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On the other end of this you have serious audio reviewers who on one hand are professionals and have tonnes of experience, but then you see them review an absol

On the other end of this you have serious audio reviewers who on one hand are professionals and have tonnes of experience, but then you see them review an absolute nonsense product like an audio-friendly ethernet switch(!!!) or "audiophile" NVMe drive, and write an entire article about how transformative it was to their sound(for the better, of course). Then you start to realize that even the best ear is still subjective, and people will hear things if they want to hear them.

KaiserPro 4y ago
> Then you start to realize that even the best ear is still subjective, and people will hear things if they want to hear them. urgh yes. When I was recording something, I routed an (audio)compressor/gate combo. I was twiddling something on the effect and convinced myself that it was making a change. Looked to my left, the person was vehemently agreeing with me, I looked behind, the other person had a face like I'd farted. A while later I realised that I had routed the output into a muted bus. (ie I couldn't hear the output of the effect, only the raw original)
pbhjpbhj 4y ago
Here's a great example, https://youtu.be/f-QxLAxwxkM https://youtu.be/f-QxLAxwxkM -- a CD trimmer that (paraphrasing) "improves your audio quality" and was lauded by audiophiles.
- gambiting 4y ago
  If you want a good laugh, have a look at this forum thread - it's like these people are from a different planet. So many posters saying that the NVMe drive has improved the clarity and "richness" of their sound. Fortunately it's a harmless kind of ignorance. https://audiophilestyle.com/forums/topic/62753-nvme-ssd-designed-for-audiophiles/ https://audiophilestyle.com/forums/topic/62753-nvme-ssd-desi...
  - Bakary 4y ago
    It's actually beneficial ignorance. Money is transferred from those who don't know what to do with it into the broader economy.
    - chadcmulligan 4y ago
      I can see your point, but it makes it very hard for new comers. I was talking to someone the other day who had bought 3 DACs for different purposes to listen to YouTube sound on their edifier speakers and headphones. Its difficult to tell them they could probably not bother with the dacs, but there's a whole echo chamber about these things that confuses the new comers.
      - Bakary 4y ago
        Think of it this way: on a purely logical basis, it's better for society if money is in the hands of people who understand its value and hope to do useful things with it. I'm not claiming to be one of those people; I would definitely waste it all myself. Of course, we can't easily transfer money like this from the frivolous to the useful for a ton a reasons. Life isn't a fairytale. But the next best thing is to have them spend their money so that at least it can power some form of growth. It's not that these newcomers deserve to be mislead by echo chambers, but rather that if they demonstrate so little regard or respect for their money by failing to do much research or understanding what they're buying in detail, especially if they are buying something extraneous to begin with, that I don't see a moral or ethical problem to keep them spending. If anything, the money should be parted from the well-to-do fool, if only to provide macroeconomic support to the rest of the population.
        chadcmulligan 4y ago
        Well, you're assuming that everyone can just learn electronic engineering and get the optimal solution, things don't work that way. It's an interesting viewpoint though.
    - badpun 4y ago

KaiserPro 4y ago

> Then you start to realize that even the best ear is still subjective, and people will hear things if they want to hear them. urgh yes. When I was recording something, I routed an (audio)compressor/gate combo. I was twiddling something on the effect and convinced myself that it was making a change. Looked to my left, the person was vehemently agreeing with me, I looked behind, the other person had a face like I'd farted. A while later I realised that I had routed the output into a muted bus. (ie I couldn't hear the output of the effect, only the raw original)

pbhjpbhj 4y ago

Here's a great example, https://youtu.be/f-QxLAxwxkM https://youtu.be/f-QxLAxwxkM -- a CD trimmer that (paraphrasing) "improves your audio quality" and was lauded by audiophiles.

gambiting 4y ago
If you want a good laugh, have a look at this forum thread - it's like these people are from a different planet. So many posters saying that the NVMe drive has improved the clarity and "richness" of their sound. Fortunately it's a harmless kind of ignorance. https://audiophilestyle.com/forums/topic/62753-nvme-ssd-designed-for-audiophiles/ https://audiophilestyle.com/forums/topic/62753-nvme-ssd-desi...
- Bakary 4y ago
  It's actually beneficial ignorance. Money is transferred from those who don't know what to do with it into the broader economy.
  - chadcmulligan 4y ago
    I can see your point, but it makes it very hard for new comers. I was talking to someone the other day who had bought 3 DACs for different purposes to listen to YouTube sound on their edifier speakers and headphones. Its difficult to tell them they could probably not bother with the dacs, but there's a whole echo chamber about these things that confuses the new comers.
    - Bakary 4y ago
      Think of it this way: on a purely logical basis, it's better for society if money is in the hands of people who understand its value and hope to do useful things with it. I'm not claiming to be one of those people; I would definitely waste it all myself. Of course, we can't easily transfer money like this from the frivolous to the useful for a ton a reasons. Life isn't a fairytale. But the next best thing is to have them spend their money so that at least it can power some form of growth. It's not that these newcomers deserve to be mislead by echo chambers, but rather that if they demonstrate so little regard or respect for their money by failing to do much research or understanding what they're buying in detail, especially if they are buying something extraneous to begin with, that I don't see a moral or ethical problem to keep them spending. If anything, the money should be parted from the well-to-do fool, if only to provide macroeconomic support to the rest of the population.
      - chadcmulligan 4y ago
        Well, you're assuming that everyone can just learn electronic engineering and get the optimal solution, things don't work that way. It's an interesting viewpoint though.
  - badpun 4y ago