The Hyperbole thread

[DaveyF]

Today, the latest edition of The Absolute Sound arrived at my doorstep. After a quick perusal of the various articles, I was struck by how much "hyperbole" was in this edition ( Usually there's a LOT, but this time the boys truly outdid themselves)

I thought I would nominate a few clauses that I feel are classic....Jacob Heilbrunn on the Lyra Atlas..." Time itself seems to slow down when the Atlas hits the groove" and "banishes the mundane and replaces it with transcendent beauty".

Neil Gader...on the TAD Evolution One..." the sound remains incisive and transparent, aligning and stabilizing musical images in space in the same way a Leica crisply freezes an instant in time."
Jacob Heilbrunn on the Wilson XLF's..." Combine cabinet walls of fortress-like solidity with powerful 15" Focal drivers and the new silk dome tweeter, and you have a loudspeaker that will almost instantly pivot from crushing brass wallops to pristine soprano solos".

Now I haven't even begun to delve into some of the "over the top" hyperbole from Robert Harley's review of the Magico Q7....

All very good entertainment indeed, BUT IF I AM A FIRST TIME READER OF THIS AUDIO MAG and I'm new to the world of high-end..what am i to think?

I think you have to take your hat off to these guys for coming up with this prose..
I cannot wait to look back a year or so from now and read why the Q7 is a boat anchor and the new .......... is akin to a .............( put your hyperbole here).

Ok, let's nominate some other "classic hyperbole"... I love to read this stuff.

 

[NorthStar]

-- Davey, this is nothing; you should read some French audio mags.

But that is part of their job; find the right words and combinations to express what they've heard.
You'd do the same, I would too, if we were pro audio reviewers.

 

[Johnny Vinyl]

LOL! So true. I picked this up the other day, along with the buyers guide. Talk about a manufacturer's (read advertisers) wet-dream come true.

 

[JackD201]

I'd still prefer to read that more than a straight up technical article. Yawn.

 

[daytona600]

As john lydon said " never mind the bollocks "

old english word to describe the priests long winded sermons

 

[DaveyF]

-- Davey, this is nothing; you should read some French audio mags.

.

Bob, any particular quotes that come to mind?

 

[Phelonious Ponk]

I'd still prefer to read that more than a straight up technical article. Yawn.

What I really would prefer is someone who understands the stuff technically, translating it into plain English and telling us what is actually going on -- what the equipment is doing to the signal and how that sounds; I've never understood why that seems to be so much to ask of audiophile journalism. This nonsense is just bad descriptive prose, very bad, dripping with the sticky goo of pretense. A creative writing professor at a mediocre community college would flunk these guys. Hemmingway would just beat them up and throw them out of the bar.

Tim

 

[rbbert]

What I really would prefer is someone who understands the stuff technically, translating it into plain English and telling us what is actually going on -- what the equipment is doing to the signal and how that sounds; I've never understood why that seems to be so much to ask of audiophile journalism. This nonsense is just bad descriptive prose, very bad, dripping with the sticky goo of pretense. A creative writing professor at a mediocre community college would flunk these guys. Hemmingway would just beat them up and throw them out of the bar.

Tim

+1

 

[FrantzM]

I thought I would nominate a few clauses that I feel are classic....Jacob Heilbrunn on the Lyra Atlas..." Time itself seems to slow down when the Atlas hits the groove" and "banishes the mundane and replaces it with transcendent beauty".

I surmise he wasn't listening to Lil' Wayne

 

[docvale]

...
All very good entertainment indeed, BUT IF I AM A FIRST TIME READER OF THIS AUDIO MAG and I'm new to the world of high-end..what am i to think?
...

I had a 1-year subscription to TAS, and I deliberately did not renew it. I do prefer Stereophile for its more technical (and less humanistic) approach.
I became upset when it turned out that RH had at least 4 different reference products for digital audio (one for redbook, one for HDCD, one for SACD and one... uh, don't remember).

OTOH, it is also true that when 3 different reviewers describe 3 loudspeakers which might seriously be some of the best around in the same issue, well, this peculiar scenario could be believable.

 

[Peter Breuninger]

I'd rather watch a video (now why in the world would I say that) and see the reviewers face when he or she describes the sound. There is no hiding in your thesaurus or endless reediting to make a cutesy metaphor. Plus you get to actually see the product and not some misty "wordition" of what it looks like.

 

[Bill Hart]

what the equipment is doing to the signal and how that sounds;
Tim

Agreed, those descriptions are often more informative without relying on stock phrases and hyperbole. I thought Roy Gregory used to do a very good job, although I suppose you can catch out any reviewer, at times, resorting to cliche or purple prose. HP's good too. But, that's another thread....

 

[flez007]

LOL! So true. I picked this up the other day, along with the buyers guide. Talk about a manufacturer's (read advertisers) wet-dream come true.

 

[cjfrbw]

I surmise he wasn't listening to Lil' Wayne

"And it made Lil' Wayne sound like Sade!"

 

[NorthStar]

Bob, any particular quotes that come to mind?

No, I'm just too busy right now with the cat.

* Last night I listened to this great recording, and it was like the sunrise has just knocked at my door, I swear, it was so legitimate that I was ready to buy my ticket to the heavens.

...Was from my iPod.

 

[NorthStar]

What I really would prefer is someone who understands the stuff technically, translating it into plain English and telling us what is actually going on -- what the equipment is doing to the signal and how that sounds; I've never understood why that seems to be so much to ask of audiophile journalism. This nonsense is just bad descriptive prose, very bad, dripping with the sticky goo of pretense. A creative writing professor at a mediocre community college would flunk these guys. Hemmingway would just beat them up and throw them out of the bar.

Tim

---- That smells like me sometimes.

 

[puroagave]

What I really would prefer is someone who understands the stuff technically, translating it into plain English and telling us what is actually going on -- what the equipment is doing to the signal and how that sounds; I've never understood why that seems to be so much to ask of audiophile journalism. This nonsense is just bad descriptive prose, very bad, dripping with the sticky goo of pretense. A creative writing professor at a mediocre community college would flunk these guys. Hemmingway would just beat them up and throw them out of the bar.

Tim

+ 2

martin colloms when he wrote for hifi news & record review had that quality. his writings contained objective interpretation, engineering savy and the right amount of audiophile babble to hold the interest of the non-technical types. nowadays me thinks john atkinson is one of, if not the most 'complete' audio reviewer extant.

 

[microstrip]

I'd still prefer to read that more than a straight up technical article. Yawn.

+1

Perhaps I am selfish - I can not be bothered by the idea that the poor little naif audiophile can be terrified by this style. As a matter of fact I really enjoy Jacob Heilbrunn - and I think I am mature enough to read him.

 

[microstrip]

What I really would prefer is someone who understands the stuff technically, translating it into plain English and telling us what is actually going on -- what the equipment is doing to the signal and how that sounds; I've never understood why that seems to be so much to ask of audiophile journalism. This nonsense is just bad descriptive prose, very bad, dripping with the sticky goo of pretense. A creative writing professor at a mediocre community college would flunk these guys. Hemmingway would just beat them up and throw them out of the bar.

Tim

Tim,

Any creative writing professor, independently of college, would feel offended with your mix of Hemingway with audio magazine prose.
Or do you really start a thread to debate the sound of the bells in "For Whom the Bell Tolls"?

 

[mep]

It seems that many people enjoy attacking everything related to high-end audio and some are on this forum. Reviewers are popular targets of derision as this thread and others have made clear. For others, everything about the high-end is held up for ridicule. It makes me wonder why some people who don’t believe in high-end gear join high-end audio forums. Maybe they just like the soapbox so they can make fun of the believers? If not, it certainly appears that way to me quite often. Some posters exude a palpable hatred for the high-end. Again I’m mystified for why they would want to participate on a high-end forum except to take potshots at the believers. They certainly don’t appear to be on the forums to learn and grow and understand this hobby on a deeper level than they have already achieved. To me, it’s analogous to joining a church whose beliefs you felt were all absolutely ridiculous just so you could tell them all how dumb their beliefs were and somehow derive some satisfaction from doing that.

If a reviewer really believes a new product advances the state of the art in some way and/or they are just really excited about it, do you want to read why they think so and feel their enthusiasm or would you rather read the Julian Hirsch type of review? Even if I don’t share the reviewer’s enthusiasm, I would rather read something that had some heart and soul poured into it than some blasé prose that really tells you nothing about how they really feel and how they think it sounds.