YouTube Audio Reviewer Tier List - Jan 2023 Edition

[MattHooper]

Simply popping in to complain again...

Yes, I can still find plenty of fantastic stuff on youtube.

But my gawd, what a cesspool.

But...the home page comes off as some awful, tacky psychological experiment in attention-grabbing. It's just thumbnail after thumbnail of outrageous titles paired with people making extreme faces. It doesn't matter a damn what the subject is...guitars, amps, instrument reviews, home tech reviews, political or social subjects, philosophical debate, music/movie reviews, record buying, gardening...it's all the same garish presentation and click bait titles.

It's getting harder to distinguish it from tiktok.

Advertising truly ruins everything.

 

[BinkieHuckerback]

Simply popping in to complain again...

Yes, I can still find plenty of fantastic stuff on youtube.

But my gawd, what a cesspool.

But...the home page comes off as some awful, tacky psychological experiment in attention-grabbing. It's just thumbnail after thumbnail of outrageous titles paired with people making extreme faces. It doesn't matter a damn what the subject is...guitars, amps, instrument reviews, home tech reviews, political or social subjects, philosophical debate, music/movie reviews, record buying, gardening...it's all the same garish presentation and click bait titles.

It's getting harder to distinguish it from tiktok.

Advertising truly ruins everything.

AdBlock

 

[OCA]

I like Andrew Robinson. He keeps it simple and precise and reviews lots of gear:

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0M9xqvUDwdy3y9CATy0l-YOx0ZfeiNla

 

[MattHooper]

AdBlock

I use AdBlock. Doesn't do a thing for the thumbnails and video content. I'm speaking more about the advertising/commercial incentives that lead youtubers to lemming-like
reproduction of lowest-common-denominator presentation.

 

[IAtaman]

Advertising truly ruins everything.

To the point previously made, I think big chunk of it is indeed evolving towards a group of young women playing volleyball in bikinis who gets shocked if they even talk about doing someting else.

 

[BinkieHuckerback]

I use AdBlock. Doesn't do a thing for the thumbnails and video content. I'm speaking more about the advertising/commercial incentives that lead youtubers to lemming-like
reproduction of lowest-common-denominator presentation.

Ah, got you

 

[egellings]

Simply popping in to complain again...

Yes, I can still find plenty of fantastic stuff on youtube.

But my gawd, what a cesspool.

But...the home page comes off as some awful, tacky psychological experiment in attention-grabbing. It's just thumbnail after thumbnail of outrageous titles paired with people making extreme faces. It doesn't matter a damn what the subject is...guitars, amps, instrument reviews, home tech reviews, political or social subjects, philosophical debate, music/movie reviews, record buying, gardening...it's all the same garish presentation and click bait titles.

It's getting harder to distinguish it from tiktok.

Advertising truly ruins everything.

We're here to make money, not to entertain or educate you, so if silly garbage makes money, then goop it on.

 

[grogi.giant]

LTT / Linus: I like his PC videos but I have no trust on his subjective audio opinions. I still appreciate him for building LTT Labs.

LTT is the old Top Gear of tech. It's entertainment with a pinch of actual technology underneath.

Great watch, but you need to know what you're watching....

 

[Sgt. Ear Ache]

Simply popping in to complain again...

Yes, I can still find plenty of fantastic stuff on youtube.

But my gawd, what a cesspool.

But...the home page comes off as some awful, tacky psychological experiment in attention-grabbing. It's just thumbnail after thumbnail of outrageous titles paired with people making extreme faces. It doesn't matter a damn what the subject is...guitars, amps, instrument reviews, home tech reviews, political or social subjects, philosophical debate, music/movie reviews, record buying, gardening...it's all the same garish presentation and click bait titles.

It's getting harder to distinguish it from tiktok.

Advertising truly ruins everything.

yeah it's definitely an issue. There's quite a number of channels that I have blocked just because of the repetitive thumbnails that keep showing up in my feed. Mary Spender is one example. Seems like a lovely gal, but the things she does with her thumbnails drives me a little nuts.

Oh, and this dude! https://www.youtube.com/@BenjaminMcEvoy/videos
Holy...seeing that vaguely imploring facial expression over and over again really made me stabby! lol...

 

[grogi.giant]

yeah it's definitely an issue. There's quite a number of channels that I have blocked just because of the repetitive thumbnails that keep showing up in my feed. Mary Spender is one example. Seems like a lovely gal, but the things she does with her thumbnails drives me a little nuts.

Oh, and this dude! https://www.youtube.com/@BenjaminMcEvoy/videos
Holy...seeing that vaguely imploring facial expression over and over again really made me stabby! lol...

The core issue is that a click bait are effective. A catchy title or a catchy thumbnail - it drives the views. More views = more sponsorship...

So unless you manage to reprogram the general public behaviour, you will keep getting aggressive thumbnails because they work.

 

[Sgt. Ear Ache]

The core issue is that a click bait are effective. A catchy title or a catchy thumbnail - it drives the views. More views = more sponsorship...

So unless you manage to reprogram the general public behaviour, you will keep getting aggressive thumbnails because they work.

lol...did I say I didn't understand why it is the way it is? They definitely don't work for me though.

 

[grogi.giant]

lol...did I say I didn't understand why it is the way it is? They definitely don't work for me though.

I know. But world is driven by averages.

 

[MattHooper]

The core issue is that a click bait are effective. A catchy title or a catchy thumbnail - it drives the views. More views = more sponsorship...

So unless you manage to reprogram the general public behaviour, you will keep getting aggressive thumbnails because they work.

Yes there's those incentives unfortunately.

I know there are plenty of people who look at dodgy stuff and say "hey, ya gotta do what ya gotta do, fair play."

I have a high allergy to bullshit - as in anything that smacks of dishonesty or manipulation - so click bait-and-switch titles and lowest common denominator psychological gamesmanship feels like an affront.

I suppose I'm lucky that I have not had to blow much b.s. to anyone in my career - I suppose other types of employment may seem to require more of that. But I would like to think that if I ever set up a youtube channel I'd stick to my principles and avoid the click-bait shit.

 

[amirm]

Oh, and this dude! https://www.youtube.com/@BenjaminMcEvoy/videos
Holy...seeing that vaguely imploring facial expression over and over again really made me stabby! lol...

I try to do a bit of that in thumbnails but boy, he has taken it to an extreme! I have seen others do it. I think it is a bad idea when it is too uniform and so the eye just glosses past all of them.

 

[Sgt. Ear Ache]

I try to do a bit of that in thumbnails but boy, he has taken it to an extreme! I have seen others do it. I think it is a bad idea when it is too uniform and so the eye just glosses past all of them.

yeah exactly. I mean it's just a thumbnail so there's only so much you can do with it, but at the very least, shift things a round a bit so it's not such a strict template over and over again! lol...I mean even the slight tilt of the head is identical shot after shot!

Yours are fine. Your face takes up a much smaller portion of the real estate and there's other stuff to look at in the thumb so it's not the same sort of rigidly structured effect.

 

[MrOtto]

 

[grogi.giant]

Yeah, that's unfortunate. Linus has turned toan evil corporation, with 'we don't care, as long as it brings us money' mindset.

 

[CleanSound]

I don't know most of these reviewers, the two I know is Darko and Zeos. And Zeos, talk too much gibberish, Darko is a snake oil peddler. And I can't believe you left out Erin's Audio Corner and Audioholics. Erin and Gene are well respected.

 

[radix]

Advertising truly ruins everything.

I would not say it is advertising, per se, but the click-through model.

But, I don't know a different model that would make sense. And there would still be a competition for subscriber count, as that has other secondary effects.

 

[MrOtto]

The KZ Boycott Still Stands. – In-Ear Fidelity

KZ and DMS shook hands, and called it a day. Why even continue the boycott?

crinacle.com

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1691878796625064264