I cannot even fathom the stupidity..

[Phoenix66]

Although spending more on audio cables doesn't get you better sound quality, nothing annoys me more than a cheaply built cable. I can't stand it when they are cheap, glued together, piece of junk cables. I'll spend 2$ more to get a braided cable, or something like that. 500$ is way too expensive for a cable, but comparing a Monster HDMI cable to a cheap 5$ generic cable isn't going to get you better picture, but they will be better built, and more durable; I guarantee it. I won't spend double for a Monster cable, but I would say the difference in cable quality on my CM Storm keyboard, and a cheap 3$ mouse from Target is nowhere near close. I like better built cables for some things, but for speaker wire, and things like that, I could care less. And yes, I also realize more "Premium" audio cables do not improve quality, just looks and durability.

So I'd just like to throw my two cents in this argument about more expensive cables. Not always are they a waste, but spending 495$ more for a USB cable is not justifiable.

[BoredErica]

The cables for my headphone are braided and decently built. Sennheiser tries to rip you off by charging north of $300 for replacements. But it's not like I'm ever going to bring my monitors with me when I talk a walk in the park, lol. The cables for those are not moving in the foreseeable future. They can get pretty cruddy without any physical issues.

[Andy Rooney]

I think digital signals are the way to go when transmitting music signals from hardware to hardware until it goes to the headphones. Music device (digital) --> DAC (analog) --> Headphones. Since digital cables make no difference in sound whatsoever, buying a good quality DAC should be enough to help you tell the difference in headphones lol. Then you would know if you have some shitty headphones or not

I've got an old iriver mp3 player (remember those?) that I'm still rather fond of.  It's got a mini-toslink out - love that.  Even though it's ancient, that feature blows my mind.

 

Re: digital headphones

I was thinking about the idea of Apple making use of its digital socket for new Beats phones.  On the surface, that versatility is awesome - like my iriver.  However my last memory of iOS (v5) device dock connectors was not one of useability (eg. "charging is not supported with this accessory").  So I'd expect limited potential for mixing and matching your favorite dac with lightning port audio - which is a shame.

 

Apple likes to "think different".  I'm sure they'll wow everyone with their push towards this new barrier-to-entry standard. We'll see how well Apple fares as ambassador of digital headphones.  Maybe soon, you'll have little dacs warts on your cables.  You could dac roll.  That sort of opulence is consistent with the Apple demo.

[Mooshi]

Saw this video awhile back that was more for sound cards ect., but same concept. Had some holier than thou "audophiles" pretty confident their expensive gear gave superior audio, a decent amount of them failed the blind audio test..imagine spending lots of money and not able to tell the difference with a cheaper solution. Cables are no different. The cheap ones are obvious cheap, but give that guy a blind test between cables and I can almost promise you he couldn't tell the difference between 30 dollars and 600.

 

The world of audio is one of the most placebo driven subjective enthusiasts markets around. There is legit crap at the low end and amazing awesomesauce at the very top, but the middle is when pure subjective hearing and placebo takes place. Because people hear differently from one another, it's best to go with an audio solution that sounds good to /you/, not spend the most amount of cash because a company claims its the best.

[Phillyphries]

A newer reviewer named Lachlanlikesathing made an excellent video recently that discusses the issues with head-fi forums.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AqC0gYL9wFk

 

The audio industry is poisoned with places such as head-fi it seems. The moderators apparently care more about their sponsors than the truth, than actually helping their forum members. Sad.

 

Funnily enough, that hifiguy528 clown is commenting all over this video. Probably to protect what he's built, which is a relationship with audio companies that give him so much free shit that he says nothing but positive things about their products and lies to everyone.

[BoredErica]

Isn't the same kind of thing normal practice for Youtubers like Linus himself?

[SSL]

Isn't the same kind of thing normal practice for Youtubers like Linus himself?

 

Getting products? Sure. Saying nothing but nice things? Newh.

[Andy Rooney]

Dark_wizzie, on 01 Jul 2014 - 8:43 PM, said:

Isn't the same kind of thing normal practice for Youtubers like Linus himself?

Linus says that he relies on our bs detectors to sort out if he's worth our time. 

 

vs.

 

The problem that Lachlan suggests is that allegedly, sycophant bs'ers censor dissent on headfi.

[Pomfinator]

Isn't the same kind of thing normal practice for Youtubers like Linus himself?

Yes, and both Linus and Lachlan make an effort to wear them on their sleeves.  Every time Lachlan posts a review, he tells us where he sourced it from (usually from the company itself, a friend, or bought on retail), which tells us instantly what bias's to expect.  However, TotalBiscuit makes a very good case vs free stuff in many of his videos.  He frequently criticizes traditional gaming media for accepting what is literally bribes from publishers and hyping games up for no reason (Hell Ubisoft sent reviewers a FREAKING NEXUS 7, hows that for bribes), to the point where he eventually just closed down his PO box, afraid that too many devs would send him stuff that would affect his review, he got wine once, which was funny.

 

While what Lachlan proposes is quite radical and may not be the best way of fighting the biases that plague reviewers, it is his suggestion that he wishes to try.  And I am quite angry that Jude decided to literally censor him, just because he made references to his own crowd-funding campaign, and refused to let the thread back up even when Lachlan offered to REMOVE all references to his own campaign and simply spout the idea of crowd-funding.  If you look on the head-fi thread, one of the first comments on the butchered thread is something like "I got your point, but where's the solution?", something that would not have happened if the mods LEFT THE GODDAM MESSAGE ALONE.

[Alec Harpers]

Funnily enough, that hifiguy528 clown is commenting all over this video. Probably to protect what he's built, which is a relationship with audio companies that give him so much free shit that he says nothing but positive things about their products and lies to everyone.

 

Wow, when I saw hifiguy528's cable video I taught that he was simply dumb and ignorant but now I see him commenting on lachlanlikesathing's video and it seems he's genuinely a piece of s**t.

He seems to know that what he's peddling is bull and just trying to cover his ass and justify his videos (still claiming that 600$ USB cables are better).

 

Damn, some people man ... And the sad part is that he has an audience that actually buys thing based on his recommendation.

[BoredErica]

 

Linus says that he relies on our bs detectors to sort out if he's worth our time. 

vs.

The problem that Lachlan suggests is that allegedly, sycophant bs'ers censor dissent on headfi.

 

 

Read below.

 

 

Getting products? Sure. Saying nothing but nice things? Newh.

The point Lachlan made was that being given free stuff subconsciously causes people to recommend it more. Unless you're saying Linus is impervious to these psychological forces.

 

So I'm going to re-ask the question:

Do you agree or disagree with him? Stop comparing Linus to Jude, that's irrelevant. I'm just talking about whether this affects Linus and his reviews. Either it does and we might have a problem or it doesn't and Lachlan is wrong. Everybody is only focused on trashing headfi, I'm curious about his statement and his example regarding the doctor's prescription. Jude's censorship is old news and Hifiguy loving his cables is also old news. How much is there really left to say about these two guys?

 

 

Wow, when I saw hifiguy528's cable video I taught that he was simply dumb and ignorant but now I see him commenting on lachlanlikesathing's video and it seems he's genuinely a piece of s**t.

He seems to know that what he's peddling is bull and just trying to cover his ass and justify his videos (still claiming that 600$ USB cables are better).

 

Damn, some people man ... And the sad part is that he has an audience that actually buys thing based on his recommendation.

Just because somebody is recommending overpriced junk doesn't mean they don't believe their junk is gold.  And of course he has an audience, you didn't see his number of suscribers the first time you saw his video? He's not a newbie to Headfi either. And Headfi's been praising high end cables for-freakin'-ever. Old news is olds, man. People on LinusTechTips forum will do their part to steer people away from these sources, I'm sure.

[EmoRarity]

Chopchop.

You are implying that we like Linus reviews either, and have a problem with admitting that we don't like him.

[Andy Rooney]

...

So I'm going to re-ask the question:

Do you agree or disagree with him? Stop comparing Linus to Jude, that's irrelevant. I'm just talking about whether this affects Linus and his reviews. Either it does and we might have a problem or it doesn't and Lachlan is wrong. Everybody is only focused on trashing headfi, I'm curious about his statement and his example regarding the doctor's prescription. Jude's censorship is old news and Hifiguy loving his cables is also old news. How much is there really left to say about these two guys?

 

 

 

Just because somebody is recommending overpriced junk doesn't mean they don't believe their junk is gold.  And of course he has an audience, you didn't see his number of suscribers the first time you saw his video? He's not a newbie to Headfi either. And Headfi's been praising high end cables for-freakin'-ever. Old news is olds, man. People on LinusTechTips forum will do their part to steer people away from these sources, I'mThere is, of course the frustrat

 

Sure there's an appearance of impropriety with tech sponsors on tech videos, but the benefit of a doubt is always given to our favorite youtubers until we've been bamboozled (see cable shills.)  Even after that, there's the whole cognitive dissonance thing that keeps suckers coming back for more.

 

Pen kickbacks:

With doctors, there's a public interest which requires conflict of interest rules, either by their own governing bodies or the government.  Pen kickbacks may be awkward enough to warrant bans, if that sort of thing has dragged the association into disrepute (bamboozlers).

 

TL;DR

Yes, that kind of thing happens on our favorite channels.  Buyer beware.

[ShearMe]

 

we all think we are somehow uniquely resistant to bias and placebo

 

I trip myself up all the time on this. Human hearing is so fallible. 

 

A newer reviewer named Lachlanlikesathing made an excellent video recently that discusses the issues with head-fi forums.

 

Oh shite. Lachlan is practically crying.

[Askew]

People who think cables play a role in the sound are not the kind of people you want in your life.

 

I always scratched my head on this subject because these people seem to forget about the cable that runs inside the speaker cabinets/headphones from the terminals to the drivers.

[h264]

and now the video is private and I'll never see it. darn.  I miss the days when you downloaded everything and everyone had a copy.

[BoredErica]

Why'd Lachlan gotta do this to us?

[h264]

Why'd Lachlan gotta do this to us?

 

 

http://www.lachlanlikesathing.com/2014/06/review-units-hurt-audio-community-how.html

 

and

 

http://www.lachlanlikesathing.com/2014/06/a-conversation.html

 

EDIT: http://www.lachlanlikesathing.com/2014/06/some-solutions.html oh, another one too.

 

Seems his incredibly long winded blog post is still there to read at least.