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Random Audio Thoughts #8: Consistent Activity

I've been seeing the post of Think Media talking about how creators should not underestimate the power of the community on YouTube. While I've understood the power that it can have, I've also been paying attention to other creators and how they utilize other facets of social media to be active.

One of the content creators in my own niche that comes to mind is Jay Audio. When I watch his videos, I'm not entirely impressed with how he does things. It's clever he uses glasses to cover up his eyes not really having eye contact with the camera, but I just find his review style to kind of boring and confusing at times. He's definitely improved from before, but I still don't fancy watching his reviews because it just feels insanely mass produced.

And you can kinda see it with how frequently he posts. He's a quantity over quality type of creator which I respect, but I'm also one that wants to put just a little bit more flair and character into my videos.

I just realized that I've backtracked from my initial topic of consistent activity and went over to a Jay Audio rant. I don't hate the dude. Hell, I admit I'm envious. But it baffles me how he gets so much views per video when the quality itself isn't really the top of the game.

But then I remember how consistent he posts both in and outside of YouTube videos. I see him post consistently on his YouTube community which I thought was pretty awesome and his questions are also pretty good too.

It made me reflect on my own stuff and made me realize I should probably capitalize on posting on YT community more, especially when I talk about my own personal experiences.

One of the things that really stood out to me from all the videos I've watched is the fact that people don't buy from companies, people buy from people. The same can be applied to content creation as when you have someone who creates content that seems too formulaic and formatted, it'll seem lifeless and lacking character. But if you present yourself to be a human being with feeling and experiences, people are more inclined to watch your content because you feel a connection to the person you're watching.

Reflecting to the people that I watch, I really enjoy watching Dankpods' videos as I feel a sense of comfort and connection while watching him go on his talk about whatever thing. It just seems more genuine. Even someone like MRS who seems to have a formulaic style of review still feels genuine because he has a character that he's developed for himself. You know his preferences and if you understand what he likes and you follow his ideologies, you'd also be inclined to watch his content.

And I think that's what's lacking with my content right now. I've tried following a formulaic system that is easy to follow and easy to do, but lose character and personality that way. I think I need to work on my own image, representing what I like and who I am and present it to others so that they may understand me better as I share my reviews.

I also want to complicate my reviews less as I feel like if I describe terms in a more emotional manner with more real world examples, I feel like I would progress better not only as a content creator but also as a person.

Okay I think that should be all for now.

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Personal Thoughts #1. The Struggles in the Mind

I don't know whether this would be publicized or someone find it, so I don't really mind posting my personal thoughts here. But in case you do, hello there. I'll talk about some of the personal struggles I've had doing OB ODIO and I guess life as well.

And it all kind of has to do with the amount of pressure I put unto myself. OB ODIO is a side gig until I earn from it, but I treat it like a full time job which has pretty dire consequences to my own personal lifestyle and in the past few months, it has taken a toll.

I've bitten more than I can chew start of the year and I'm still being haunted to this day. The difference is now, my mental is cooked and I no longer feel like doing any of this. Mostly because of the effect that it has had on me and my personal life. And I hate myself for that.

But I know this is just a stumble. I know it's a struggle everyone goes through. But gosh, there's just something about me specifically that struggles with this extra. Ive become prone to being influenced, I've started to make poorer and poorer decisions and I've started detaching from the people I care about me because I'm so obsessed with what I'm doing. And it's not healthy.

And I don't know what to do. I've considered quitting, but there's just too much on the line. I'd be sacrificing so much work all because "I'm feeling bad". And I know that's not right. I just want to find that balance, but God it's hard. It' really hard.

I'm thinking of switching up my style. Just doing written reviews again and focusing on writing. But I know that I need to focus on my video and content creation because in the future, that's what my work will be.

I'm just so lost right now, and I can't take a break. I have too much on my plate both in and out of this hobby. I just need to know how to fix all of this without needing to sacrifice other things.

I've been taking it slow recently. Been taking care of myself. But the effects of what I put myself through is evident as it has started affecting more than just myself but also the people around me. And I don't like that. I hate that I'm doing that.

I just want to fix all of this. But it's a struggle. I know I will eventually get through, but right now just sucks. I need to sit down and think about what direction I want to go with this. Maybe I'll update on what I want my plans to be. But yeah, that's all for now.

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LISTENING IMPRESSIONS 18/09/23

I don't usually get to try a lot of audio gear in a single day, but I visited my local Sony store and decided to try some of their stuff along with a mailcall. In my pursuit to stay consistent when writing about audio stuff, I'll write my initial impressions of the stuff I've tried:

Sony MDR MV1 - Pretty tough clamping but very soft pads - Lightweight, feels a little bit cheap - - Good weighty sound with a very odd metallic/sharp tinge in the treble that drastically affects the overall timbre, especially in vocals - Not very wide sounding, not very airy

Sony WH CN520 - Cheap feeling, nice colors though - U-Shaped with treble roll-off - Conventionally decent-sounding headphones with vocal emphasis and a little bit of warmth but somewhat veiled treble - Narrow staging, not very resolving

Sony WH-CH720N - Better build than 520 and different form factor, considerably more comfortable - Pretty decent NC for the price, but I didn't get to try it on an actually noisy environment - Muddy, shouty, peaky

Sony WH-XB910N - Even more comfortable than the 720N with a similar build - Better NC than 720, but once again I didn't actually get to try in a noisy environment - WOOFER BASS WOOFER BASS WOOFER BASS WOOFER BASS - Basically the stereotype consumer headphone ND DD3 - Ugly ass design - Veiled, low-res sounding Warm V-Shaped with an odd on shoutiness ND Nice - Pretty sleek all black design like damn - Actually sounds pretty nice and fits my preference of warm-bright v-shaped - Warm, punchy and thicc bass - Recessed overall mids with coloration in the lower mids but not overly sunken or hollow - Elevated, airy but uneven and piercing treble - Pretty decent overall technicalities for the price Celest Phoenixcall - Insanely good unboxing experience - Decent accessory inclusion with meh tips - Very pretty and well-build for resin - Warm V-Shaped - Sounds MUCH better than it graphs - THICK bass but balanced with decent vocal presence and treble extension - Not that resolving, more smooth and warm Out of all the stuff I've tried, the stand outs are definitely the ND Nice and Celest Phoenixcall. Pretty unique sets, but definitely niche.

Anyways, expect a review and full impressions to come for the DD3, Nice and Phoenixcall!

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CCA DUO Short Gaming Review

As I try to recover from a potential burnout due to the numerous mess-ups happening in my life, I decided to spend a few days just taking my mind off audio and gaming. Specifically, Valorant and Escape From Tarkov.

My set of choice was the CCA DUO, CCA's first 2DD entry priced at $40 and is a favorite of mine due to it's brighter leaning nature.

And for all intents and purposes, its tonality does really well for gaming. The emphasized higher frequencies bring out the small sounds that I would not be able to hear through darker or less treble centric sets and the subbass emphasis allows me to hear lower frequency sounds like footsteps surprisingly well.

Comfort is also insanely good. This is probably the most comfortable IEM I've tried under $40 where I can go for 6-hour gaming sessions and never need to remove this IEM the entire time.

The problem lies with how horrendous the technical ability of the Duo is when it comes to separating sounds from each other and the staging. It wasn't a big problem in Valorant because directional movement there is pretty easy to hear.

With Escape From Tarkov, however, the DUO started to fall apart when it came to knowing whether sounds were coming from in front or behind me. Left and right panning is still good so I can hear that well, but the 3D space is very narrow and it's very easy to mistaken the front from back and the top from below. Mind you, I was using one of the best headsets you can get in game (Comtac 4s) and it still struggles to separate the front from the back.

Separation was also oddly rough, particularly when there's a shoot-out occuring and you're trying to hear through any flankers or you flanking yourself trying to hear for potential lurkers. When the plane that holds the airdrop flies over, you're basically completely deaf because the plane completely envelops the soundfield.

Overall, I'd give the DUO a 6.5/10 for gaming. Tonally, it can catch up, but its technical capabilities are less than stellar.

TOTAL SCORING:

Comfort: 10/10 Tonality: 8/10 Separation: 4/10 Imaging: 4/10

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IEM Talk: My Love, the Mirror

The IEM that started it all. The HZSound Heart Mirror.

Remarkable for some, disappointing for others. It was my first "expensive" pair of IEMs and I hold a rather personal bias towards that set, regardless of its performance. It was the first after all.

Obviously, it would've had the need to sound at least decent for me to like it. But what made it such a wonderful set for me was the fact that I was fresh off my bright cans day with the Samson SR850 and my first in-ear, the EDX Pro. So the jump from bright to v-shaped bright to bright wasn't as drastic as I thought it'd be.

What was drastic however was just how much better the Heart Mirror sounded compared to the two. As of recent, I always have a sense of regret whenever I buy anything. After being financially borked due to the pandemic, I've been more aware with my expenses which was a LOT back then.

But the Heart Mirror never felt like a waste of money. Hell, I still have the very set now (technically, it's with Neil of Practiphile as I wanted him to graph the set) so if value is time spent with the set, it's long paid for itself.

That set basically defined my tastes in IEMs for the rest of my hobby, at least until recently. I loved the bright, almost anorexic sound quality that the Heart Mirror provided. It's neither neutral nor fun, more so it's bright and energetic. Bass is shy, but it's there and it's tight. Bass notes are audible but not felt. The mids are a little thin, yes. But it puts vocals front and center which gives this somewhat fuller, forward and intimate feeling that makes it such a treat when listening to vocal-centric tracks. And that treble. Man, that treble. I fell in love with that from the get-go.

And for years, I've been looking for a real upgrade to the Heart Mirror. Something with a similar vocal presentation but improves on the bass having more tactility while keeping the bright and forward upper mids to treble. For the longest time, I was unable to find anything that comes close to how ethereal the Heart Mirror sounds.

At least, until recently when another set with a mirror finish came out. But that's for another day

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Random Audio Thought #7: Proficiency in Consistency

Today, I decided to rerecord my review of the Simgot EM6L after the multitude of issues I had with trying to record that damned review.

But because it's been a while since I've talked about audio, I sounded like I didn't know what I was talking about. And it hit me:

If i want to be more confident when doing reviews (which is the problem why I am unable to do reviews as frequently), I really just need to suck it up and make content. If I don't make content, I don't stretch those muscles and I get limp. The same goes for writing and is the whole reason why I try to write on this blog at least every day. I want to enhance my writing skills and fix my formatting, grammar and storytelling.

Afterall, videos are essentially spoken-word essays with flairs and transitions.

Anyway, I'm tempted to write random thoughts about an IEM I'm reviewing or enjoying as a different segment. Maybe I'll do that after this and talk about one of my favorite IEMs of all time.

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Random Audio Thought #6: The Honey Moon Phase

It's not often I experience the honey moon phase when I listen to audio products as I'm quite picky about the products that I review.

Once in a while, however, I get a set that I genuinely enjoy that I end up spending more time than I'd like to admit. The problem lies with the fact that, oftentimes, my perspective becomes so skewed while writing impressions that I gloss over the potentially negative aspects of the product.

Now usually, this doesn't last very long. I mean, even with the Canon II, I already moved on from my honeymoon phase. But it worries me sometimes that what I write is purely coated in a rose-tinted paint where I intentionally write without a sense of perspective.

I'll write about perspective eventually, but I can at the very least be sure that I haven't had a set that I've blindly recommended and reviewed as I really want to explore the different aspects of the product that might work with one person and not with me. It's all about the context in that you review a product and a really good reviewer can highlight some positive aspects of what could easily be a crappy product. That's the kind of reviewer I'd like to be.

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Random Audio Thought #5: Review or Impressions?

While I was looking at my impressions of the Letshuoer EJ07M, I noticed how this kind of shorter format is common with other reviewers, particularly in the Facebook space where they don't really go too in depth with every single aspect of the IEM.

I personally prefer going deep down and just nitpicking everything as reviewers are supposed to do that. But one of the issues I have is time. Writing the way I do now takes hours to complete and usually requires more proofreading.

I've been considering cutting down my written aspects to have more in depth impressions and call those the review since, essentially, the the thing that people are most concerned about are usually what I talk about in my impressions.

The problem is that I don't feel like that's something I want to do. I want to be nitpicky. I want to go deep into picking apart an IEM's every last detail. But time is such a problem for me that I'm genuinely considering a more loose but still structured video presentation and a more in-depth "impressions" so I can satisfy the brand requests for me to post impressions while also doing video reviews which is incorporated in my course.

Writing this made me realize that I need to be realistic and I need to adjust my personal expectations. The problem now comes down to me basically picking the right words to say when I announce it. Or maybe, I don't announce it. I just shift my style and see how it goes. No use overthinking when I wouldn't know exactly how it'll end up til I try it.

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Random Audio Thoughts #4: Can DSPs compete?

Recently, Tanchjim came out with the One.

There are two variants. The one that has a standard 3.5mm SE and one with a DSP. The SE admittedly looks pretty nice and something I'd genuinely enjoy.

But the interest comes with the DSP. You see, it's not just a DSP that changes the tuning to basically another flavor of Harman.

The picture above shows the Tanchjim app with the One DSP having EQ options which is something I've never seen before in an IEM, let alone a DSP IEM. These are often saved for TWS or Bluetooth products as many of the brands have apps to change the control and EQ.

We can see the graphs up above from kr0ma which showcases all the potential tuning of the Tanchjim DSP. Itgoes from just another Harman to what seems like an SA6 clone to the SSR revival.

No matter what you may think about the tunings included, it's absolutely insane how they were able to do something like this with their DSP. And you know oddest thing about this whole situation? Tanchjim didn't even promote the One having an application. It was only discovered thanks to kr0ma for bringing up the app and showing the potential tunings.

This makes me think that there's a future in DSPs. I'm about to release a review for the EW100 DSPs and made a shorts regarding DSPs being the future, and I think this can solidify my statement that it CAN be the future.

But until companies actually actively promote their DSPs and provide an application, Tanchjim will rule this current niche that could potentially revolutionize wired headphones.

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Random Audio Thoughts #3: Where 2 Active?

One of the things I've kind of been struggling with for my entire time as a reviewer is knowing where to post my content. While you have the obvious ones like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Head-Fi, it's really hard to manage posting on every single socmed, especially with posts that have more than 1 thing to share.

I've narrowed it down to the sites that get me the most click or allow for an easy multi-platform posting like Meta. But by far the site that I feel like I should be utilizing more is Head-Fi. While I noticed that engagement is pretty low there, it is also the premiere site for anything and everything HiFi and I need to post there if I want to excel at my niche.

The problem? I find Head-Fi to be a little bit tedious to post in due to the amount of forums you have to scour and layout the post properly so it looks presentable and not just a copy paste. I guess it's an effort thing where you really have to put in the work if you want to post in Head-Fi as it is a traditional style forum. But with the growth of social media sites that allow for a fast transfer of information, it's hard to really get engagement through forums.

I do plan to be more active in forums, especially since a lot of the brands ask me to post in forums and I plan to do written reviews of all the IEMs under my backlogs so I don't have to think about them anymore. But for now, I'll focus on what gets clicks

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RANDOM AUDIO THOUGHTS #2: To Focus or To Indulge

In certain fringe cases, I receive a set that genuinely impresses me and makes me stop in my tracks and just enjoy music. If I wasn't reviewing, this honestly wouldn't be a problem.

Except I have a crap ton of backlogs that need to be finished as soon as I can so I can have the sanity to review more products. I've been to that part of my review life where I was drowning in backlogs and did not have enough time to review them all and I do not want to come back to that segment.

And yet, some sets make me fall in love with the music I listen to all over again. Hence, the Yanyin Canon II.

I had a lot of stuff planned today from editing to writing and filming. And yet, the Canon II surpassed basically all my desires to do all that and just listen and enjoy music with the Canon II. It's insane, and I hate it. But I also love the idea that I still have this emotional side to my music listening life because one of the scariest things to happen when becoming a reviewer is that you lose your passion to actually enjoy music.

I've seen far too many instances where people become obsessed with the non-music aspect of listening to music and only listen to the nuances and the technical details. I'm not saying this is a wrong way to listen to music because, realistically, there is no wrong way to listen to music.

But like my previous random audio thought, this kind of lifestyle isn't for me. I like putting emotion into my reviews because music IS an emotional experience.

So in a way, while I do hate the Canon II, I love it for making me enjoy music when music felt kinda stale for the last few weeks.

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RANDOM AUDIO THOUGHTS #1: The Meta Audio Discussion

One of the few things that I've tried to understand more is how audio terminologies work in conjunction with the observations that I've had as reviewing requires me to be able to describe my thoughts.

One of the things I realized while in this journey of understanding is being more technical will dehumanize your explanations. Not only for myself but for the reviewers that I watch.

There are a few reviewers that I've seen that describe audio terms in pure technical terms without any sense of emotion or feeling towards what they listen to which, isn't necessarily the wrong way to listen or describe music as audio is a very subjective topic, but it doesn't resonate with my own personal ideologies for audio.

The problem? I tried to get into that hyper-technical explanation and ended up just losing touch over the music that I listen to. I think it happened a few weeks ago, but I tried to consume music in a more technical way and it ended up with me focusing too much one aspect and losing sight over the other.

This eventually piled unto each other and ended up with me basically being burnt out, which oddly happens a lot. I'll talk more about that in the future.

But to conclude, I want to construct my impressions with a little bit more emotion. Not just explaining the technical terms, but also where I can express myself.

Yeah, that's it for now. See yah

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Tumblr Account Revival

So, something I've been wanting to do is share my thoughts on audio stuff to get my gears turning and allow me to stretch my writing and creative muscles a little bit better, but I didn't know where to post it.

Then I remembered Tumblr exists, so here I am. I'll probably be posting more here just to share whatever thoughts I have that deserve to be more than just a Facebook or Twitter (X) post. These could even branch out to be more than just an article. Maybe I'll post my reviews too, but I think that's too much work already.

But yeah, hello everyone. Glad to finally share my thoughts with 0 restraint. Well, maybe a little bit of restraint

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WELCOME TO OB ODIO REVIEWS!

Hello! Welcome to the first rendition of OB ODIO's blog/review page. I'm using Tumblr for the time being as this is what I have the most experience with in creating blogs, but I will be creating a proper website when the time comes. But until then, please take the time to check out my reviews!

Thank you and have a nice day!