Tek Syndicate Audio Myths with @MayflowerElectronics

[MayflowerElectronics]

No way, I hear the new Vali has ringing added to the sound signature.

Lmao, why did they even release that product... Do they make money off of RMA's or something?

[ShearMe]

Lmao, why did they even release that product... Do they make money off of RMA's or something?

 

They probably charge a fee to get you to the front of the repair line or something.

[MayflowerElectronics]

They probably charge a fee to get you to the front of the repair line or something.

Hmm, maybe we should start doing that, but considering I have less than 1% RMA I don't think that would work...

[Rekx]

 

As a proud owner of a Xonar Essence STX this video has got my jimmies rustled to say the least. I can't say I find it easy to believe what they're saying. It seems highly unlikely to me that an entire category of PC products is useless and only sells based on marketing and false information.

That said I also don't see Logan as someone who would make a video like this without doing his homework first. I don't know what to think. 

I'd be really curious to see what Linus thinks of this, since he seems to be a strong advocate for Asus sound cards.

 

hmm let me see a category that are based on marketing. Oh gaming headsets

[Rekx]

Nice video by logan and @MayflowerElectronics. though i wish i have known about the sound card thing back in 2011-2012. 

 

Im so stocked for my beyerdynamic DT990 pros.

[Aphexx]

hmm let me see a category that are based on marketing. Oh gaming headsets

just need a washed up rapper to hype their product and walk around with their product around their neck.

 

Vanilla Ice comes to mind, perhaps MC Hammer?

[Rekx]

just need a washed up rapper to hype their product and walk around with their product around their neck.

 

Vanilla Ice comes to mind, perhaps MC Hammer?

 

Lol You truely won the internet today.

[Wyzzy Moon]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1rXcJuEsy0

 

As a proud owner of a Xonar Essence STX this video has got my jimmies rustled to say the least. I can't say I find it easy to believe what they're saying. It seems highly unlikely to me that an entire category of PC products is useless and only sells based on marketing and false information.

That said I also don't see Logan as someone who would make a video like this without doing his homework first. I don't know what to think. 

I'd be really curious to see what Linus thinks of this, since he seems to be a strong advocate for Asus sound cards.

This is exactly what I tought, Linus always recomend a soundcard and talks about the awfullness of on-board and now logan tells us that soundcards are useless... And I kinda trust them both so I don't know what to think...

A agree that it would be weird if there were that mutch placebo products....

I don't know @LinusTech sould see this

[h264]

Hmm, maybe we should start doing that, but considering I have less than 1% RMA I don't think that would work...

More like you've had ONE RMA ever.

[ShearMe]

That reminds me - whur muh replacement yo?!

[MayflowerElectronics]

That reminds me - whur muh replacement yo?!

 

I never got it.

[Mattyc]

The RME Babyface is sounding even more promising now as I need a better interface for my new LSR305's. This Old Mbox has a few gain issues.

[mr moose]

A agree that it would be weird if there were that mutch placebo products....

 

 

The placebo effect is very strong, in auditory perception it effects nearly everyone.  Even in clinical trials it was discovered that the placebo effect is strong enough to cause physical harm:

From wikipedia:

Another negative consequence is that placebos can cause side-effects associated with real treatment.^[114] One example of this is with those that have already taken an opiate, can then show respiratory depression when given it again in the form of a placebo.^[115]

Withdrawal symptoms can also occur after placebo treatment. This was found, for example, after the discontinuation of the Women's Health Initiative study of hormone replacement therapy for menopause. Women had been on placebo for an average of 5.7 years. Moderate or severe withdrawal symptoms were reported by 40.5% of those on placebo compared to 63.3% of those on hormone replacement.^[116]

 

 

This is why lots of people fall victim to marketing hype and audiophile hysteria over products. It is actually very easy to trick the brain into thinking you can hear something that isn't there or that a little difference means the sound is better (think the beats logo/software on laptops and tablets).

[fridadecat]

did linus say anything about this??

i think he should say something beacause he always recommends everyone to buy a soundcard. It wouldnt be nice if a lot of people spent a lot of money because o linus's recommendations and at the end of the day it was all BS....

[EmoRarity]

did linus say anything about this??

i think he should say something beacause he always recommends everyone to buy a soundcard. It wouldnt be nice if a lot of people spent a lot of money because o linus's recommendations and at the end of the day it was all BS....

Linus's recommendations aren't the be all end all, and that is just how it is. At the end of the day a lot of people spent money on unnecessary products because they didn't educate themselves.

[NamelessTed]

Gotta say that your guys' video came at the perfect time for me. Audio is something that I have wanted to become more knowledgable in for a while and something I have been reading more about but I am hesitant to really start spending money if I don't know what I am buying. When it comes to CPUs and mobos and GPUs I know what I am paying for. With audio, its all foreign to me.

 

The only reason I bought an ASUS DGX a year ago or so is because the integrated audio chip on my motherboard died after a week and I didn't want to go through the huge RMA process on the motherboard for my brand new system. I got it for like $30 and it seemed to pair well with my Steelseries 5xB. The headphones always sounded pretty good to me, and I definitely noticed a difference when i plugged them into the amplified port so that made me happy enough.

 

Today I just bought a pair of Sennheiser HD 598s. I had been looking at a few different pairs for a while in that price range and was at Fry's buying a CPU heatsink and fan for a friend's PC that I am about to go work on right now and saw the HD 598s for $140 as I was going to the register. I just had to grab them at that price and figured if I don't like them I can always return them with no issue at all, Fry's has never given me a single issue with returns. I've been listening to music for about 30 minute now, and have switched back and forth from Steelseries to HD 598s. I will have to spend more time with them but so far they seem to sound noticeably better.

 

Im probably just going to stick with this audio card for now, but I now have my eye on the Mayflower DAC + O2 to put on my desk. I think if/when I finally build a new rig and go ITX or MicroATX I will have to fit some Mayflower hardware into my budget.

[EmoRarity]

Gotta say that your guys' video came at the perfect time for me. Audio is something that I have wanted to become more knowledgable in for a while and something I have been reading more about but I am hesitant to really start spending money if I don't know what I am buying. When it comes to CPUs and mobos and GPUs I know what I am paying for. With audio, its all foreign to me.

 

The only reason I bought an ASUS DGX a year ago or so is because the integrated audio chip on my motherboard died after a week and I didn't want to go through the huge RMA process on the motherboard for my brand new system. I got it for like $30 and it seemed to pair well with my Steelseries 5xB. The headphones always sounded pretty good to me, and I definitely noticed a difference when i plugged them into the amplified port so that made me happy enough.

 

Today I just bought a pair of Sennheiser HD 598s. I had been looking at a few different pairs for a while in that price range and was at Fry's buying a CPU heatsink and fan for a friend's PC that I am about to go work on right now and saw the HD 598s for $140 as I was going to the register. I just had to grab them at that price and figured if I don't like them I can always return them with no issue at all, Fry's has never given me a single issue with returns. I've been listening to music for about 30 minute now, and have switched back and forth from Steelseries to HD 598s. I will have to spend more time with them but so far they seem to sound noticeably better.

 

Im probably just going to stick with this audio card for now, but I now have my eye on the Mayflower DAC + O2 to put on my desk. I think if/when I finally build a new rig and go ITX or MicroATX I will have to fit some Mayflower hardware into my budget.

Not that you have to spend all that much, or get something from Mayflower, you have cheaper options like the FiiO E10.

[mr moose]

did linus say anything about this??

i think he should say something beacause he always recommends everyone to buy a soundcard. It wouldnt be nice if a lot of people spent a lot of money because o linus's recommendations and at the end of the day it was all BS....

 

this:

 

Linus's recommendations aren't the be all end all, and that is just how it is. At the end of the day a lot of people spent money on unnecessary products because they didn't educate themselves.

 

and:

 

Linus is human and can't recommend a product that he hasn't heard to a group of people 9 months in the future (unless you are the time traveling @Turkatron) .

 

Basically back when Linus said that, It was the only advice he could confidently give with the information he had at hand.  In reality no body looks up year old reviews when choosing an SSD or GPU, so why with audio?   People it's time to leave past audio recommendations in the past.

[fridadecat]

this:

 

 

and:

 

Linus is human and can't recommend a product that he hasn't heard to a group of people 9 months in the future (unless you are the time traveling @Turkatron) .

 

Basically back when Linus said that, It was the only advice he could confidently give with the information he had at hand.  In reality no body looks up year old reviews when choosing an SSD or GPU, so why with audio?   People it's time to leave past audio recommendations in the past.

im sure that a lot here think that they are aducating themselves by watching linus.

And how is that linus's soundcards are past recommendation?? are you kiding me? he allways recommends sound cards. When did you heard linus said the same the video said  about soundcards? im sure i didnt miss any of his videos

[EmoRarity]

im sure that a lot here think that they are aducating themselves by watching linus.

And how is that linus's soundcards are past recommendation?? are you kiding me? he allways recommends sound cards. When did you heard linus said the same the video said  about soundcards? im sure i didnt miss any of his videos

See Linus is the kinda person that takes pride in having as much knowledge about everything he can. Linus also isn't so full of himself that he rejects facts and science. Linus was wrong at one point, and he stands corrected now a days. 

[mr moose]

im sure that a lot here think that they are aducating themselves by watching linus.

And how is that linus's soundcards are past recommendation?? are you kiding me? he allways recommends sound cards. When did you heard linus said the same the video said  about soundcards? im sure i didnt miss any of his videos

when was the last time you heard him recommend a sound card without qualification?

[napsterlove]

A DAC is necessary when your motherboard is too staticky/hissy. Sometimes external amps can cause a ground loop or simply amplify unwanted noise you couldn't hear before, so a DAC is nice to completely remove your audio chain from a hostile PC case.

Thank you so much for saying that, it's helped me understand the point of a DAC about %1000 more.

I swear electronics teaches me nothing about DACs

(If this sounds sarcastic, please don't take it as sarcasm - I'm quite tired right now)

[R4STABAN]

My adblock didn't block this advert, wats going on

[MayflowerElectronics]

My adblock didn't block this advert, wats going on

[Hikaru12]

To a degree, but marketing is what sells one product over another,  did you know that cars with spoilers and alloy wheels sell faster than cars without, regardless of whether the other car is cheaper, newer and better.  It all comes down to convincing the people that product a is better, And that is easily done when you have an industry that capitalizes on the human inability to separate auditory sensory information from preconceptual information.  For example, people will pay more for food at a restaurant based solely on how the menu is laid out.  It has nothing to do with what the custom,er wants/needs but how they are tricked into concluding that item a is going to taste better, cook quicker or simply be cheaper.  Sound cards are no different. Understanding human psychology is why beats are so big, why people think monster brand is awesome and why people pay more for nikes instead of getting another brand that is just as good.

 

Studying business and having completed my first psych course I agree 100% with this statement. It is very easy to trick people into believing things that are not real, don't exist, etc. I mean come on - visual illusions are some of the easiest and most simplest and they trick are seemingly "amazing" eyes so I have no doubt that's it's easy to do that with hearing. Our perceptions and how we interpret the sound is what is going to determine it's quality to us, not the actual objective sound, unfortunately.