Any Advice for those Listening to Youtube Reviewers?


I’d like to recognize that it takes a great set of self promotional skills to become successful in the Youtube world. That said most of the audio reviewers I’ve seen don’t have the experience to review, or the kind of space that would really allow gear to shine.

Most of them start of with K-Mart like gear, did their formula and got popular, and jumped far up the audio food chain. Of course everything they review is going to be great compared to the Service Merchandise system they sold last year.

Just throwing it out there that people should be careful listening to these guys that are mostly working for the views/money (not that some aren’t passionate).

Anyone else seeing this?

bjesien

I follow several reviewers regularly. Most of them indicate their particular interests and seem to tailor their sites to those interests. I wouldn't watch cheapaudioman for a review about a halo Sonos Faber floorstander, he isn't about that and doesn't pretend to be. For different reasons  I like watching A British Audiophile, because I like his level, methodical, analytical and comparative format. Having good  production values and a consistent pattern helps. (For YT reviews, I benchmark savagegeese because of the consistent method and high production values; it is an automotive site, not an audio site.)

One site I look at is ASR. I know there are many people her who dislike  Amir's approach. He has a take-no-prisoners approach and doesn't seem hesitant to pan gear that doesn't meet his particular testing standards. Those standards are open to debate as far as how well good performance in a user setting corresponds to good performance on his bench or in the spinorama. Products from cherished makers have sometimes seen a skewering. I have observed that he seldom reviews something well that doesn't also perform well. His methods skewer amplifier distortion, and he declines to do testing of tube gear because of its high levels of measurable distortion, euphonious or not. I can't see a brand bias; his SINAD scale places ultra high end next to low-end unknowns at both ends of the performance scale. He seems to prefer speaker offerings by KEF, and if there is a preference, it is for neutral coloration and flat frequency response and low distortion. I have heard some of his critics dismiss him, but few are able to persuasively explain why, except that he has expressed a dislike for a reader's cherished brand or model.

Most of the YouTubers I've seen seem to be more about themselves than about audio. Most have to invent a crisis, controversy, or drama to have anything to talk about. And of course you can't tell what anything really sounds like while listening to YouTube, so I just ignore them.

First they gotta get product, next they gotta get subscribers, third controversy helps build both. 

Reviewers are like us... Humans....

The difference is that they have their own ears , not yours; and they must sell in a way or in another...Generally they sell new offers on the market... They dont compare with the past, even to recent past...For most all is progress...

Some are better than others...

The problem is reviewers spoke for all of us indistinctly...And no one here is on the same place in his audio journey.....The reviewers cannot know about your needs; you must learn to identify your real needs...

it is generally better to read articles than listening reviewers to do this...

At the end of the road we dont need reviewers...At the begining of the road i am not sure we need reviewers...We need to read ...When i had listened reviewers i had been put aside and i regret all i bought ( many dac , many amplifier and many speakers and many headphones 😊 ) ...I begin to understand by reading about acoustic basic... And i read about some vintage mythical products, it is better to buy a myth with a ton of reviews and advices, than to buy a new product which will be forgotten soon ...

Reviewers may be entertaining and can give good suggestions for sure... But you must listen to yourself reading with open mind about the past products not only the new one...Past products can be vintage but they can be product of ten years ago ...

There is a revolution now in audio for example in the last 15 years , how many reviewers youtube spoke about it ? Very , very few...

Guess what it is ?

How many revolutions there is in audio in the last 15 years and which one ?

😊

No it is not a mere new dac like all the others more or less ....