Forum Traffic

[Puffin]

The words in italics below were copied tonight. I looked a few weeks ago and there were around 300 others browsing the forum yet very few new joiners perhaps that's how it is these days.

"There are currently 203 users browsing this forum. (3 members & 200 guests)

Puffin, klindar, spook"

[Barry]

I can't see any words in italics. What point is it you are making?

[Macca]

I can't see any words in italics. What point is it you are making?

Lots of non members viewing but not joining or posting?

But a good chunk of those will be bots I think.

[Pigmy Pony]

I can't see any words in italics. What point is it you are making?

I think he's saying that when he logged on there were only three members currently on the forum including himself (Puffin, klindar, spook).

I'm betting this isn't the only forum currently being a bit quiet - it's summer, people are doing outdoor stuff, or are on holiday.

[Puffin]

Yes Steve, and there are very few seeking to join. Of course we are all getting older and the demographic of those seeking to enter the audio world in the way that we were in our teens, twenties, thirties has all but disappeared.

[Barry]

Also only a few of the Administrators have the required permissions to vet new members. Only one Mod has been granted these permissions and he is still busy with a recent house move.

Clearly we would love to have some new blood, but I don't think that younger generations have the same interest in audio reproduction: being content to stream music on their smartphones and listen to it whilst on the move.

[Lawrence001]

Apparently it's becoming more popular again. I think that's what What Hifi said anyway [emoji23]

[Barry]

I always thought that audio journal should have had a question mark after its title, such was my opinion of its contents.

[Puffin]

I don't think that younger generations have the same interest in audio reproduction: being content to stream music on their smartphones and listen to it whilst on the move.

My son used to enjoy listening to my systems and seeing the changes that were made over the years but once he got married and got his own place he had no intention of following my course. Similarly my S.I.Law who had a system at home now has a large screen tele and a sound bar that drives me nuts as everything Speech, Music, Dialogue are swamped with bass....I presume his take on how it should sound.

[Pigmy Pony]

It is my least favourite of the hifi publications, but that, and Hifi Choice (which is better imo) are the ones my next door neighbour has delivered regularly then later passes on to me, so I don't really get any say in it. I'm reluctant to readily believe any mag that relies heavily on advertising revenue. In return my neighbour gets my copies of Which? magazine, which is much more credible.

That said, it covers a lot of home cinema and music-on-the-move kit, which is probably the best way to get youngsters into 'serious' audio, so I'm not going to condemn it.

[Macca]

Game consoles killed a lot of the hi-fi market, it's all these youngsters do, the males anyway.

And that's across generations now. Was walking behind two construction workers the other day, big lads, must have been in their late twenties or early thirties - they were discussing some multiplayer on line game and arguing over which version was the best.

Ofc some of these gaming set-ups can be pretty elaborate for sound, but no-one into that aspect would join a forum like this. Just totally different use case.

[Alex_UK]

I always thought that audio journal should have had a question mark after its title, such was my opinion of its contents.

Being a complete pedant, it actually does have a question mark after the title! :lol:

[Barry]

So it does - you won't believe me, but I had never noticed! :doh:

[Pigmy Pony]

Strange that the mag with the question mark is still going, while Hifi Answers died a death. Shame really, I used to like that one, with the classifieds and the weird ideas Jimmy Hughes and Peter Belt came out with, like putting beer mats under three of your chair's four legs.

[Barry]

Strange that the mag with the question mark is still going, while Hifi Answers died a death. Shame really, I used to like that one, with the classifieds and the weird ideas Jimmy Hughes and Peter Belt came out with, like putting beer mats under three of your chair's four legs.

Other whacky ideas were to fold up the corner of one of a pair of curtains, and to fix it with a specially treated safety pin.
Also to align the slots of all the screws of the wall sockets and switches so they were horizontal (or was it vertical?). :scratch:

[Pete The Cat]

I loved Hi-Fi Answers. Back in the day when I had no chance of affording anything other than the entry level Japanese kit I used to fawn over each month's edition. I seem to remember that a lot of the content each month was repetitive eg there was always a letter asking for a recommendation for a reasonably priced turntable and the answer was always TD160/RP3 but blow your budget and get a LP12 anyway. It was only after several years that I realised had I saved the cash rather than buying the mag I could've improved my system significantly. Out in my garage I think I have a good ten years' worth of HFAs...happy days.

Pete

[Pigmy Pony]

Other whacky ideas were to fold up the corner of one of a pair of curtains, and to fix it with a specially treated safety pin.
Also to align the slots of all the screws of the wall sockets and switches so they were horizontal (or was it vertical?). :scratch:

Yes I remember that one about the safety pins :D whacky stuff indeed, but you know what, it was all good fun... and at the time, with there being no internet, no forums, no texting or Whatsapp, and (I can't believe I'm going to say this) no social media, the only contact with similarly interested folk was with one or two close friends and hifi mags, or the voice inside your head :eek: "Buy it! Buy it!"

[Alex_UK]

I actually didn’t mind What Hi-fi? back in the 80’s and 90’s when I first got into the hobby. I guess probably because back then I could only really afford low end kit, and they seemed to cover that market more than the other mags.

Not seen a copy in a long while but I remember they cover everything that makes sound these days, so phones and tablets as well as games consoles and TV’s etc. I guess they had to adapt to survive.

[Pigmy Pony]

I actually didn’t mind What Hi-fi? back in the 80’s and 90’s when I first got into the hobby. I guess probably because back then I could only really afford low end kit, and they seemed to cover that market more than the other mags.

Not seen a copy in a long while but I remember they cover everything that makes sound these days, so phones and tablets as well as games consoles and TV’s etc. I guess they had to adapt to survive.

My neighbour hasn't been well recently, got Covid and he's 76. So the last WHF? he gave me is May '24. Here's some of the tested kit to give you an idea what they're up to:

Marantz CD6007, Cambridge Audio CXC, Arcam CD5, Cyrus CDi, Teac VRDS-701

SPL Diamond DAC

Pro-ject Phono Box DS2

Mission 778x, Leema Graviton, Leema Neutron

B&W 603 S3, Wharfedale Diamond 12.3

Cambridge Audio MXN10

As well as a shitload of tellies and av stuff, so really a wide range. Still prefer Hifi Choice though.

[spm]

I think one of the reasons why there might be so many guest viewers compared to members is that this site seems to kick you out of being logged in very quickly. I only log in if I have something to say which isn't that often - I know very little but find the site informative! I'm pretty sure I won't be logged in if I visit the site tomorrow. In comparison, I can't recall the last time I logged in to AVforums, probably weeks ago, but I'm still logged in.

[spm]

Actually, just looking at the Avforums site, the default log in automatically ticks remember me where here it is not ticked so you need to tick it - so just me being lazy.

[Idlewithnodrive]

Much like the Tories (soon to be extinct ?), I think maybe we should take an honest look at why people aren't joining. My belief is lack of posts / traffic / engagement and a very much more apparent senior demographic.

For example, I only check in a couple of times a month , because very little changes. Also, beyond 9pm'ish it's dead ?

It certainly doesn't have to be that way, just take a look at the very much newer AA and Maverick forums.

[CageyH]

AA = Audio Addicts? Not much busier than here.

[Idlewithnodrive]

For instance, one of tne biggest attractors to repeat postings on a site is a like function. This is the only hi-fi forum I know that doesn't have one. Why / how is that ?

Only trying to be helpful.

[Idlewithnodrive]

AA = Audio Addicts? Not much busier than here.

I disagree. Far busier. Take a look.

[CageyH]

I have, and there have been more posts made on AoS. You would hope that was the case, as there are more members.
But if you consider global membership, AA wins on activity per head.

Of the three, Maverick is certainly the busiest.

[Macca]

For instance, one of tne biggest attractors to repeat postings on a site is a like function. This is the only hi-fi forum I know that doesn't have one. Why / how is that ?

Only trying to be helpful.

we are running an old version of the software, I don't know if newer versions have the 'like' function.

None of the active mods can update the software so it has to stay as it is for the foreseeable future.

There's lots of UK hi-fi sites and there's a big overlap in the people who are posting on them - there really just isn't enough people who are interested for them to all be busy all of the time.

Our motto here is 'Quality over quantity.'

[Pigmy Pony]

we are running an old version of the software, I don't know if newer versions have the 'like' function.

None of the active mods can update the software so it has to stay as it is for the foreseeable future.

There's lots of UK hi-fi sites and there's a big overlap in the people who are posting on them - there really just isn't enough people who are interested for them to all be busy all of the time.

Our motto here is 'Quality over quantity.'

My thoughts exactly.

Personally I don't see why a 'like' function is such a big deal. If you agree with something, just say so, and say why. Or is that too much like hard work?

[Pigmy Pony]

I have, and there have been more posts made on AoS. You would hope that was the case, as there are more members.
But if you consider global membership, AA wins on activity per head.

Of the three, Maverick is certainly the busiest.

Does clicking on a 'like' button count as activity? Counting likes is not something that would interest me. But maybe that's because I'm an old fart with no social media accounts and so am not 'down with the kids' :wheniwasaboy:

[CageyH]

I was referring to the ratio of the number of posts/total membership.

[Macca]

A while back I did a very non-scientific study as to what topics get a lot of views and replies, not just here but over half a dozen different forums:

1) Tweaks, upgrades, modifications
2) Reviews, either formal, or just someone giving their personal impressions of something they just got
3) Contentious subjects - do cables matter? - that sort of thing
4) Pictures of equipment/systems
5) Scandals - rip off deals, scams, purchases that went wrong etc
5) Cats doing stuff - or not doing stuff.
6) Dogs doing stuff - or not doing stuff.

[Barry]

A while back I did a very non-scientific study as to what topics get a lot of views and replies, not just here but over half a dozen different forums:

1) Tweaks, upgrades, modifications
2) Reviews, either formal, or just someone giving their personal impressions of something they just got
3) Contentious subjects - do cables matter? - that sort of thing
4) Pictures of equipment/systems
5) Scandals - rip off deals, scams, purchases that went wrong etc
5) Cats doing stuff - or not doing stuff.
6) Dogs doing stuff - or not doing stuff.

More or less the same topics that are discussed here. ;)

[Macca]

More or less the same topics that are discussed here. ;)

This forum was one of those in my survey...

My point is that these are these are the topics that tend to get the most people active and engaged (the dog and cat thing was a bit of a joke). If such topics only occur very infrequently on a forum, then traffic will drop off.

The most popular audio forum in the world, both for traffic and posting activity, is Audio Science Review.

I don't think it's a coincidence that forum is

a) Heavily review driven (although only speakers get a non-objective review)
b) Always has at least several threads about contentious topics running

[Macca]

The other question is 'Do we want that here?'

Does AOS satisfy a niche that other forums don't?

I bought some equipment from someone, we talked about the forums briefly. He said he rarely visits AOS since it's mostly about valves and vinyl and he has no interest in either.

Which is fine, if we accept that it's not a popularity contest where the busiest forum wins.

[Puffin]

I suspect the demographic dictates what is popular and what is not. As you get older and have been into the game many many years you can get to the "seen it all, done it all" frame of mind. I am probably guilty of that. Also the cost of a lot of new gear is outrageous IMO. How many people actually buy the stuff reviewed in Hifi News? I occassionally flick through it if I am near a WH Smiths and the first thing I look at is the price tag.....Errr!...move on....What!.....move on etc etc.

I have enough stuff that I can swap Speakers/Amps/Dacs in and out at will. If I was to buy a £5,000 Dac would I find it sooo much better? If someone on here bought it and said it was the dogs danglies would it make me want to try/buy? Well I don't have his room/amp/speakers/listen to the same music etc.....so.....

I just bought a Khadas Tone Dac on here for £65 and I am very happy with it. I bought it because I have never owned a Sabre based Dac nd wanted to see how it compared to the others AKM/Wolfson/TDA/etc etc. Very favourably and a cheap way of keeping your interest alive.

[Macca]

I suspect the demographic dictates what is popular and what is not. As you get older and have been into the game many many years you can get to the "seen it all, done it all" frame of mind. I am probably guilty of that. Also the cost of a lot of new gear is outrageous IMO. How many people actually buy the stuff reviewed in Hifi News? I occassionally flick through it if I am near a WH Smiths and the first thing I look at is the price tag.....Errr!...move on....What!.....move on etc etc.
.

Yes. Very much so. Most of us here won't see fifty again and have been doing this for decades and I think most of us have concluded that there is nothing new under the sun some time ago. So we don't get excited by much and rarely see the need to change what we already have.

Presumably someone is buying the mega-money stuff reviewed in HFN. The people on the 'Oligarch Forums' like 'What's Best Forum', I suppose.

[Barry]

The most popular audio forum in the world, both for traffic and posting activity, is Audio Science Review.

I don't think it's a coincidence that forum is

a) Heavily review driven (although only speakers get a non-objective review)
b) Always has at least several threads about contentious topics running

I have confess I sometimes look at ASR, I like it because it is a 'no nonsense' objectivist audio forum. But AoS is ostensibly a subjectivist audio forum, which I'm pleased to say allows discussion from both viewpoints, as long as it doesn’t get opinionated, dogmatic or display rancour.

Long may that continue, or to put it in Latin: Floreat AoS.

[Idlewithnodrive]

The kit side no longer interests me, I am happy with what I have.

The main threads for me are the "What are you listening to" type music threads. Cost me a bloody fortune.

Also, the general banter threads with friends you have met and know well.