While we tend to focus on snake oil and outright fraud in the world of high-end audiophilia, there seems to be a fair amount of it in the pro audio realm as well, especially in the mastering business. Consider, for example, this little video with the well-known mastering engineer Greg Calbi of Sterling Sound:
If you get to 0:40, he says that the first thing he does is to listen to a track through two different sets of audiophile interconnects. He maintains that the two sets of interconnects sound totally different and that there is no way of predicting whether a track will sound better through one set or the other set.
Either Mr. Calbi is delusional, or he has found a very simple way to waste a lot of time in mastering his clients' projects--convenient when one bills by the hour, as elite mastering engineers usually do. I genuinely do not know if this is a well-intended but pointless practice, on the one hand, or a fraud perpetrated on Mr. Calbi's clients, on the other.
Do I think that Mr. Calbi is particularly accomplished or competent in his field, in light of all the hit records he has mastered? I do not. The measure of a mastering engineer's competence is how good his work product sounds, and I don't think very many of Mr. Calbi's records sound good. I think Mr. Calbi is good at impressing his (technically very unsophisticated) clients and bringing in business.
I don't lump all mastering engineers with Mr. Calbi. I think Ryan Smith at Sterling Sound has done good work, and I think Bob Ludwig is good at what he does, though he is no stranger to snake oil.
In addition to calling out the guys who write for The Absolute Sound and other high-end consumer rags, perhaps we should spend more time calling out professionals for this nonsense.
If you get to 0:40, he says that the first thing he does is to listen to a track through two different sets of audiophile interconnects. He maintains that the two sets of interconnects sound totally different and that there is no way of predicting whether a track will sound better through one set or the other set.
Either Mr. Calbi is delusional, or he has found a very simple way to waste a lot of time in mastering his clients' projects--convenient when one bills by the hour, as elite mastering engineers usually do. I genuinely do not know if this is a well-intended but pointless practice, on the one hand, or a fraud perpetrated on Mr. Calbi's clients, on the other.
Do I think that Mr. Calbi is particularly accomplished or competent in his field, in light of all the hit records he has mastered? I do not. The measure of a mastering engineer's competence is how good his work product sounds, and I don't think very many of Mr. Calbi's records sound good. I think Mr. Calbi is good at impressing his (technically very unsophisticated) clients and bringing in business.
I don't lump all mastering engineers with Mr. Calbi. I think Ryan Smith at Sterling Sound has done good work, and I think Bob Ludwig is good at what he does, though he is no stranger to snake oil.
In addition to calling out the guys who write for The Absolute Sound and other high-end consumer rags, perhaps we should spend more time calling out professionals for this nonsense.
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