R/E/P Community

R/E/P => Klaus Heyne's Mic Lab => Topic started by: klaus on February 27, 2011, 02:09:05 AM

Title: Please Read These Ground Rules Before You Post!
Post by: klaus on February 27, 2011, 02:09:05 AM
The Mic Lab is meant for the exchange and advancement of knowledge about high-quality microphones among audio professionals (studio owners, producers, engineers and artists).

With everyone's good will and adherence to a few but crucial ground rules (below), this forum will continue to remain the prime online source and reference site for reliable, authoritative information about high-end microphones and their application posted with utmost respect by and for everyone.

'High End', 'high quality' and 'professionals' are of course subjective terms.
This is an online community whose knowledge, advice and stimulating discussion is rarely found in the faceless, anonymous jungle of many existing forums.

Those who don't know who I am and what business I have to lead a forum on microphones: please Google my name, or read an interview for an introduction to what I do, what I think, and how I feel about microphones:
https://www.prosoundweb.com/interview-klaus-heyne-master-of-microphone-modifications/

The Mic Lab's Ground Rules for Success

* Please always use your full, real name and professional affiliation, if different from your screen name when you post.
This policy makes for a better, more honest forum in the long run. Anonymous posts remove responsibility from the poster. I'd rather talk to people who have the courage to take a risk and trust that their courage will not be violated by forum participants.


What I encourage:

* Inquiries about a microphone's technical and user features, its maintenance and repair

* A generous exchange of microphone application tips, hints and questions

* A sharing of actual, real world experiences with specific microphone brands and models

* Please keep your posts short and condensed, whenever possible. We need to respect audio professionals' lives and schedules. They rarely have the time or patience to sift through essays, or respond to them with valuable contributions.


What I discourage (a polite way to say what is prohibited):

* Posts containing second-hand info: ("...I was told it sounds just like the original...") (..."Famous Face tried it and really liked it!"...)
If you haven't used, heard or seen a mic, don't post opinions about it. "I was told..." opinions by third parties which did not post don't contain the kind of information on which to build a foundation of knowledge.
Test or A-B mics yourself, then generously and passionately share in explicit detail what you experienced, for the benefit of all.

* Posts containing quotes without attribution or original source. These are just hear-say and not good enough for this forum ("...a trusted engineer-friend thought mic x rocks..."). If the engineer thinks it rocks, then ask him to step up and share with us what he knows.

* Long-winded posts, dissertations on microphone theory, and any other subjects that a poster cannot summarize within a paragraph, or a reader with average intelligence cannot comprehend. If you cannot express a subject in simple language in one paragraph, the subject may not be right for this forum. (The moderator is of course completely exempt from this rule!)

* 'For sale' or 'Wanted' posts, valuation estimates or value inquiries. The Mic Lab's credibility and access to professionals shall not be exploited for selling, buying or pricing of microphones. (Typical e-bay seller, before this policy was enacted: "this mic is worth $xxx, as confirmed on recent Mic Lab discussions...")

* Posts that attempt to get authentication information about vintage mics, in an effort to avoid paying the good folks who offer such services at modest fees. This is not the forum for getting authoritative information for free that will determine the financial value of a mic.

* Overt or hidden promotion for products or services. Such posts, including "testimonials" by engineers, are a waste of everyone's time in a forum like this. When I spot a post which I suspect has a commercial angle, I will pull it. Exception: businesses will always find an open door for answering specific inquiries or respond to concerns brought up by posters.

* Discourteous posts. Without warning or explanation I will remove posts using rude or disrespectful language. If this offends some of you, there are other forums where blowing off steam and knocking a few heads is tolerated.

* Cross posts. The 'buckshot' approach to placing identical posts of inquiry on several forums. Professionals who take time and make efforts answering inquiries on my forum deserve the courtesy of undivided attention. With few exceptions (stolen mic alerts) cross posts will be deleted.

* I may discontinue threads which I feel are off subject or morphing from one subject to the next, or posts that deteriorate to two-person chats without much in it for the rest of us.

* Legal entanglements. While it may be exciting to watch and read about train wrecks in our industry, it is beyond the scope and expertise of this forum to take positions or investigate who is right and who is wrong when manufacturers sue each other. If you find it important to inform the forum about legal decisions that could affect microphone users, please simply refer to a link where those who are interested can read more about it.


I intend to not repeat the mistake of other forums that, by lack of vigilant moderation, lost their spark, focus and respectful tone. As there is always a multiple of readers vs. posters, the forum will stay professional and on-topic so that those who have something to share about professional mics feel safe here, stick around, post, and post here first.

I thank you for your attention and welcome you to the Mic Lab!
Klaus Heyne
April 20, 2004
rev. March 1, 2023

------------------------------------------------------------

A word about my editing policy

I edit the majority of posts, on an almost daily basis, because you contribute to a larger, permanent, intelligent body of work here. On occasion, I may even delete whole posts, and, rarely, whole threads.

Some of the reasons why I edit your contributions: points that are not made clearly, repetition, long-winded, super-detailed explanations, chatting off-subject, bad spelling, grammar and syntax.

Unlike the hands-off policies seen on some blogs or forums, please do not expect that every word you write here will end up on the forum. Here, contributions are handled as they would in a newspaper of magazine: the editor's discretion comes before publication.


The high level of writing you encounter here is rarely found on other forums (check around!), and has gotten us accolades from the competition, despite the fact that the volume of posts here is comparatively small.

If you ever feel that I cut into the meat of what you were trying to express, please PM me. I will always consider your criticism, and will make it right for you, if I can.

P.S.: ...and guess whose posts are the most edited and deleted of all?

Best regards,
Klaus Heyne
German Masterworks
www.GermanMasterworks.com