ATC, Dutch&Dutch, Grimm tomorrow

[Vincent Kars]

We learn by making mistakes.

Sure, likewise we make mistakes because we are not learned.

 

[Deleted member 29551]

Not disparaging you or your attempt at journalism but its this attitude i read in your responses that makes journalist the 4th least respected professions (in US and #1 in the UK). Aren't any journalists motivated by accuracy and professionalism or is it just to drive advertising (the 3rd least respected)? Seems like integrity and doing the right thing in this profession has been thrown out the window and become nothing more than an after thought. Should you consider raising the bar in your future videos in the quest to differentiate yourself from the rest of "fake" news?

I don't know how to interpret this. I guess I am very lucky to live in the Netherlands. This is all I am going to say about this.

 

[Purité Audio]

Alpha thanks for arranging the comparison it was thoroughly enjoyable, it is difficult to compare loudspeakers, just look at the criticism Harman receive and that’s with a custom built room and ‘shuffler’ I find instant switching between speakers is effective but also compromised.
What do you plan next?
Thanks,
Keith

 

[Deleted member 29551]

It is indeed difficult. But we try. We tried some different mics (DPA 4015 are the best / most realistic), different angles, set-ups, etc. Close is better to capture the signature. But then you lose some air / imaging. To far and you get combfiltering. I think we need two set-ups: one for 'room-feel' and one for headphones.

I'm not sure if I will stay on this forum / thread. I don't feel welcome to be honest. I don't get the critisism about beïng 'bought' by brands and advertisers. I actually hurts, because I fight for honest reviews. And it has cost me... a lot. They don't call me the 'enfent terrible of the audio-industry' for nothing. Alpha is a pain in the ass for a lot of brands because we actually try to be transparent.

And how are we bought if we invest in DPA-mics, 4 VERY expensive camera's and people that help out? Just to deliver a live-test in which people can judge for themselves? FOR FREE.

Brands actually don't like these test, because they don't have control. It's live... and there is no filter.

Next we try to set-up is high-end streamers.

 

[Purité Audio]

I am afraid you will find yourself between a rock and a hard place, if you make your ‘high-end’ streamer comparison unsighted and level matched ( played through the same dac for all streamers) then no-one is ever going to send you anything to test again.
But you will be honest and have integrity, I have found that stating the facts and being absolutely truthful brings you few friends amongst the vast majority of subjective listeners.
Honesty is a huge threat to the ‘industry’ and you will find yourselves mocked and shunned.
Far easier and certainly more profitable to just continue to propagate the BS.
Keith

 

[tr1ple6]

True. That's why we are trying to find out what could make a difference - there is no difference in data, that's for sure - and check some measurements.

That's the thing. There is a wealth of peer reviewed evidence showing a correlation between differences in measured data and a differences found in double blind tests. I'm not aware of any peer reviewed evidence showing reliable differences in double blind tests when the measured data is equal. What you are proposing goes beyond that because the data isn't just similar but you it is the same. So we can expect your test to be pointless given all the evidence we have.

When we have such a vast array of reliable historical and contextual data to draw upon and it forms a consensus among engineers, then the burden is on you to provide evidence strong enough to overthrow the consensus. A single flawed test doesn't come close to doing so and we don't get to just ignore years of solid research because of it

 

[Deleted member 29551]

I am afraid you will find yourself between a rock and a hard place, if you make your ‘high-end’ streamer comparison unsighted and level matched ( played through the same dac for all streamers) then no-one is ever going to send you anything to test again.
But you will be honest and have integrity, I have found that stating the facts and being absolutely truthful brings you few friends amongst the vast majority of subjective listeners.
Honesty is a huge threat to the ‘industry’ and you will find yourselves mocked and shunned.
Far easier and certainly more profitable to just continue to propagate the BS.
Keith

And that is exactly what we are experiencing now. But well... than I'd rather stop with Alpha Audio. I just couldn't live with myself spreading BS among my readers.

 

[diddley]

Jaap this is the risk you run when you come here, that there will be criticism off the tests and reviews that you do.
I do appreciate your effort, but if you come into the kichtchen you run the risk of being burned.
So their arre two ways to handle this; confront the criticism with good argumentation, or run away.
I think it would be good for you to and Alpha Audio to stay and defend and learn then to run away.

I am learning here, there is a vault full of measurements and info also for free.
Greetings from another Jaap

 

[Hephaestus]

Alpha Audio - I personally appreciate the efforts you put in your project and the willingness to improve.

 

[PierreV]

I'm not sure if I will stay on this forum / thread. I don't feel welcome to be honest. I don't get the critisism about beïng 'bought' by brands and advertisers. I actually hurts, because I fight for honest reviews. .

Don't take it personally. This site tends to be on the rational side. That means that if you test hypothesis such as 'network cables sound different" you either have to come up with a rational hypothesis about why they could do so and test for that. If you want to tally preferences, you need to set up the initial experiment properly and analyze the results in a rigorous way. Etc...

You may mean well but if you want your results to be meaningful you need to do a bit of homework.

 

[Deleted member 29551]

Jaap this is the risk you run when you come here, that there will be criticism off the tests and reviews that you do.
I do appreciate your effort, but if you come into the kichtchen you run the risk of being burned.
So their arre two ways to handle this; confront the criticism with good argumentation, or run away.
I think it would be good for you to and Alpha Audio to stay and defend and learn then to run away.

I am learning here, there is a vault full of measurements and info also for free.
Greetings from another Jaap

There is a difference between being critical and being just plain offensive.

Saying all journalists are bought and practically saying they are the least respected 'professionals' is very painfull to people that actually try very hard to do some decent work. A world without professional media is empty and uncontrolled. Look at China where there is no free speech and media is regulated.

I want to learn. And I want to share knowledge. That's why I launched Alpha Audio.

 

[Purité Audio]

Stay Jaap, I really enjoy your work, I think you have to decide your future direction, if you compare, for example solid state electronics, unsighted/level matched your comparisons could be extraordinarily revealing and really shake the whole rotten Hi-Fi edifice , but you won’t win any friends amongst magazines and most manufacturers, interesting times!
Keith

 

[tr1ple6]

It is indeed difficult. But we try. We tried some different mics (DPA 4015 are the best / most realistic), different angles, set-ups, etc. Close is better to capture the signature. But then you lose some air / imaging. To far and you get combfiltering. I think we need two set-ups: one for 'room-feel' and one for headphones.

I'm not sure if I will stay on this forum / thread. I don't feel welcome to be honest. I don't get the critisism about beïng 'bought' by brands and advertisers. I actually hurts, because I fight for honest reviews. And it has cost me... a lot. They don't call me the 'enfent terrible of the audio-industry' for nothing. Alpha is a pain in the ass for a lot of brands because we actually try to be transparent.

And how are we bought if we invest in DPA-mics, 4 VERY expensive camera's and people that help out? Just to deliver a live-test in which people can judge for themselves? FOR FREE.

Brands actually don't like these test, because they don't have control. It's live... and there is no filter.

Next we try to set-up is high-end streamers.

I would prefer if you stay here and improve your testing methodology. I enjoy your speaker tests because you do at least provide some measurements to back up your subjective listening. When you delve into topics like differences in switches and cables etc. I suggest you research what reliable literature and testing methodology is out there before jumping to conclusions

 

[diddley]

Cultural diffences/thinking is something to keep in mind here.
There are countries/people with strong feelings about journalism.

 

[abdo123]

@Alpha Audio, I've only watched two of your online comparison videos, this one and the one which preceded it a few months ago. I learned things from both videos which were very educational to me, in part because I was able to listen to extremely competent design implementations of very different loudspeaker philosophies, well mic'd. In fact I have gone back to the first one several times, and will probably do the same with this one.

I have a couple of questions. Have you listened to the recordings you made of these speakers yourself over earbuds or headphones? If so, how representative do you find the recordings to be of the tonality and spatial quality of the speakers? My guess is that it's easier to capture the tonality than to capture the spatial quality.

The Klippel NFS scanner actually does that quiet nicely. a very interesting video, if you want to go straight to the point click on the one hour mark

 

[abdo123]

Cultural diffences/thinking is something to keep in mind here.
There are countries/people with strong feelings about journalism.

you can't expect someone to tell you the truth if they're getting paid by someone.

this is very much true for politicians and journalists as speaking on a podium or writing a free newspaper does not generate revenue.

someone has to pay them and they will have the payer's interest at heart above all else. That's why someone like Amir is very rare and valuable in this industry because no one pays him.

 

[Deleted member 29551]

I am going to give the feedback some thought. And maybe save some money to buy a calibrated AP.

 

[Deleted member 29551]

you can't expect someone to tell you the truth if they're getting paid by someone.

this is very much true for politicians and journalists as speaking on a podium or writing a free news paper does not generate revenue.

someone has to pay them and they will have the payer's interest at heart above all else. That's why someone like Amir is very rare and valuable in this industry because no one pays him.

I don't agree. But I guess that's pretty clear by now.

We do live tests to be 100% transparent. People know that contenders have to pay to take part. (These tests are expensive to organize). They know the risks involved...

 

[abdo123]

I don't agree. But I guess that's pretty clear by now.

We do live tests to be 100% transparent. People know that contenders have to pay to take part. (These tests are expensive to organize). They know the risks involved...

I'm sorry if that post felt pointed at you, it's just a general opinion that I have.

 

[Geert]

I am going to give the feedback some thought. And maybe save some money to buy a calibrated AP.

And do you have an EE qualification and experience with audio electronics design, because a tool by itself is no guarantee for succes? Nothing wrong with doing what you're good at, being the format you've developed where you focus on listening. It's well appreciated I think. Just make sure that if you want to make statements that conflict with the scientific consensus you use rigid testing principles, otherwise it's you who opens the door for criticism. Have a look at the comments on the network switches Youtube video and you'll understand that there are rational and knowledgeable people everywhere, not only on this forum.

This forum might even help you to improve your testing methodology.