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Absent for a While

Gringoaudio1

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Once ASR got a reputation for having facts and not fluff opinion pieces it drew more people. No longer a refuge for early adopter scientists and engineers interested academically in performance numbers that show good engineering beyond normal hearing, the masses came looking for advice simply on what to buy. The discussions got dumbed down and the nerds were outnumbered. I’m not sure what the function of ASR is or should be. Is it and should it be Consumers Reports on steroids? I bought a DAC based on the review here. I’d probably check here first before buying anything else. I’ve got a pile of old gear that sounds fine but probably wouldn’t measure well. I’m not getting rid of it. Some ASR readers do chase the SINAD though and appear to buy everything that measures well here. But should it be driving sales? Or just be Amir’s personal journal of audio curiosities? I am personally getting more annoyed with the direction it’s going but I just can’t stop reading it. Subjectivist Trolls who don’t understand the mission at ASR and super newbies degrade and dilute the experience for me.
 

solderdude

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With respect to ASR I found the technical discussions becoming repetitive.
Yes, very true.
On the other hand people are lazy and do not bother to use the search function or use it incorrectly.

Wading through tons of posts looking for the 'desired' info or looking for the 'correct' info amongst the fud is tiresome.
Besides, people that ask questions are often layman and cannot distinguish a valuable post from nonsense.
Sometimes I try to look for info that was already posted and just post a link when I know the info is already there and have great difficulty finding it myself.

This, combined with the 'instant gratification' to their questions makes, especially newcomers, just simply ask basically the same question, over and over again.

Then the next hurdle is the huge amount of posts from people that mean well or are just annoyed or give incorrect info (or opinions, we know what they can be like) and the rare 'correct info' gets snowed under.

Solutions ? Yeah... there could be several ones and all have downsides.
Removing trolls or shutting them up may just be what they are after just so they can moan about ASR banning them.

I see the current state of things as an unwanted side effect of gaining popularity.

Me ? I just keep regurgitating the info or post links and can only hope readers may see it and have the ability to filter through all the well meant 'suggestions' and rude (or not) replies.
Is it tiring ? Yes... but does it mean I have to stop regurgitating the same info over and over again ? Sometimes when some good answers are already there I just like the posts and say nothing. I only read posts I am interested in though. It is impossible to watch over all threads.
No idea how admins do that (kuddos)


The off topic threads have a way of going off the rails. There were too many people who confused the way the world really is with the way they would like it to be. ASR is not uniquely infected with this kind of behavior.
Yes opinions are like .... and everyone has one... the more people there are the more opinions there are and the bigger the chance someone becomes vocal. Those may not be the 'most desirable' opinions ... alas.

Solution ?
Notify the mods and let them be the judge, they don't read all the threads (I am sure) so ASR members can help there.
But.... a thought police is not the same as 'hostility' police.
Sometimes it may be pure ignorance in good faith, a translation thingy, trolling, stupidity, unwillingness to see things in a different way....

This post is a wave, but it's not a goodbye.
Good to hear.

I could always have a question in the future. For now I'm enjoying my break from the climate around here and some other venues.
A change of pace is often beneficiary, can even be so for your health when one gets too emotional about the very divisive 'all things audio' stuff.
 
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sejarzo

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The speaker reviews are tops because of the Klippel. These days bad electronics are the exception.

Precisely. We have reached the point where the focus of innovation should be on transducer technology and room correction--but I imagine the poor newbs who bought $4000 preamps on the recommendation of golden ears/oily salespeople and are still unhappy with the results then come here to figure out why are going to have an awfully hard time accepting that reality.
 

snapsc

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I visit ASR frequently but rarely post because there is so often a "defend to the death" approach to disagreements and I get no enjoyment from these type of arguements.

Whether you are from the sound is subjective camp...or the sound can me measured and predicted by science camp...the one thing I really appreciate about ASR is the "gear needs to be safe reporting"...and I hope that those who find safety issues when they do teardowns will keep reporting them as this is critical to all of us.
 

Mr. Widget

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On the other hand people are lazy and do not bother to use the search function or use it incorrectly.
Search, there are many posters who obviously didn't read the responses posted 4 or 5 posts earlier in the same thread as evidenced by their posting redundant posts!
Removing trolls or shutting them up may just be what they are after just so they can moan about ASR banning them.
No need to dump all that extra work on the moderators. Just don't feed the trolls... the Snake Oil, Fraud, differences in DAC threads have hundreds and hundreds of posts that just don't need to be there. The "wise old guard" are happily restating, "don't be stupid..." what is the point in that?
The speaker reviews are tops because of the Klippel. These days bad electronics are the exception.
Agreed... a better understanding of clipping behavior in amplifiers and their effects on audible performance may prove useful, and problematic design issues that occasionally pop up are interesting, but the areas of real interest as shown by the diversity in the marketplace and real variations in performance are obviously the loudspeakers.

Beyond that the forum has followed a typical maturing path. Most of what needed to be said has been. The curve has flattened out and will likely remain asymptotically approaching perfection.
 

pseudoid

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Search, there are many posters who obviously didn't read the responses p
I :mad: it when some people start their reply with "I didn't read the replies but...".
I actually don't mind the chaff, as I have the option to simply ignore.
Heck, even this thread is instructive, even if not really related to the "noise', of all other sorts, which get discussed elsewhere @ ASR!

Thank you!
 

bigjacko

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I miss the time when lots of engineering and knowledge was discussed. I could get some very nice technical threads when I hit what's new button, bit now they are pretty much other less interesting stuff or not audio related. I wish people can post their findings and experiment or share what they think can improve on speaker, just like before.
 
OP
Ron Texas

Ron Texas

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I visit ASR frequently but rarely post because there is so often a "defend to the death" approach to disagreements and I get no enjoyment from these type of arguements.

Whether you are from the sound is subjective camp...or the sound can me measured and predicted by science camp...the one thing I really appreciate about ASR is the "gear needs to be safe reporting"...and I hope that those who find safety issues when they do teardowns will keep reporting them as this is critical to all of us.
Defend to the death arguments are one of the defining aspects of the internet.
 
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Ron Texas

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It’s not an ASR thing, I simply reached the point of “good enough” with audio, cameras, etc, and the state of the art hasn’t changed too much in the meantime.

I occasionally chime in on “what should I buy?” types of threads, but there seem to be an endless number of those, and that’s time which might be more more productively spent watching capybara videos.
Well, I'm not looking to upgrade either. However, often there is something interesting here.
 

A Surfer

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Seriously, stagnation, repetition .... rinse and repeat, it is all part and parcel with any Internet community and part of the regeneration cycle. I have close to 13 000 posts over at head-fi and probably thousands more around the Internet. ASR is not suffering from anything unique and it is a great resource. High quality content generation is important and I find the access to people who are genuinely experts or at least very knowledgeable very appealing.
 

Mr. Widget

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Seriously, stagnation, repetition .... rinse and repeat, it is all part and parcel with any Internet community and part of the regeneration cycle. I have close to 13 000 posts over at head-fi and probably thousands more around the Internet. ASR is not suffering from anything unique and it is a great resource. High quality content generation is important and I find the access to people who are genuinely experts or at least very knowledgeable very appealing.
I would submit this cycle wasn't created by the internet either. Back in the day magazines like Popular Photography and other consumer hobby oriented magazines would churn the same sort of articles and advice year over year as new enthusiasts would join the ranks and the established members drifted off.
 
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Ron Texas

Ron Texas

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Seriously, stagnation, repetition .... rinse and repeat, it is all part and parcel with any Internet community and part of the regeneration cycle. I have close to 13 000 posts over at head-fi and probably thousands more around the Internet. ASR is not suffering from anything unique and it is a great resource. High quality content generation is important and I find the access to people who are genuinely experts or at least very knowledgeable very appealing.
I totally agree. My vacation from ASR was mainly about the internet and very little about ASR.
 

pma

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I miss the time when lots of engineering and knowledge was discussed. I could get some very nice technical threads when I hit what's new button, bit now they are pretty much other less interesting stuff or not audio related. I wish people can post their findings and experiment or share what they think can improve on speaker, just like before.
Same feelings and similar feelings to those in post#1. As you know, the competent posts need knowledge and experience, findings need skills. One gets easily annoyed when the technical threads and posts are destroyed by plenty of laymen and OT comments. Better to keep silent and trying to search and study before posting anything.
 

computer-audiophile

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Sometimes I also get bored with it all, but have a hard time letting it go. Info I consider valuable is about as hard to find as a grain of gold in river water. On the other hand, there remains a certain entertainment value. One can also see how different we are. Technical data sheets alone and measurement curves could not keep the forum alive.
 

AdamG

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Same feelings and similar feelings to those in post#1. As you know, the competent posts need knowledge and experience, findings need skills. One gets easily annoyed when the technical threads and posts are destroyed by plenty of laymen and OT comments. Better to keep silent and trying to search and study before posting anything.
Agreed 100%. Our numbers grow every day. Just passed 45K Members number. We must be more judicious with the threads we choose to engage. Everyone says they want more technical discussions and less social media topics. But do they really? From my perspective as a Moderator, the off topic and Trollfest threads get the most traffic and participation. It really comes down to individual choices. As our numbers grow so to will the spread of topical subjects. Double edged sword. Pick our poison more carefully. Members are drawn to highly active threads and they tend to be more about Cat behavior and ice cream flavors more than Science and Engineering. :oops:
 

Zensō

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Forum burnout is a thing. I’ve been through it on Gearspace, HeadFi, Digital Photography Review, and countless others over the years. It almost seems inevitable that as a site like ASR becomes more mainstream it will suffer the same ills as other popular forums (poor signal to noise ratio, increasing trolls, repetitive topics, etc). I’m not sure what the answer is other than to take a break now and then as Ron is doing (I’ve done the same here and elsewhere).
 

cookiefactory

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I'm curious if communities can self-renew or are they doomed to intelligence dilution and mass-ification. Can local entropy be reversed or must new order arise from elsewhere? The implications are far-ranging and fractal in nature. As above, so below.
 

AdamG

Proving your point makes it “Science”.
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I’m not sure what the answer is
If you come up with any suggestions we are All Ears and more than open to suggestions about how to keep the unique technical charm quality that drew so many to join our team. This is something Brad, Amir and I discuss on a reoccurring basis. It can get pretty dicey trying to manage content without causing a form of damping new and exciting conversations. Striving for a good balance is the goal. Charting that balance is where the quick sand is. This is your Forum at the end of the day. We are no more and no less a reflection of what our culture/membership want to inspect, dissect, analyze and debate. You all are the Curators and Content Creators.

We just sweep the floors and empty the trash bins. :)
 
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