We are so brainwashed by magazines, commercial blogs, and forum knob heads it is hard to look at and break away from that hi-fi speak bullshit - because bullshit is all there is in it. For all the nonsense that is spouted with tech terms hi-jacked out of context that they might as well just say - I like it or I didn't like it - it tells you nothing else apart from about who is writing it, stuck in the old ways, or a classic forum wanna be guru knob head.
The review process is so simple, it is about music FFS, it is about the musicians and their instruments and the musical story they are telling you. So a brief description of goods, price etc. Then play a piece of music, describe how it is different, information, character, clarity of mix, but most importantly *does it move you* more or less emotional content. Repeat with different music, for me that must include solo voice and solo piano and complex orchestra pieces, and you get fav pieces of music you know well that helps the process. For some the head bang is important, not for me. So we are all different, all reviews will be different, but a consensus will be there as to what is good.
If you make this about face of reviewing the music (which is then of course the equipment review as well) instead of the meaningless bullshit we normally see we should get a more easy and accurate appraisal of excellence.
The other sign is look for is those who refuse to do this and why. NOTE this is how to palm off shit as gold dust = marketing. You cannot check their findings as they are meaningless words, semantics. With music you can ACTUALLY repeat the process to see if you agree - do you really think they want that
I have found this collection of hi-fi review terminology - does anyone see this as better than simply talking about music. It seems it came originally from HeadFi.
Aggressive - Forward and bright sonic character.
Airy - Spacious. Open. Instruments sound like they are surrounded by a large reflective space full of air. Good reproduction of high frequency reflections. High frequency response extends to 15 or 20 kHz.
Ambience - Impression of an acoustic space, such as the performing hall in which a recording was made.
Analytical - Highly detailed.
Articulate - Intelligibility of voice(s) and instruments and the interactions between them.
Attack - The leading edge of a note and the ability of a system to reproduce the attack transients in music.
Attack (2) - The time taken for a musical note to reach its peak amplitude eg. notes will tend to sound more defined rather than blended with other notes.
Balance - essentially tonal balance, the degree to which one aspect of the sonic spectrum is emphasized above the rest. Also channel balance, the relative level of the left and right stereo channels.
Bass - The audio frequencies between about 60Hz and 250Hz.
Bassy - Emphasized Bass.
Blanketed - Weak highs, as if a blanket were put over the speakers.
Bloated - Excessive mid bass around 250 Hz. Poorly damped low frequencies, low frequency resonances. See tubby.
Blurred - Poor transient response. Vague stereo imaging not focused.
Body - Fullness of sound, with particular emphasis on upper bass; opposite of Thin.
Boomy - Excessive bass around 125 Hz. Poorly damped low frequencies or low frequency resonances.
Boxy - Having resonances as if the music were enclosed in a box. Sometimes an emphasis around 250 to 500 Hz.
Breathy - Audible breath sounds in woodwinds and reeds such as flute or sax. Good response in the upper mids or highs.
Bright - A sound that emphasizes the upper midrange/lower treble. Harmonics are strong relative to fundamentals.
Brilliance - The 6kHz to 16kHz range controls the brilliance and clarity of sounds. Too much emphasis in this range can produce sibilance on the vocals.
Chesty - The vocalist sounds like their chest is too big. A bump in the low frequency response around 125 to 250 Hz.
Clear - See Transparent.
Closed - A closed-in sound lacking in openness, delicacy, air, and fine detail usually caused by Roll-off above 10kHz; in contrast to Open.
Congested- Smeared, confused, muddy, and flat; lacking transparency.
Coloured - Having timbres that are not true to life. Non flat response; peaks or dips.
Cool- Moderately deficient in body and warmth, due to progressive attenuation of frequencies below about 150Hz.
Crisp - Extended high frequency response, especially with cymbals.
Dark - A tonal balance that tilts downwards with increasing frequency. Opposite of bright. Weak high frequencies.
Decay - The fadeout of a note, it follows the attack.
Definition (or resolution) - The ability of a component to reveal the subtle information that is fundamental to high fidelity sound.
Delicate - High frequencies extending to 15 or 20 kHz without peaks.
Depth - A sense of distance (near to far) of different instruments.
Detail - The most delicate elements of the original sound and those which are the first to disappear with lesser equipment.
Detailed - Easy to hear tiny details in the music; articulate. Adequate high frequency response, sharp transient response.
Dry - Lack of reverberation or delay as produced by a damped environment. May comes across as fine grained and lean. Opposite of Wet.
Dull - See Dark.
Dynamic - The suggestion of energy and wide dynamic. Related to perceived speed as well as contrasts in volume both large and small.
Edgy - Too much high frequency response. Trebly. Harmonics are too strong relative to the fundamentals. Distorted, having unwanted harmonics that add an edge or raspiness.
Euphonic - An appealing form of distortion that generally enhances perceived fidelity, often ascribed to the harmonic elaborations of some valve amps.
Fast - Good reproduction of rapid transients which increase the sense of realism and "snap".
Fat - See Full and Warm. Or, spatially diffuse; a sound is panned to one channel, delayed, and then the delayed sound is panned to the other channel. Or, slightly distorted with analogue tape distortion or tube distortion.
Focus - A strong, precise sense of image projection.
Forward(ness) - Similar to an aggressive sound, a sense of image being projected in front of the speakers and of music being forced upon the listener. Compare "Laid-back".
Full - Strong fundamentals relative to harmonics. Good low frequency response, not necessarily extended, but with adequate level around 100 to 300 Hz. Male voices are full around 125 Hz; female voices and violins are full around 250 Hz; sax is full around 250 to 400 Hz. Opposite of thin.
Gentle - Opposite of edgy. The harmonics (of the highs and upper mids) are not exaggerated, or may even be weak.
Grainy - A slightly raw, exposed sound which lacks finesse. Not liquid or fluid.
Grip - A sense of control and sturdiness in the bass.
Grungy - Lots of harmonic or I.M. (Intermodulation) distortion.
Hard - Too much upper midrange, usually around 3 kHz. Or, good transient response, as if the sound is hitting you hard. Uncomfortable, forward, aggressive sound with a metallic tinge.
Harsh - Grating, abrasive. Too much upper midrange. Peaks in the frequency response between 2 and 6 kHz. Or, excessive phase shift in a digital recorder's low pass filter.
Headstage - The perception of the Soundstage while listening to headphones.
Highs - The audio frequencies above about 6000 Hz.
High Midrange (High Mids, Upper Mids) - The audio frequencies between about 2kHz and 6kHz.
Hollow - Recessed mids.
Honky - Like cupping your hands around your mouth. A bump in the response around 500 to 700 Hz.
Imaging - The sense that a voice or instrument is in a particular place in the room.
Juicy - Sound that has joie de vivre, energy and life.
Laid-back - Recessed, distant-sounding, having exaggerated depth, usually because of a dished midrange. Compare "Forward".
Liquid - Textureless sound.
Low Level Detail - The quietest sounds in a recording.
Low Midrange (Low Mids) - The audio frequencies between about 250Hz and 2000Hz.
Lush - Very Rich/Full.
Lush (2) - A "lush" sound has a sense of warmth and fullness. Notes are more authoritative and have a sense of life about them. It is a sound free of any sibilance or brightness. It does not mean colored, however. It is an open and inviting sound enveloping the listener into its soundstage. (source: unkown headfier)
Mellow - Reduced high frequencies, not Edgy.
Midrange (Mids) - The audio frequencies between about 250 Hz and 6000 Hz.
Muddy - Not clear. Weak harmonics, smeared time response, I.M. distortion.
Muffled - Sounds like it is covered with a blanket. Weak highs or weak upper mids.
Musical (or musicality) - A sense of cohesion and subjective "rightness" in the sound.
Nasal - Honky, a bump in the response around 600 Hz.
Naturalness - Realism.
Opaque - Unclear, lacking Transparency.
Open - Sound which has height and "air", relates to clean upper midrange and treble.
Pace - Often assoc. with rhythm, a strong sense of timing and beat.
Piercing - Strident, hard on the ears, screechy. Having sharp, narrow peaks in the response around 3 to 10 kHz.
PRaT - Pace, Rhythm and Timing
Presence Range - The presence range between 4kHz and 6kHz is responsible for the clarity and definition of voices and instruments. Increasing this range can make the music seem closer to the listener. Reducing the 5kHz content makes the sound more distant and transparent.
Presence - A sense that the instrument in present in the listening room. Synonyms are edge, punch, detail, closeness and clarity. Adequate or emphasized response around 5 kHz for most instruments, or around 2 to 5 kHz for kick drum and bass.
Puffy - A bump in the response around 500 Hz.
Punchy - Good reproduction of dynamics. Good transient response, with strong impact. Sometimes a bump around 5 kHz or 200 Hz.
Range - The distance between the lowest and highest tones.
Resolution (or Resolving) - See Definition
Rich - See Full. Also, having euphonic distortion made of even order harmonics.
Roll-off (Rolloff) - The gradual attenuation that occurs at the lower or upper frequency range of a driver, network, or system. The roll-off frequency is usually defined as the frequency where response is reduced by 3 dB.
Round - High frequency rolloff or dip. Not edgy.
Rhythm - The controlled movement of sounds in time.
Saturation - The point at which a magnetic tape is fully magnetized and will accept no more magnetization.
Seismic - Very low bass that you feel rather than hear.
Shrill - Strident, Steely.
Sibilant (or Sibilance) - "Essy", exaggerated "s" or "sh" sounds in vocals. Sibilant sounds carry most of their energy through the 4Khz to 8Khz range, but can extend to 10kHz, depending on the individual. Sibilance is often heard on radio.
Sizzly - See Sibilant. Also, too much highs on cymbals.
Smeared - Lacking detail; poor transient response, too much leakage between microphones; poorly focused images.
Smooth - Easy on the ears, not harsh. Flat frequency response, especially in the midrange. Lack of peaks and dips in the response.
Snap - A system with good speed and transient response can deliver the immediacy or "snap" of live instruments.
Soundstage - The area between two speakers that appears to the listener to be occupied by sonic images. Like a real stage, a soundstage should have width, depth, and height.
Spacious - Conveying a sense of space, ambiance, or room around the instruments; stereo reverb; early reflections.
Speed - A fast system with good pace gives the impression of being right on the money in its timing.
Steely - Emphasized upper mids around 3 to 6 kHz. Peaky, non flat high frequency response. See Harsh, Edgy.
Strident - See Harsh, Edgy.
Sturdy - Solid, powerful, robust sound.
Sub-Bass - The audio frequencies between about 20Hz and 80Hz.
Sweet - Not strident or piercing. Delicate. Flat high frequency response, low distortion. Lack of peaks in the response. Highs are extended to 15 or 20 kHz, but they are not bumped up. Often used when referring to cymbals, percussion, strings, and sibilant sounds.
Telephone Like - See Tinny.
Texture - A perceptible pattern or structure in reproduced sound.
Thick - A lack of articulation and clarity in the bass.
Thin - Fundamentals are weak relative to harmonics; bass light.
Tight - Good low frequency transient response and detail.
Timbre - The tonal character of an instrument
Timing - A sense of precision in tempo.
Tinny - Narrowband, weak lows, peaky mids. The music sounds like it is coming through a telephone or tin can.
Tone - The sound of definite pitch.
Transient - The leading edge of a percussive sound. Good transient response makes the sound as a whole more live and realistic.
Transparent - Easy to hear into the music, detailed, clear, not muddy. Wide flat frequency response, sharp time response, very low distortion and noise. A hear through quality that is akin to clarity and reveals all aspects of detail.
Treble - The highest part of music and voice. See Highs. (Most often used when referring to the treble control on amplifiers).
Tubby - Having low frequency resonances as if you're singing in a bathtub. See bloated.
Upper Midrange (Upper Mids, High Mids) - The audio frequencies between 2 kHz and 6 kHz.
Veiled - Like a silk veil is over the speakers. Slight noise or distortion or slightly weak high frequencies. Loss of detail due to limited transparency.
Warm - Good bass, adequate low frequencies, adequate fundamentals relative to harmonics. Not thin. Also excessive bass or mid bass. Also, pleasantly spacious, with adequate reverberation at low frequencies. Also see Rich, Round. Warm highs means sweet highs.
Wet - A reverberant sound, something with decay. Opposite of Dry.
Weighty - Good low frequency response below about 50 Hz. A sense of substance and underpinning produced by deep, controlled bass. Suggesting an object of great weight or power, like a diesel locomotive.
The sound of all hi-fi is relative. The most common failing of magazine and online reviews is that they aren't comparative. The item under review is not directly compared to anything.
They exist to make money by bullshit not to give you comparative realities. It was bad enough with magazines but now we have eeeediot blogs like Pig trying to emulate them. Sooner they die through lack of interest the better. The magazines seem to be dying apart from the most disgusting and polluted of the lot What Hi-Fi I think we may be stuck with that one for a while yet. The only way is with honest comparative forum reviews for members by members not the slurpers that wish to control it with spam shill and glove puppets.
Yes, and thinking back to the 1970's and 1980's, we had comparative subjective magazine hi-fi reviews that were - in general - so flawed in their excessive Linn Naim Rega bias that they were worse than useless. They were downright misleading.
Popular Hi-fi magazine probably being the worst of the lot. Their comparative reviews lead to Linn Naim equipment getting into their recommended components and systems section with crazily high percentage scores. So that Linn Isobariks were, according to them, the best speakers you could buy, with a score of 95%! Speakers from Altec, JBL, EV, Klipsch, Pioneer Exclusive etc didn't exist or weren't worth considering according to them.
What I'd like to see is comparative reviews, in the style of Popular Hi-fi magazine with integrity and with far better knowledge of what's available.
The biggest failing of What Hi-fi compared to other magazines is that they don't make their readers aware of used and DIY options. In todays ebay and youtube world that's an ostrich head stuck in the sand perspective.
What hifi is full of gadgets and as such does not qualify as a hifi magazine imo. Any new technology is automatically seen as better because it is new. Complete bollox.
It is hard to review properly (talking about the music) at first after all those years of copying how everyone else does it (bollox review speak). Once you have realised how to listen to music (not the gear) in an emotional sense it becomes easy to write your thoughts in a musical sense.
For us the main hurdle is the listening not the writing. Once mastered the words are easy. Mag reviewers and anyone in on the slurp or ego / wannabe guru train will always talk bollox.
When I'm reading a forum write up, the first question is 'how much does this person know?' I know a good bit more now than I knew 3 years ago (which was less than I thought), and 3 years ago I knew more than I knew 10, 20, 30 years before that, but I still don't know a great deal compared to some. I think about, for example, whether the person doing the write-up is often talking about stuff that I might not have considered; interesting vintage items that others might have written off, items that come from outside the 'normal' hifi circles, e.g. computer hardware companies...or if they seem to be limited to the 'sameness' and 'safety' of the dealer mainstream or their usual circle of friends. I'm also considering the circumstances of the write-up; partnering equipment, the setting up of the gear and the size and acoustics of the room.
At one end of the spectrum; from people who I've come to respect and trust, the nod that 'this is worth hearing' can be confidently followed up. At the other end of the spectrum; people who tell me every few weeks that this thing they've bought is the best thing ever since the best thing ever that they had for 6 weeks, which replaced the best thing ever... . Somewhere in-between are folks (like myself) who've heard a reasonable range of kit in their homes, been at a few bake offs and have a good idea of what 'does it for them and why'...but still have more to find out.
I do agree that description of the music and how it engages you (or not) is more informative and meaningful than simply picking out, for example, tonal balance or 'stunt' hifi traits. It does take more thought to really listen to the music and express that rather than 'judge the sound' against a list of terms. If I tell you that a certain DAC made the Clash rhythm section sound 'off the pace and half-hearted during the interplay of the intro to 'Jimmy Jazz'' then I reckon that tells you more than 'poor transient response'. I don't criticise or dismiss those who would use the latter; it's not a case of being right or wrong, just what is more useful. Old habits can die hard but everyone is capable; one of the great things about bake-offs is that you see the 'look on their faces'.
I am in the hi-fi trade
Status: Manufacturer
Company Name: NVA Hi-Fi https://nvahifi.co.uk/
TBH, I think for many the use of the "bollox review speak" isn't designed to bamboozle or show off it has simply grown out of the difficulty in getting people to understand what they are hearing. If someone describes an extremely low noise floor as "an inky black background" is that so bad? You know the message they are trying to convey. I know full well what I want to hear from my hi-fi but I wouldn't want to try and tell anyone else what that is! I think most of us can pick the wheat from the chaff.
Audio Grail "Sable" Garrard 401 with Cumbrian Green Slate plinth / Audiomods 6 / Benz Micro Gullwing SLR, Phono 2, NVA INT400sa. (Oh and a Copland CDA823 CD Player, for when I fancy a bit of the devil's spawn!)
. Somewhere in-between are folks (like myself) who've heard a reasonable range of kit in their homes, been at a few bake offs and have a good idea of what 'does it for them and why'...but still have more to find out.
