Audio Pundit Rant (Currawong)

[anmpr1]

What a guy. He talks about "toxic" people over and over again, not realizing he is the leader of such group. He says this toward the end: "When their argument is accounted they start to attack the person."

The so-called ad hominem is not always invalid when the problem is the person. When is this the case? Whenever someone intentionally ignores the facts presented, and instead 'takes it out' on the 'bearer of bad news'. There are numerous examples in hi-fi 'journalism'. I won't mention living writers since I don't want to cause undue problems for anyone, but this sort of thing really took off with the late Harry Pearson. When presented with a technical argument that compromised his belief system, Harry would typically resort to childish name-calling.

I recall how he once stated in print that subsequent generation digital copies degraded the sound. Necessarily. When a technically oriented reader pointed out to him how this is impossible Harry dismissed the guy as a twit and flat-earther. And those disparaging appellations were mild for Harry.

Some folks are the problem. It is as simple as that. Unfortunately.

 

[ernestcarl]

It seems no self-respecting audio pundit can resist publishing a rant without taking a swipe at ASR.

Is it just me, or does Currawong look like Charles Sprinkle?

What an unfortunate resemblance.

 

[solderdude]

I recall how he once stated in print that subsequent generation digital copies degraded the sound

I recall others that also believe this is the case. Some of them can be found at audiophilestyle.

 

[mansr]

I recall others that also believe this is the case. Some of them can be found at audiophilestyle.

All the bad Australians congregate there.

 

[DeepFried]

wait, so is it possible to hear a difference between toslink cables or is that just nonsense?

 

[A Surfer]

wait, so is it possible to hear a difference between toslink cables or is that just nonsense?

Nonsense, unless one of the cables in question had a technical issue.

 

[solderdude]

wait, so is it possible to hear a difference between toslink cables or is that just nonsense?

There are lots more things he claims that is nonsense.. But right at the start of the video he states the usual disclaimers that these are his opinions.
His opinions shouldn't be seen as facts.
He makes it appear as though all Amirs measurements are rigged on purpose. No evidence anywhere, just assumptions.

Best to ignore the vast majority of what he claims.

 

[pavuol]

toxic!

toxic!

toxic!

 

[pavuol]

Anyway, his father was a scientist. So his son choses more expensive optical cable because it matters. Makes sense, doesn't it?

 

[Jimbob54]

There are lots more things he claims that is nonsense.. But right at the start of the video he states the usual disclaimers that these are his opinions.
His opinions shouldn't be seen as facts.
He makes it appear as though all Amirs measurements are rigged on purpose. No evidence anywhere, just assumptions.

Best to ignore the vast majority of what he claims.

Do I recall correctly Amir (according to this clown) lays power chords over interconnects to rig the tests ? Old Currawrong would have a proper flap at the rats nest behind my rack. Imagine how bad my sound must be, all those cables crossing with no regard for order, sound quality, interference and wot not.

 

[raif71]

 

[anmpr1]

There are lots more things he claims that is nonsense.. But right at the start of the video he states the usual disclaimers that these are his opinions. Best to ignore the vast majority of what he claims.

An opinion takes the form of "Key lime pie makes a better desert with coffee than chocolate cream pie". It's just a personal preference and is open to debate, without supposing any definite conclusion.

On the other hand, claiming that digital signal cables 'sound' different from each other (as he does) is not strictly speaking an opinion, but an unfounded assertion that goes against reality. It is a claim that can be tested under controlled conditions. Since that has been done, and because no one has been able to demonstrate they can hear a difference, nor has anyone come up with any coherent 'theory' as to how it could be possible, we categorize it as a false claim.

Why would one continue to assert same given the facts? Could be simple ignorance. Could be laziness. Could be early mental illness. Perhaps something more sinister such as shilling. Lying. Willing self-deception.

You offer good advice about ignoring most of what he claims.

 

[Michael_B]

I enjoy Currawong's videos but agree he should have named names; I don't think anonymous accusations are a good practice.
He makes a serious allegation that test results can be manipulated to produce the desired result and - in my opinion - insinuates that Amir has done so.
Can someone more knowledgeable than me respond?
Are test results so easily influenced?
Has this ever happened here?
I have no axes to grind - I'm an avid ASR reader and have bought gear based on Amir's tests (Topping D70, RME ADI-2).
I also enjoy many other sites/commentators (Z, DMS, Darko, Guttenberg etc.), but I'm wondering if there's a specific incident or gear test that led to those comments.

 

[Blumlein 88]

I enjoy Currawong's videos but agree he should have named names; I don't think anonymous accusations are a good practice.
He makes a serious allegation that test results can be manipulated to produce the desired result and - in my opinion - insinuates that Amir has done so.
Can someone more knowledgeable than me respond?
Are test results so easily influenced?
Has this ever happened here?
I have no axes to grind - I'm an avid ASR reader and have bought gear based on Amir's tests (Topping D70, RME ADI-2).
I also enjoy many other sites/commentators (Z, DMS, Darko, Guttenberg etc.), but I'm wondering if there's a specific incident or gear test that led to those comments.

Test results can be influenced, or portrayed in a way to mis-inform. Typically by leaving out details of the testing. Or testing two things differently without mentioning that fact. Amir has done none of this. He exhaustively gives you all the details of what and how he arrived at results. While he does do different tests it has been in order to tease out additional information about how something really works. There are tests where some of the conditions might be set differently by others testing, but Amir is transparent about his settings so that if you disagree at least you know what he has done.

 

[amirm]

I also enjoy many other sites/commentators (Z, DMS, Darko, Guttenberg etc.), but I'm wondering if there's a specific incident or gear test that led to those comments.

There was. I tested two versions of the Schiit Yggdrasil DAC and found performance problems with both. Next thing I know, two other outfits test and say the problem is not there. I did a write-up demonstrating that most of the issues were in those measurements as well: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...ts-of-schiit-yggdrasil-dac-inconsistent.3812/

At the time most people didn't know who I/we were. The assumption was that I was some blogger who had bought an expensive analyzer. Combine that with the fact that I had found some other "chinese" DACs to perform well (e.g. Topping) and I was labeled as cooking the results against Schiit.

These kind of skirmishes went on for a few months but eventually the message sank in that there is no agenda here. We just want the best performance and run the same tests the same away on every device. We also saw a remarkable turnaround where Schiit bought the same analyzer as me and started to produce excellently engineered products that got my recommendation.

This is why it is so odd to see this video now. It is as if he has been living in a cave and not paying attention that all of the old accusations and claims were wrong.

 

[maxxevv]

Anyway, his father was a scientist. So his son choses more expensive optical cable because it matters. Makes sense, doesn't it?

Was there a mention of which field of science?

I would forgive the father if he was somewhere in the field of say biology and nothing related to engineering.

 

[solderdude]

The assumption was that I was some blogger

It was even thought you just weren't 'some blogger' but NwAvGuy resurfacing under another alias...

 

[A Surfer]

Yes as I frequented head-fi so much those rumors actually made me quite curious and were why I found ASR in the first place. I actually also very much appreciated some of the work NwAvGuy did and found it puzzling that we couldn't discuss his work and idea at head-fi.

 

[solderdude]

Archimago also was suspected to be NwAvGuy and rumors stll go around that he works for JDS labs.

When reading NwAvGuy's articles and writing styles it should be obvious that differs substantially from that of Amir and Archimago.
The main difference here is that Amir uses his real name and pictures are present as well as his bio is available where Archimago and NwAvGuy used aliases and stayed out of the public eye. Archimago's identity is known to some folks, NwAvGuy's remained hidden, even till today.
Anonimity also helped 'Z-reviews' out in the early days.
Of course the latter is pure entertainment with little to no value other than the entertainment factor.

 

[stevenswall]

I wish NwAvGuy found a home here.

And Digipete the unabashed Genelec fanboy who seems to have disappeared from the internet.