Brief Advice

andrew1810

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Evening gents (and hello ladies :flasher:)

A while ago I set up a website to try and lump (hopefully) unbiased reviews of the multi-room/wireless audio stuff into one place to save people searching all over the place:

www.audiofi.co.uk/reviews

This site seems to be doing quite well so I am considering how to expand it and am looking for suggestions and comments on my ideas:

1) Move into HDD based hifi (sound cards) - I would need help for this, but I'm sure I could find people who have tried most of the better ones

2) Add reviews of the NAS boxes mentioned

3) Add a price comparison search box at the bottom of each page (this wouldn't only help the viewer, but also help pay for my hosting!)

Any other comments or suggestions welcome

I'm not looking to make millions from this, more make it one of the better sites for reviews

Thanks

Andrew

Edit: Also, what are the chances of getting models on loan to review?

 

mac2006

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May 2, 2006
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A usful site, and fills a nice niche. I think adding 'pro'sound cards would be good, as would some tips on setting up wireless networks. For example, adding a caegory showing whether the wireless devices listed support encrypted networks would be useful.

NAS reviews that are slanted towards how good they are for music storage and how well they workwith the devices listed isalso a good idea, as all the reviews I've seen are geared towars their performance for data files and make no mention of noise they produce/reliaility with streaming devices etc. For example, my Lacie ethernet disk mini is so loud I hide it in a cupboard.

As an aside, I've owned a Noxon2 for about 3 monthsand can provide some more detailed info for your review. Also, the slim devices Transporter should be added, as this 'high end' unit will doubtless attract audiophiles.

 

andrew1810

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mac2006 wrote:

A usful site, and fills a nice niche.  I think adding 'pro' sound cards would be good, as would some tips on setting up wireless networks.  For example, adding a caegory showing whether the wireless devices listed support encrypted networks would be useful.  NAS reviews that are slanted towards how good they are for music storage and how well they work with the devices listed is also a good idea, as all the reviews I've seen are geared towars their performance for data files and make no mention of noise they produce/reliaility with streaming devices etc.  For example, my Lacie ethernet disk mini is so loud I hide it in a cupboard.

As an aside, I've owned a Noxon2 for about 3 months and can provide some more detailed info for your review.  Also, the slim devices Transporter should be added, as this 'high end' unit will doubtless attract audiophiles.
Thanks for the reply, I'll try and get some willing volunteers who have decent pro soundcards.

I'll add a section on wireless networking later on tonight or tomorrow, probably a description of how it works, what equipment you would need and then a few recommended products which I know work.

Some info on the Noxon2 would be great, I had the original Noxon which was the best of the sub £100 players, but couldn't really justify £150 on another player!

I will also put the transporter on there, once I have had a quick read of the threads about it on the slimdevices forum.

Thanks

Andrew

 

andrew1810

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I have made a few changes today:

1) Add information on wireless networks, recommended hardware etc. and also details on each player with which security they support

2) Added an overview page with the overall rating, price and a picture

3) Added a page for the Transporter

4) Added a kelkoo compare prices button on each product page, it was actually suprisingly accurate with prices and hopefully makes a little revenue to cover hosting fees without needing to include adverts/banners

I'll make it all live as soon as the kelkoo search thing goes live (you can see it on the Acoustic Energy product page though for an idea)

I've posted in a few forums for some people with soundcards/NAS boxes to write a review so I'll have to wait and see what happens there.

I'll just have to see how difficult it is to get products in on review now, anyone tried it before?

 

jon

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Jul 20, 2005
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This software - http://audio.rightmark.org/index_new.shtml - gives a fairly straightforward way to get stats on different soundcards. Though cards that measure badly may sound subjectively good (and vice versa) it could give you an easy way to offer some information for those trying to choose between different models. Even if you couldn't get a demo of the card, you'd just need to persuade an owner to measure it for you. It may well also work on many/most wireless players...

 

andrew1810

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Jul 20, 2005
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I've just uploaded some changes to the website, including the Transporter page, a bit on wireless networking and some price comparison stuff (needs a little work)

I'm going to try and add more places to buy from asap

Still want to add sections on NAS devices and soundcards, but not having much luck finding people to review them (or companies to send one for review)

 

mac2006

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Looking good. I came across the new YamahaRX-V2700 A/V reciever, which includes internet radio and an ethernet port for music streaming. Looks like a beast and comes in at $1700 or so though.

As for reviews, I can do an in depth review onthe Noxon2 for you. Will PM you in the next day or two.

I also have my SB Audigy 2ZS PCMCIA (laptop) soundcard if you need a review onthat also. Not ultra-highend, but 24bit,optical in/out, 7.1, Dolby, DTS decoding,THX certified etc. etc. andoptions are quite limited for laptop users.

 

Davewhityetagain

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Jul 24, 2005
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:)andrew1810 wrote:

Davewhityetagain wrote:
andrew1810 wrote:
Edit: Also, what are the chances of getting models on loan to review?
What type of models ?
Anything suitable really, soundcards, NAS boxes, wireless players (Sonos, Hifidelio, Cambridge Audio etc.)
:)I was thinking no never mind
biggrin.png


 

andrew1810

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Jul 20, 2005
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Just to bump this up, spent a few days and I've given the site a design update (the old one was a bit ugly)

Any comments would be great, especially any problems/mistakes (I hand coded this one, so there could be the odd typo)

Thanks

Andrew

 

PARAGON

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Excellent and helpful, though it might be worthwhile listing what other equipment you connected them to, just to give a point of reference.

 

TIU

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Hi Andrew,

Nice clean and tidy site. From a design point of view your black body text is very easy to read and has generous leading in places and short lines.

I would consider changing the blue text in your navigational menu bar on the left hand side. The blue is clashing with the orange background and causes the text to blur slightly. People with sight difficulties may have problems reading this text. Black text on the orange background would be more legible or the darker colour in your logo. One of the easiest colour combinations to read on screen is black text on yellow, so black or a very dark colour on orange is pretty close.

Where you have used the blue text on the two shades of lighter blue it is much better as it doesn't jar with the background. I think overall the site works very well and I envy people who write their own html! I hope you find this small observation useful. Best of luck with it.

Rgds,

TIU

Oh and just a point about navigation: you could add 'top of page' links at the bottom of each page. Just makes the site a little more user friendly.

 

andrew1810

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Jul 20, 2005
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turnitup! wrote:

Hi Andrew,Nice clean and tidy site. From a design point of view your black body text is very easy to read and has generous leading in places and short lines.

I would consider changing the blue text in your navigational menu bar on the left hand side. The blue is clashing with the orange background and causes the text to blur slightly. People with sight difficulties may have problems reading this text. Black text on the orange background would be more legible or the darker colour in your logo. One of the easiest colour combinations to read on screen is black text on yellow, so black or a very dark colour on orange is pretty close.

Where you have used the blue text on the two shades of lighter blue it is much better as it doesn't jar with the background. I think overall the site works very well and I envy people who write their own html! I hope you find this small observation useful. Best of luck with it.

Rgds,

TIU

Oh and just a point about navigation: you could add 'top of page' links at the bottom of each page. Just makes the site a little more user friendly.
Thanks for the tips, colours aren't my strong point, so I often end up with messy menus.

I have updated the menu text to black and will add some top of page links to them now

Andrew

 

TIU

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Color_theory#The_color_wheel

(had trouble with the image so pasted the url)

This should help when choosing text colours. See how the mid blue is opposite the orange. Opposites on the colour wheel are contrasting colours so when used for coloured text on coloured backgrounds, it creates a jarring effect. Red and green create this jarring effect too.

Personally I avoid using coloured text on a coloured background unless the text is quite large. If the backgound is in a strong colour, the text is best set black or reversed out white.

See on the colour wheel where the mid blue you used is close to the lighter blues. These are complementary colours so will not clash so much.

Tip: use this colour wheel to initially choose your home decorating theme. The Crown and Dulux guides you see are all based on this idea of contrasting and complementary colours. Here endeth TIU's colour lesson for today.
tongue.png
Sorry if I'm teaching you to suck eggs.

 

andrew1810

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Jul 20, 2005
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turnitup! wrote:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Color_theory#The_color_wheel(had trouble with the image so pasted the url)

This should help when choosing text colours. See how the mid blue is opposite the orange. Opposites on the colour wheel are contrasting colours so when used for coloured text on coloured backgrounds, it creates a jarring effect. Red and green create this jarring effect too.

Personally I avoid using coloured text on a coloured background unless the text is quite large. If the backgound is in a strong colour, the text is best set black or reversed out white.

See on the colour wheel where the mid blue you used is close to the lighter blues. These are complementary colours so will not clash so much.

Tip: use this colour wheel to initially choose your home decorating theme. The Crown and Dulux guides you see are all based on this idea of contrasting and complementary colours. Here endeth TIU's colour lesson for today.
tongue.png
Sorry if I'm teaching you to suck eggs.
Excellent, I have bookmarked the link for other websites I'll be doing in the future.

I have added a 'To Top' link at the bottom of each page too

Thanks

Andrew

 

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