Linus Tech Tips is going to be testing audio gear? LTT Lab 1

[sweetchaos]

Just announced...

Linus is calling the new business venture "LTT Lab 1".

Feel free to watch the whole video, but specifically at 10min:20sec mark, Linus talks about future potentially testing the following products:
- Soundbars
- Home Theater Speakers
- Headphones (and providing Frequency Response Curves)

Plus other non-audio things like:
- Projectors

Discuss!

 

[amirm]

There is that much demand for the minutia in PC/peripheral measurements? Hope he is not getting over his head with that expansion.

And he is going to fund it with "merch?" How come you all are not funding me with merch???

 

[sweetchaos]

You need a ASR store first...

 

[Freckles.Mcgee]

There is that much demand for the minutia in PC/peripheral measurements? Hope he is not getting over his head with that expansion.

And he is going to fund it with "merch?" How come you all are not funding me with merch???

Don't take this the wrong way, cause I don't think you are doing the same thing but he is a far better sales person than you. You give us reviews and measurements for FREE! You're kinda not doing it right I'd also like to say I think it's a great business model and hope you continue this new sales tactic!

 

[abdo123]

I wouldn't be surprised since James (his right hand) is an audio enthusiast and would know the ins and outs of how to do this.

As for whether Linus would be convinced enough to make the investment is a different story.

 

[sweetchaos]

I think with the amount of money they’re throwing around, what’s another $100k for Klippel NFS?

 

[Doodski]

The result of a Google search is that, "He studied at Garibaldi secondary school after his elementary education. Later on, he enrolled at the University of British Colombia. He dropped out before graduation as he spent the majority of his time tinkering with his computer. He played lots of video games and engaged in other hardware forums."

There is no mention of what he studied at university.

Apart from developing videos at the company, he also worked under the following categories:
Full-time sales representative
High-end systems designer
Product manager
Category manager

It's possible he has the foundation to support testing gear at a technical level. Maybe he plans on hiring a specialist.

 

[Freckles.Mcgee]

The result of a Google search is that, "He studied at Garibaldi secondary school after his elementary education. Later on, he enrolled at the University of British Colombia. He dropped out before graduation as he spent the majority of his time tinkering with his computer. He played lots of video games and engaged in other hardware forums."

There is no mention of what he studied at university.

Apart from developing videos at the company, he also worked under the following categories:
Full-time sales representative
High-end systems designer
Product manager
Category manager

It's possible he has the foundation to support testing gear at a technical level. Maybe he plans on hiring a specialist.

Yes in the video his team says they have 15 positions that are opening. He has a huge following on the social media side of things. With out getting to long winded, this is probably a great move for him. He sells ads, it's a great platform for his existing products he pushes like (shills?, yeah maybe a little harsh) Asus, Nvidia, AMD etc etc. "Look what we've done guys, we tested this stuff for you, its great, buy it!" I have a felling he won't do speakers but who knows.

 

[sweetchaos]

but he is a far better sales person than you. You give us reviews and measurements for FREE!

Well, Linus has a team of about 20 people…so not really a fair comparison.

But the biggest difference is his audience is like 1000x the audiophile audience. He caters to tech enthusiasts, and especially gamers…which is an ever growing market.

 

[Freckles.Mcgee]

Well, Linus has a team of about 20 people…so not really a fair comparison.

But the biggest difference is his audience is like 1000x the audiophile audience. He caters to tech enthusiasts, and especially gamers…which is an ever growing market.

Closer to 50 but I agree with what you say. I'm not in any way comparing Audio Science with LTT. It's wasn't meant like that. Yes his audience is HUGE 14 million followers on YT.

 

[thewas]

Too many commercial sites already doing similar, but most unfortunately with questionable methods, just some examples

Reviews and Ratings

Find the best products for your needs, based on our reviews, ratings and recommendations.

www.rtings.com

Wireless speaker review Archives

The DXOMARK Speaker test protocol evaluates performance across a range of representative use cases, such as Relaxing, Party, Bedtime, and Movies, and assigns scores to each relevant audio quality attribute based on the speaker’s impact on the consumer experience.

www.dxomark.com

SpeakerCompare™: Listen and Compare Speakers Online – Crutchfield

We're proud to introduce SpeakerCompare, a new tool on our website that simulates the sound of home and car speakers through headphones. It lets you compare sonic characteristics between speakers so that you can make a more informed shopping decision.

www.crutchfield.com

 

[BoredErica]

I very highly doubt Linus is knowledgeable enough on his own to test speakers at the time of this writing. He could hire a specialist, but I'd still be skeptical he could do as good a job as Amir. LTT has had some sketchy videos in the past in terms of substance and they spent most of their effort on production value and entertainment (compared to Gamer's Nexus or Hardware Unboxed). I unsubbed because I found the channel to be unhelpful for my needs. I remember he did a delidding video of 6700k using only thermal paste under the IHS, and he did a video on 'does ram matter?' with Crysis 3 at regular gaming resolutions. It was bizarre, and even though it wasted my time and everyone else who watched it, it also made me wonder why he bothered wasting his own time that way. And then after his weekly tech show kept being late and having audio issues for too many times, I just quit the channel altogether. It's not a useless channel for info, but it's not my go-to source.

That is the way of the world though: Entertainment is what's most profitable. People want to see crazy gazillion monitor gaming setups or OMG the most EXPENSIVE headphone/random electronic thing here. (If you enjoy his entertainment that's fine, what annoys me is when people act like LTT is the go-to channel for in-depth accurate info that never misses.)

Most of the time gaming hardware guys talk about audio it makes me cringe because they'll make fun of people who believe in magic cables in one sentence and praise this amazing amp that really expands the soundstage of their headphones in the next. A good example of this is PC Perspective. The idea that magic amps or dacs can 'improve soundstage' or whatever is still the mainstream opinion as far as I can tell in these circles.

Having said that LTT did do the HDMI cable testing last time and that used objective, measured data. I just hope they don't do a video making fun of audiophile cables where they spend an ungodly amount on them (theatrics) rather than testing Displayport cables (where there are legit cable QC issues). If I'm wrong about LTT and this is actually the start of a good impressive change, I'm more than happy to be wrong and it would be awesome if more people can be exposed to audio science rather than audio BS. As far as I can tell in the casual gaming community, BS is winning.

 

[McFly]

Its a low risk, smart expansion move IMO. What does the gamer who has everything need next? A sick set of desktop monitors that’s what. Plus he’ll pick up some more audience in the new younger audiophiles, which graduate organically from the headphone space.

 

[Chester]

While ASR remains unsponsored and not affiliated, it will always be the most reliable source of information. It doesn’t matter who comes into this space, if they are being sponsored or running it as a business, the information will contain an element of doubt. There will be vested interests, it’s unavoidable. Most will eventually find there way here I suspect. Some faster than others, but still.

That’s the beauty of ASR, there is no agenda, so we don’t really mind who shows up.

 

[ThatM1key]

BoredErica mentioned the recent hdmi testing LTT did. If I recall, I think that machine has swappable testing modules/parts, which means they can test out RCA cables but I could be wrong.

 

[bloodshoteyed]

might be a new trend in the YT sphere....
tho, the only channel i would be taking seriously atm with specializing in any objective measuring would be Gamer's Nexus with their lab for testing cooling solutions

 

[Music1969]

I wouldn't be surprised since James (his right hand) is an audio enthusiast and would know the ins and outs of how to do this.

As for whether Linus would be convinced enough to make the investment is a different story.

DMS (headphones guy) has also been on his channel too.

DMS does some work for Audeze now? Or one of the big headphone companies.

 

[Count Arthur]

How come you all are not funding me with merch???

What merch?

I'm not sure if that works in American English: https://britishslang.co.uk/slang/mug-gullible-person

 

[JayGilb]

There is that much demand for the minutia in PC/peripheral measurements? Hope he is not getting over his head with that expansion.

And he is going to fund it with "merch?" How come you all are not funding me with merch???

My wife thinks I'm weird enough, let alone me walking around wearing a t-shirt sporting ASR and this image:

 

[BoredErica]

might be a new trend in the YT sphere....
tho, the only channel i would be taking seriously atm with specializing in any objective measuring would be Gamer's Nexus with their lab for testing cooling solutions

VSG who writes for Techpowerup does custom water cooling reviews. I think he has a PHD in some related field, and has access to a climate controlled box for testing. The most mainstream thing he tests is fans, but only in the context of watercooling radiators though.

For motherboard VRM testing I think Hardware Unboxed is fine. They try to control for ambient temperature, and a variance of <5c won't really matter when the gap can be 10c+. It's enough to know if a mobo is a lemon for thermals.