Betty_Boopie

Betty_Boopie , 1 month ago

I mean, I'll take the stupid XTX crap over whatever the hell Nvidia is doing with Ti super bullshit

Betty_Boopie , 1 month ago

What?

Doug Demuro goes over every single weird little feature in the cars he covers. What does he not fully understand? But I also don't conder his videos true reviews, I'm not in the market for 90% of the cars he shows, and I doubt many people are. It's entertainment, and for car enthusiasts it's fun to see a breakdown of a cool car.

As for MKBHD, I would say his smartphone reviews are some of the only ones worth watching on YT. He uses them for weeks as his main device and I've never seen him shy away from speaking his mind. Again, he's an enthusiast and his nitpicks are probably irrelevant to a lot of users. But that's exactly why I like his reviews, it's a different perspective that I wouldn't get anywhere else. Low quality? My brother MKBHD puts more effort into his b-roll shots than most channel put into the entire review.

I feel like I shouldn't have to say this but reviewing anything boils down to "how many things can I find wrong about this product". If I want all the gushy features and crap I would just watch the press release.

Betty_Boopie , 1 month ago

It's a reviewers job to be honest; if the product is bad I appreciate them calling it out, no matter how small an issue is.

I'm not going to defend YouTubers that don't know I exist, and honestly I don't watch Doug that often anymore. But from what I can see even the new vehicles he reviews are niche and/or expensive as hell. The VW ID4 starts at $40k for only ~200 miles of range. Compared to iqoniq, mach-e, or the new Chevy EVs it's just a bad value all around. Also, I genuinely think a snappy infotainment system is a necessity. I won't even consider a Tesla since it doesn't support carplay or android auto. Do the majority of people hold that same opinion? Hell no, but I still think it's absolutely relevant to a review. Now, I could totally see your point of a review killing a company/product if the reviewer has a larger reach than the company. An example would be LTT's "review" of a super niche waterblock from billet labs. But if you think one review tanked the sales of a car from one of largest conglomerate of car manufacturers then you're woefully overestimating the reach of YouTube videos and online media.

Now humane is a bit of a different story, and the negative reviews are certainly not helping sales. But MKBHD's video is a very honest explanation of his experience, and it shows how many things were promised but not delivered. If they didn't want bad reviews, they should have delayed the product until it was ready.

You have a valid point that clickbait articles do more harm than the actual reviews, but again, I don't think it's the reviewer's fault or problem. Most of these sites are full of other clickbait nonsense, and just like NYpost I'm not going to them for factual information. If the general public are being swayed by these articles, I don't think they were seriously in the market for whatever product is being dragged through the mud. Most of what MKBHD and Doug reviews are premium products with premium prices, in my opinion they should scrutinized accordingly.

I think bad products fail on their own and the reviews and media accelerate that failure. I'm not saying it's a good thing, but blaming the media for a company's bad decisions solves nothing.

Betty_Boopie , 1 month ago

VW has always underestimated their efficiency, even on gas/diesel cars imo

Maybe they underestimate the MPG rating but did you forget the massive diesel scandal? They lied about the efficiency of their engine and exhaust system to the point where they had software counteracting testing procedures.

Do you own an id4 or something? Like why do you care about the public perception of a company? People who actually are in the market for a new car are bound to test drive it first, and they can decide if the infotainment system is good enough for themselves. My point is: lots of talk from people who are nowhere near buying any car let alone a $40k+ id4. If I purely listened to the internet's opinion I wouldn't own half the shit I enjoy on a daily basis.

MKBHD and his team are by no means perfect, watch their podcast and you'll quickly see the gaps in their knowledge. If you haven't watched him in awhile I can understand you position a lot better. He's come a long way in the past few years, and while I never found his reviews to be bad, his current work is top quality. For instance: a lot of his smartphone reviews revolve around the camera performance. At the end of the year he does a big comparison between a bunch of phones. Between that and the yearly smartphone awards, I think he does a fine job at summarizing the software improvements over the first year of ownership.

Of course every big content creator has a legion of annoying fans, again LTT almost killed a 2 man company from a single botched video. I'm not here to defend any community, just that these two reviewers that you seem to have a gripe with do better work than 90% of others.

Betty_Boopie , 1 month ago

but almost the entire automotive industry engaging in similar tactics, but that was not nearly as widely reported.

This is straight up false. Yes most, if not all diesel engines were found to be out of regulation especially at idle. It's a bad regulation and needs to updated, but of course lobbists have put a stop to that.

The major difference was that VW group was using arrestor devices to skirt the testing even on the highway. It's why they paid the heftiest fine over all the other manufacturers. It was very purposeful, not saying the others are saints but there is a difference between neglecting to adhear and intentional deceit.

they were very hard to find and most peoples orders had not yet been delivered. It definitely hindered sales and was totally blown out of proportion.

Do you think that maybe, possibly, that it could be a variety of factors that led to id4 orders being cancelled? And also, if it was a commercial failure I can almost guarantee the model would have been killed off rather than being updated into a 4th year. Not being able to test drive a car I'm spending a significant chunk of cash on is a way bigger turn off than a YT video and some stupid articles.

Like seriously, if you didn't have the luxury of a very nice VW dealership, would you still have ended up with an id4? How do rekon availability and crappy dealerships didn't play a bigger role than Doug? Idk what to fucking tell you bro, people don't treat reviews as gospel, and if they do then they are most likely children and/or completely unable to afford the thing being reviewed.

Betty_Boopie , 2 months ago

If you have an amp: Modhouse Argons. The Fostex t50rp is built like a tank, and while it's not the most resolving planar in the world the sound signature is just a ton of fun. I've had various t50rp mods for 15+ years, none of them have broken and the argons are in my top 3 of all time. But they really do drink about 1 watt per channel, so if you're not already in the deep end, just avoid jumping in altogether.

No amp: KSC75/porta pros are pretty bassy, they just lack sub bass. Plenty of impact though, and for most music it's all you really need. Pick youself up an $10 apple dongle (apple sucks but their dongle dac is legitimately a great value) and you have about 90% of what an audiophile spent thousands to achieve.

Another no-amp option could be Monoproce retro headphones. It's sort of like an akg 240 clone but fully closed. The stock pads are terrible, but with some xl leather pads they become very comfortable and super bassy. The pads and cans are like $25 each; it's a pretty unbeatable value. But they are also a bit of a one trick pony, if you're looking to daily drive something the akg K371 would be a better rounded option.

Betty_Boopie , 2 months ago

Using a headphone in production =/= a good headphone.

Cans for mixing have a compleptly different sound signature than for music enjoyment. Unless you just love trebble, stuff like beyerdynamic and m50x are atrocious sounding.

They are a resolving headphone for sure, and very well built. They're not a bad headphone per-se but for normal folks they really need to stop being recommended so much.

Stuff like the Philips shp9500 and akg K371 are way more enjoyable, cheaper, and still pretty much indestructible. But the true advice is that audio is subjective as fuck, try out some stuff and find what you like. Trust your ears, not some dude on the Internet

Betty_Boopie , 2 months ago

I'm a bottom

Goddammit 🤦‍♂️