the hope of archieving some sort of unobtainable audio nirvana is just ethically wrong to me. Oh well, we heard it all before, no point in discussing this any further. You seem to have a much more positive outlook on this stuff than I do though. :D
     
  3. Thad E Ginathom

    Thad E Ginathom Friend

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    I suppose it could be about any site --- but history is that many changstar/sbaf members are or were hf members. The bunch of people that began changstar met there. Comment on the site is natural. It is also natural because of HF's attitude to this site and its members. Nobody here is banned from mentioning HF, but it seems that HF is not so mature.

    As to online communities, none of them is going to be perfect, seeing as how we are all but human. Bullying? SBAF is refreshingly different in that respect: there were certainly one or two bullies at Changstar.

    SBAF does need to have an identity and purpose other than not being Head-Fi --- and I think it has achieved that without question. If HF ceases to exist tomorrow, SBAF will still be here, as a valid head-phone/audio community in its own right. Let it comment on other sites, other reviewers, and so on. Let the toes be trodden on, it's all part of the deal.
     
  4. Shaffer

    Shaffer Acquaintance

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    I'm banned from HF for life. Naturally, I don't post there, but I do look at the Elise thread once in a while solely for its entertainment value.

    A week or two before Amos banned me, a big Singlepower thread was brought back. Even though I've been involved in the high-performance sector of the market for several decades, I'm relatively new to headphones - ~3 years - so the discussion was new to me. I read the entire thread, then read a few more regarding the same topic. What struck me the most, aside from the events described, was seeing how many long-time members have been banned. Folks with 2000+ posts. That's never a good sign.
     
  5. proflitoto

    proflitoto New

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    No, I view it as the paid marketing division for certain manufacturers with little credibility or discernment (everything they review gets a great rating). Complete conflict of interest, since they portray themselves as objective. It's also hilarious how one moment headphone X is the greatest thing they ever heard, until the manufacturer puts out headphone model X.001, and now suddenly headphone X.001 is the greatest thing ever.

    edit: But I still check them out for reviews occasionally, because sometimes they're the only site that's reviewed an obscure product.
     
    Last edited: Nov 30, 2015
  6. Shaffer

    Shaffer Acquaintance

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    I own a Woo amp. After getting it and listening for a while, I posted a long-ish post discussing the limitations of the amplifier and the company's marketing strategy. My comments weren't exactly flattering. Imagine the supersize when I began receiving PMs from other Woo owners agreeing with my comments, most expressing a great deal of frustration. Apparently, they had an alternate discussion going addressing similar issues in PM, in fear of being banned. Sad, really.
     
  7. GoldfishX

    GoldfishX Facebook Friend

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    This.

    The thing is, a lot of people laugh at Head-Fi people for their lack of self-awareness and they are being manipulated by people with commercial motives. So those of us looking for legitimate advice eventually get fed up with it, especially the butthurt that members exhibit when you voice displeasure with a particular piece of gear. I haven't experienced that in these parts.
     
  8. Shaffer

    Shaffer Acquaintance

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    I was one of the more vocal folks expressing a sense of bewilderment driven by the market's acceptance of gear that's barely adequate for serious listening. One of the reason I was banned. Every component I talked about, positively or negatively, was either owned by yours truly or was a feature in my system for an extended period. There were no store/Can-Jam "auditions." The idea was to steer folks toward better equipment within their respective budgets. Not sure how that qualifies as butthurt.
     
  9. GoldfishX

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    I was trying to be objective regarding the amp section of the Fostex A8 (basically my analysis was great DAC portion, weaksauce amp section...I didn't think it compared even to a lowly Magni). So of course I get the usual, "What type of music do you listen to?" response (a HUGE indicator of butthurt) and the non-descript "I think the amp section is great" responses. Same deal for Audeze...complain about the weight or fit of the headphones and it draws out the typical, "the fit is fine for me" responses.

    Woo is a good example of the night/day differences between this site and Head-Fi. I NEVER see Woo mentioned here, but those amps seem revered over there.
     
  10. JohnnyCanuck

    JohnnyCanuck Acquaintance

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    You were obviously steering them in the "wrong" direction. ;)
     
  11. Works 4 Me

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    Sure , why not !

    The truth of the matter is that you can find just as many worthwhile comments or stories from other enthusiasts no matter where you go, It really is up to you , what you take away from your visits . No website holds the exclusive rights to the amount of simplistic incorrect information that you will come across.

    Like everything else we read, it's necessary to take advice given with a grain of salt. (Unless our experience tells us otherwise) . I normally just visit to see what new equipment has come out or was announced to be coming out ! I haven't been a Newbie for a while now , so I trust my instincts as to what seems to be worthwhile & what is useless or meaningless to my pursuit of this hobby.
     
  12. Eric_C

    Eric_C Friend

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    Folks, if you've been burned by bad experiences at HF, I feel for you. But bashing the place is not constructive, and there is a fine line between critique and mean-spirited criticism. Anyway it's not like what is said here will change what is done there, so perhaps all this thread can achieve is discussion (with a large dose of venting).
     
  13. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    Venting is good.
     
  14. chakku

    chakku Friend

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    The majority of what I saw at Head-Fi is more or less the reason I see 'audiophile' as a pejorative referring to the folk who cite 6moons as a reliable source of information. I only look there now for photos or additional information from companies about future products if/when they are announced.
     
  15. CheFiga

    CheFiga New

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    I always wonder what these members (not the 2000+ post in 3 months idiots, but guys who've been there for years) did to get banned. I mean, they must know the drill (unless they are clueless)...they know that the site is monitored by the Gestapo. Either you police yourself or you get banned. Did they not know this? Did they (like you) had enough and decided to speak their mind no matter what the consequences would be? Or did they think their Headphoneus Supremus status would buy them a little leeway, only to find out that the little Fuhrer (and his minions) show no mercy?
     
    Last edited: Nov 30, 2015
  16. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    A couple of us were silently banned (can't post, can't read personal messages, etc.) for wearing a black T-shirt with a digital skull and the phrase "Give me freedom or give me the rope." at the Wikia Bay Area Meet. No mention of Changstar on the shirt of anything else, but really more a display of solidarity that the hobbyist element had been cut out of HF to such a large extent, at least in California where HF had been running 4-5 big trade shows a year for the past several years.

    Sometime around noon, a small group of us, one by one, changed into the T-shirts. Ravi or someone else told me Jude looked like he was about the cry when he saw what has happening. Oh well, it's not like some of us didn't try to establish an outlet for communications with him years earlier, it is more like he shut us out or never responded to us, or he (or Amos) would end up trying to talk Luis into paying him (Jude) money to shill his Paradox headphones instead.

    It's weird. I am convinced his love of headphones and personal audio is disingenuous and is purely (or at least 95%) for monetary gain. The Ferengi would be proud of him. I am also convinced that he saw some of my early work into CSDs on HF as a threat to HF: http://www.head-fi.org/t/566929/headphone-csd-waterfall-plots

    Changstar was started because HF seemed very anti-measurement, unless the measurements were in the favor of the MoTs, like this smoothed over one with the highish floor:
    [​IMG]
     
    Last edited: Nov 30, 2015
  17. GoldfishX

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    Actually, I think hearing about the banning shenanigans and what goes on through PM there is VERY constructive. In the context of that site, it actually makes total sense they would do that (I'm VERY anti-censorship, so that is a pretty big deal to me, especially when people are making buying decisions and the "no buy/gear ain't good" side is being silenced) That is not "bashing", that is simply telling others what goes on there. So I'm happy this thread exists for just that reason.

    And for what it's worth, I've personally spent hundreds of hours browsing those forums and I feel the information I've taken away from thread after thread there pales in comparison to the information I've gathered from Changstar/SBAF in a far shorter timespan.
     
  18. Psalmanazar

    Psalmanazar Most improved member; A+

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    Turns out DT 990 guy is self admittedly mentally ill. I try to answer questions in the metal thread for a few days. Guys who have less experience with the genre flame me and defend shitty recording practices. The entire website is just a hub of commercialism and many threads are just soggy biscuits of autist group wanks.
     
  19. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    Keep in mind that Changstar/SBAF was not the first exodus from HF.

    I don't mind commercialism; but honestly I find the VPI forum a lot more informative about turntables (not just VPI tables) than HF is about headphones.
     
  20. Psalmanazar

    Psalmanazar Most improved member; A+

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    Viola amped DT990 guy was self-admittedly an autistic, compulsive, sociopath. He wrote a manifesto on the next page.

    Head-fi's has way too many dishonest, insecure, and obsequious members.
     
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