Shills and softies

I think it was in a way tied in with the conversation about how some manufacturers come in with their own ideals of what things should sound like, and how they come to achieve it. Roundabout approach, but I can kinda relate since I'm waaaaaaay worse at being that way )

 

I usually take senior member's "no comment, silent" as don't like, not worth mentioning... not sure this is the case with soekris 1421 loaner tour tho.

 

Honestly, the past couple months I've been reading up a lot about how FR and the like affect perception. Not well-read enough to feel confident commenting at length, but beyond how BIG bass elicits a more visceral response and how boosted treble offers the illusion of added detail, there's how upper midrange stuff (e.g. Linkwitz/BBC dip) that gives a sense of space, how 2kHz elevations in raw measurements on a rig with pinna gives the impression of "listening to speakers in a room" (brings PFR-V1 to mind, it's got a sharp spike there), or even how the whole wide midrange trough in HP-3 flat coupler measurements make recordings sound insanely deep, I've not only started thinking that measurements do require skilled interpretation but that there's all sorts of stuff manufacturers could to to approximate different listening conditions and that these could all be "right" in their own way. And shit that's just FR, not even going into stuff like distortion, harmonics, decay, and a crap ton of other factors.

Could be talking out of my ass, feel free to correct. Tldr is that I'm pretty much out of hardcore objectivism when it comes to headphones.

 

You have to look at it like a movie review. Would it be fair to judge a David Lynch or Wes Anderson movie against your penchant for horror flicks? Or a Michael Bay movie against your love of indie dramas? Of course not. You have to look at what the author is trying to accomplish and decide if they have accomplished it. To do this you have be dispassionate and objective. Knowing a thing or two about cinema also helps as it gives you the ability to identify certain techniques.

Your particular tastes should take a back seat to an author's intent, if you are trying to give an accurate assessment of the work in question.

If you don't know what you're talking about you probably shouldn't be reviewing anything and just stick to basic Twitter blurbs. See most of the movie reviews on IMDb where idiots see a mediocre film and say "worst film I've ever seen!" or call your average decent Marvel film "the best action movie ever made!". Bad reviews tend to lack nuance or subtlety.

 

The only problem is, even if the manufacturer/director managed to reach his vision, if i don't like the product that won't matter in the grand scheme of things. I will still not enjoy the movie and the product delivered. That's why when i find someone that, i believe, has the same taste as myself, and seems to know what he's talking about, i kinda pay more attention to him/her, although i never see it as gospel.

One can be a great reviewer but our taste for David Lynch will always be on the back of our minds when watching movies from the same "realm".

I can appreciate the lower end, or the construction but i can never distance myself enough from the fact that i may just greatly dislike the sound signature and that's why (among several other factors) maybe i can't be a good reviewer but just a "few impressions" type of guy.

Edit - i hope i didn't misunderstood what you were trying to say since language barrier can be a problem with interpretation sometimes.

 

A lot of this stuff is mediocre to okay and a lot of it is godawful. The problem is when the mediocre to okay stuff costs 1500 bucks and isn’t really any much more enjoyable or technically better than something that costs under 300 bucks.

If you think ZMFs are bad value vs say a utilitarian HD 280/25 or DT-770 80 ohms as a closed can... go to a speaker show. 99% of everything will be total crap and it won’t be the rooms. We’re talking warm poo with less clarity than laptop speakers, worse imaging and midrange than JBL 305, and worse bass than 8” Mackie monstrosities you can hear in any awful chain store. The stuff carried in expensive, real instrument stores and B&H is way better. We’re talking about 5000 dollar warmbutt towers that can’t hit 75 dB without blowing up. Then you walk into the ATC room and their speakers are voiced a little funny (slightly boomy bass, strategic dips intentionally caused by placement of tweeter and mid dome) for the britfi, handcrafted market but it’s apparent that these other guys mostly just suck and are infinitely worst than the produced by the millions JBLs and KRKs and Pioneers.

Most of the buyers of Audeze and Martin Logan type crap just want to flex and they’re not for listening to music; it’s about showing off that they’re Ron Burgundy or Patrick Bateman. Laugh at and hang, draw, and quarter them.

Most of these guys don’t even like music enough now to own the records. They don’t own any CDs or LPs not bought as collectibles. They listen to Spotify like it’s the classic rock or oldies station. They’ve never heard deep cuts or stuff that was too cool to be played after Madonna as everyone who liked Madonna would turn off the TV if they heard the Cro-Mags or Tangerine Dream or even Helter Skelter or Immigrant Song. They’re f'ing losers who want to dip their toes into a world they’re not part of and don’t even like to show that they’re smarter and more cultured than those overgrown teenage fools who buy stuff like 70” flat screens and riced out gaming PCs and Teslas. They would rather watch sitcoms or play video games than listen to music. They’re just f'ing posers.

 

Spit out my coffee laughing my ass off. Wish I could like this entire post 10 times.

 

It does matter. Because you are reviewing the product, not people's taste. Taste can't be quantified.

Parents enjoy their kids crayon scribblings. It doesnt make it a Picasso. Similarly, just because you don't like something doesn't make it a bad product.

In the world of headphones, it's all about enjoyment, but that still falls into the category of people liking shitty gear, etc. Shit gear is still shit regardless of preferences and that can be accurately reported on in an unbiased review.

I think the goal the OP is trying to get at is for people to be more unbiased when reviewing stuff.

 

Taste is taste but Creed ain’t Pearl Jam and Pearl Jam’s chord bashing is a joke compared to Johnny Ramone.

 

What people believe, think or like to listen to is not my problem. I am disturbed when someones one-sided hypocrisies need to bleed into my zone. Like all stupid trends... As if I Need to be part of somones fake plastic bubble and make a gesture that yeah I believe that too. I try to be respectful saying that.

 

If I get a hard-on for woodwork does that make me a hardcore wood softie?

 

VICTIM

Who is this frequency plot against? Biocello what? Mine are cocobolo.

 

It probably just means you have splinters in your ding-dong.

 

Love you guys. I didn't expect people I know in person and that I've been following for some time to share their worries and disappointments about this hobby in the same way I did, being pricing, lack of objectivity, shilling, ignorance etc.

Felt like a breath of fresh air to unburden a bit and I think this thread has outlived its usefulness. Back to business.

 

Anger needs to be expressed, otherwise it will destroy you.