Literary Transgressions of the Audio Community

[gene]

We live in an audio world of cliché, hyperbole, misinformation, lies, factoids, and general horsehockey. And those of us who toil in this arena are all somewhat guilty. It’s hard to come up with “new stuff” to say about audio and video. In this article we guide you through some of the most commonly overused audio terms in the industry. The thing you have to remember is that a tired, worn out cliché is…a tired, worn out cliché.

Read: Literary Transgressions of the Audio Community

Be sure to share your favorites with us in the thread below.

 

[2Oznayiim]

Paul (Scarpelli),
You certainly have a lot of courage and honesty to write this post !
No matter what the review in any audio magazine or online, I just can't help thinking that some kind of payoff from the production company is involved, free equipment or just not honest reporting.
I appreciate your high standard of honesty.

 

[Dan Madden]

A friend of mine once referred to my system as having a "Wall of sound"

I think that's a good thing right??!!! Hummm..........

 

[herbu]

Be sure to share your favorites with us in the thread below.

"Organic". That seems to be the new darling. Still don't know what the heck it means.

 

[Dan Madden]

"Organic". That seems to be the new darling. Still don't know what the heck it means.

I like that one! I often refer to hi-res audio formats as having "TEXTURE" to their sound. "Organic" works too !!

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

obvious cliches are cliches, but maybe, just maybe if we stop using them then authors won't be able to say seemingly positive things about mediocre speakers... Being brutally honest online is great way to permanently sever relationship with vendor - just ask Harman's Lexicon

 

[sterling shoote]

obvious cliches are cliches, but maybe, just maybe if we stop using them then authors won't be able to say seemingly positive things about mediocre speakers... Being brutally honest online is great way to permanently sever relationship with vendor - just ask Harman's Lexicon

I wonder if there are any other examples of a Lexicon like fraud? Those responsible for the fraud have no place in the industry. They undermined a brand and lost consumer confidence not only for the brand but for anything coming from Harmon International. After all, who wants to risk being a sucker for claims proven to be untruthful, or misleading. BTW, I work in the gun industry. Today, I see marketers showcase products in the hands of models wearing costumes to make it look like military forces use the product. It disgusts me; but, even sadder, folks fall for it. They actually believe the ads. It appears they do not know how to think critically. What's the world coming to?

 

[3db]

What's wrong with a cliche that's technically accurate? I rather that any day then inaccurate flowery hyperbole that can be taken any number of ways in describing a process. If a speaker cabinet is acoustically inert and it passed the "knuckle wrap", then so be it. Every industry or hobby comes with its own lingo and thats just the way it is. Kids these days are having problems learning math because its being taught a new way compared to how us older fogies learned it. If it causes problems understanding the basics with the new approach, then its being taught wrong. Similarly with new audio lingo...if its open to many interpretations, then the message being delivered is wrong. What ever happened to the days of saying what it really is.

 

[XEagleDriver]

What an immersive, cutting-edge articulation on the state-of-the-art in audio literary achievement. Punching well above your weight class, your words removed an invisible veil and allowed everything to just snap into focus. Like turning on a light switch, it made a night and day difference providing the dynamic ambience necessary to result in an order-of-magnitude epiphany (assuming those are legal in this state).

Cheers,
XEagleDriver

 

[markw]

I've always found "PRAT" quite amusing.

 

[desertrider]

What an immersive, cutting-edge articulation on the state-of-the-art in audio literary achievement. Punching well above your weight class, your words removed an invisible veil and allowed everything to just snap into focus. Like turning on a light switch, it made a night and day difference providing the dynamic ambience necessary to result in an order-of-magnitude epiphany (assuming those are legal in this state).

Cheers,
XEagleDriver

You, sir, win the internet.

 

[shadyJ]

Brilliant article, nicely illustrates the problem with writing subjective portions to speaker reviews; it's hard to say something new, but you have to say something.

 

[desertrider]

Its interesting because, probably like many of you, I belong to a few AV forums. Some are average joe oriented forums, some are enthusiast forums (like this one), then there's the high end forums. The ones where you dont recognize the brands being talked about. Its THOSE guys that use these superfluous words in long never ending sentences.

Just my humble opinion

 

[shadyJ]

The ones where you dont recognize the brands being talked about. Its THOSE guys that use these superfluous words in long never ending sentences.

Well they have to sell their speakers somehow!

 

[desertrider]

Well they have to sell their speakers somehow!

I know I know lol

 

[gene]

What about "chocolatey midrange"?

 

[shadyJ]

"Vanilla Bass, chocolatey mids, and strawberry highs: neapolitan speakers give you the best flavors at every frequency!"

 

[Dan Madden]

What about "chocolatey midrange"?

Well......If you like chocolate then that's the speaker for you!!!

 

[lovinthehd]

Nice job Mr Scarpelli...I think you got all the ones that particularly bug me.

 

[agarwalro]

Paul, thanks for the excellent read. (It was a breadth of fresh air in an otherwise stale state of affairs. Sorry couldn't resist.)

"Vanilla Bass, chocolatey mids, and strawberry highs: neapolitan speakers give you the best flavors at every frequency!"

The food based analogies always seem funny to me. What if I'm not into Vanilla and prefer Black Current Bass?

What about "chocolatey midrange"?

Was it a Dark Chocolate mid or White Chocolate mid? I'll have one any day if it was a Tobletone mid haha!