Z Reviews Bitching Thread

Sorry about that - somehow the forum attributed @Zed Bopp 's comment to you. Not sure how that happened. I agree with everything you've said so far.

I don't care. All this proves is that getting money from clicks is incredibly easy. Thanks for the clarification, though.

 

I should make clear that I don't think there's anything inherently wrong with using affiliate links . I know the Prophet Marv and other respectable figures have done it on a few occasions, even on gear that they have reviewed very favorably.

A while back Lachlan made a big hullabaloo over manufacturer review samples and how it has the potential to bias reviewers. The whole idea being to review as an independent third party completely. While perhaps an admirable goal, it's just not necessary to remain objective. I have no problem receiving review samples directly from manufacturers. The SBAF loaner program often contacts manufacturers directly. And we remain critical of anything we receive because it's a matter of principle for us. We know that even the implicit threat of pissing off a manufacturer or being blacklisted by Head-Fi's audio cartel is not worth the cost of being dishonest with our friends/audience and losing all of that credibility.

The issue with Zeos is not that he uses affiliate links. The issue is the pattern of behavior where he promotes anything and everything and then makes money off of the hype generated therein. We've seen other instances of some audio review shell websites that do the same thing, with outright fake reviews and shill pieces. They have all been blocked/banned as spam on reddit. At one point the reddit admins (not /r/headphones moderators) were poised to ban his massive link farm, but they were convinced otherwise by the hordes of Zeos fanboys who pleaded for his salvation. All using the same weak arguments that I see in this thread. There was also tearful pleas from Zeos himself that his "livelihood" was at stake if his "content" was removed. Yep. remember folks, we live in an age where a grown man can support himself off of producing web content and utilizing these affiliate links. The moderator team at redditaudio has confirmed this; it's actually surprising how much income you can bring in with affiliate linking even over a short period of time.

So somehow he gets away with maintaining his link farms openly on reddit even though that sort of spam is normally not tolerated. Somehow he is still the moderator of /r/hometheater which has basically served as another step to redirect people to his own affiliate farms. Somehow his content gets plastered all over /r/headphones and /r/audiophile (where he has no moderator control) but is yet another step to redirect people toward his content/farms. And somehow his leagues of fanboys will attempt to defend his honor on the internet because they are either fooled by his charms or ignorant to the politics behind what is going on.

 

Super easy. I wouldn't be upset if SBAF used them to fund the site. A lot of smaller photography sites do this.

 

I get a better idea of how something sounds by watching a 60 second Head-Fi TV promotion piece as opposed watching wacky inflatable NewYork weeb for 15 minutes

 

Isn't that what the general Amazon ad at the bottom of SBAF is? I try to use it when I can remember

I forgot to when I bought my new HE-6's a while back and was kicking myself lol

 

BANNED.

 

Z is just another guy on youtube and everyone is entitled to their opinion, I don't really see the problem.

Is there a problem? Maybe the problem is that you were expecting unbiased non-profit professional grade reviews on youtube?

Personally I've found his journey from low-fi to high-fi quite entertaining to watch. But hey - that's just my opinion, pay no attention.

 

Being entitled to an opinion doesn't also entitle you to freedom from criticism; those opinions that everyone is entitled to just might be about other people's opinions.

 

Since everyone is entitled to an opinion, that must mean everyone is perfect and always right!................right?

It is 2016 after all.....

 

I subscribe to metal571, but I feel he is too polite & analytical & doesn't give you his bare-bones honest opinion of what he really thinks of what he reviews.
There needs to be more passionate loudmouths like Zero who will bash or praise what he likes, but with actual knowledge about what the hell he is talking about.

I really like Tyll's video reviews, but he falls into the too polite category, I mean he won't even review equipment that he feel is bad due to respecting the manufactures.

 

I think the point being made was the complete opposite to this. Nobody is right because everything is subjective and based on opinions. Maybe I missed something, a lot of this thread is tl;dr.

 

And now we're getting into thread-has-run-it's-course territory.

 

If this were 6 years ago I'd have started posting 60's Spiderman already.

 

Trying to play "The Dude" and fall back upon BS lines like this drives me crazy tbh.

Yes everything is subjective! Reality doesn't exist! That's just your opinion! LA LA LA LA LA LA I CAN'T HEAR YOU!

Not an argument my friend. At best you're a fool if you believe this. At worst, this is a argumentative deflection meant to distract and evade.

 

Is that so?

 

"Everyone's entitled to their own opinion, all of which are equal and subjective" is the age-old refuge of those who don't want to think.

 

Of course those opinions can be criticized.

Even in 2016.... a-holes and idiots have opinions too.

I just don't see the need to single out Z and call him a shill when youtube is full of shills. I think fundamentally he's just guy having some fun with audio and earning a buck in the process. Nothing strange about that. Everyone is entitled to their opinion and everyone's opinion can be wrong and/or criticized. But the experienced observer should have learnt to weed out the good information from the bad. There is really no need to call people out as being idiots if that's what you think.

 

Sure there is. Idiots are notoriously incapable of identifying their own kind. We're helping them.