That’s not at all what is happening here…
I do not know who is in charge of all this bs with the Bartok over at dcs, but overall all lets look at the facts.
It has been two damn years since this review was published. Does right now really make sense when this has been out for so long and already viewed to now push this foolish agenda. That to me seems extremely petty.
The brand is damaging its very own reputation by further pushing the agenda.
In addition, if my memory serves me correct GS had one of the very first sold units. I believe a viewer sent it in to him for his thoughts and opinions. What are you going to prove? That it hurt sales when you have no sales figures since the product just hit the market.
Lastly, a subjective buyer is not going to take an objective reviewers take on a product. They want to hear it for themselves and make a judgement. An objective viewer even prior to watching this review would be highly unlikely to pay that much for this unit even if it was objectively flawless from the standpoint of diminishing returns. That’s just strictly my opinion and definitely makes some degree of sense.
The next thing would be GS does similar reviews on multiple products prior to the Bartok review in the very same fashion. Why would he intentionally make up false statements when his entire goal in all reviews is to be unbiased. The fact he was willing to amend any errors with 0 mistakes being pointed out by the company further drives this point. None the less, some of the supposed errors in the review were actually not errors at all.
When the accusations are true we can respect the entire matter. Also I am 100% positive if this was the case GS would immediately announce and amend the errors.
Furthermore, if the brand did make these accusations and found out they were wrong and reversed all of this and issued an apology for creating this situation we would have damage control and protect the brand reputation.
This stunt has probably brought that video back to life and has increased the views further spreading the fact the product is doodoo.
This is probably the most silly and counterproductive thing the company could possibly do after all this time has elapsed
I would need to read more on that. I’m sure there are more finer details to that particular situation in this problem.
One might argue that the public statement by dCS is defamatory towards GoldenSound…
If dCS are looking for a competent brand manager who will not set the brand’s image ablaze, I am available for hire. I can promise you that no matter what, I am incapable of lodging my head up my behind as much as the current cast of guys there have done.
I realize there’s a bigger picture, and numerous points of contention here, but this one at least is easy to resolve. Surely dCS recorded this virtual meeting, and they merely need to show at least the portion of it where their VP offers apologies. Simple.
True, but that’s what happens when you get the gig because mommy knows the right VP at IBM. It’s not like anyone would know the name Bill Gates today if it depended on his technical ability. It’s often who you know, not what you know. Wonder who the VP of Marketing at dCS knows.
That doesn’t fit the timeline or history. @GoldenSound was fully unknown to many of us when he released the dCS Bartok review (October 2021). He then hit the audio industry with a sledgehammer with his MQA technical analysis (November 2021).
His analysis and conclusion that MQA wasn’t what it seemed to be may have single-handedly led to MQA’s bankruptcy in 2023.
While @GoldenSound likely did not understand hardball corporate tactics in 2021, do not underestimate the reality of hardball corporate tactics and the routine practice of hiring attorneys to intimidate.
He never attempted to reconcile. He’s just attempting to gaslight and manipulate.
On a different note, happy birthday @SebastienChiu!
One might consider that both mqa and dcs are based around cambridge in the uk, and that dcs now has former meridian employees in its staff roster. Mqa was one of bob stuarts babys ( meridian founder).
I wonder if there’s a hint of Cambridge ( the location) audio mafia at work here?
Something similar had crossed my mind as well. Not so much that there was anything nefarious going on behind the scenes, and I have no evidence of this so it’s purely speculative, but I could see someone getting upset about Cameron’s takedown of MQA (which was a major benefit to the audio industry), and that influencing their opinion of his content in general.
I’m not sure how much this applies to dCS specifically, but there are bound to be manufacturers who were fully convinced of MQA’s benefit and may have seen Cameron’s exposition on that subject as damaging to them as well - remember that a lot of products carried the MQA badge on them. Regardless of the cost involved, which in the case of high end products would be inconsequential to the customer anyway, I can still see someone getting upset that a key marketing feature for their product got critiqued as a scam.
That crossed my mind as well, but after going through some of the discussion online, I’m more inclined to think that dCS wanted to defend their marketing spiel that includes their DACs not being sigma-delta (however they define that). While they might tolerate basic measurements such as Stereophile does of products, they don’t seem to like more serious technical analysis and discussion.
I don’t believe that they ever truly had the intent to sue, more that they just wanted rid of the review, and ensure that Cameron never touched a dCS product in his reviews again, unless they could bring him on side – invite him over for a factory tour, etc.
What dCS may not realise is, younger people who may be of university age now, in 5 or 10 years after they get jobs and serious money (such as some people I know who do things like AI programming), will remember this, avoid and discourage the purchase of dCS gear. Newer generations of reviewers will avoid them as well. This on top of people cancelling their orders over this event. They’ve poisoned their own well for a decade or more.
Given the upcoming sponsorship of Canjam London, David S and ownership should man the room themselves and let the staff take off. (…to job hunt?).
I think that’s a bad idea – if it was David S and ownership man their exhibit just to let the staff “take off”, it might just invite counterproductive discussions NOT centered on the products, frustrating people who just want to try their gear and aren’t interested in the drama.
I say this even being someone who think Cameron dealt with them fairly, and as someone who finds dCS’s behavior on this count embarrassing – but I would not go to their booth to air that out, as that is unhelpful and just annoying to those who just want to test their gear.
I am pleased that this whole situation has come to an end.
I’m looking forward to visiting dCS next week, and for now the most important thing I ask is that people refrain from giving anyone at dCS a hard time. Particularly at CanJam this weekend. The individual involved is no longer with the company, and I do not want anyone to be directing further messages their way nor giving any sort of hardship to employees who had nothing to do with this situation in the first place.
However, I would also like to sincerely thank everyone in the community for their support the past few days
I’m pleased to hear things are over and they have issued a formal apology to you and headphones.com. I applaud you for staying strong and showing true class throughout this horrible situation. Kudos to you and the headphones.com staff - y’all are amazing!
Maintain your strife for unmatched in depth journalism and all shall continue to love your work. Expect continued support from the audio community as we value and honor your meticulous reporting. Plus you are naturally a likeable person. I hope to see more work from you that pushes the envelope.
So glad they figured out what happened and rectified the situation. Hope to see you at CanJam this Sunday! I’ll even stop by the dCS both as a show of good faith.
@GoldenSound – I’m very happy to see this end well. A few things come to mind after your dramatic and traumatic career rollout:
Given your track record I doubt that other vendors will come at you head on in the future. They now understand what is likely to happen. Those who were once hostile may now try to win your affections with gifts and ingratiation rather than bullying and intimidation. I hope that you can maintain distance, and keep your critical and balanced eyes.
We love your work as it has been conducted, and want to see a lot more of you in the skull cap with the little square boxy thing on top.
Thanks.
Now this is peak fashion!