• Kind of related question - any suggestions what to use if I want to skip this problem? I was looking for some headphones earlier and as explained in the article, most sites point to the same brands. I finally got to see some different brands/models and users reviews from forum group. The problem is I found those forums from Google… so any suggestions what I can try without being stuck in this google SEO vortex?

    • Consumer Reports is still around and still excellent. I paid for a membership to them for quite some time and it was worth it.

      I think it’s an instance of the fundamental problem that if people generally want something (good reviews) for free, but it costs money to make, eventually it’ll get hollowed out and replaced with something empty and worthless, because there wasn’t money in continuing to provide it for free.

    • Australia has Choice. It is funded and independent by being a paid/subscriber service, though being a member is not expensive. Choice is pretty well-known, as when a product wins a recommendation it is prestigious. Therefore, the manufacturers will proudly put a Choice logo on their ads to assure consumers that their product is good.

      I can’t see Choice going away, as it’s a very good service and by far the most trusted source for unbiased reviews in Australia.

      • Nice, this is very similar to the Consumer report. Its good to read reviews from different countries. I think its more likely they would focus on companies in their region. I used to read UK T3, they show more european brands.

        •  mozz   ( @mozz@mbin.grits.dev ) OP
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          9 months ago

          Yeah. It used to work, but now reddit is trash too now that people have figured out how to game the system there.

          The big-leaguers actually have achieved a pretty impressive level of skill with it. “I just wanted to share a big thanks to the Delta crew that saved the day for me and my fiance, let me tell the story…” “MY CAT KILLED A LEAF AND BROUGHT IT TO ME, isn’t she the best, let me share a photo coincidentally with a full McDonald’s meal artfully framed on the table behind the kitty all facing forward and perfectly in focus. Yes we’re having some McDonald’s lol, I love the McChicken”

        • Choice recommends the Sennheiser HD range (HD 300, HD560S & HD 599). The 560S won out with quality of sound and bang-for-buck.

          Their Headphones study actually surprised me, I rock a pair of Jabra Elite Active 3’s as my daily, and Choice really hated the sound quality. I’m obviously no audiophile, as I love my Jabras. They also didn’t love the Sony wh-1000xm range, which was the biggest surprise as they’re by far the most popular headphones I see among my colleagues.

          • Thanks for the info. Lol I am defn not audiophile so maybe your collegues and your preferences suit me more.

            One thing I read in forums is that each headphone has different profile (not sure if its the right word) so it really depends on the personal taste. But hopefully these reviews help me narrow down a few so I can find a store to try them out.

            • Profile is the right word, also response curve. If you can find one, try to look for a waterfall graph of “frequency, intensity, decay” to get a better idea of what to expect.

              Studio headphones, or ones that you can most easily adjust the response with some EQ, have the flattest response curve and the shortest decay.

              There is also transient response like with any electric circuit, but I haven’t seen anyone do a full analysis for headphones.

  •  Ephera   ( @Ephera@lemmy.ml ) 
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    189 months ago

    Goshdarnit, I’ve seen these weirdo webpages before, which would talk at length about how they’ve conducted tests, but then not show any data. I was seriously wondering, why they were bothering, but of course, it’s some shitty metric they have to fulfill.

  • I remember there was a time Google tried to be the best search engine out there, by ranking first what has most value for the user. Now it is ranking first what brings them more money, hence undermining Google’s credibility, and making itself less ueful for the user. The enshittification of Google for everyone to see.

  • Somehow the user has been banned from Reddit, but their comment is still at the top of the thread — we wonder how many other comments this user has published across different subreddits.

    …and that’s the kind of content Reddit wants to sell to train AIs 🤣