Whatever you gotta tell yourself to sleep at night, bud.
17 Likes
He put it pretty succinctly, didn’t he? Behringer is screwing over their own fans.
Now in order for them to be okay with minimizing the work of journalists, some of them find themselves also having to minimize the work of journalists so that they can stomach their purchases.
Interesting side of the argument they find themselves on.
I guess they can’t buy a backbone with all that money saved from buying cheap cloned synthesizers.
At least you’re cognizant of the duality of it all.
It really sucks to see a company sour the hard work of those they’ve acquired. And the few great, original products they once made (BCF/BCR).
3 Likes
I have not read any of Peter Kirn’s reviews, are they impartial?
In my case, I won’t jump to defend Behringer as a company, or as a person. I also don’t want to dump all my income into them. They do happen to have a few very specific items that I like, and want to use though. I’m fine with buying those and owning them. I will speak up on the quality of the product (like I have with the RD-8 because I love it as a piece of gear). I do have some first hand experience with cloning. In fact, I made the second available (second to Mark Verbos) clone (actually a clone of his 
) Buchla 258. Mine was a DIY PCB that was pretty widely available for a while until Roman blew that world wide open I did two clone PCBs, and then got tired of it. I found it much more rewarding to design my own things in the long run. Even if some were a bit derivative. So I’m both fine with cloning, but also very much appreciate new or at least somewhat original takes on existing ideas. I would much rather support the latter, but definitely fine with the former as well.
I’d prefer people behaved themselves in general though. I’m ok with some fun-poking and playfulness as well, even by industry professionals, but not when it pretty clearly goes too far, or gets to be tasteless. I’m also not ok with misused litigation or abuse of power.
I get by, by not thinking too much about it really. It all does cross my mind, it gets processed, and I have an opinion, but like I’ve said in the past, if I REALLY got into it to the point of activism, I wouldn’t be able to own most products in the world. How about the conditions of the workers that make the components that go into even the most boutique and ethically produced synthesizers in the world. It all comes down to a poorly paid factory worker somewhere along the line.
For me it’s all about balance.
2 Likes
Sounds like you have some reading to do.
2 Likes
So you have also not read his reviews.
I have, indeed read his reviews, on a myriad of topics, including Behringer. But impartiality is a spectrum and entirely subjective. The level of impartiality determined by the subject, the journalist, and the readers is all different. And different between readers.
So only you can answer for yourself.
It’s going to take effort to come to your own conclusions, I’m not here to make them for you.
8 Likes
Wow, I would think that a lack of impartiality in a review of a music instrument would be fairly easy to spot.
Do you think reviewers should be impartial?
1 Like
Well I’m not here to chase straw man arguments.
It may help you to know that CDM/Kirn do more than just “review” products. They/he also writes about culture, reports on the industry, and comments on the spaces between.
So to isolate everything that Peter has written about as a review, and lump him as a reviewer is a pathway in the conversation that I refuse to go down.
13 Likes
For me, impartial is the specifications list.
If I want a review, I want the subjective point of view from a person that generally has views that align with my own.
3 Likes
I wonder what Loopop’s take on all of this is .
3 Likes
I’m trying to imagine the chronological table of contents on the left of the screen, now. 
20 Likes
lol
I’m actually sleeping well. I am not so sure about you though? You seem to be on some sort of crusade against evil Behringer. Kind of weird behavior for a moderator.
3 Likes
Then your position that it is okay for a company to attack a journalist is working for you. Congrats.
Defending people who are attacked is not weird.
That you think it is is worrying.
23 Likes
Isn’t the whole point of a review to come down on whether something is good or not? I want my reviewer to actually have an opinion about the product they are reviewing. Otherwise I would just look at a spec sheet.
7 Likes
Except for Moog and a few other boutique manufacturers such as UDO. It’s weird, but that is exactly the sort of thing that endears a piece of gear to me.
2 Likes
I’d disagree. There’s a well known quote about opinions and a certain part of the human anatomy.
When I watch or read a review I want the reviewer to run through functionality so I the reader/viewer can form my own opinion. Is it a square wave or has it got rounded edges? When the filter oscillates are there plenty of harmonics or is it just squealing? I thing the better reviewers (loopop, Starsky Carr, Nick Batt etc) do this very well. They may pass the odd comment but it’s just that. I can’t abide ‘opinionated’ reviewers. I see them as trying to make the review more about them and their views than the item on test. I don’t want an echo chamber (excuse the pun) just the cold hard facts.
Agreed entirely, but with complete impartiality. Yes I want the reviewer to tell me the good points and bad points about a product, bearing in mind its price point whilst ignoring its brand.
If the reviewer cannot overlook his personal preferences and dislikes you will not get a balanced review of the product.
To me Loopop and many others do reasonably impartial reviews. I have no idea about Peter Kirn, I never heard of the man prior to Mr B’s antics.
I was a little on the fence about whether or not the anti-semitic undertone was intentional, but as time passed I realized it doesn’t matter if it was. The whole thing was two scoops of bad intentions in a bowl of surprise attack and the horrid jewish stereotyping was just poison sprinkles on top.
11 Likes