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the best audio review ever?


humanflyz

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So I just read Darth Nut's review of the O2s, and wow, it is without a doubt the best review of a piece of audio equipment I have ever read, hands down, no contest.

What really blows my mind is how conceptually clear the review was. He basically articulated a coherent conceptual framework for audio review and applied it to an actual piece of audio equipment in a consistent, logical manner and backed it up with supporting evidence. It combines both his subjective perceptual experiences and his concepts in a way that shows the reader his thought process.

Honestly this should be required reading for anyone interested in describing audio equipments.

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Never liked this review, too much intellectual masturbation bullshit from a dude who seems to have a very inflated opinion of himself.

I've read that review as well, and did not sense any pompousness or inflated ego. Quite the opposite really. The reviewer thought a great deal about headphones and the specific issues revolving around how they reproduce sound. He then came up with his own methodology and terminology to explained those issues in as clear and concise a manner as possible.

I think our hobby needs more of this. Right now there is no real centralized authority on headphones like the speaker world has. Sure the happy, "it's good if you like it" attitude makes us all feel good about our gear, but if we're to move forward as a hobby we need more well-thought out reviews to help define and give shape to the language and concepts needed to describe what we hear and how well a piece of equipment recreates sound. It would help give our hobby more legitimacy; which is something we are lacking.

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Never liked this review, too much intellectual masturbation bullshit from a dude who seems to have a very inflated opinion of himself.

This is crap IMO. The review is spot on and is a benchmark against all others should be judged. The reviewer has been in the headphone game longer then most (search Headwize for his posts) and has a clear understanding on what makes them tick.

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That review should be mandatory reading for anyone with an interest in reviewing or discussing audio components. It's a terrific example of clear and organized articulation of a very abstract and difficult topic.

But, it's going to go way over the heads of the average public, especially because of the length. It's a case of the review being much better than the audience. People don't want an organized discussion filled with novel concepts - they want a short largely monosyllabic blurb with simple numerical ratings and lots of "lawlz" and "roflcopter" thrown in.

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I've pretty much accepted the fact that I can't write reviews for beans, I worked on a Senn 580 vs. Grado 225 review on & off for around 2 years before giving up and putting it away. Impressions, no problem, I can crank those out in an hour or two at most but I have issues with long term reviews, I just don't know what the hell to put in them without making it sound like the pretentious garbage found in Stereophile or TAS.

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I've pretty much accepted the fact that I can't write reviews for beans, I worked on a Senn 580 vs. Grado 225 review on & off for around 2 years before giving up and putting it away. Impressions, no problem, I can crank those out in an hour or two at most but I have issues with long term reviews, I just don't know what the hell to put in them without making it sound like the pretentious garbage found in Stereophile or TAS.

Ditto. I've been working on a review of the whole Lambda line for over a year now and it's mostly been an overview of the history and what changes were made with a few impressions thrown in.

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