On Line Publications Thoughts/Opinions?

[Mister Pig]

Curious to know what people think about the Online publications. Which ones do you read, and what do you like or dislike about the various offerings? Do you think they vary significantly from an in print mag, or say a forum? Since they are sort of a bridge between the two genres.

Another question is this? Do you place any value in the quality of writing, or writer, or is your interest completely in the product itself. How do you like to see the review structured?

Regards
Mister Pig

 

[Dan ʕ•ᴥ•ʔ]

I enjoy reading them as well as some of the online review sites (6 Moons, for example). But must say, that I enjoy print much more.
I like having a magazine in my hands that I can pick up and put down at my leisure and leaf thru slowly or quickly. Print's just different.

 

[Art K.]

I read a bunch of "ezines' or whatever they are called. Like Dand I prefer my mags in print but there are some very good audio journalists writing for the online publications and so I enjoy them as well. I like TONEAudio, 6moons and several others.

TONEAudio puts an emphasis on lifestyle without giving up on important audio products. Publisher Jeff Dorgay has very good connections in the industry and often gets his hands on hot new releases before anyone else, including all of the big names. His reviews are short and generally devoid of technical mumbo jumbo but pretty insightful relative to the sound of a given piece. I've not found that I disagree very often with his findings. I like the fact that he is generally speaking to everyone with ears when doing his reviews and not assuming any advance technical knowledge. That said there isn't much in it for the objectivist. Also like the beer and concert reviews.

6moons is a different beast and their reviews can either be chock full of technical detail or near to devoid of it. They are also sometimes pretty...well...about as "out there" as you get. I find value in many of their reviews. Most of their reviewers have very high end references and really know what they are listening to.

GoodSound (I think that's what it's called) is about the opposite of 6moons. Grounded and full of plain talk. Their reviewers often have less of a reference system than I do...still kind of fun to read.

Just a couple of quick impressions of some of the stuff I read.

 

[Art K.]

Positive Feedback is another one that I look at from time to time. There are a bunch of them, doncha think?

 

[Mr. Lin]

Although I normally eschew anything having to do with "e-reading," I love to read reviews on TNT Audio and 6moons, the latter in particular. Like Art said, some of their reviews (and/or reviewers) cover things on the fringe, but much of it is your typical hi-fi equipment, and through them I've learned about a lot of brands I'd never even heard of before.

 

[Dee Mento]

Vinylphile is a good one for those who enjoy LPs. I also read Tone Audio regularly and some of the others mentioned occasionally.

http://www.vinylphilemag.com/

 

[Glass Prison]

I read Tone on a regular basis. I like 6moons for their features on fringe gear. 6moons is a big reason why I bought a Bel Canto 300S. Vinylphile looks very interesting.

 

[RichPA]

I pretty regularly look at Soundstage, Positive Feedback Online, Enjoy the Music, and Secrets of Home Theater and High Fidelity. A bunch of others I look at occasionally. The more magazine-like they are, the better. I do not like the trend to shift from magazine-style layout and navigation to blog-style layouts - for example, Soundstage has gotten progressively worse in that respect, IMO.

 

[wajobu]

HifiZine & Affordable Audio (which has returned) are other options. I'm with Dan on this, I still prefer print magazines, but they're getting as rare as hen's teeth. This is a great summary blog that I have for a handy reference: http://www.dailyaudiophile.com/

 

[RamblinE]

Inner Fidelity, Affordable Audio and TNT Audio are relevant to me

 

[estreeter]

I have spent a lot of time on another forum beating up on Srajan from 6Moons for his tendency to rave on about everything except the kit he is supposed to be reviewing, but going back through older headphone/source reviews I realised just how good many of his photos are compared to the competition. I also mine the online Stereophile reviews for the measurements on kit I'm interested in - JA will often highlight something that was glossed over in the subjective review, and this often prompts some interesting replies from manufacturers.

Not a huge fan of the new breed - Ken Rockwell, Headfonia and various others - but I mainly trawl whatever I can find on Google to get prices and happy snaps, particularly when the manufacturer pics dont give me any idea of the scale - a lot of headphone amps are deliberately photographed to look much larger than they are. Apparently size matters when you have a business card that reads 'Amp Builder'