Z Reviews Bitching Thread

Discussion in 'Headphones' started by Bigferret, May 1, 2016.

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  1. ipm

    ipm Acquaintance

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    You are referring to the HD600 or HD650 most likely.

    He may be doing this to adjust for the bass roll-off he perceives in these cans in particular to the target response curve he talks about often in his videos. I'm not sure. Its best to ask him directly why he does this.

    I notice that he often mentions how headphones respond to such adjustments and mentions that the overall sound balance can be altered with even a small tweak in certain EQ settings. This makes me think that he knows what he is doing for the most part.
     
  2. Ash1412

    Ash1412 Friend

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    Of course. Just pointing it out since many here are purists at least when it comes to headphones. He's a great reviewer nevertheless.(metal571)
     
    Last edited: Aug 19, 2017
  3. gbeast

    gbeast Mighty Moral Power Ranger

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    Wack thread
     
    Last edited: Aug 19, 2017
  4. Mithrandir41

    Mithrandir41 Friend

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    Ha ha! He is not a great reviewer, he's a blathering talker.
     
  5. Lyander

    Lyander Official SBAF Equitable Empathizer

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    An entertainer does not a good reviewer make.
     
  6. Ash1412

    Ash1412 Friend

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    Wait, are we on the same page here? Z sucks at reviewing, that's for sure. I was replying to a comment about metal571 on youtube, who uses Magni/Modi and EQ but is very good at reviewing headphones.
     
  7. Mithrandir41

    Mithrandir41 Friend

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    Yeah, I like metal571, your response was so deep into this z reviews bitching thread I thought that's who you were talking about. Carry on!
     
  8. Dino

    Dino Friend

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    I was confused as well. Now I see why. When we are responding to a post on Page 6 that shows up on Page 22, we should go ahead and type out the name rather than leaving it as "he".
     
  9. Outerspace Wasabi

    Outerspace Wasabi Friend

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    I wish Z's Patreon money could be funneled over to Metal571; I want to hear more from him.
     
  10. spwath

    spwath Hijinks master cum laudle

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    got my Valhalla back, so that review should be coming.
     
  11. ipm

    ipm Acquaintance

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    ThisOldTony and Stefan Gotteswinder videos are fun to view for sure. Also try tubalcain and Abom79.
     
  12. Thad E Ginathom

    Thad E Ginathom Friend

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    Stefan and Adam on my regular viewing list. If anyone ever told me I could watch a 55-minute video on de-burring I'd say that they were mad. Or I would have done before yesterday. Time flies when you're having fun... learning about de-burring. Some of Adam's stuff is a bit long-winded, and sometimes he talks too much. But, like Tony, he does come across as a very decent guy as well as highly skilled and knowledgeable; just not as funny.

    Contrast this with the five minutes or so that I managed to watch one Z review.

    Again, video about audio does not work for me. If not listening to it, then I can read about it. But if I'm going to watch, it would be Tyll every time and Z doesn't even get a look in.

    And if anyone thinks I'm a sad guy, watching machining videos half the night, it gets worse... my HD600s are getting more use for this, these days, than they are for music. :rolleyes:

    The only thing I can say is that I regularly find myself taking them off to check if the noises off are in my house or on the video.
     
    Last edited: Aug 23, 2017
  13. Elnrik

    Elnrik Super Friendly

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    Apparently, we're doing it wrong. The most we need to spend is $200 on an ifi DAC. He actually said that.



    OMG, arrows, color, big letters! Must be legit.
     
  14. k4rstar

    k4rstar Britney fan club president

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    This one was a difficult watch. He states his conclusion 6 minutes in: the OL DAC and iFi iOne sound identical; the Modi MB sounds identical to the other two above 70Hz, where it has a slight boost (it seems Zeos has discovered Moffat bass). Please don't watch the remaining 29 minutes looking for an answer as to why any of this is as you won't find one.

    I have some theories though:

    1. He possesses no critical listening skills and/or suffers from genuine hearing loss.
    2. I'm pretty sure he listens with ReplayGain enabled in Foobar, which for those of you not in the know is essentially DSP to ensure all tracks meet a target loudness profile.

    Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/audiophile/comments/1h3wkj/any_harm_applying_replaygain/caqn7zt/
    https://www.reddit.com/r/audiophile/comments/13i293/replaygain_where_do_we_stand/c747yt4/
    https://www.reddit.com/r/audiophile/comments/2pyctx/do_audiophiles_endorse_replaygain/cn1znqe/

    It's harmful to dynamics and fidelity and should not be used when critically evaluating ANY component, most of all source components. He claims he must use it to avoid blowing his ears out since he listens to tracks in playlist formats. Taking aside that he has the listening behaviors of a child with ADHD, it may be part of why he perceives fewer (no?) differences between the DACs.
    3. His testing methodology of fast-switching. Fast A/B switching to quickly determine overt differences between components is valid, but it actually requires some sort of critical listening skill which he clearly lacks. He makes a mockery of people (26:11 in the video) who suggest long-term listening to determine differences on the basis of humans having poor auditory memory.
    4. The rest of his chain: AGD NFB-1AMP and Ether Flow Cs with laptop USB. These aren't exactly the most resolving or transparent pieces of gear, but to be fair they should be more than good enough for this test.
    5. The Modi may have been cold, he didn't seem to specify how long things had been left in that configuration before his testing. It needs at least 12-24 hours to warm up and sound its best although he appears to be oblivious to this fact when he mentions it has a power on/off switch (16:38 in the video) and appears confused as to why that is a feature.

    Occam's razor would suggest theory 1 to be the most likely.
     
    Last edited: Aug 23, 2017
  15. Outerspace Wasabi

    Outerspace Wasabi Friend

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    Looking at all of the equipment he has, he reminds me of one those prosperity gospel pastors who get rich by hoodwinking their followers.

    The problem with Z is that he has a popularity that gives a misleading impression of him as a perceptive and astute authority in audio, as a result, a lot of people--novices--hang onto his every word like it's gospel.
     
  16. ipm

    ipm Acquaintance

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    NICE! I get that effect at times, viewing the same videos.
     
  17. Elnrik

    Elnrik Super Friendly

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    @spwath - Your Valhalla 2 video went live.

    In an effort to save you from having to watch, here is my brief synopsis of the video.**

    Comedy is all about timing.
    He runs modified tubes in his Darkvoice. (How one modifies tubes is beyond me.)
    Solid state class A. CLASS A!
    Your phone is not a tube amp.
    You have to know what's happening.
    CLASS A MAN!
    Classical titles don't have words in them.
    There's a little bit of an edge at the very top of it. (That's what she said.)
    Stop asking that question - which one is better, because it doesn't apply to 98% of things.
    He listened to Bach on the tube. ​

    And.... that's all I could take.

    I honestly think he is an agent of Cthulhu, because I felt my sanity slipping as I watched.

    ** I debated not using punctuation or paragraphs to keep the feel in line with his video, but my brain couldn't handle it.
     
  18. spwath

    spwath Hijinks master cum laudle

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    Yeah... I watched it. I also got that he liked the Valhalla 2 because it sounded like a tube amp. And that he cant tell a high end tube amp from a high end solid state.
     
  19. Melvillian

    Melvillian Friend

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    "It adds stuff to the sound and that's ok". After 20minutes that's what I got from the review

    @spwath your black Valhalla is beautiful.
     
  20. spwath

    spwath Hijinks master cum laudle

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    It is pretty pretty. I briefly got afraid when he said something like "oh no, don't break" when unplugging his cables....
     
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