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Pro v Audiophile - Science v Snake Oil?

I have a long time friend Mike who has an interest in audio gear that broadcasters/pros use unlike myself who remained mainly confined to domestic audio. He reads journals written for industry professionals and is mainly interested in using pro/semi pro gear. 

Of course there is no hard and fast distinction between professional and domestic audio, as companies such as ATC, B&W, Harbeth, JBL, PMC, Sony, Technics etc. often have product lines for both markets. However there does seem to be a feeling of two separate camps each with its own aims. This feeling is probably enhanced by the different way the products are often reviewed and sold (with the possible exception being headphones) which often don't seem to care which camp they fall into.

Domestic audio used to be sold by retail outlets whilst pro gear was often sold via catalogues. The rise of internet shopping through retailers like Amazon now sees such products often sold side by side. Still, the way they are reviewed are remain separate between industry publications and domestic magazine press. Professional audio gear remains largely ignored by the domestic press and vice versa. You can almost sense the feeling that each camp might regard the other as being beneath contempt. 

Industry users and reviewers seem to have a no nonsense approach to audio gear and go by technical specs and durability whereas domestic reviews major on vague subjective impressions. Yet once upon a time domestic audio too used to be reviewed in a similar fashion. 

As the years have rolled by I increasingly find myself asking whether by reading domestic audio magazines and the like, I was on the wrong road all along. Especially when I consider how 99.99% of all the film, music and TV/ radio output that I've enjoyed was originally produced and recorded. Mike just knowingly smiles in a 'I told you so' way, and just this once he may well be right.  

Anyway, here's a great resource showcasing  how audio journalism once used to work.

https://www.americanradiohistory.com





cd318

Showing 1 response by shadorne

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shadorne
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Snake oil exists in both camps.

The big difference is that pro equipment must work day in day out reliably and consistently for many years. Pro often sells by word of mouth. Pros often take demos into the work place to try out before making a commitment. Pros don’t care that much about aesthetics. Performance and neutrality to provide consistent reproduction is more important. Pro gear for professional facilities use tends to be much more expensive than consumer gear or pro gear destined for private home use.

Often consumer audio is cosmetically stunning but does not really need to be reliable or provide consistent performance with any standard. Aesthetics are more important in consumer audio than performance. Flavour to suit a variety of tastes and provide coloured but exciting presentations is more important than consistency. Some luxury consumer gear can be astronomically expensive compared to pro gear (often because of aesthetics and “luxury” branding of high end models)

Both camps have fantastic gear and awful gear. There is no monopoly on good or bad sounding gear.

In general pro gear will be expected to perform more accurately over a much greater dynamic range (low to very loud volumes) and pro gear in professional facilities is often directly compared to real live music. Consumer gear is rarely compared to live music and tends to be judged emotionally on things like “musicality”.
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