What's the deal with Youtube amp reviews.

creis2 · #1 03-01-2013, 12:57 PM

This is a bit of a rant, but I'm also looking for people who notice the same thing.

I've been searching youtube for some reviews regarding an amp I'm interested in.

What's the deal with the person going about obvious features like the gain, bass mid, treble and volume knobs for 95% of the video? They point out the features, but set the eq flat and don't touch the knobs for the rest of the video.

When they do finally play, it's just for a few seconds. I also noticed some guys do these ridiculous slap riffs, maybe in an attempt to show off, but it doesn't help show tone features at all. If I was doing a review, I would take the 10 minute time slot, shut my mouth, and use the amp with a variety of tone settings, also playing with finger, pick and slap.

I recently found a video of a piece of musical equipment unrelated to bass, but it was a pretty good video. When I looked to see what people had to say in the comments section, it was a huge argument regarding religion. I think it had to do with the guy saying "Jesus lord, this guitar is awesome".

Once I become a little more experienced, I might start reviewing bass amps. After browsing the internet for two hours, I ended up with nothing.

ArtechnikA · #2 03-01-2013, 01:00 PM

And ultimately, you're hearing the amp through your computer speakers, which tells you what ?

hdracer · #3 03-01-2013, 01:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ArtechnikA

And ultimately, you're hearing the amp through your computer speakers, which tells you what ?

+1

online sound clips are useless.

famousbirds · #4 03-01-2013, 01:01 PM

I don't think this is particular to amp reviews in general. Most instrument, amplifier, and effect "reviews" are pretty terrible. Really, you're going show us a dirt pedal, into a dirty amp, without ever switching to bypass?

Even worse are the NAMM "reviews" - a guy with a mic pointing at a guitar hanging on the wall.

Passinwind · #5 03-01-2013, 01:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ArtechnikA

And ultimately, you're hearing the amp through your computer speakers

Why would you assume that?

creis2 · #6 03-01-2013, 01:04 PM

I understand it's hard to judge an amp through computer speakers. But a good review can give you an idea of the amp's ability. For example, there's a good review with Orange's Tiny Terror that made me interested in trying it out. When I played it, I found that the video I watched did a good job of showing the amp's abilities.

jjk2007 · #7 03-01-2013, 01:04 PM

Uh oh....he must have seen one of mine!!

dougjwray · #8 03-01-2013, 01:10 PM

I also like the reviews of gear where the "host" goes into great, tedious detail describing every tiny component of the thing... and then when he finally plays, he's such a beginner that he cannot get one decent sound out of the thing.

On the other hand, Ed Friedland's reviews are excellent. He presents all of the specs in a useful way (like, why exactly WOULD a zero fret make any difference?) but he also methodically goes through every setting using thumb, fingers and pick. Plus, he's a wonderful musician.

i_got_a_mohawk · #9 03-01-2013, 01:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dougjwray

On the other hand, Ed Friedland's reviews are excellent. He presents all of the specs in a useful way (like, why exactly WOULD a zero fret make any difference?) but he also methodically goes through every setting using thumb, fingers and pick. Plus, he's a wonderful musician.

This.

Ed is certainly a go to!

creis2 · #10 03-01-2013, 01:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dougjwray

I also like the reviews of gear where the "host" goes into great, tedious detail describing every tiny component of the thing... and then when he finally plays, he's such a beginner that he cannot get one decent sound out of the thing.

On the other hand, Ed Friedland's reviews are excellent. He presents all of the specs in a useful way (like, why exactly WOULD a zero fret make any difference?) but he also methodically goes through every setting using thumb, fingers and pick. Plus, he's a wonderful musician.

I agree. After I just wrote my rant, I thought to my self, "who's that guy from Youtube that did that Streamliner vs. Shuttle review? That was a good review!". Never heard or even seen a Genz Benz in person. I bought my Streamliner based on that review, that was a first for me.

Although I couldn't hear the differences between heads very well in the video, he did a good job summing them up. After playing both, his reviews are very accurate.

DWBass · #11 03-01-2013, 01:13 PM

Check out all of Uriah Duffy's reviews! Very informative and he really goes in depth.

JimmyM · #12 03-01-2013, 01:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hdracer

+1

online sound clips are useless.

I don't think they are. Some are, and I likely wouldn't make a final decision about a piece of gear solely based on online clips, but some are darn good and show you a lot about what's doing. Like anything else in this world, some people do quality work, some don't.

pfschim · #13 03-01-2013, 02:21 PM

another endorsement for Ed "The Bass Whisperer" Friedlander's amp reviews. Great content, various styles, different basses, and the guy has great chops too (and yet, does not need to go nuts to demonstrate the gear he is reviewing).

Our Own Ken Jung is also a good reviewer IMO/IME.

As far as listening to the clips provided, I usually go to a solid set of headphones to get a better listen. In my case its a pair of Senn 280HD Pros. They do a good job if the original clips were done with decent equipment.

pfschim · #14 03-01-2013, 02:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JimmyM

I don't think they are. Some are, and I likely wouldn't make a final decision about a piece of gear solely based on online clips, but some are darn good and show you a lot about what's doing. Like anything else in this world, some people do quality work, some don't.

heh, I also forgot to mention the JimmyM gear clips. He spends some time to make some very decent quality compare clips too.

odineye · #15 03-01-2013, 02:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ArtechnikA

And ultimately, you're hearing the amp through your computer speakers, which tells you what ?

And compressed through YouTube to boot. The only thing I can think of that's worse are YouTube compressor reviews...

Off topic, I know... just couldn't help myself.

pfschim · #16 03-01-2013, 02:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by odineye

And compressed through YouTube to boot. The only thing I can think of that's worse are YouTube compressor reviews...

Off topic, I know... just couldn't help myself.

hmmm. I get your point, but is it not true that YT clips can be HD quality (including the associated higher quality audio stream ?)

I thought that was the case, but I am not a YT expert in any way.

odineye · #17 03-01-2013, 02:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JimmyM

I don't think they are. Some are, and I likely wouldn't make a final decision about a piece of gear solely based on online clips, but some are darn good and show you a lot about what's doing. Like anything else in this world, some people do quality work, some don't.

I will agree. Though you're never going to know exactly what a certain piece is going to sound like until "you' plug it in, a well done online clip can go a long way toward showing you what you can expect. I've bought a few pieces, having never touched them, based solely on well done demo's and been more than pleased...

Just not compressors

Tom_RCJ · #18 03-01-2013, 02:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pfschim

hmmm. I get your point, but is it not true that YT clips can be HD quality (including the associated higher quality audio stream ?)

I thought that was the case, but I am not a YT expert in any way.

There is a noticeable difference in sound quality from low res to HD on YouTube. The sound on 720 clips usually good enough to get an idea unless it was recorded on a cheap phone or camcorder. Even with the crappy YT compression, you can guess at what the sound will be in the room if the clip was done right.

But man do I ever get irritated after watching a 10 min clip of someone pointing at a piece of gear and TALKING!

Point & chat videos of audio equipment. Yeah, they suck.

odineye · #19 03-01-2013, 02:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pfschim

hmmm. I get your point, but is it not true that YT clips can be HD quality (including the associated higher quality audio stream ?)

I thought that was the case, but I am not a YT expert in any way.

It's true that Youtube clips can be HD quality but, you need some pretty good production services behind you to first produce then format a video to present well on YouTube, and lets be honest. Most that are putting these reviews together just don't have the capabilities. I'm not saying they all sound horrible, just that they are not going to be near as true as some of us might think or hope.

odineye · #20 03-01-2013, 03:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tom_RCJ

But man do I ever get irritated after watching a 10 min clip of someone pointing at a piece of gear and TALKING!

Point & chat videos of audio equipment. Yeah, they suck.

I agree to a point. There are quite a few of those point and chat demos that get the "uh bye bye now" click after 20-30 seconds. But there are some that I think are well done were I appreciate a little more in depth look at certain features and possible uses. On the other side of that coin. I've seen plenty of annoying demos where someone I'm convinced HAS to be on crack, is just wanking away and twiddling knobs so fast you have no idea what the heck is going on and you just want to scream STOP IT!!!