negative high end gear topic followed by a positive high end gear topic, wtf...

[ine-kpro...]

thru my years here, i have discovered a pattern to some of the posts here. it seems that if someone bags a piece of high end gear here, a few topics later, a new topic will appear talking about how good the gear is or how bad the rival gears are.

there seems to be some clever folks here trying to protect the gear they are selling or manufacturing or trying to influence the readers here.

i noticed this quiet well with mytek and apogee. if a preference for apogee is discussed versus mytek, a topic will appear bagging the apogee or commending the mytek. i am noticing that with the current wunder posts.

maybe it's just me...

[jigsawlogic]

Positive/Negative??

Well, for one..

The Mytecs kick ass.
So do the Apogees.

If you want to start a smack-down over that, then I suggest you arm yourself in the market at the North end of Chinatown; the wok spoons are particularly unbendable.

If you do not wish to bend or break, then you just desist or kill. Either way, makes for better tasting food, at least in my 'hood. happy eating/converting!!

[JDunkley]

I think it could just be that hundreds of people voice their opinions on here and were never all going to agree.

[Jules]

A guy recently did a survey of audio forums for a phd, he just emailed me about it. Basically he found overall, chatter on web forums was of a positive nature. He said that was contrary to marketing "expert" opinion where people just come on line to gripe.

There is that expression 'if you don't have something positive to add to the conversation, stay out of it' - (I am not saying that is the correct way to conduct yourself on a forum BTW!)

Sure, there are a lot of gripes on forums, venting, heads up on problems, faults, thing to watch out for but perhaps its just basic human nature to be more positive than negative?

Try to have a nice day and remember, life is a bowel of cherrys

[max cooper]

Originally Posted by Jules

bowel of cherrys

Great band name. Someone use this.

[beachhunt]

Originally Posted by max cooper

Great band name. Someone use this.

Death metal?

[vernier]

bowel of cherrys

Remember these 70's bands? ..I do:
Wild Cherry
Raspberries
Strawberry Alarm Clock

[Mike Jasper]

Originally Posted by ine-kpro...

thru my years here, i have discovered a pattern to some of the posts here. it seems that if someone bags a piece of high end gear here, a few topics later, a new topic will appear talking about how good the gear is or how bad the rival gears are.

there seems to be some clever folks here trying to protect the gear they are selling or manufacturing or trying to influence the readers here.

i noticed this quiet well with mytek and apogee. if a preference for apogee is discussed versus mytek, a topic will appear bagging the apogee or commending the mytek. i am noticing that with the current wunder posts.

maybe it's just me...

I was going to take the blame for some of this, but then I notice your post is May 4. So I guess it wasn't me.

I had to shut up about the Wunder posts until my review of the CM7 in TapeOp came out. It did, so now I can finally post about it. And my posts are pretty much along the lines of, "I'd blow Castoro for a CM7."

That's to say, I like the mic one whole hellofalot, although I can't really afford it, and have been posting a whole lot about it lately.

But not as early as May 4. So go figure opinion.

Jasper
PS -- Have you noticed that in the Moan Zone, every time you read something bad about George Bush, later on you'll read something really good about him? I think Karl Rove has a secret account here.

[patrox247]

I think that this forum in some respects is a place where we can be more opinionated than we normaly would be in our daily lives. The recording and A&R world requires a great deal of diplomacey, and this forum provides us a place to voice our opinions,express ourselves and at times even play devils advocate. I think through inteligent discussion and debate we are able to better ourselves. I understand what you're saying, but I don't think there is a great effort to protect personal interests in Gearslutz. Most of the people in this part of the industry have passed on much more profitable careers in order to be a part of something they love. If money were in fact the motivating factor, they couldn't have picked a less profitable industry. We have some good people here, and i am truely thankfull for the freindships I have made as a result of this forum.

[K Bartos]

Isn't it also true that the large majority of people here mostly read and more seldomly post ?
I for one are an avid reader, but very seldom do I post. I'd say (WARNING: HUGE GUESSTIMATION AHEAD) for every 3 to 4 hundred posts read, I post one.
Which brings me to this: Isn't it only natural that after a given piece of gear has been hailed as the best thing since ketchup, some of those lurkers crawl out and state that while they not hate ketchup, they really like mustard ?
That would cause this ebbe and flow type of behaviour.

How very unusual not to have a post with either the words neve, U47 or API in i... *doh*


Keep the peace

[grahluk]

maybe it's all because one person's $hit is another's shinola and vice versa.

[Koed]

Maybe it's a regional thing.
This is afterall a global site.

The gritty rock sound loved by the americans, may sound to a european as if something is broken.

Most responses here are (initialy) seldomly put in a musical or regional context.

[u b k]

energy travels in waves; humans seem every bit as compelled to react to stimuli as bugs, especially if they've staked a part of their self-identity in their choices and someone else bags their choices. if they're at all insecure about the goodness and competence of who they are and what they do, that's just fuel for the fire.

i think we're just witnessing the nature of the beast. personally, i have a lot of fun watching, participating in it, even (on occasion, ahem!) gently poking things with a stick just to see what happens.

truly, this place can be a blast, or it can be an aggravating and time-consuming distraction from doing the work that needs to be done. your experience is your choice, and the more intention you bring to the moment the more it'll flow as you wish.

and, amidst all the chatter and buzz, i find there are still good things to be learned here.


gregoire
del
ubk
.

[MIKEHARRIS]

Jules

...that observation is the pits

[Blast9]

Pitted cherries vs. pitted olives?

[Fletcher]

Originally Posted by ine-kpro...

there seems to be some clever folks here trying to protect the gear they are selling or manufacturing or trying to influence the readers here.

Duh.

What bothers me are the "trolls" who are sent here by both MFG's and distributors to do nothing but viral marketing.

I'm here to do viral marketing... but I post my professional affiliation with every post so people know I'm a pimp. I know of at least two dealers as well as a couple of distributors that have people posting stuff in a positive manner about their products and services... it's all part of how we play the internet for commercial purposes.

I have said this about 20,000 times, but I guess another is relevant. The only way to judge a piece of equipment is with your own ears in your own studio on your own time schedule... any [and every] thing else is pure recreational bullshit and should be taken as bullshit until you have proven the product to yourself... good, bad or indifferent.

There are words of advice you can get here vis a vis "tools and techniques" that could spawn independent thought and get you to try something you currently own in a different way... there are heads up you can get about bad customer service, etc... but opinions on equipment are ridiculous at best [except when you're a marketing mook who wants to create viral public opinion].

Peace

[not_so_new]

Originally Posted by Fletcher

There are words of advice you can get here vis a vis "tools and techniques" that could spawn independent thought and get you to try something you currently own in a different way... there are heads up you can get about bad customer service, etc... but opinions on equipment are ridiculous at best [except when you're a marketing mook who wants to create viral public opinion].

Peace

I agree with pretty much everything Fletcher says here except the last line.

The final decision absolutely has to come from the experience of using the gear in your own room but I think there is a general vibe that you can get from a unit based on other folks reviews.

I like color pieces over clean, give me a Chandler TG2 over a Millennia HV-3C any day of the week. I found out about the Chandler TG2 a few years back here at GS and based on the general reviews I could tell that it was a piece that I should look into (and I am glad I did). Now the final "do I like this enough to keep it" has to happen with my ears in my room but the inspiration to check it out came from GS reviews and in that department they were very helpful.

As a matter of fact I have bought a ton of gear in the last 4 years and I have been happy with every purchase because I was able to tailor my choices based on the general vibe of the reviews and my taste.

Also I believe there is allot to be said for gear that is constantly reviewed about the same. The Great River MP-2NV seems to always get a generally favorable reaction and I think that says something about the longevity of the unit. It is not like the flavor of the month like some things are. A general opinion about a unit over the long haul is going to trump a manufacturers pimping of a unit in a 2 month media blitz.

To me all of this is what GS reviews and gear talk is about. I use it to just to get me in the right ballpark but not to make my mind up on anything. As Fletcher said that still has to happen in my own room.

As Fletcher is fond of saying.. YMMV.

[amd]

I know for a fact that the Apogee "police" hangs around here!

[RKrizman]

Originally Posted by Fletcher

Duh.

What bothers me are the "trolls" who are sent here by both MFG's and distributors to do nothing but viral marketing.

Peace

Yeah, I just hope Jules is gettting a taste, or at least realizes it's happening.

You know, that's how Razor scooters got to be such a big deal. The marketing geniuses identified the "opinion makers", the popular kids who set all the trends, in each little teen or pre-teen subculture and gave them free scooters.

Sometimes its comical on these forums, because despite their best intentions the trolls ("shills", actually) aren't necessarily very convincing or skillful writers so their posts come off as bad infomercial-ese. But it's fun to look at new products coming out then seeing all the new low post-count testimonials that follow. (I'd point a finger, but then I'd just be allowing myself to be used as a free buzz-generator.)

For me, the best part of indulging in all the preamp-means-everything madness is that I got a couple of nice pieces and don't have to worry about it anymore. It could have been a couple of different nice pieces, but the result would be the same.

Get some decent gear that works for you and have at it.

-R