Innerfidelity is gone

I knew I should have saved a few of his measurements. E.g.: all the Senns, a few Beyers, Shures, etc…

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It was the Grado section that I liked. Especially the information about the various pad modifications. The L-Pad with tape tames the high-end peak that bothers many. And the RS-1e has a much more normal FR.

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Seems like everytime Stereophile gets a new owner they get rid of some great contributors and features. I was more into the Audiostream site, which now also is kaput. Rafe seemed to be controversial, but his writitng about digital/streaming was detailed and touched on a lot of different gear (most of it beyond my budget but still interesting to read). All that said, the Darko site smokes all the rest as far as non-snooty coverage of gear that appeals to everyday audiophile and audio-curious folks; strong video game … I love a couple of the writers for Stereophile (and I love Analog Planet), but they often seem lost in the clouds of megabucks and minutae, none of it relevant to anyone with an income below the mid-6 figures.

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I have found John Darko an excellent resource for an aspirant audiophile. He is particularly sensitive to the budget conscious, while still maintaining the goal of the best audio for the price. I find his video reviews interesting and make sure to watch whenever there is a new one.

I couldn’t believe that Tyl retired from Inner Fidelity, as he WAS Inner Fidelity. He was a very important resource for headphone users and presented his opinions in a straightforward and unbiased manner. I always felt that I could trust his opinions, free of manufacturer influence. This was a refreshing change from many other reviewers and will be sorely missed.

FYI, the Canadian Inner Fidelity website is still up for those who might want to explore it. Here is the link.

Inner Fidelity - Canada

There are links to headphone measurements, but it looks like they have been deleted.

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In the brief time I followed IF while Tyll was there I really enjoyed the site and found it super informative and personable. That was lost when he left for sure.

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Alas, the measurements aren’t there.

I think you need to learn how to use the Wayback Machine. Note that archiving isn’t perfect, and you often need to scroll down, as graphics and Javascript code pages are sometimes rendered in unexpected ways. It’s best to look at a date in which a few captures were done. Then you need to take your time.

Here are URL examples. I just searched resources and pulled the Hifiman HE-560 measurment pages. Support the Archive with a few dollars if you can.

Above you will note I selected the Feb 26, 2020 second capture, shown in the first link above. From there, I selected resources and scrolled down, selecting the Hifiman HE-560 PDF

The navigation will be kludgy, but it’s not all gone.

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This works. I was able to find and save a PDF of measurements of a favorite headphone (Focal Utopia).

In looking over the list I was reminded how many new headphones have been introduced since Tyl left IF. This is certainly a dynamic industry, with improved products coming out each year. All to our benefit.

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Yep. The only one I couldn’t get from my list was the HD660S measurements.

Hopefully that database will appear again somewhere.

Try an earlier date with multiple attempts, Maybe something in 2018 or so.

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Thanks for the info.

That service was actually easier to navigate then the alternatives I looked yesterday. Somehow I couldn’t find that specific measurement. Not a big deal.

Thanks anyway. :+1:

A few friends of mine have been collecting measurements and articles for months because we all feared this would happen. Here’s what we have so far, should get updated.

I’d very much like to know what the hell happened here, I find it EXTREMELY disrespectful that someone just up and deleted Tyll’s life work.

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Corporations don’t give a f***. Especially new owners. I just hope they keep publishing Herb Reichert and Michael Fremer.

Websites are not free to create or maintain. This is sometimes lost in the social media era and the widespread use of ad blockers :relaxed: :grimacing: :astonished: :pleading_face: :sweat:.

The owners may well have been losing money on hosting (e.g., COVID-19 ad and sales slowdowns) too.

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What’s funny is that I’ve read that hi-end audio sales have been pretty good during the pandemic/quarantine. So not sure regarding ad revenue. I have no evidence, but I suspect Innerfidelity lost a lot of its audience when Tyll left, and Rafe immediately got into a huffy back and forth with some readers who commented about the changes made to the site. Certainly COVID etc. has provided good cover for institutions chopping away at arts journalism (which hi-fi coverage is) that they have been waiting for a good time to cut. Stereophile has been on a gradual trend of laying off solid contributors in the past year or two, and to the diminishment of the brand. (I did album reviews for them over a year or three back in the early '00s, not sure how many owners it’s had since then but it always seemed like a bad thing when the magazine changed hands.)

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In most cases your life’s work belongs to a corporation that has no respect for you.

Yeap I’ve heard from a few folks… IN, that they’ve gotten far MORE orders than they expected during this time. Some are in fact down right BUSY

Which makes sense, given how many people are now working form home.

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That and there are (in many places) no concerts to go to.

I know this prompted me to divert money into improving my headphone setup. It seemed worthwhile given the long, late hours I’m spending in the home office now.

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@typicalheadfierandy … This is true for me as well. I would have spent a lot of cash traveling to NYC, and then Knoxville (for the fantastic Big Ears festival) back in March, catching a slew of performances for work and fun, save for the lockdown. Subsequently, I upgraded my cartridge, scored a pair of Utopias, upgraded some cables, and had new AC lines put in for the hi-fi, ordered a Stratus and already got the upgrade tubes, and suddenly poof … all the money I didn’t spend got spent. Which may not have been the most prudent move, but as I can expect to be stuck around the house for the rest of the year, I’m getting an awful lot of enjoyment for my investment.

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