I was fairly pleased with the commentary and suggestions on the Steve Hoffman forum, but I pointed out the snake oil once too often in the hardware section and got banned for trying to help the foolish. Any suggestions on a similar forum where SQ is regarded as primarily recording and mastering not voodoo, but with a serious look at which releases are good/bad on albums?
Mike,
I started a multichannel review thread on the Klipsch forum , and I see a music review section over on Audiokarma.
It is a little strange that there isn't a well-established section here that systematically reviews music albums, but I've yet to find it on the DIYAudio forums. You'd think that reviews of music albums is at least as important as the hardware rigs and acoustics of the rooms that the participants use. Perhaps the issue is too much focus on gear and not enough on the function of that gear in use to its purpose (sound reproduction).
Maybe starting a good review thread here is appropriate. However, I would suggest that some set format is used in order to encourage the participants to do a better job on their reviews than I see elsewhere. Perhaps a suggested format might look something like:
Title/Artist/Disc ID: (the disc title, exactly as it appears on the disc cover, artist names, disc company, disc number/ID)
Review text
Pros: (how the disc has good/outstanding venue sound quality, musicianship, and effective recording/mixing/mastering techniques.
Cons: (sound quality issues including imaging, noise, [loudness war] dynamic compression, clarity/detail, balance, recording/mastering issues, musicianship/instrumentation issues, or venue acoustics issues)
Equipment/room used for review: (what did you use to listen to the disc
Rating: (assessed 1-5 star scale rating with 5 stars= the top 5% of discs, 3= average, 1= the bottom 5% of discs heard)
Avoiding discussion of the desirability of music selections under review might be a useful groundrule, since users can decide that for themselves.
Thoughts?
Chris
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I have Klipsch Forte and Heresy speakers, the latter still waiting on me to replace damaged woofers, but liking the Forte's a lot.
For classical what used to be my bible was the penguin guide to classical recordings. Some of the rosette selections are still amazing to me.
Since joining the Hoffman forum I have been chasing down everything Steve has remastered.
More when I get a chance to better gather my thoughts.
For classical what used to be my bible was the penguin guide to classical recordings. Some of the rosette selections are still amazing to me.
Since joining the Hoffman forum I have been chasing down everything Steve has remastered.
More when I get a chance to better gather my thoughts.
Thanks: I just ordered a Penguin book on Amazon. I've been basically following my nose on buying recordings. I find that some recordings that are judged to be "not top-notch" are actually just "different": in fact, some of the best recordings that I own are in this category.
But I'll take a look and invest time/resources in auditioning suggested recordings for a while.
Chris
Not so strange. This isn't a general hifi forum (there's plenty of those!), the raison d'etre here is design and construction of gear, not so much reviews of commercial efforts (gear or otherwise). If you want to post record reviews in the Music section, go for it, maybe you can be a trendsetter!
For a good music discussion forum you need a critical mass that isn't easy to achieve. Getting to the first 50 or 100 great recordings isn't hard, but somewhere around the 50+ point you will get divergence into sonics vs music, and music can quickly split into the hairy issues of opinion, or what normal people like, but due to some odd issues really music people can't stand.
Yes, it always comes down to an opinion as to musical content.
However....I remember "Stereo "Review's record reviews back in the '70s done by about 3 different reviewers.
They all started their out reviews by giving their take on the technical aspect of the record first .......this included the mix of the instruments and recoding quality .
Then they gave their opinions of the musical merits of the recording..
I should add that their reviews covered everything from classical to hard rock.
Their reviews were usually spot on and many of their (rock) recommendations are still some of my favorites.
However, I fear that in this day and age, that sort of honest opinion is a lost art as the net has clouded our sense of honesty and simple opinions. Everyone wants to challenge everyone else's opinion. and have the last word on everything.
However....I remember "Stereo "Review's record reviews back in the '70s done by about 3 different reviewers.
They all started their out reviews by giving their take on the technical aspect of the record first .......this included the mix of the instruments and recoding quality .
Then they gave their opinions of the musical merits of the recording..
I should add that their reviews covered everything from classical to hard rock.
Their reviews were usually spot on and many of their (rock) recommendations are still some of my favorites.
However, I fear that in this day and age, that sort of honest opinion is a lost art as the net has clouded our sense of honesty and simple opinions. Everyone wants to challenge everyone else's opinion. and have the last word on everything.
This is a mixed message, IMHO. Why have a section on music at all in this forum? Why not just discourage anyone posting in the entire section?
I've found that what you listen to is determinant on how you perceive your "improvements". To not talk about the music listened to by its membership seems oddly short-sighted (or at least nearsighted).
But as the moderator has indicated, my opinion isn't really important, only my perceived image as a trendsetter.
Chris
It's in the General Interest section. Like I said, if you want to start a trend, go for it!
Music is the stuff audiophiles put up with in order to listen to their equipment.
Sounds funny, but I know plenty of philes that listen mostly to demo music. Worse I see nothing wrong with that, a super system is a pleasure to listen to just struting its stuff.
For the music side I have an idea for a thread, starting it now.
Five albums not to be missed. Details in the new thread.
Sounds funny, but I know plenty of philes that listen mostly to demo music. Worse I see nothing wrong with that, a super system is a pleasure to listen to just struting its stuff.
For the music side I have an idea for a thread, starting it now.
Five albums not to be missed. Details in the new thread.
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