Thanks - This gives us a perspective on your taste and impressions.
What should be mandatory in every professional published review-
When testing a company's newest amp, preamp, etc, and it is a refinement of a prior product that was on the market, ie, a Mark II, an SE version, a .2 etc, it should be mandatory that the review includes a direct comparison with the immediate predecessor. IMHO, it's not enough to know ion the product is good; it's also important to know if there is a meaningful difference with the immediate predecessor.
I'm fan of Pass Labs, and I just looked at a review of an XP22 preamp. I find it very disturbing that there was no direct comparison between the XP22 and the XP20. And this lack of direct comparison is ubiquitous in hi-end published reviews, across all brands of gear tested. I don't blame the gear manufacturers, but rather the publications as I view this as an abdication of journalistic integrity.
Opinions welcome-
soix,You may have misunderstood me. The issue I have is with publications who don’t pay what I would consider a proper rate for reviews, and instead take advantage of the willingness of reviewers to do the work for a low pay scale with some promise of discounts on gear. If the writers agree to do so, it is their choice. I still think that if they are actually trying to earn a living they may be getting taken advantage of. I don’t know how it all works in the audio reviewing business. In sports photography, there are more than a few weekend warriors, doctors or the like, who can afford $50,000 in camera gear and will give their photos away for free in exchange for the sideline photo credential. It’s done real harm to pros trying to make a living. Maybe there are rich trustafarians or well-heeled people doing the same in audio, enjoying getting a byline and a discount on gear. You might know. Cheers |
@patrickdowns You are correct. Unless you write for the glossy mags you’re not gonna make money writing reviews. I did it because I love audio gear and writing, and the prospect of getting to listen to a lot of equipment in my room/system along with getting dealer pricing was something that was very attractive to me. But, after a while I got tired of humping equipment in and out of my system and spending tons of hours reviewing equipment to make someone else rich so I stopped but still very glad I did it. AFAIK the audio review industry doesn’t have any wealthy warriors undermining professional reviewers who do it as a career as in sports photography, but that totally sucks. |
I guess everyone gets a prize, kinda thing. Everyone is above average. No normal distribution which may be described as a bell curve. Never constrained from saying anything negative. No, a better way of saying it is that you were perhaps sufficiently rewarded by writing only positive things. Fraud. Yes, you can quote me on that.
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