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The worst sentence in audio writing

. Literally, hearing new details and delicacy in music I’ve heard a thousand times before.

I read this sentence from another thread but didn’t want to pollute it with this thought or to harp on my own opinion about the gear being discussed.

What I did want to do was point out that this sentence is one of the worst, most fraudulent sentences in all of audio, and we have all read it from a dozen different reviewers.  Anytime I read this I shudder. It’s not that I don’t believe the reviewer who writes this, it’s that I do. To understand why I hate this sentence you have to know my own personal values in audio.

  • Smooth frequency response
  • A laid back presentation

In order to make gear which has details never before heard the gear must exaggerate some sounds to the detriment of others. There’s no such thing as a neutral piece of gear that also makes you hear things yo have never heard before.

It’s a type of con, in that sure, you get new details, but they never talk about what you are giving up. The beauty of this con is that there’s all sorts of frequency response tricks and distortion gimmicks which will make you feel this way, each different, each not neutral. Each time we experience this "never before heard details" is like a new hair cut. It isn’t better, it’s different and that is exciting.

erik_squires
thastum's avatar
thastum
45 posts
 

Pinthrift nails it so well and I would like to add.

Ouer brain has a tremendous way to help us understanding and enjoy even pretty bad sound. If I look back at relativ the poor system i had during my youth, i still could enjoy the music and had a lot of lisining pleasure. The lisining sessions were not so long besause of becoming lisining tired. The soundstage was small and had poor deept.

Today we can, if all aspekts in the chain are superb, expirience the rea thing. Or at least ouer brain can convince us its a real concert we are attending. Often it can even be as If as you cost the best seat ar the concert venue.

on the journey to this level, i have so many times to solve problems, i didnt know was there before i heard the diffrence and i am sure this will continue.

Its is so exciting to find these weak links and expirience a even closer and better understanding of the artistic intention. Maybee this emotionel awakening is a huge part of being a music/audiophile lover.

 

 

 

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mrdecibel
3,065 posts
 

As I mentioned on another thread here, our systems are only as good as our recordings. Tony Minasian of Tonian Labs, who is a genius at his craft, has instilled in me, again, that his " Drums And Bells ", might be the best " recording " that I own, in realism " of the real thing " ( Sheffield Lab did a nice job ). If anyone knows of a superior recording, please let me know.  

whart's avatar
whart
3,068 posts
 

Just for fun, I once wrote a parody template of an audio review that had a fill in the blank feature along with an assortment of standard tropes. I advanced the draft and on reflection, decided not to post it--it was just too snarky.

I don't read the audio mags much if at all anymore, though I will occasionally see a review online, or mentioned in a chat forum.

To me, the task of the reviewer is almost impossible. In a relatively short time (if possible) to evaluate a component using other equipment that might not be the best match (so, borrowing other gear may be required), and a write up based on the reviewer's own sonic preferences. To me, the best reviews were comparative, pointing out strengths and weaknesses differentiating the components under evaluation. 

 

noromance's avatar
noromance
9,967 posts
 

Bill, I too prefer the comparative reviews. Car mags do it well. Almost every review in Stereophile and AS is self-contained and tend toward the absolute rather than the relative.

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