Audio Science Review Review

Discussion in 'Audio Science' started by purr1n, Aug 30, 2020.

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  1. Bobcat

    Bobcat Friend

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    For the most part, Microsoft is a serial copier, not a creator. Look at their history.
     
  2. gepardcv

    gepardcv Almost "Made"

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    C’mon. Why would the MQA board pick a CEO who previously failed at the job he’d be hired for? He’d have to sell shit formats (which he didn’t manage with WMA) and shit devices (which current leadership seems to be doing a great job of, in spite of resistance from never-MQA manufacturers, and which he didn’t manage with the Zune).

    Judging by the outcomes of his work and his atrocious communication skills and style, all his promotions at Microsoft were political. I am also willing to bet his subordinates hated his pretentious guts.

    No one is dumb enough to hire this guy for a leadership position.
     
  3. Beefy

    Beefy Friend

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    It's worth pointing out how much better Microsoft is today, now that dinosaurs like Amir have left. With initiatives like embracing open source software, moving to open formats, Linux support, etc. they have really come a long way.

    I'm sure it is all a cold calculated way to make more money, like it is for all corporations. But it manages to be consumer-friendly in a way that Amir and his contemporaries could never manage. Seeing Amir dismiss criticism of MQA shows he has learned nothing, and experienced zero growth.
     
  4. Lyander

    Lyander Official SBAF Equitable Empathizer

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    You have significantly more faith in corporate wisdom (is that an oxymoron or a plain ol moron?) than I :p
     
  5. crenca

    crenca Friend

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    Interesting hypothesis. However, I suspect that MQA (and Meridian, and all of Bob's projects) are not really in "trouble", rather they are part of a larger corp. structure where losses are all part of an accounting and tax scheme. Amir's support of MQA and the anti-consumer view of DRM/closed source formats/etc. that lies behind it appears to be more due to his background and an "Old Guard" IT attitude that has found similiar bedfellows in the Old Guard audio world.
     
  6. Ox Cart

    Ox Cart Facebook Friend

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    This is too funny. A few weeks ago I had an exchange with Amir in which I unsuccessfully tried to convince him that pads can make a big difference to how headphones sound. I presented measurements from third parties and explained my own experience modding and building headphones, all to no avail (he doesn't trust measurements done by anyone but him). I even offered to send him a set of pads fitting his HE400i to measure and listen to for himself, which he flatly declined.

    So today, I see that he did one of his reviews on an HD598SE fitted with unspecified aftermarket pads, based on which he gave the headphone a failing grade!

    I feel the need to say more, but words fail me...
     
  7. Lyander

    Lyander Official SBAF Equitable Empathizer

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    If this isn't reason enough for outright ridicule, then I don't know what the hell would be. Don't suppose you'd happen to have that specific conversation tree archived somewhere so he can start claiming people are faking screenshots to make him look bad?
     
  8. Ox Cart

    Ox Cart Facebook Friend

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  9. Beefy

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    I love this quote from Amir, "There is no doubt some acoustic changes occur but none that I am in the business of quantifying."

    What the f**k good is ASR, if it is not in the business of quantifying differences in sound? Is he admitting he is shit at his job? I think so.

    [EDIT] Bloody hell, every time I read an ASR thread, I regret it. So. Much. Drama. Fighting with everyone else. Fighting amongst themselves. What a horrible existence, for what is supposed to be a euphoric hobby.
     
    Last edited: Jul 1, 2021
  10. Ox Cart

    Ox Cart Facebook Friend

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    My problem is how he approaches the job, namely with an assembly line mentality. Get equipment, apply standard test suite, listen a little, send it back. There's no joy, no curiosity, no experimentation.
     
  11. rlow

    rlow A happy woofer

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    But it’s all in the spirit of fun and learning!!!

    The only “learning” going on is professor Amir’s didactic diatribes where, you either eat up everything he has to say, or if you don’t agree, it’s because have no idea what you’re talking about compared to the Guru’s vast experience and knowledge.

    Honestly, all the hardcore Amirites should just quit the internet and sign up for the Topping of the Month Club™ where you can get a newly released DAC or amp delivered directly to your door each month (aka, their standard new product release cycle), safe in the knowledge that you have achieved the audio nirvana that everyone else is seeking, for pennies on the dollar compared to those other schmucks.
     
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    Last edited: Jul 1, 2021
  12. gepardcv

    gepardcv Almost "Made"

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    Hold up. How much difference are pads expected to make? +/-2dB or so at specific frequencies? If so, it matches the ASR narrative of "HD600 and 650 sound the same" which we discussed previously.

    Edit: Also, he says gets comparable measurement differences from positioning as from changing pads. I have read many times that positioning variance is a major problem in headphone measurements. We know ASR can't be expected to innovate and try to solve this problem, so it seems to me that his conclusions are par for the course.
     
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    Last edited: Jul 1, 2021
  13. Elnrik

    Elnrik Super Friendly

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    These two parts have yet to be proven.
     
  14. insidious meme

    insidious meme Ambivalent Kumquat

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    Have we gone from QAmir to MQAmir in a short time?
     
  15. Ox Cart

    Ox Cart Facebook Friend

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    I think you're being facetious, but just in case...

    1. +/- 2 dB at the right place can make a huge difference

    2. Pads can even make bigger differences than 2dB, to wit https://headphonedatabase.com/oratory/headphones?ids=114,136
     
  16. gepardcv

    gepardcv Almost "Made"

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    @Ox Cart: I’m not being facetious at all, and I know 2dB matters. I just don’t think that it matters to ASR and his worldview. I wrote a more detailed argument about this upthread.

    I also generally think this thread is at its most entertaining when we get to see a new piece of pseudoscientific idiocy from ASR. This incident of ZMF measurements and pads is the same as the incident of his HDx0 measurements.
     
  17. MrMumbly

    MrMumbly New

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    It would be extraordinarily rare for a Manager of 1,000 people to have any technical depth of knowledge about specific projects. With that many people under your command managing your own administrative assistant(s) and attending meetings would consume all your time.

    Amir's response to any scrutiny of his methods is nearly always met with a defensive posture. Somewhere along the line will be reference to "settled science" or "show me proof". Truly knowledgeable individuals do not become defensive when questioned.

    Amir is reasonably transparent regarding his measurement process and environment. However, Amir is not doing any science. Measurements are performed in his garage and office. Real science requires a dedicated environment with documented controls in place for every condition. Does Amir have clean AC power? Does he verify and document AC power prior to every measurement process. What is his calibration schedule? What is the construction and condition of every cable used? The requirements list is quite long to confirm accurate and repeatable science happens.

    It is fine for Amir to measure and provide opinion commentary. It is not fine for Amir, or the Minions, to claim his measurements provide scientific certainty.
     
  18. Merrick

    Merrick A lidless ear

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    And it is laughable, as Amir himself and many of his cultists say, that only Amir’s measurements are trustworthy.
     
  19. Tekker

    Tekker Facebook Friend

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    I think he started ASR, to boost his ego up because he failed at his job at Microsoft. He has a certain dogma (everything sounds the same because he’s deaf as shit), and to keep his ego up, he’s telling anyone with a different view from that dogma that they’re wrong and unscientific.

    Ofcourse, the horrible measurements are to give him the false appearance of credibility, and only the noobs with little to no listening experience believe in his measurements, because they’re too lazy to listen for themselves.
     
    Last edited: Jul 2, 2021
  20. k4rstar

    k4rstar Britney fan club president

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    actually the impetus to start ASR can be drawn to when he was unanimously voted off the island (banned) from WhatsBestForum by the rest of the moderator team, a forum he co-founded to discuss high-end audio. he was showing up to every thread starting lo-iq objectivist debates and in general being unpleasant & condescending towards other members, most of whom were ORFAS members with serious investments in their listening rigs.

    https://www.whatsbestforum.com/threads/an-important-announcement-from-your-wbf-admin-team.23386/

    since the other kids on the playground didn't want to share their toys with him anymore he went to start his own sandbox.
     
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