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Just for the argument's sake, audiophile gear is by definition highly subjective and as such, it's the one area where pretty much every product could be defined

by spurgu 5y ago

Just for the argument's sake, audiophile gear is by definition highly subjective and as such, it's the one area where pretty much every product could be defined as snake oil, haha. Regulating that would be a bureaucratic nightmare. Pregnancy/HIV/diabetes tests however should be rather easy to define baseline requirements/tolerances for. And drugs are somewhere in between.

adgjlsfhk1 5y ago
There's a lot that is 100% provable snake oil. For 2 particularly egregious examples, see https://www.tomshardware.com/news/nvme-ssd-for-audiophiles https://www.tomshardware.com/news/nvme-ssd-for-audiophiles and https://www.tomshardware.com/news/ethernet-switch-for-audiophiles https://www.tomshardware.com/news/ethernet-switch-for-audiop....
- spurgu 5y ago
  With the miniscule differences combined with the subjectivity of it all it's just really hard (or practically impossible) to prove that the developer/salesman actually doesn't hear a positive improvement. Audiophiles salesmen want to believe just as much as the customers. Disclaimer: Built speakers and amplifiers in a previous life and never understood how people would fret so much about cables.
  - adgjlsfhk1 5y ago
    It's pretty easy to prove that a purely digital component is snake oil though. As long as your SSD isn't flipping bits, it's pretty clearly not introducing any difference.
nine_k 5y ago
I'm not calling for regulation on audiophile gear. The only certification I'd require would be that the device will not electrocute you, and won't produce volume above, say, 140 dB, if sold by a company. Consequences of any output from audiophile gear are normally not that serious. For a pregnancy test, it could be literally life and death: say, a murder from jealosy, or a suicide from guilt. This makes a strong case for regulation of what can have words "pregnancy test" and synonyms. I'm fine with people being able to buy stuff that can kill them, be it a gun, a rope, or a substance. But I stand for clear and enforced labeling of such things, regulated proper packaging that prevents accidents, and other such measures that make sure the consumer has plenty of warning, and acts by deliberate choice. With substances, it's much harder to assess if the thing in hand can kill you, than with a shotgun or a scythe.

by spurgu 5y ago

adgjlsfhk1 5y ago

There's a lot that is 100% provable snake oil. For 2 particularly egregious examples, see https://www.tomshardware.com/news/nvme-ssd-for-audiophiles https://www.tomshardware.com/news/nvme-ssd-for-audiophiles and https://www.tomshardware.com/news/ethernet-switch-for-audiophiles https://www.tomshardware.com/news/ethernet-switch-for-audiop....

spurgu 5y ago
With the miniscule differences combined with the subjectivity of it all it's just really hard (or practically impossible) to prove that the developer/salesman actually doesn't hear a positive improvement. Audiophiles salesmen want to believe just as much as the customers. Disclaimer: Built speakers and amplifiers in a previous life and never understood how people would fret so much about cables.
- adgjlsfhk1 5y ago
  It's pretty easy to prove that a purely digital component is snake oil though. As long as your SSD isn't flipping bits, it's pretty clearly not introducing any difference.

nine_k 5y ago

I'm not calling for regulation on audiophile gear. The only certification I'd require would be that the device will not electrocute you, and won't produce volume above, say, 140 dB, if sold by a company. Consequences of any output from audiophile gear are normally not that serious. For a pregnancy test, it could be literally life and death: say, a murder from jealosy, or a suicide from guilt. This makes a strong case for regulation of what can have words "pregnancy test" and synonyms. I'm fine with people being able to buy stuff that can kill them, be it a gun, a rope, or a substance. But I stand for clear and enforced labeling of such things, regulated proper packaging that prevents accidents, and other such measures that make sure the consumer has plenty of warning, and acts by deliberate choice. With substances, it's much harder to assess if the thing in hand can kill you, than with a shotgun or a scythe.