Examples of Sony Audio's Marketing BS

[IAtaman]

Sony is notorious for their BS marketing claims. I would like to name and shame them for each and every one of them and decided to collect them under this thread. If you find one, feel free to add it here please.

To kick it of, lets start with their claim that the higher purity oxygen free copper chassis increases the sound quality of their DAP.

And we wonder why there are so many audiophile who swear by their cables.

 

[IAtaman]

From Z1R marketing material. WFT is audio grade solder?

 

[Blumlein 88]

I applaud your goal, but really Sony did give the world many useful things, among them the impetus with Philips to switch over to digital. That plus it could be a full time hobby to track down each of Sony's marketing BS ideas. And they are no different than 99.9% of any other company. If marketing is involved there is a near certainty BS is too.

 

[DonR]

Sony is a pale shadow of its former self.

 

[TonyJZX]

sony also gave the world rootkit

they're big conglomo that is as bad as any other company

remember how those denon marantz reviews went

 

[IAtaman]

I applaud your goal, but really Sony did give the world many useful things, among them the impetus with Philips to switch over to digital. That plus it could be a full time hobby to track down each of Sony's marketing BS ideas. And they are no different than 99.9% of any other company. If marketing is involved there is a near certainty BS is too.

You are right, they did. My first ever personal music player was a Sony. Their contribution to audio world is undeniable. That is one of the reasons why it bothers me a lot when they come up with such kind of bullshit. I am not talking about BS you can ignore, like "life like sound" or "highest fidelity you ever heard" kind of crap all companies do, I am talking about proper, Audiogon level, disseminating misinformation type BS - like copper housings improving the sound quality of DAPs and "audio grade" solders.

Look at post #2 - how will the audio world will be less about superstition and more about science if Sony, that "invented" digital audio together with Philips, is claiming in their marketing material that solder you use affects the quality of sound in an IEM?

I do realize this might be a massive undertaking, but we gotta start somewhere, right

 

[Chrispy]

Marketing/Sales teams can be hard to deal with.

 

[IAtaman]

Another example, from their over ear Z1R page this time, Sony marketing / product management team claiming that content at 120KHz makes a difference to "vocal melodies (..) and tonality".

 

[DonR]

A lot of their dubious claims came from the ES line of "audiophile" consumer gear. Interestingly, I rarely saw any BS from their video division. The Trinitron was king of displays during my college years.

 

[IAtaman]

Marketing/Sales teams can be hard to deal with.

I find it hard to believe that the content that's published on a product's web page on the international site does not have the approval of the Product Manager of that specific product, meaning either Product Managers in Sony believe that capacitors and solders and cables do make a difference, or they are intentionally lying.

 

[MCH]

I thought about this a few times, not specifically about Sony, but when reading data sheets of electronic components. Great idea and I would even expand it to "otherwise serious or technically competent companies that can't help but joining the snake oil BS" in another thread.

Nichicon example, and there are plenty others. Excuse me for going out of topic.

 

[Chrispy]

I find it hard to believe that the content that's published on a product's web page on the international site does not have the approval of the Product Manager of that specific product, meaning either Product Managers in Sony believe that capacitors and solders and cables do make a difference, or they are intentionally lying.

I dunno but in many corporations the technical stuff is downstream from the sales stuff.

 

[beeface]

Sony seems like a shadow of its former self. Are they at the forefront of anything these days? Cameras and broadcast maybe?

 

[Rednaxela]

Cameras and broadcast maybe?

Cameras most certainly.

Sony announces a9 III: World's first full-frame global shutter camera

Sony has announced the a9 III: the first full-frame camera to use a global shutter sensor. This gives it the ability to shoot at up to 120 fps with flash sync up to 1/80,000 sec and zero rolling shutter.

m.dpreview.com

 

[GXAlan]

Sony seems like a shadow of its former self. Are they at the forefront of anything these days? Cameras and broadcast maybe?

Cameras/sensors for sure.

Shot on VENICE: Behind the Scenes of Top Gun: Maverick

An up-close look at how the Sony VENICE played an important role in the making of Top Gun: Maverick

sonycine.com

Sensors being the Pregius and Starvis2 industrial line.

And displays like Crystal LED

Sony Unveils Crystal LED Displays for Virtual Production

Just prior to next week's virtual CES, Sony Electronics announced a pair of new Crystal LED modular direct view displays aimed at professional applications including virtual production

www.hollywoodreporter.com

On the consumer audio side, not so much…

The ZA has some neat 360SS capability but the audioholics measurements were pretty lousy given what the old TA-N9000ES could do.

 

[Rednaxela]

Sony TVs are also arguably very good to top notch.

 

[MaxwellsEq]

Cameras and broadcast maybe?

The people responsible for large broadcast procurements are pretty immune to BS, so the glossy material (which often does include hyperbole, but not snake oil) is largely irrelevant.

 

[HoweSound]

This is what we all wanted when I was 10 or 11. The Sony 6 transistor was the pinnacle; all I had was an inferior 2 transistor knock-off - a pale imitation of the Sony.

They had stereo amps I coveted back in the late 70's and they produce top level cameras. I have the Sony RX 100 VII, with a 1" sensor, arguably the best small travel camera there is:

 

[Mart68]

can't reproduce it here but I have a mag from early 2000s that has a Sony blurb for SACD which includes the stair-step graphs and some 'gaps between the samples' stuff.

But I always liked the brand and have owned a fair amount of it. I still have maybe 5 or 6 units including a Trinitron monitor.

I also like that they've never given in to fashion and 'updated' their logo, unlike Pioneer.

 

[antcollinet]

From Z1R marketing material. WFT is audio grade solder?

it has nano bumblebubs in it.