It needs to be said that Drew Kalbach’s role at TAS is to review lower end, relatively inexpensive products and relate them to the appropriate target market. He’s younger and the newest reviewer for them. I guarantee the readers of his reviews are not using higher end components. His system is not as relevant.
Example of a piece o’ crap, useless review
I’ve harped on how crappy and useless many “professional” reviews are because they lack rigor and omit critical information. This one is from TAS that is a main offender of pumping out shallow/unsupported reviews, but most of the Euro mags among others are guilty of this too IME. One key giveaway that a review is crap is that after reading it you still have little/no real understanding of what the piece under review actually sounds like or if it’s something you’d like to consider further. I mean, if a review can’t accomplish those basic elements what use is it? This review is so shallow it reads like it could’ve been written by someone who never even listened to the review sample and just made it up outta thin air. In addition to failing on this broad level, here are some other major problems with the review:
- There is no info regarding any shortcomings of this “budget” turntable — everything is positive. Sounds like it was perfect, ehem.
- There are no comparisons to another product in the same general price category or anything else.
- The reviewer doesn’t even share what equipment is in his reference system so we can at least infer what he may have based his impressions on.
In short, in addition to this review being so bad/useless for all the reasons stated it actually reads more like advertisement for the product than an actual unbiased review. I can think of nothing worse to say about a review, and sadly many reviews out there are similarly awful for the same reasons. Sorry for the rant, but especially as a former reviewer this piece of garbage pushed all my buttons and really ticked me off. What say you?
https://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/sota-quasar-turntable-and-pyxi-phonostage/
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@mschott But it’s not even a review — it’s nothing more than an ad disguised as a “review.” And as for the readers of this thing not being high-end consumers, how many entry-level buyers is crap like this really gonna attract or maintain as subscribers for TAS? Then again it’s sadly not all that much more useless than their usual pandering fluff reviews so it’s not totally out of character for this rag — I’ll give you that. |
The reviewer wrote " it’s strength is Pace, Rhythm, and Timing." How can a machine that is supposed to spin the recording at a constant, specific speed provide that? Is that not the responsibility of the musicians? Pace: This refers to the tempo of music. Rhythm: Rhythm encompasses more than just tempo. It involves elements like time signature, phrasing, syncopation, and accents. Timing: This is where things get interesting. Musicians rely on precise timing to sync with each other. (thanks google) |
- 87 posts total