ASR Member Takes Offense At Real Science; Also Cries

My favorite line. You just know the farts are coming.

 

The first time I successfully ABX'ed two different reconstruction filters, both with "acoustically transparent" FR and linear phase from DC to 20KHz, was the moment I ceased to believe that "acoustically transparent" was something quantifiable with our current understanding. According to all known laws of psychoacoustics, there is no way I should be able to do that.

Becoming?

Seriously, I'm betting that most of us are autistic or near enough to it, diagnosed or not. The same sensory integration disorder that lets me hear the ballasts in fluorescent lighting three rooms over also lets me pick out these minute differences. Normies are blessed with the ability to enjoy things without picking up on shit like this.

 

I’ll say this, if you get butthurt by my comments then the problem is on you. Only you can make yourself feel butthurt.

But if you are curious, the chicks do call me deathstroke.

 

Just for the record: so long as you're able to function in a manner that brings you inner peace and isn't harmful to yourself or any others around you, nothing at all wrong with being neurodivergent (whether with formal diagnosis or elsewise). Normies can suck it /s

 

My neurodivergent friends find this place to too divergent.

Don't think I qualify for the label. I'm merely weird

 

I think I have brought it up many times before in my past postings. But I feel bad nowadays for people getting into the hobby in a few respects.

Right now there is an overabundance of choices one can make for headphones, amps, DACs, etc. How is someone with little to no experience in this supposed to jump in and figure this stuff out. I try this exercise out, I pretend I am new into headphones and try to search up the Hifiman Sundara, pretending I am a new audio enthusiast.

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Do they try to go to Youtube and type in Hifiman Sundara, oh wait the Youtube algorithm ends up feeding Sharur's clickbait Sundara video calling it trash based on measurements you have no idea how to read, The Headphone Show actually reviewing/comparing it, the Honest Audiophile's channel covering a completely different headphone, or two Joshua Valour videos about the Sundara. And even with JV, BACK AND BETTER than ever, wait what? There is multiple versions of the Sundara now?


Fine option 2, lets do what most folks do now, lets Google a Sundara review:


Oh great, the first link for the SoundGuys has a lot of pictures and actual quantifiable scores. If it is a sound quality score of 9.8 for the Sundara, then this means this is probably one of the best headphones around with such a score! But lets check the other results just in case:


RTINGs is a little weird now, it does break things down a little more but hmm their scores are pretty different now. The Pros and Cons are great for me along with this little blurb but why is their scores so much lower:


Oh but lets look at PC Mag since they certainly sound reputable, they also layout a nice little blurb that is easy to follow, fantastic and I can also just use their wonderful Amazon link to buy it quickly! But that is a little weird, we are now a 4.0 and they say the bass depth is just slightly extended? What does this mean:


Fine how about these other links to Audio Science Review or Head-Fi. Oh man they are forums and this amirim guy seems to really know his stuff, he has all these graphs and charts, I don't know what it all means being completely new at this but he should be plenty credible with all these other headphones he has tried right?

Oh and with Head-Fi is their reviews page with 24 user reviews! Fantastic hopefully this gives me certainty the Sundara is right for me is all these reviews are so positive!

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In a way I don't blame the folks that end up all over ASR and become a follower of Amir. This hobby and the tech behind it is confusing for someone inexperienced. ASR will probably be one of the first results that comes up that isn't these over generalized reviews that use too high of points in every aspect, RTings measuring bunch of irrelevant things, or PC Mag trying to get that affiliate link revenue. If people only get ASR as a frame of reference it becomes easy to view anything that doesn't ascribe to his testing methodology or what his fans beliefs and then it becomes all sorts of toxic.

Recently more than a few folks have gotten the B&K 5128 for measurements, LTT, us at headphones.com, Head-Fi, Harman, ZMF, crin, Soundguys, Moondrop, and probably a bunch more I don't remember off the top of my head. But even with so many folks grabbing a 5128, ASR hasn't and even last year made a thread about our 5128 and that thread devolved into endless bad faith arguments or slights, rather than actually debating the real merits of the 5128.

 

Completely agree with all that. And yet, was it any better when the only option for info was Stereophile?

 

I knew ASR hit a new low when the headphones subreddit started making fun of ASR and Amir's reviews for his HIfiman flagship review (I can't remember if it was the HE1000SE or the Susvara.) It was a whole lot of "he doesn't read any of his measurements right" and "he's deaf, why would any take him seriously?" Oh, the best one was "isn't he the Microsoft engineer that got fired for HDDVD bullshit?" He'd also be the reason why directsound is so shit on windows and why so many people had to get f'ing bit perfect things and foobar/Jrivers to get around the dreaded "digital volume dropped information if lower than 100" and "it literally rolls the entire treble range just cause."

 

I've yet to walk into a neighborhood bar that has a 'Chief Fun Officer.'

 

That's just him ineptly trying copy of the vibe we got here while it just makes him sound like a special ed teacher.

 

But you did walk into a bar and there's a guy shirtless walking around and you find body hair in your beer cup.

 

Amir declaring himself "Chief Fun Officer" calls to mind the alleged Shostakovich line about being beaten by someone who insists that "your business is rejoicing".

 

I have run into a company president who proclaims himself the "Chief Awesome Officer", even putting it on his business card and email signature

 

Need a WTF emoji post reaction...

 

I have an uncle who probably had that on his business card at some point. He got to be president of many companies, he sure did love pyramid schemes. The best was a long distance phone company in the mid nineties.

 

"I'll have a bottle of your finest measuring beer, please, barman. Oh, and is the chief fun officer in tonight?"

 

"I think I'll have an imperial stout tonight. Get me a Guinness and a shot of Everclear, would you?"