What makes SBAF so good?

Discussion in 'Random Thoughts' started by MoatsArt, Nov 3, 2015.

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  1. Kamikazi

    Kamikazi Friend

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    SBAF is more like a bunch of super friendly orcas that learned the art of turning sharks upside down to drown them. The audio industry is not typically one that looks out for enthusiasts interests and subsequently draws a lot of sharks.

    To be honest, this is a place where one can get enthusiastic about music and discover great gear that meets the following attributes: it sounds good, measures well and is priced competitively for the performance on offer.

    I consider SBAF a place that looks out for their community member's interest by being critical about what we hear through critical listening and learning together to better understand our hobby through tools such as measurements. We might be opinionated, perhaps we should better master the art of agreeing to disagree, but the more trust I've placed on information presented in forums like these the better buying decisions I've made and the more I've subsequently enjoyed my audio.

    Had I not wasted money on poor purchases in that past, I might have been rocking my HD800 and Black Widow setup today. In stead this pyrate's boat is still stuck in mid-fi purgatory waiting for the breeze to pick up.
     
    Last edited: Nov 4, 2015
  2. Tuco1965

    Tuco1965 Suffring from early onset Alzheimer's - Friend

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    What makes this a good place to me is that I actually have more faith in reviews and comments from people here. Everyone seems to tell it like they hear, and or measure, gear. There's lots of experience with a wide variety of products. It's also rather civil here.
     
  3. Tari

    Tari Friend

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    Marv was the real problem with CS. Part of the move to SBAF was having TheGame moderate and post as Marv on the side. It has been pretty successful at limiting his meltdowns so far, but mentions of bandcamp by Marv have gone up 1000%.
     
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  4. Deep Funk

    Deep Funk Deep thoughts - Friend

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    SBAF is a pleasant change. What is in the past is what we have to learn from.

    I donated and I am happy to continue this hobby with my fellow weirdos.
     
  5. jowls

    jowls Never shitposts (please) - Friend

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    SBAF provides a rational counterpoint to HF's 'preorder everything' mentality. Every thread there seems to descend into some kind of cultist circle jerk where differing opinions are shouted down and ridiculed.

    It is often repeated but SNR is much higher here. Less distortion too...
     
  6. Eric_C

    Eric_C Friend

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    Yeah there's definitely a lot of experience, honesty, and a fair amount of openness on CS/SBAF. It's a smaller forum with many genuinely informed opinions on the hobby, each person quite willing to have their view challenged.
    And none of that pandering "we all hear differently" stuff, at least not to annoyingly postmodern levels.
     
  7. MrTie

    MrTie Friend

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    I appreciate any enthusiast/hobbyist forum that gets deep into the technical, isn't afraid to be critical, tries to avoid hype trains, and has a sense of humor.
     
  8. Forza AudioWorks

    Forza AudioWorks MOT: Forza AudioWorks

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    I joined not too long ago, but from what I can say it's the vibe in general and non-existent hype train.
     
  9. Kattefjaes

    Kattefjaes Mostly Harmless

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    Oh hey, welcome :) I admit I've plugged the quality of your work a few times around here, but it's nice to see you actually posting.
     
  10. Forza AudioWorks

    Forza AudioWorks MOT: Forza AudioWorks

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    Thank you, I'm doing my best to keep the quality in check and it's nice that it's seen. As for SBAF itself, the place looks nice and since I like to get close and personal with other enthusiasts, I intend to visit this community as often as I can. |\/|
     
  11. The Alchemist

    The Alchemist MOT: Schiit - Here to help!

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  12. TonyNewman

    TonyNewman Validated by Tyll removing Utopia from WOF

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    I'll have a shot at this one...
    1. It is not run by a morally bankrupt, greedy, shifty bastard with a penchant to delete / ban anything that might offend a site sponsor.
    2. It is not populated by a bunch of elitist wankers who regard anything not touched by the gods (Headamp / Mjolnir) as worthless shite.
    3. Shameless shill merchants with the moral compass of baby rapists can be exposed for the scum sucking whores that they are.
    4. You can use naughty words.
    I think that covers it.
     
  13. Pilsnerpunk

    Pilsnerpunk Friend

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    The things that make SBAF good:

    1. Blunt honesty and signal to noise.
    2. The people here and atmosphere/vibe they create. People here act more like friends than colleagues, if that makes sense. Inappropriate jokes/language, less formality and concern and political correctness, but still friendly. Unlike headfi and work where you have to replace "f**k you" with "ok, great".
    3. Monthly drama is entertaining. Whether its an influx of randos from Headfi, Jude acting like dick (and getting called on it here), prominent members getting banned, or constant walls of text from BIG D, it almost always provides some interesting reading.
     
  14. Thad E Ginathom

    Thad E Ginathom Friend

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    "Hope you understand even if blah blah."
     
  15. Mshenay

    Mshenay Barred from loaner program. DON'T SEND ME GEAR.

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    What's makes SBAF great is the honesty an the culture here is more frank and forward. , I learn quite a lot just reading here. I'm so used to just posting on HF, adding to the noise to get your post count up... from back when that mattered to me because apparently at HF post count = respect, utter nonsense I know but I was younger and dumber

    Being here I've started to post less and just read more,
     
  16. Galm

    Galm Still looking for Little Red Riding Hood

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    Yeah it's a carefully cultivated culture that is against the bullshit.

    One of the main posts that gave me that faith was seeing how Head-Fi loves Chord and over here people tend to like Schiit a lot, but it was good to see some of the bigger users here acknowledge that Dave and Mojo while over priced (a lot and a bit respectively) are both valid products. Acknowledging companies you don't like is a big sign to me that this place is worth checking out.

    This place also has a lot of wealthier users who can speak from experience about comparisons of high end gear from owning many many different things. I think that also helps get opinions of people who aren't just saying whatever they think will sound good.

    It'd be cool if there was a constructive criticism thread as well. Obviously not to like trash the site, but to work on things to strive towards to keep improving the community. If I could change one thing it would be to delete "How to win friends and influence people". I said it one other time but it reads like a hall of fame of cyber bullying on both sides. I'm not sure what the original purpose was (to warn people maybe?) but reading through it looks like a disgrace. And the title is kinda click baity too (as in it's intriguing looking not like youtube clickbait) so it was one of the first places I checked out...
     
  17. SineDave

    SineDave Friend

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    I think mostly it's because SBAF is moist.

    That and the zero tolerance for bullshit mentality - it's nice that folks here can honestly evaluate a product without taking just aesthetics and price tag into account.
     
  18. barelyincollege

    barelyincollege Nice Pit Bull

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    The no-BS approach to bad products is great, but SBAF's no-BS attitude towards lazy posters is just as appealing. Posts like:

    - "I just bought product X, am I an audiophile now? Can you tell me how good of a purchase I made?"
    - "Hi, I have $5 and some change I found in my socks. I've done zero research of my own, but need perfect audio quality. Can you spoonfeed me some suggestions?"
    - "I just got headphone X that the internet told me was good, but I don't like it... why don't I?"

    I love that SBAF's community has little tolerance for these types of posts and doesn't advocate for false "friendliness" to people who lack common sense. That's hard to find on the internet nowadays.
     
  19. Peti

    Peti Facebook Friend

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    You forgot the "mine is coming in two days according to the tracking number" type of posts.

    But honestly, Head-Fi started me off on this hobby and I have learned a LOT by browsing through it. Mind you, I've had more free time back then and perhaps I was more enthusiastic. If you have those two things, you can find TONS of useful info about especially older models around 2005 or so. But nowadays I catch myself keep coming here if I want an honest opinion about a new product.

    I still visit head-fi, but another thing that drives me nuts is when some folks go off-topic for pages long. I'm keep getting the notifications about the threads I'm interested in, just to get there to see they are still talking about something entirely different. Mind you, that has happened a few times here too, but to a much lower extent.

    That being said, Head-Fi still has a spot in my heart, partly for sentimental reasons (which has shrunk a lot since the new webdesign kicked in).
     
  20. Galm

    Galm Still looking for Little Red Riding Hood

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    I think the difference here is when people go "off topic" it happens organically, and the users are encouraged to then swerve it back to the topic quickly, so it's like a short little extra loop, while at Head-Fi they go off on page long treks about who knows what.

    Like you said, Head-Fi has things worth reading, but it's not as easy to find as it is here where the likelihood of a post being helpful is significantly higher.

    The only time I'd ever say a "my blah blah blah is about to arrive" would be if you are the first person to get a highly anticipated item. Because in that case you are giving potentially interested users information on when to check back for pictures, feedback, questions etc... Any other time is just trivial, no one cares.
     
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