Members nat whilk II Posted February 27, 2006 Members Share Posted February 27, 2006 As far as magazine reviews go, I think there's a little bit of an art to reading between the lines. For example, reviewers seem to me to tend to target the reviews to the same target the manufacturer of the gear or software is aiming for. This can effect the language of the review. For example: a do-everything dance-oriented pattern sequencer is usually an inexpensive substitute for racks and racks of hardware. It's target market is probably home studio folks, small project studios, a range from beginners to serious amatuers mainly. The pros will probably use a lot of the actual hardware, not the emulations. So the reviewers tend to speak to this group of targeted users, not to the pros. So, talking about the actual sound of the emulations, they'll say, "sounds great!" or "this one patch blew me away!" or "best distortion emulation I've heard in a long time" or "totally useable reverbs". The long and short of it is, the amatuer will take this to mean the stuff sounds pretty darn good (and what a deal for the price!); the pro will read through it and know that it's all second or third-tier sound quality, not approaching the real thing. To be fair, the reviewers often mention that, if you want the really really top-notch article, you'll have to ascend the price-range ladder a few big rungs. But I'd have to say that most of my regretted purchases were because I relied heavily on magazine reviews (sounds as good as units 3 times the price!!) that didn't give me a truly objective review, but a review "relative to the competition at that price range". Believe me, whenever I see "sounds great" I now take that to mean "sounds decently average at this price range". nat whilk ii Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Kiwiburger Posted February 27, 2006 Members Share Posted February 27, 2006 I've been burned by magazine reviews too - so I don't read them anymore. They are always 3 months behind breaking news on the net anyway, so all you get is some glossy photographs of yesterdays news. Don't be so sure that pro's always use expensive hardware. Some software products truely can replace expense hardware with no compromise. This is especially true of sample based technology, but considering most hardware synths have been digital for some time, the soft synths are not far behind. There is no substitute for talent and technique. Some people can make slamming tracks with primitive equipment. Other people couldn't put a song together if they were locked in Peter Gabriels studio for a year. You just have to find some stuff that works for you - forget the price tags and labels. If it's cheap and it works for you, even better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members nat whilk II Posted February 27, 2006 Author Members Share Posted February 27, 2006 Yeah, my made-up example was simplistic for illustration's sake. I see pros using emulations, softsamplers, etc. But still they usually use them selectively and almost always retain go-to hardware for critical stuff. One cure for the problems with magazine reviews are Craig's Pro Reviews. Really the best of all possible worlds for reviewing stuff, short of a 3-day shootout... nat whilk ii Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Anderton Posted February 27, 2006 Members Share Posted February 27, 2006 That's why I came up with the Pro Review format. With complex do-all devices, you really need to stretch out and explore with a depth that's just not possible in other media. But I would caution against considering all magazine reviews, or all reviewers, as equivalent. They're not all the same, nor driven by the same philosophy. And not all reviewers have the same level of experience, which makes a huge difference in the end result. One reason I don't review loudspeakers is I just don't feel I've spent enough time in critical listening to give an informed opinion, so I'd rather not give one at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members amplayer Posted February 28, 2006 Members Share Posted February 28, 2006 The reason I never read Pro Audio Review magazine anymore is because I have NEVER seen a poor review of a piece of gear in it. I prefer magazines such as Electronic Musician. At least EM has some negative reviews. Consequently, I give it more trust than mags such as PAR. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members nat whilk II Posted February 28, 2006 Author Members Share Posted February 28, 2006 Originally posted by Anderton That's why I came up with the Pro Review format. With complex do-all devices, you really need to stretch out and explore with a depth that's just not possible in other media.But I would caution against considering all magazine reviews, or all reviewers, as equivalent. They're not all the same, nor driven by the same philosophy. And not all reviewers have the same level of experience, which makes a huge difference in the end result. Agreed. And it adds to the concept of reading gear reviews as an art, or maybe more accurately, a skill. It takes a lot of reading over time to get a feeling for particular reviewers. Further complicating the issue is the editor's invisible influence. An example: for years Keyboard had Jim Aikin do, as far as I can remember, all or nearly all the Kurzweil product reviews. That was great for many reasons among which was Jim's long association with synths, his unforgiving attitude towards bad sound, bad programming, etc., and the fact that his review of one piece of Kurzweil gear tended to pick up where his prior review left off. You also picked up on his particular love of the Kurzweil K2XX line, so you could add the grains to salt to taste. It is asking a lot of readers to grok this kind of stuff....the newbies who are hot to buy their first piece of gear are really at risk..... nat whilk ii Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members aliengroover Posted February 28, 2006 Members Share Posted February 28, 2006 I don't think that reviews, in general, are written towards the targeted user. However, I do think that, rightfully so, it's weighed against it's direct competitors. That's the part you have to really pinch to see what they're really saying. And really, if you pay attention to the wording throughout many reviews, they'll state that, for instance, the TR61 lacks the power of its bigger brothers. I can dig that. I've never read a review of a budget item that put it on the same plane as the flagship line UNLESS it was really that good. I think sometimes, some reviewers kinda don't understand the target audience, and thus the whole review gets jacked up. For instance, a few years ago FM reviewed an MPC, and I can sum it up like this: there's no place in today's software world for a product like the MPC. Yeah...okay. That totally misses the point of products like the MPC, and made the whole review useless and not the least bit informative. I just about swear by the reviews in SOS, and also in EQ and Tape Op. Moreso, and related to that, I tend to really pay attention to what some writers say, as I've come to realize over the years that I usually agree with them.Peace Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members amplayer Posted February 28, 2006 Members Share Posted February 28, 2006 What is SOS? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members aliengroover Posted February 28, 2006 Members Share Posted February 28, 2006 Originally posted by amplayer What is SOS? Sound On Sound.Peace Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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