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Thread: 'Review speak' bullsh*t

  1. #1
    Join Date: Oct 2012

    Location: The Black Country

    Posts: 6,089
    I'm Alan.

    Default 'Review speak' bullsh*t

    OK OK I know reviewers have got a job to do but some of the stuff they write is tosh.

    It's not difficult to engineer something with a very flat frequency response, or to achieve very accurate RIAA equalisation. So when I read something like this I think 'oh dear':

    The xxxxx's wide open, glass-clear midband integrates smoothly with a strong bass and crisp, extended treble. This makes for a very neutral reading of whatever LP you care to play, with the unusual combination of a well lit and highly revealing upper midband, and very low record surface noise.

    What? the? F? Well lit 'upper midband', did they fit the front panel LED'd in the wrong place

    Plus I thought record surface noise performance was dependent on the stylus and cartridge.

  2. #2
    Join Date: May 2016

    Location: Gloucestershire

    Posts: 977
    I'm Ian.

    Default

    ...............and the condition of the LP!

  3. #3
    Join Date: Jan 2009

    Location: Deleted

    Posts: 6,585
    I'm Deleted.

    Default

    You don’t say what they are reviewing.
    Account Deleted

  4. #4
    Bigman80 Guest

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by YNWaN View Post
    You don’t say what they are reviewing.
    Is that important??

  5. #5
    Join Date: Jun 2018

    Location: Mildenhall, Suffolk

    Posts: 380
    I'm John.

    Default

    I'm all up for running with the pack today.
    Can you tell me where to buy one

  6. #6
    Join Date: Mar 2017

    Location: Seaford UK

    Posts: 1,861
    I'm Dennis.

    Default

    We are in sad times regarding the English language.

    Whilst speech is IMO at an all time low, and the written word rarely seems to express beauty in fine poetic usage, the popular written word is mainly related to artefacts, and we know in these cases, there may well be an agenda which undermines ay aesthetic.

    I can imagine the writers trying to convince themselves that they are being faithful to the truth, when really they are subconsciously very concerned with earning a living.

  7. #7
    Join Date: May 2018

    Location: Woking

    Posts: 803
    I'm Chris.

    Default

    As Alan eludes to, gear can be made to measure well (or not). Can gear convey the emotion and feeling of the MUSIC? That should be the question the reviewer answers.

    What is written about the gear here can only really be asked about the actual music in the recording. Crisp bass/glass like treble or whatever.
    The gear recreates the recording well or it does not.

    Where equipment can impart a sound signature is usually related to timing(digital jitter)/alignment of cart (vinyl)/power supply/synergy of components etc, resulting in a better sound overall.

    Having said that I don't believe all reviewers are bad or insincere. I've bought a lot of good kit purely based on the enjoyment the reviewer (seemed) to get out of it. Sometimes they do seem genuine. Mainstream reviewers like WHF etc, nah, they DO just pander to their advertisers.

    I tend to gravitate towards the more independent (and rather well off reviewers who don't need to advertise anything or prove anything to anyone). 6moons comes to mind. Although they do grant themselves a big slice of poetic licence when it comes to babbling on about the texture of the mid-range etc. But they're often good reads none the less.
    System 1: - Amp - Musical Paradise MP-701 mk2 - Neurochrome 686
    - Source: Audio Technica LP-5 - Custom 6V6 stage - Novafidelity X30 - Soekris 1421 (LPSU) - Custom TDA1541 C3G DAC -
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    System 2 - Amp: Musical Paradise MP 303/Custom 300B SET - Custom 6SL7 Pre -
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  8. #8
    Join Date: May 2008

    Location: Surrey

    Posts: 7,103
    I'm Rob.

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    D'you know Paul.....reviewing audio gear is like making love to a beautiful women.....first you weigh up the top end...and then the bottom end, grab hold of your interconnect and feel the girth and sheath texture......carefully insert observing polarity.....lay back, twiddle the control and let the crescendo climax.
    Buy Bose...And get your parking validated!.

    https://youtu.be/ZCBe7-6rw4M

    No Highs...No Lows....It Must Be Bose!

  9. #9
    Join Date: Jan 2008

    Location: Gerrards Cross

    Posts: 2,991
    I'm Tony.

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    You go Alan

    Its not even that, its about Audio politics here in the UK, and with certain magazines it is purely about how much they (company having products reviewed) spend on advertising in said publication and 'x' amount of reviews are allocated against that spend.

    Having spend many hours at quite a few reviewers listening rooms, most are a joke at best (the rooms). There are a couple of chaps that really are good, have a decent ear and are a straight as possible as it is to a be a audio jurno's have integrity even if their bosses are total ego manics with and underlying inferiority complex and personality bypass disorder.

    There is an infamous case from a few years ago where a well known brand won a European award for a specific product (UK company), when it was review in a UK audio mag, the reviewer was instructed to formulate a review that was not to favorable as the head of that particular publication thought the product was cheap nasty little device and not worthy of that Euro award.

    The main issue mags have to sell copy and they need to keep the buying public interested.

    Commercial reality I'm afraid, however if you take them in the context of which they are reviewed then most people can understand the reviews point he is trying to get across in their copy.

    No career in audio journalism will make you wealthy unless you are a publisher, average review payment (UK publications) is between £250 and £500 per review, now you have to write a lot of reviews to live on, and realistically to really do the product justice you can't bang a review off in 6 hours lol

    Alan, keep up the good work!
    Coherent Systems
    Real high end sound with musicality not hifi

  10. #10
    Join Date: Feb 2008

    Location: South Wales

    Posts: 9,151
    I'm NotTakingLifeTooSeriouslyTheseDays.

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Mr. C View Post

    Having spend many hours at quite a few reviewers listening rooms, most are a joke at best (the rooms). There are a couple of chaps that really are good, have a decent ear and are a straight as possible as it is to a be a audio jurno's have integrity even if their bosses are total ego manics with and underlying inferiority complex and personality bypass disorder.

    The main issue mags have to sell copy and they need to keep the buying public interested.

    Commercial reality I'm afraid, however if you take them in the context of which they are reviewed then most people can understand the reviews point he is trying to get across in their copy.

    No career in audio journalism will make you wealthy unless you are a publisher, average review payment (UK publications) is between £250 and £500 per review, now you have to write a lot of reviews to live on, and realistically to really do the product justice you can't bang a review off in 6 hours lol
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