I’m not necessarily taking a side on the “you’re a shill for x company” “well you’re a shill for y company” debacle underway, but just to get an idea of how to gauge his reviews, to separate a truly distinguished rec from hype/always positive… I’ll say this:
The lowest review he had given any product is 3 stars, and everything else is between 4 and 5.
So besides the one 3 star case, somehow everything he’s received for review has been great, really great, or perfect. No other outcomes, for 50+ products.
On the one hand, for whatever motivation, anything that could be called out as bad tuning can apparently be fixed with an expensive cable or source pairing. For example, the NiceHCK F3, I would say that if an IEM has piercing treble and insufficient bass, it should score low. Now I love the spacious feel of those IEMs, and the gorgeous build, and it has a fantastic bass if you EQ it massively. But if it’s tuned poorly, it should score poorly. So he has a way to correct or ignore what should be called out as flaws, IMHO.
Again, I don’t want to make any accusations about affiliation. There’s some angle that could make any of our favorite reviewers seem suspect.
But if everything’s a 4, 4.5, or 5, the reviews have lost most meaning for me. I think the NX7 was awarded a 4.5 or 5 for example. Whether the cause is remarkable optimism, or financial security, the resulting issue of relativity is the same.
I’ll be back to check for typos, as always written on my phone while pacing the baby around the kitchen.
I think it’s just a way of using that space to say “the only bad thing about this IEM is the shade being cast at them” rather than it truly counting against the IEM. A reviewer’s artistic liberty of sorts.
Like someone could jokingly use the con space to say “How long I spent trying to find a flaw before I gave up” instead of just leaving the con space empty.
EDIT: Granted in this case it seems unnecessarily edgy/personal for a review.
It just comes out as petty though. I’d rather not write anything if I don’t have anything that relates to the set. It’s also extremely passive aggressive and thinly veiled. In the end the only result you get is more people disliking the reviewer for having some kind of feigned personal war with another reviewer.
I don’t know, it just gives me the same vibes as some game journalists hating on games because they dislike some gamers, writing more about the group instead of the thing you’re supposed to review. Just enjoy the thing for what it is instead.
Sorry for going off on a tangent, but it’s just a gripe I have these days as some people seem to want to talk about anything else other than what’s at hand (music, gear, games etc)
I take more issue with the whole “scales incredibly well with better cables” part. I understand and am fine with most of the rest since it is opinion and like rear ends every has one. I also would understand if it was scales better with better sources or gear…
Well I am getting the pro version anyways to get it in black so I guess I will test this mythical cable. I will make sure to rub it in the special mixture of olive oil and the blood of Crotalus Cerastes.
I do think that if cables are the solve-all for every product that could otherwise have been marked as poor, or are the required up-sell when available, it is inexcusable not to have measuring gear and to show this magical change.
Change in highs, lows, mids are all physical, wavelength based changes, they will show up if they exist.
If you’re going to rec to hundreds of strangers (either to spend a lot of money on poor IEMs or a lot of money on luxury cables), what’s $100 of testing equipment to back up the advice?
Makes sense to influence people toward ignoring graphs if they are the one simple way to show nonsensical recommendations being made.
Pardon me, but I believe you mean coconut oil and mamba venom if you really want to go from an oval to circular stage, increase transients and presence, while toning down unwanted harmonics. They really “open up” with this combination.
Don’t get me wrong I do believe in high quality cables… but only for things like feel, durability, weight,extra features (like a sane modular system). So i am actually looking forward to seeing if Fiio’s cable is good. Also I do think that like anything the value should also be reasonable. I don’t care how good a $1000 cable it it should never go on a $25 IEM.
For all the time I’ve been around HF, they’ve always had a big no-no against shitting on cables. You will like this diamond dust garden hose filled with metal shavings and you will buy it. Oh, you cut it apart and tested it on a rig? Off with their heads!
This is the reason I stopped going to HF at all because it’s all circle-jerk wankery that only cares about post count over the contents of your argument. Not to mention silk gloves towards manufacturers, no matter if they throw shady shit or not. Seems like not much has changed in a decade.
There are individuals on there who are clearly independent reviewers of gear they have happened to buy, (or don’t publish any reviews) who I am familiar with the tastes of, and who are friendly and give great advice whenever qualified to. So I stay for them (and the classifieds section!)
I’m content to filter out swathes of wankery when they appear.
Could be very dangerous to a newcomer however. This forum would be much more helpful for someone starting out, building their knowledge and preferences.
HF requires enough knowledge to have a form of BS filter up before perusing.
I’ve been around them enough to know what’s what. It certainly has it’s qualities. I like it mostly for certain reviews. But personally I just got fed up with the community there on a whole, or the tone itself. It used to be more critical back in the day, at least that’s my impression of reading it now.
But I’ll just leave it at that, I don’t want to turn this thread into a shit flinging contest over my personal dislike for HF.
Hifiguides is more my thing, laid back, good advice, great people and impeccable taste in music.
Yup. Cause ya know… graphs don’t mean anything. How can anyone tell anything from a graph!
@Rikudou_Goku and I were having some fun with it in his Discord discussing how Dsnuts believes the pro cable is higher resolution and makes the FD3 sound much better. lol
The usage of “jump the shark” has subsequently broadened beyond television, indicating the moment when a brand, design, franchise, or creative effort’s evolution declines, or when it changes notably in style into something unwelcome.
Well, not sure about Bz, but in Pt you get a notification on your e-mail and theres a website for that. Just warning because if its the same process, they get sent back after a month or something.
…
