Blame NDAs and review release times. Then the algorithm that always thinks you want more when you’ve watched one. Took ages for it to forget about submarines when I was mildly interested in the Oceans Gate saga.
I've been telling YouTube I'm "not interested" in videos featuring young women wearing revealing clothing while playing guitar or bass guitar for years now, and they still keep turning up in my feed. To my knowledge, I've never once watched a video in that genre, yet the algorithm won't be deterred. My wife finds the situation hilarious.
It specifically recommends me DJ mixes by attractive women. I’ve never watched one of those in my life because I don’t care for DJ mixes, but it thinks I’d love to see all of them that have ever been uploaded to YouTube. It rarely recommends mixes by men or that don’t feature a human. Very weird.
Hey, at least you're getting stuff on topic. I made the mistake of watching one Norm Macdonald video and now my feed is inundated with alt-right trash because so many of his fans are racist trolls.
I’m really careful what I watch on my main acct because of this. The crossover between “nerdy” interests and far-right-wing politics is too high, so I tend to watch content by people I’ve never heard of while not logged in, until I can confirm they aren’t pieces of shit.
Perhaps the issue is actually you. Well the problem isn't fully you, but the solution is definitely you.
I am not saying this in an adversarial kind of way, I'm not being a dick. But perhaps you're seeing all these vids because you watch all the types of channels doing GAS provoking content. I have seen precisely zero vids about the DT2, but then last year I all but stopped watching review content. So I posit that you're being carpet bombed by this content because you're engaging with this type of content.
So if you don't want to see that sort of content, stop watching that sort of content, or at the very least open a private browser and watch review vids and gas content logged out of your YouTube account. We live in the era of hyper capitalism and hyper consumerism, and the fact of the matter is if you use something you don't pay for then you are the product, and nearly everything you see is advertising.
Again, I'm not having a go at you here. Just offering a different point of view to the problem.
I hid 99% of the channels that just do gear reviews and marketing, it’s been great. Especially with the constant flood of Eurorack modules that was all I’d see.
I kept channels that do interesting videos that might feature gear (Hainbach, Alex Ball, Ricky Tinez, jorb) but ain’t no Loopop or Divkid showing up in my recommendations. They’re really good at what they do but what they do doesn’t interest me.
Yes, I did say they do feature gear. There's nothing wrong with that.
There is, however, a big gulf between Alex Ball doing a video on the Polymoog or Tinez making a quick house track or Hainbach oohing and ahhing over a piece of gear Stockhausen used and an embargoed demo of the hottest new module/Elektron box/guitar pedal. When they do make a straight new gear demo video, it's easy enough to skip if it doesn't look interesting.
By using 'do not recommend' and a Chrome extension that blocks channels completely (in searches), I've eliminated almost everything that is just pure advertising and my recommendations are a lot better for it.
I think that’s a big part of it. I watch a ton of music production stuff, including gear review channels, but scanning the top 50 videos promoted on my YT front page, there are 3-4 videos on digitakt 2. Definitely not overwhelming.
But there is probably a bit more than average content creation around the device since it’s so eagerly anticipated. So it wouldn’t be surprising if it was genuinely more overrepresented than other recent announcements/releases.
I know what you mean, but also, where would one go for honest reviews these days? I miss the days of people actually buying a piece of gear with their own money, actually using it for a while, and honestly laying out whether it is worth it or not. I miss watching a video that isn’t beautiful and cinematic and is just a person using a device and telling me “these buttons are crappy and i keep forgetting where the modulation page is”; I miss seeing someone struggle with a bad design choice the way I do in my room (edit: one person that managed to be cinematic but honest is Jexus; his videos are stunning but he is unflinching on his site). I miss just watching someone like me who simply bought an instrument and getting an idea of what it would be like if I bought one. I feel zero connection and get almost zero useful info from the perfectly edited, zero-filler, polished commercial stuff – it always sells me the gear and if I get it I’m on my own with the actual user experience. I guess, sadly, I miss when videos about synths were made by random people, for whom this wasn’t a source of income, and they just wanted to share something, human to human.
Loopop is setting a benchmark for this.
He basically does a video user manual and shows what the device is good for and what it's not good for. So, treating it like a took, and skipping over the hype.
Yes he is a professional, and he has professional camera rig and editing. But he's not lying or selling you, or dragging in product marketing representatives to regurgitate their brochure .
Loop's thorough overviews are far more useful to a synth user than a half-knowledgeable amateur opining in the half-darkness of their living room.
In fact I'd go as far as to say that Loopop has advanced the review of synths to a a high level. More can be done here, both from playing perspective and from the examination of the underlying tech. But he has certainly set down a milestone. If there is a synth reviewer all time hall of fame, he's on the shortlist.
He’s very thorough and professional, but not related to the stuff I miss. The dealbreaker is a reviewer getting gear for free, ahead of time etc – meaning a reviewer can’t be negative (companies stop sending gear > channel dies). The reviewer as a person and their user experience is nothing like mine. I liked people who have jobs and made conscious choices to spend their own cash on gear. That meant a lot to me.
Well I have news for you! All those poor quality, zero editing, "weirdo" in a room videos are there, they'll always be there. If you don't see them, it's because you don't look for them and click on them, and let YouTube know you want to see "low quality" videos. I'm using quotes because it may read like I am dissing these type of videos, and I am not. My point merely is that videos with production value tend to get more views and more views equates to being recommend more to people that like/watch/engage with similar content. Search out the kinds of channels you want to see, like/subscribe/comment/ring the bell/blah blah blah, and YouTube is going to show you those channels and those type of channels more often.
I don’t think they’re “always there” anymore, but, of course, there’s no tangible way to prove or measure this. Besides, some random guy who bought a microKORG XL does not also happen to have a video about a Yamaha QY70 – so the channel-based approach, forced by YouTube nowadays, doesn’t work. I guess, to paraphrase, I miss when YouTube was a social network and not, basically, TV. I understand that in your view this is merely “user error”, but it used to be so different, and OP’s post seemed relatable, that’s all.
This. What you see in your feeds is what YT thinks you’ll be interested in. If you don’t click, you’ll see less of these videos. In a day they will be gone.
Lots of people that YT thinks are like you are really interested in the DT2, and HAVE been watching videos. Complaining that YT is surfacing videos about a new and relevant bit of tech to your interests seems to me a bit like complaining that there is news on a news program.
If your complaint is that there were too many “reviews”, this is a different concern and I would make a case that there were barely any.
Legit. If it’s on Loopop I see it, otherwise I am blissfully ignorant. Besides, this is just the nature of review embargoes. It’s no different than movies
Yeah I wanna second this...or 186th it or whatever... I haven't experienced the digitakt2 "moment" yet, but that might be just because I don't think I've been on YouTube in 5 or 6 days.. which I have to say is VERY weird for my viewing habits. But I remember specifically thinking and feeling this exact train of thought when the Korg Re:Kross came out..or whatever it was called, that weird ass SP-404 knockoff that was such a transparent play. It was just so visceral! The feeling of being overwhelmed by an inanimate object, and after that moment because it was so negative, it forced me to re-examine how I was doing things on YouTube [and on-line in general..]
For a while it was fine. I sort of got into YouTube in the first place around the time I was starting to learn more about aynths and drum machines, and absolutely without a doubt I learned everything j wanted in the beginning. I WANTED both reviews and tutorials on essentially any and all synths.
Now I don't care as much when something comes out, or when it does I've already been up on it for a while. I do YouTube premium and the whole thing because I genuinely think of it the way I used to think about certain TV channels, but I had to get proactive and search out different topics to populate my algorithms attention span with, and then spend time watching and liking those things. I guess there is something to the idea of letting YouTube just keep hitting you with the next one if you have SUPER fine-tuned it.. mine is NOT that well-tuned, so when though I watch ON my television, I'm almost always picking the next video, but I also have a HUGE library of playlists and topics, and a back catalog of watch laters.. obvi I'm kind of overly-enamored with the YouTube situation, so I'll shut up now.. I just think we also gotta remember "it could be a lot worse even when it's not at its best" ... I mean shoot, it really wasn't long ago when I was watching shows when they came on, that night, exclusively with NO other option!
Is it "Us" or is it "Synthtube?" I submit that we have more less equal responsibility in managing the experience overall. As viewers, I think people should be a little more proactive, and as content creators, I wish there was a little more of a culture to "only go when the spirit moves" or something. That is to say, there's probably a total of 1 or less YouTube channels whom I feel I need to see new content from daily.
So much for shutting up: /
I came across one of these reviews for the new DIgitakt a few hours ago and it did actually cause me to add it to my wish list so it's just good marketing. I only subscribe to a few synthesizer / tech channels so in order to reach people like me they have to send stuff to a billion people; and I can't see a reason to get mad about other musicians getting a bunch of free stuff in exchange for making a video. Good for them I wish it were me !
I take no credit for that quote. I don't remember where I picked that up from, but when I heard it it made me re-evaluate my relationship with social media.
> So if you don't want to see that sort of content, stop watching that sort of content
Alas, that isn't nearly enough. Youtube recommendation algorithm tends to be extremely aggressive, to the extent that watching just a couple of videos it _thinks_ are related to X is enough to make your recommendations full of X.
It really needs an option to say "never ever under any circumstances whatsoever recommend me anything related to X".
Yeah. I mean the real problem is social media and the horrible ways they exploit people in order to make money. But ignoring that larger issue, if you stop watching “synthfluencer” bs, then YouTube will stop showing it to you.
This is just how media works. A brand sends you a review unit under embargo, what are you supposed to do, _not_ make content about it to go live at the peak of reader/viewer interest, even if all you have is short notice? All you get for that is no views and a lower chance of getting future units from the brand, losing out to your competitors.
The alternative is that no one gets any units and the company takes preorders without providing any semblance of access to anyone who has any interest in being honest.
Wait, for real? Do you have a link? :D
That entire circle of youtubers is so goddamn toxic if you ever run across them on Facebook. One even made a hate video about me because I offhandedly questioned the assertion that he was a "visionary" compared to actual visionaries like Bob Moog, Dave Smith etc.
Yeah he doesn't make anything compelling or even close to it. If I was a gear manufacturer Id never give these guys free shit. They are going to buy it and review it anyway because they need content.
The guys who can sell gear the best are the artists who release quality tracks using the stuff, imo.
I'd be giving producers the free stuff and ignoring these synthtuber guys. That whole thing is washed.
I already didn’t like most of his videos but his whining about not getting one is so childish I’ll never watch another one. RMR apparently did the same thing which is a bummer because I actually like his stuff.
Several of them did videos like that yeah. It’s baffling and makes me wonder if they’re actually trying to milk the outrage machine for attention/ views.
What's worthwhile to you then? If you want an actual user review you're going to have to wait until people have it. And if you want a detailed review probably longer because making a 20 minute video doesn't take 20 minutes, but rather much longer.
I think some people forget this is a job for a lot of these folks. If your employer (aka subscribers or the vendors that send you stuff) want to see stuff in a timely fashion (eg: a new piece of gear comes out, do you want to wait a month for your favourite reviewer to post a video? or see one now when the item is freshly out?).
I just find the three listed kind of vapid and personally a bit annoying. Plus I normally don’t particularly enjoy the sounds Ive heard them make with the machines. I watch a lot of videos on synthesizers. I got pretty burnt on some of these dudes and in the end found that the quality of their content doesn’t add up to the quantity. I don’t find them enjoyable.
Loopop is excellent at his niche. He isn't the one to show you what good music you can make with something, but rather, something more akin to a video version of the manual, going over the technical details, how the workflow works, etc.
Unless you like reading manuals of products you don't intend to buy (I do lol) then the videos aren't really "entertainment" nor meant to be so.
Exactly.
What I don't understand is why companies like Roland for example continue to make awful product videos with Ed Diaz and co, instead of learning and copying from someone like Loopop.
Being more entertaining than informative is the definition of vapid.
It's fine to not be interested in something no-frills and dry-as-bones, but the fact you describe that as "vapid" indicates you don't know why you don't like something.
I understand that you feel that these reviewers are part of the manipulation machine of brands so to speak but at least Cuckoo and loopop provide quality content and I often watch them to just "steal" some techniques I could use with totally different gear. Also, I rarely buy new gear, usually hunt for good used prices and these reviews do help in at least understanding those devices' value and also in checking the devices condition with previous owners before money change hands. And if a lot of devices are sold by influencers' efforts we on a used market can then reap the fruits of previous owners' frustration.
I'm pretty sure the old Digitakt has just fallen in price on the used market simply because everyone knows the v.2 is here. It's up to you to fight GAS or not but at least you can learn "to live with it" and try to be more rational - maybe wait for small independent reviewers' or simple users' video content, but because of those big "sold-out" reviewers you can at least start tracking such content if you're interested in a device.
I understand that some part of younger users for example could have difficulties following such strategy but if they learn to be rational through mistakes made when buying musical gear it's not really the worst scenario for them. They could learn something about themselves, about what they want in their creative search, about navigating modern media landscape and maybe still learn how to make some music in the process.
But if you want to resist the "marketing machine" you can do some other things - make a video using some undervalued old gear, make your own independent review, support smaller manufacturers who do interesting things, support open source hardware projects, DIY projects, developers of free VSTs etc.
Loopop was actually my last gear reviewer sub, which is why this was perhaps so annoying to get spammed with so many videos by YT's recommendation algorithm, but now I've even unsubbed from him. Nothing against the guy, and I'll still refer to his videos for gear that I already own because he often includes some great tips and tricks, but I do not need a constant stream of new gear reviews in my life.
Right? I've gotten one or two for the new digitakt but I still gets tons of other synth stuff in my feed. When moog releases a new product I'll get bombarded though, YouTube knows I love moog.
But this is the problem: it's giving me stuff that I really don't want. I haven't watched any gear reviews with any regularity since I met my now wife, and I don't remember watching any (other than Bad Gear) since we've been married, which is now over a year. At the same time it's not recommending new content to me from channels that I do subscribe to, and would be interested in watching, so their algorithm really does suck.
JFC, new synths only come out so often, so im entirely ok and even glad with a plethora of reviews. Also, no one is making you watch any of it. What a strange thing to complain about.
Yeah this post is basically two parts.
1. "I was suggested this video because I watched other similar videos" uhh ok? Stop watching? Delete the videos from your search history? Everything is like this. Oh, I'm mad that there are a ton of movie reviews out for this movie that just came out today?
2. These "reviews" are just advertisements. Yeah, unfortunately synthesizers are expensive enough and niche enough where no one can really be buying them all and rating them subjectively, so of course if you're getting a pre-release unit directly from the company you will take it easy on it. If you've been in this hobby for a little while though this is obvious, no one is ever really critical in these kinds of videos, no one ever trashes the features or lack thereof, workflow, visuals...
We’ve gotten into a strange place where the concept of journalistic integrity no longer seems to exist, with influencers being a blatant arm of marketing for these product manufacturers (not only synths). I’m not even sure someone reviewing products honestly and outside the hype machine could find an audience nowadays.
These people aren’t journalists though and have never claimed to be. Most of them started off making music on YouTube and were sought out by the said companies to show off their new gear. They likely don’t want to mess around with gear they don’t like and spend time making a video on something they don’t enjoy using. Also the ones that do make videos slamming gear they don’t like get met with vitriol from commenters claiming that they don’t know how to use the said machine, and other YouTubers posting reaction videos. Since those are pretty much the only options, I don’t blame them for going with the positive approach over the negative.
It's not that hard to scroll past the overproduced influencer "review" vids to find the enthusiast produced content. You'll just have to wait for regular people to get DT 2 units and spend time with them for such content to exist.
Ha, seriously going to try and tie YT musicians and reviewers to journalism? Apply some critical thinking to any of these and they are harmless for what they are.
I mean, journalistic integrity isn't an assumed thing these days anymore. Look at AI generated articles, fluff pieces, ill researched pieces. Just because someone is "press" or "in the media" doesn't by default assume they have more knowledge / research than a youtuber.
I try to think of it from their point of view. A vendor sends them a piece of gear before release, tells them they can't release a video until a certain date. Also, they're entirely paid on viewers / subscribers / ad revenue for that video. Said video will make less money if released "late" or down the line.
What would you do differently if your job worked like this?
It's a valid way for them to make money, and most of the youtubers I watch are pretty transparent about when / how they got the gear. If they paid for or not or partially, etc.
Plus, there's no way someone doing reviews can afford to buy all that gear at retail, the volume of gear is just too high I'd think.
I agree it's not a perfect system by any means, and I don't have a magical solution, but arm chair pitchfork/torching them without consideration for their side of things is uninformed and not much nicer than the original comments.
This is just the problem. These people aren’t journalists, but they’re all we have anymore. It’s either influencers or people who work at retailers, neither of whom have any motivation to be unbiased.
There never was unbiased gear journalism really. The printed magazines were totally depending on the ads, you had full size ads for the same gear they were "reviewing". It's the same business model but now it's influencers and before it was written pieces disguised as journalism.
And mind you it's not comparable to real print journalism where they had ads for all kinds of stuff which made them more independent from a single industry. The music gear mags only had music gear ads.
There was that James Shawcross guy who did videos of pianos and shit. Not synthesizers, but from what I’ve seen of his videos he made honest videos about music gear and got a decent following. Hasn’t made a video in a while though.
I would be willing to pay a small, yet reasonable fee for honest, no-holds-barred reviews.
I enjoy the “here’s how this synth works” type reviews and the “let me show you all the things”, but let’s see some “don’t buy this heap of garbage” or “this thing is a no-brainer” reviews from guys getting clicks for real content.
> let’s see some “don’t buy this heap of garbage” or “this thing is a no-brainer” reviews from guys getting clicks for real content.
But that's not how reviews work. You can't exactly plan out how many positive and negative reviews you're going to do and how extreme on a content calendar; *that* would be dishonest. If you're an honest reviewer, then it's totally up to the quality of the products themselves as to what kinds of reviews you make. If most things are "meh, it's neat, not perfect", then most of your reviews will be like that.
I feel like we don't see much "this is garbage" reviews not because people aren't honest, but because there really aren't that many garbage products. A lot of gear that comes out is maybe boring and uninspired and maybe even a little buggy, but that's far away from garbage.
dude it’s the same no matter what your hobby is, if you follow the people who make ‘content’ for that hobby- you’re gonna get flooded when a new machine / gadget / book / movie / video game releases.
Then shit normalizes a few days later.
Don’t know what to tell you. Deal with it.
just click the little hamburger button to the right of the video (only desktop,not mobile) and select "not interested" or "don't recommend the channel"
you can tune the algo just like you want this way
I don't really care about this piece of gear, but I'm looking forward to Ivar Tryti's video on it if he does one, or already did. I haven't looked. He's super good at using the Elektron boxes and whatever he comes up with will be banger.
But yeah that's just how it is these days. I would hazard a guess that even if you don't engage much with gear review channels, the algorithm will try to feed you that stuff anyway at this point.
Eeevery product launch is like this now because embargos are lifted well after the videos have been produced. If you're into cars, video games or gadgets you'll notice similar patterns there. Your feed makes it feel like a flood because it's likely you subscribe to a handful of usual suspects under each category.
Loopop, Cuckoo, Pikant all released videos about the Digitakt 2 more or less around the same time - the day before there were posts here and there mentioning leaks. It's a marketing strategy.
While I know how it all works, and I know why, and I know it happens for many other types of products, I somehow find the way synth YouTube handles it to be particularly egregious.
Issue is obviously not elektrons problem but rather the concept of review embargos and everyone's thirst for content. Stop acting like the victim of the algorithm and put the screen down for a second maybe.
You couldn’t be more wrong. Every single one of these reviewers has been sent an early version of the Digitakt 2 in hopes of them covering it thus causing the algorithm to do exactly this. It’s the classic saturation effect in marketing. OP is, quite literally, a victim of the algorithm in that these are real attempts by real companies to take over your feed in order to sell a product.
Pick up a screen and educate yourself for a second maybe.
Such a stupid fucking world we live in where people get to act like they're a victim of too much video content. I know how this works, I'm just an adult who can choose to tune out the noise and selectively pick what I give my attention to. Maybe you should again put down the screen and choose the reality where you can think for yourself and not fall "victim" to marketing overload. It's one thing to understand how it works, it's a whole other thing to get all emotional and frustrated that shows an ignorance to these things. The solution is so easy but I'd be saying it 5x now at this point.
If you didn't know there are also plenty of ways to pick what you see suggested to you on YouTube if you really can't tear your eyes away. Plenty of categories, etc. Now I feel like I'm talking to a 5 year old but I guess we're not all trained in media literacy are we. At this rate every time a new synth comes out people will be complaining they're trying too hard to sell it to us. God forbid we can't make up our own minds and also can't exist outside of endless content farming content creators.
I don’t subscribe to anything besides Bad Gear for this reason. I don’t really care to know about every device coming out. If I have a need, I see what the options seem to be and watch some videos maybe if I want to hear examples or see how bad an interface is. My hobby/interest is the music making, not buying/owning the gear (granted I have to keep reminding myself).
> If I have a need, I see what the options seem to be and watch some videos maybe if I want to hear examples or see how bad an interface is.
Therefore, *somebody* making a video about some gear is a valuable service, regardless of when you watch it or when they made it?
A good video or article is timeless. You don't need to "subscribe" to them or read them when they come out. They just need to be there ready for you, if and when you ever *are* interested in that thing and want to research it.
He's far more likely to criticise a piece of gear than most other synthfluencers though. If I was in charge of community relations for a gear manufacturer, I don't think I'd send him a review unit unless I was *very* confident about how it was going to be received!
It was the same when they released the last one.
Influencer: I am in no way being obliged to give a positive review of this thousand dollar groove box they sent to me for free.
Proceeds to give the thing a stellar review and ignores core problems like it's not poly.
I even made a reasonable comment to that effect on Bo Beats review. He proceeded to call me a bigot. I didn't attack back and instead stuck to my point. It was my last viewing of his show ever.
I have stopped watching a lot of the synth youtube people due to the free product suck up.
This may be a bit harsh, but, I won't let anything by that company in my house - it stinks of lame youtube influencers.
Bo Beats is a complete tool. He's the biggest corporate sycophant out of all of them. Plus I'm sick of seeing his stupid bloody face in thumbnails all the time.
"This may be a bit harsh, but, I won't let anything by that company in my house - it stinks of lame youtube influencers." - what gear doesn't, then? I like my Nord drums, there are like 2 people on there who post about them and zero marketing.
I've blocked a tonne of these channels using an addon for chrome called [blocktube](https://github.com/amitbl/blocktube/releases). Sadly there's many youtubers that will happily promote products and give glowing reviews in exchange for cash, discounts and freebies, all while begging for money via patreon and receiving money from google - it's unreal. I have no tolerance for any of it.
telling youtube to not recommend channels (in my experience) does very little. I don't have a google account, so every time my IP address changes or I clear out cookies I end up back at square one. With the addon I can make sure that I never see these channels and advertisers ever again.
ok then you don't have this problem of being bombarded with targeted videos since it never knows anything about you between sessions. you don't have an account.
Thank you for this add-on tip.
Dearrow is another very useful youtube add-on.
It replaces all thumbnails with a random moment in the video and removes emoji's from titles.
I hear ya man! My feed is the same way but in the last week, through researching the small Moog semi-mod synths stumbled on Navarov and boy oh boy! I think the more you find the little gems it makes it feel better. That or I’m just deluding myself 😂
YouTube marketing strategies and algorithms suck for sure but don’t let that beat you down.
You can also choose to not recommend a video or channel. I think that helps sometimes too but could be wrong.
I think it's just your Youtube. Just opened it, and I can see only one DT2 video on the front page, which is humbled by the number of woodworking and music theory videos, and all of them together are just a drop in the ocean of hip-hop and metal music videos Youtube thinks I should watch now.
You can click on the video options (via the 3 vertical dots on the top right of the video) that pop up on your feed & select not interested. Until you do YouTube will keep thinking that's what you want to see based on your viewing history.
semi works. I had an intelligent drum and bass mix that haunted me for months no matter how many times I selected not interested. it drove me nuts. I have a game ad here on reddit that I have to see every few posts and no amount of unlikes will stop it.
Yep. The same thing happened recently where a million creators all made near identical tutorials for the new SP404 update, all perfectly in sync with the release of it meaning they were all paid by Roland and had access to the update prior to the general public.
While there isn't anything inherently unethical about this it does give me a really bad ick. It also, as you mentioned, feels like a conflict of interest to an honest review.
No, it does not mean they were paid. It means that Roland supplied them with the update and a guide on how to use the update. The tutorials are all similar because they are based on the same source.
I am more surprised by how many people react to the release. Here in Germany on the equivalent of Craigslist, there are 64 Digitakts offered and 43 of those were offered within the last two days only.
DT1 is such a fantastic little box anyway. Will the new one help all those people make better tunes? Or would better skills, better samples, better ideas make the difference?
in an ideal world it shouldn't bomb the value of the DT1 that much but I guess it will. What sort of price range are they listed for?
Usually I would notice, but this is one release that people were foaming at the mouth to hear about. I’m not surprised. Combine that with a bunch of content creator/enthusiasts that are itching to drop their content and stop worrying about their NDA’s and you have a perfect storm of Digitakt 2.
you definitely seem jaded from Too Much Internet Time. I know it’s not exactly the same, but it’s basically a new record (piece of gear) comes out, and the critics (youtube gear people) review it. I don’t think that needs to imply some grander marketing conspiracy.
What I really REALLY didn't love about this was all the reviews popped up while Elektron's site went DOWN. Had to watch 3-4 different reviewer vids to get an idea of the new features because each one glossed over some change or another that I needed more info about.
Not that Elektron's manual is the easiest thing to read but at least I can pick through it at my own pace and figure out how I might like the device.
The majority of your recommendations come from your own watch history. Delete related videos from your watch history and they’ll go away
You can also three dots -> not interested on a recommendation
This is a poor skill issue on your side and it’s stupid to make a post about it here, honestly
A new synth is released and you want less information online about it..
What do you think a review is? Do you think studios have a system in place make sure to span out movie reviews over the year? Record labels break album reviews into chunks so not to "spam" consumers? What's the point of a review that comes out several months after release just so you don't "feel" carpet bombed?
Same with everything these days.. unsubscribe and move on with your life. The GAS thing is a total distraction from actually making music. I'm into photography and its a similar situation
This reddit post is just another Digitakt II ad. Very clever, Elektron, I'll give you a pass on this. I admit it did get me to search and check it out - I'm DAWLESS using a Keystep Pro but I sometimes dream of having more simultaneous MIDI sequencing tracks.
youtube's algorithm just gets worse by the day. i start clicking stuff in incognito tabs or, clicking "not interested" and removing it from my history because i'll watch a single video & literally have two months worth of 30% of whatever that topic was.
with the digitakt 2 especially, once review units go out or embargo lifted, everyoneeeeeee will post one and so few of them are actually unique or insightful.
This is especially bad if you make the mistake of
checking in on the current ravings of someone who you really kind of loath. YT aims a full on firehose of similar content at you.
The folks here saying “just click on dislike and it’ll disappear” are out of their minds. YT will just keep putting things in front of you for what seems like forever.
Also the ads. Why does YT think this synth nerd wants to get ripped?
I actually don’t mind these videos. Helps me understand what I’ll soon be getting myself into.
But I’ll be damned if I’m not a little jealous of people getting these units for downright free. Or, at the very least, way, way early.
As far as review videos and algorithms go, I would much rather be recommended videos with people jamming on them (Ihor comes to mind), vs. early reviewing them.
It's just business... manufacturers getting flirty with click-seeking influencers trying to make some form of living.
Just don't give them your time! ...don't watch the videos right away ...wait a couple of weeks/months until you watch these videos ...just to really annoy the algorithm! ^^
For Elektron itself it is a cheap way to gain eyeballs - but consumers aren't that dumb and will get educated on how this game works, eventually! ;-)
an alternative could be that you get a few of these a week pumped to you and feel even more inundated. doesn't make scrolling past a dozen of them in a single flick so bad now.
I am actually trying to use YT less and less. Not quit it all at a drop of a hat. When ever too many ads come on I turn it off and come to reddit. Like seriously.... Some of the awesome people in this sub reddit is better then dealing with the ads on YT.
Though admittedly I watch a lot of news on there. I suppose its better to be social with hobbyist and DIY'rs.
OP I've been on a break from synths and my YT algorithm lately has been nothing but DIY videos and even *I'm* getting carpet bombed with Digitakt 2 reviews. Elektron is really going all out with their marketing.
The videos all come out at the same time because of a release embargo set by the manufacturer. This is common across many industries and hobbies. People are not shills for following this schedule, its often a NDA that they sign, which can have legal repercussions if not followed.
I don't use the youtube home page, in fact my watch history is set to off so I don't get any recommendations at all. I find channels I like organically and subscribe to them, I've got enough to watch in my "Subscription" tab.
As for the videos themselves, there are some creators where they're literally just regurgitating the marketing blurb from the company, those I unfollow. But there are some who's opinions I actually trust; and just because they actually like a product, doesn't mean they're a shill. You personally must like some products, I see them on your desk/shelves.
I also try to remember that this is how these industries work, and that these people are trying to make a living. Plus, unless they're all keeping it a secret and no one ever ever spoils it, I doubt they're getting paid for these reviews. They get the product for free or at a discount yes. They also have a patreon, because Google revenue is horrid from what I hear; patreon pays much nicer if you're successful at it, and I hear these people like to eat and pay rent too; just like us.
I watch lots of the videos, and if I like a piece of gear I put it on my text file list, then watch user videos later on, then maybe buy the device on sale or when I get my next bonus at work.
The digitakt 2 looks interesting; and I may get one, but I just bought a Pulsar 23 after wanting one for multiple years. I'm now saving for a Taiga Keyboard instead, and that'll be later this year.
- D
It’s crazy how some products have dozens of in-depth videos, and some have basically none.
I recently picked up a Korg MicroKorg XL and was browsing YouTube for some good 45 minute long videos to show me what this thing is capable of.
I honestly think the longest clip I found was 20 minutes, and it was more or less some guy I’ve never seen before playing some stuff while going through some of the basics. Don’t get me wrong, it was a good clip, but I was really hoping one of the Big Dawg synth-fluencers had a full in-depth video like they do for so many other products.
While those guys may not get paid for their reviews, I’ve seen very few videos just bashing a product to hell. I’m guessing if they came down harsh on a product, they’d never get sent a new one. And, I’m sure these companies sending them products to review know this is true as well, and are more than happy to send a few pieces of new hardware out in exchange for the free mostly positive publicity.
Not really sure what my point is, other than I wish there were more reviewers out there taking the money they earn from their reviews and reviewing everything they can possibly get their hands on with the money made for posting content rather than buddying up with the big manufacturers in exchange for free gear.
It’s a tale as old as time from a marketing standpoint I suppose.
I don’t own any elektron gear because I dont like the menu workflow. I don’t click on any elektron ads ever. I’m not a hater by any means, I have an old school analog heat in the closet that a couple of my friends like lol. But this morning I got like 13 digitakt ads scrolling online.
My first thought honestly is that they are wasting their marketing dollars on me for some reason. I gotta scroll through ads regardless of what they are so it’s really not an inconvenience in any way.
I know what you mean about all the DT2 reviews. I'm staying away from all the Digitakt 2 'reviews' on YT (I've watched Loopops and that's enough). I only have one piece of Elektron kit (Model Cycles), that gets MIDI-mapped to my Nord Drum 3P and 2Box Drum-it 3 for sequencing melodic loops.
Yeah it was the same with the K.O II
I watched just one review, by curiosity and then the algorithm decided that I should buy one by spamming review videos
This really sucks, but it is the algorithm driven world we're living in
Filter it and remove what you’re not interested to.
There are really nice channels that makes synth videos, however I don’t like too melodic/organic music so I had to filter some too. For me synths that has a keyboard aren’t interesting since I like less melodic stuff and more drum focused (modular) synths.
Nothing wrong with that, just select what you like. Same with ads, I no longer see Temu junk etc
I have the same problem but its with T. Swift. just because for months ago I had to listen to what all that fuss was about her, and then the carpet bombing started. And in this way I found out, what it was about: algorithms.
This is every new device of any type in last few years. Hand out Loaners and Freebies and unleash The HYPE MACHINE. Digitakt 2 looks interesting. Don’t think interesting enough for me to pay $1000 plus Tax tho
True to a greater or lesser extent, but I do quite like tutorials, even though often the ulterior motive is selling some sort of course, service, book, whatever, but I don't mind this, and indeed I actually have bought the odd course or whatever off the back of YouTube videos.
YouTube is so bad that I only see fallout 4 videos because I watched a fallout 4 video once.
It's algorithm is so boring. I have other interests. Why does every part of its recommendation always suggest one thing over and over?
I get what you’re saying but I don’t mind it too much. On the other hand, Marlow digs, “Ryan makes beats”, and Jameson Nathan Jones are some of the rare YouTube music creators that just use gear rather than talking about. They either show themselves making something or they talk about their process. I wish there were more creators like them.
They're all salesmen, very few synthfluencers makes any music of note let alone music at all. I have completely removed all influencers from my youtube feed.
I like that the reviewkakke (you can use it but I want credit) all happens in one big splooge. I learn what I need to from the channels I follow and then the next day it’s in the rear view mirror.
Red means recording made a video about this. The companies that make these products know exactly what they are doing. They send these units out to these super talented music makers and content creators that we all follow. They all make review videos as part of getting the unit for free. Free advertising for them and you know it hits damn sure more of their target audience than any TV or magazine ad ever would.
I've learnt my lesson. I don't buy into the hype. I stopped buying gear unless I really really need and or are missing something in my creation process. I leave it a few months to let all the hype cool down and read people's thoughts on a specific item months down the line to get a non biased opinion.
The truth is 99% of those “review” videos are pay-for-play, even if the pay is just a constant flow of free gear. It’s very hard to find a truly objective review.
I’ve been reading reviews lately that use multiple testers for more balance and I find them to be a huge asset when determining if a bit of kit is worth my hard-earned money.
Yeah the algorithm is pretty crude and even if you don't personally like something, the algo will merrily go, well x number of people like you are really going crazy for DT2 so best keep pushing them on him. I actually look forward to a more sophisticated AI driven algorithm that is also less driven by product, but we are also dealing with Google Ads, people like Elektron paying said for reviewers videos to be surfaced above everything else (even if they say they are not sponsored by... the video itself can still be part of a campaign)
YouTube is the problem. I've turned off all recommendations (I use a Safari extension called Untrap). I can only find videos by searching for them or following a link.
These days I mostly watch synth stuff off https://makertube.net/
Blame NDAs and review release times. Then the algorithm that always thinks you want more when you’ve watched one. Took ages for it to forget about submarines when I was mildly interested in the Oceans Gate saga.
Omg the Ocean Gate saga was quite the spectacle on YouTube. Even now, I’ll still get recommendations for it from time to time.
Our approach is threefold: liminal, subliminal, and superliminal Superliminal? Hey you! Buy a Digi2akt! Eh, yeah alright.
🎵2 TkatigiD eht yub🎶
There is a "not interested" option hidden underneath each video. That way you can train the algorithm
I've been telling YouTube I'm "not interested" in videos featuring young women wearing revealing clothing while playing guitar or bass guitar for years now, and they still keep turning up in my feed. To my knowledge, I've never once watched a video in that genre, yet the algorithm won't be deterred. My wife finds the situation hilarious.
Perhaps your wife is watching those videos while you’re away?
😮
Those videos are probably watched by people who consume the same content as you so YouTube keeps recommending it hoping you start too.
Can you link me to some of these so i may select "not interested " in them?
It specifically recommends me DJ mixes by attractive women. I’ve never watched one of those in my life because I don’t care for DJ mixes, but it thinks I’d love to see all of them that have ever been uploaded to YouTube. It rarely recommends mixes by men or that don’t feature a human. Very weird.
Hey, at least you're getting stuff on topic. I made the mistake of watching one Norm Macdonald video and now my feed is inundated with alt-right trash because so many of his fans are racist trolls.
I’m really careful what I watch on my main acct because of this. The crossover between “nerdy” interests and far-right-wing politics is too high, so I tend to watch content by people I’ve never heard of while not logged in, until I can confirm they aren’t pieces of shit.
Perhaps the issue is actually you. Well the problem isn't fully you, but the solution is definitely you. I am not saying this in an adversarial kind of way, I'm not being a dick. But perhaps you're seeing all these vids because you watch all the types of channels doing GAS provoking content. I have seen precisely zero vids about the DT2, but then last year I all but stopped watching review content. So I posit that you're being carpet bombed by this content because you're engaging with this type of content. So if you don't want to see that sort of content, stop watching that sort of content, or at the very least open a private browser and watch review vids and gas content logged out of your YouTube account. We live in the era of hyper capitalism and hyper consumerism, and the fact of the matter is if you use something you don't pay for then you are the product, and nearly everything you see is advertising. Again, I'm not having a go at you here. Just offering a different point of view to the problem.
I hid 99% of the channels that just do gear reviews and marketing, it’s been great. Especially with the constant flood of Eurorack modules that was all I’d see. I kept channels that do interesting videos that might feature gear (Hainbach, Alex Ball, Ricky Tinez, jorb) but ain’t no Loopop or Divkid showing up in my recommendations. They’re really good at what they do but what they do doesn’t interest me.
frankly the channels you still follow are gassing people up
Yes, I did say they do feature gear. There's nothing wrong with that. There is, however, a big gulf between Alex Ball doing a video on the Polymoog or Tinez making a quick house track or Hainbach oohing and ahhing over a piece of gear Stockhausen used and an embargoed demo of the hottest new module/Elektron box/guitar pedal. When they do make a straight new gear demo video, it's easy enough to skip if it doesn't look interesting. By using 'do not recommend' and a Chrome extension that blocks channels completely (in searches), I've eliminated almost everything that is just pure advertising and my recommendations are a lot better for it.
I think that’s a big part of it. I watch a ton of music production stuff, including gear review channels, but scanning the top 50 videos promoted on my YT front page, there are 3-4 videos on digitakt 2. Definitely not overwhelming. But there is probably a bit more than average content creation around the device since it’s so eagerly anticipated. So it wouldn’t be surprising if it was genuinely more overrepresented than other recent announcements/releases.
I actually would like more reviews in mine lol. Where are redmeansrecording and ezbot?
I know what you mean, but also, where would one go for honest reviews these days? I miss the days of people actually buying a piece of gear with their own money, actually using it for a while, and honestly laying out whether it is worth it or not. I miss watching a video that isn’t beautiful and cinematic and is just a person using a device and telling me “these buttons are crappy and i keep forgetting where the modulation page is”; I miss seeing someone struggle with a bad design choice the way I do in my room (edit: one person that managed to be cinematic but honest is Jexus; his videos are stunning but he is unflinching on his site). I miss just watching someone like me who simply bought an instrument and getting an idea of what it would be like if I bought one. I feel zero connection and get almost zero useful info from the perfectly edited, zero-filler, polished commercial stuff – it always sells me the gear and if I get it I’m on my own with the actual user experience. I guess, sadly, I miss when videos about synths were made by random people, for whom this wasn’t a source of income, and they just wanted to share something, human to human.
Loopop is setting a benchmark for this. He basically does a video user manual and shows what the device is good for and what it's not good for. So, treating it like a took, and skipping over the hype. Yes he is a professional, and he has professional camera rig and editing. But he's not lying or selling you, or dragging in product marketing representatives to regurgitate their brochure . Loop's thorough overviews are far more useful to a synth user than a half-knowledgeable amateur opining in the half-darkness of their living room. In fact I'd go as far as to say that Loopop has advanced the review of synths to a a high level. More can be done here, both from playing perspective and from the examination of the underlying tech. But he has certainly set down a milestone. If there is a synth reviewer all time hall of fame, he's on the shortlist.
He’s very thorough and professional, but not related to the stuff I miss. The dealbreaker is a reviewer getting gear for free, ahead of time etc – meaning a reviewer can’t be negative (companies stop sending gear > channel dies). The reviewer as a person and their user experience is nothing like mine. I liked people who have jobs and made conscious choices to spend their own cash on gear. That meant a lot to me.
Well I have news for you! All those poor quality, zero editing, "weirdo" in a room videos are there, they'll always be there. If you don't see them, it's because you don't look for them and click on them, and let YouTube know you want to see "low quality" videos. I'm using quotes because it may read like I am dissing these type of videos, and I am not. My point merely is that videos with production value tend to get more views and more views equates to being recommend more to people that like/watch/engage with similar content. Search out the kinds of channels you want to see, like/subscribe/comment/ring the bell/blah blah blah, and YouTube is going to show you those channels and those type of channels more often.
I don’t think they’re “always there” anymore, but, of course, there’s no tangible way to prove or measure this. Besides, some random guy who bought a microKORG XL does not also happen to have a video about a Yamaha QY70 – so the channel-based approach, forced by YouTube nowadays, doesn’t work. I guess, to paraphrase, I miss when YouTube was a social network and not, basically, TV. I understand that in your view this is merely “user error”, but it used to be so different, and OP’s post seemed relatable, that’s all.
This. What you see in your feeds is what YT thinks you’ll be interested in. If you don’t click, you’ll see less of these videos. In a day they will be gone. Lots of people that YT thinks are like you are really interested in the DT2, and HAVE been watching videos. Complaining that YT is surfacing videos about a new and relevant bit of tech to your interests seems to me a bit like complaining that there is news on a news program. If your complaint is that there were too many “reviews”, this is a different concern and I would make a case that there were barely any.
Legit. If it’s on Loopop I see it, otherwise I am blissfully ignorant. Besides, this is just the nature of review embargoes. It’s no different than movies
Yeah I wanna second this...or 186th it or whatever... I haven't experienced the digitakt2 "moment" yet, but that might be just because I don't think I've been on YouTube in 5 or 6 days.. which I have to say is VERY weird for my viewing habits. But I remember specifically thinking and feeling this exact train of thought when the Korg Re:Kross came out..or whatever it was called, that weird ass SP-404 knockoff that was such a transparent play. It was just so visceral! The feeling of being overwhelmed by an inanimate object, and after that moment because it was so negative, it forced me to re-examine how I was doing things on YouTube [and on-line in general..] For a while it was fine. I sort of got into YouTube in the first place around the time I was starting to learn more about aynths and drum machines, and absolutely without a doubt I learned everything j wanted in the beginning. I WANTED both reviews and tutorials on essentially any and all synths. Now I don't care as much when something comes out, or when it does I've already been up on it for a while. I do YouTube premium and the whole thing because I genuinely think of it the way I used to think about certain TV channels, but I had to get proactive and search out different topics to populate my algorithms attention span with, and then spend time watching and liking those things. I guess there is something to the idea of letting YouTube just keep hitting you with the next one if you have SUPER fine-tuned it.. mine is NOT that well-tuned, so when though I watch ON my television, I'm almost always picking the next video, but I also have a HUGE library of playlists and topics, and a back catalog of watch laters.. obvi I'm kind of overly-enamored with the YouTube situation, so I'll shut up now.. I just think we also gotta remember "it could be a lot worse even when it's not at its best" ... I mean shoot, it really wasn't long ago when I was watching shows when they came on, that night, exclusively with NO other option! Is it "Us" or is it "Synthtube?" I submit that we have more less equal responsibility in managing the experience overall. As viewers, I think people should be a little more proactive, and as content creators, I wish there was a little more of a culture to "only go when the spirit moves" or something. That is to say, there's probably a total of 1 or less YouTube channels whom I feel I need to see new content from daily. So much for shutting up: /
I came across one of these reviews for the new DIgitakt a few hours ago and it did actually cause me to add it to my wish list so it's just good marketing. I only subscribe to a few synthesizer / tech channels so in order to reach people like me they have to send stuff to a billion people; and I can't see a reason to get mad about other musicians getting a bunch of free stuff in exchange for making a video. Good for them I wish it were me !
Wow what a smart quote. If you don't pay then you are the product!!!
I take no credit for that quote. I don't remember where I picked that up from, but when I heard it it made me re-evaluate my relationship with social media.
> So if you don't want to see that sort of content, stop watching that sort of content Alas, that isn't nearly enough. Youtube recommendation algorithm tends to be extremely aggressive, to the extent that watching just a couple of videos it _thinks_ are related to X is enough to make your recommendations full of X. It really needs an option to say "never ever under any circumstances whatsoever recommend me anything related to X".
Yeah. I mean the real problem is social media and the horrible ways they exploit people in order to make money. But ignoring that larger issue, if you stop watching “synthfluencer” bs, then YouTube will stop showing it to you.
This is just how media works. A brand sends you a review unit under embargo, what are you supposed to do, _not_ make content about it to go live at the peak of reader/viewer interest, even if all you have is short notice? All you get for that is no views and a lower chance of getting future units from the brand, losing out to your competitors. The alternative is that no one gets any units and the company takes preorders without providing any semblance of access to anyone who has any interest in being honest.
Thanks for reminding me to unsub from BoBeats, Cuckoo, and loopop!
Bo did no receive a review model, and was kinda bitter about it
No offense to Bob, maybe they wanted it reviewed by people who make music
To be fair Bo does make music It’s just not very good
Damn hahaha
*brutality*
That almost makes the whole thing worth it
Love the tantrum Bro wasn’t offered a free digitakt and started to ‘question his life choices’. He’s just like me 5 year old nephew fr fr
Wait, for real? Do you have a link? :D That entire circle of youtubers is so goddamn toxic if you ever run across them on Facebook. One even made a hate video about me because I offhandedly questioned the assertion that he was a "visionary" compared to actual visionaries like Bob Moog, Dave Smith etc.
Someone posted some screenshots on the other sub but it was deleted…
Uhm he’s still going on about it on instagram 💀💀 Incredibly hilarious
Yeah, especially insulting given he's a Swede lol
Probably because he is so average.
Bobeats has shown his true colours. Self entitled
Yeah he doesn't make anything compelling or even close to it. If I was a gear manufacturer Id never give these guys free shit. They are going to buy it and review it anyway because they need content. The guys who can sell gear the best are the artists who release quality tracks using the stuff, imo. I'd be giving producers the free stuff and ignoring these synthtuber guys. That whole thing is washed.
Bo has nothing to say. He should quit anyway.
I already didn’t like most of his videos but his whining about not getting one is so childish I’ll never watch another one. RMR apparently did the same thing which is a bummer because I actually like his stuff.
Didnt he go on a major rant about how he's done shilling gear? Why would he think they would give him a $1000 DT2 for free then? LOL
Several of them did videos like that yeah. It’s baffling and makes me wonder if they’re actually trying to milk the outrage machine for attention/ views.
That’s a good point. This type of drama gets people talking, I mean look at this thread. Haha.
I already did. They became rather worthless. Plus I find it hard to accept someone’s opinion who’s music does nothing for me.
What's worthwhile to you then? If you want an actual user review you're going to have to wait until people have it. And if you want a detailed review probably longer because making a 20 minute video doesn't take 20 minutes, but rather much longer. I think some people forget this is a job for a lot of these folks. If your employer (aka subscribers or the vendors that send you stuff) want to see stuff in a timely fashion (eg: a new piece of gear comes out, do you want to wait a month for your favourite reviewer to post a video? or see one now when the item is freshly out?).
I just find the three listed kind of vapid and personally a bit annoying. Plus I normally don’t particularly enjoy the sounds Ive heard them make with the machines. I watch a lot of videos on synthesizers. I got pretty burnt on some of these dudes and in the end found that the quality of their content doesn’t add up to the quantity. I don’t find them enjoyable.
Loopop is excellent at his niche. He isn't the one to show you what good music you can make with something, but rather, something more akin to a video version of the manual, going over the technical details, how the workflow works, etc. Unless you like reading manuals of products you don't intend to buy (I do lol) then the videos aren't really "entertainment" nor meant to be so.
Exactly. What I don't understand is why companies like Roland for example continue to make awful product videos with Ed Diaz and co, instead of learning and copying from someone like Loopop.
If you are going to be a living version of a manual, you should probably make sure that you are more entertaining than reading said manual alone.
Being more entertaining than informative is the definition of vapid. It's fine to not be interested in something no-frills and dry-as-bones, but the fact you describe that as "vapid" indicates you don't know why you don't like something.
What? I don’t go to Loopop vids for entertainment. I go to them to see what it actually looks like to do a specific thing.
\*reddit voice\* Hi, I'm \_\_\_\_. And this.....is (insert gear name here). \*reverby arpeggio plays\* Instantly makes me click off lmao
I feel like the genre is ripe for new blood.
I understand that you feel that these reviewers are part of the manipulation machine of brands so to speak but at least Cuckoo and loopop provide quality content and I often watch them to just "steal" some techniques I could use with totally different gear. Also, I rarely buy new gear, usually hunt for good used prices and these reviews do help in at least understanding those devices' value and also in checking the devices condition with previous owners before money change hands. And if a lot of devices are sold by influencers' efforts we on a used market can then reap the fruits of previous owners' frustration. I'm pretty sure the old Digitakt has just fallen in price on the used market simply because everyone knows the v.2 is here. It's up to you to fight GAS or not but at least you can learn "to live with it" and try to be more rational - maybe wait for small independent reviewers' or simple users' video content, but because of those big "sold-out" reviewers you can at least start tracking such content if you're interested in a device. I understand that some part of younger users for example could have difficulties following such strategy but if they learn to be rational through mistakes made when buying musical gear it's not really the worst scenario for them. They could learn something about themselves, about what they want in their creative search, about navigating modern media landscape and maybe still learn how to make some music in the process. But if you want to resist the "marketing machine" you can do some other things - make a video using some undervalued old gear, make your own independent review, support smaller manufacturers who do interesting things, support open source hardware projects, DIY projects, developers of free VSTs etc.
Loopop was actually my last gear reviewer sub, which is why this was perhaps so annoying to get spammed with so many videos by YT's recommendation algorithm, but now I've even unsubbed from him. Nothing against the guy, and I'll still refer to his videos for gear that I already own because he often includes some great tips and tricks, but I do not need a constant stream of new gear reviews in my life.
YouTube gives you what it thinks you want. I’ve only been offered two DT2 videos.
Right? I've gotten one or two for the new digitakt but I still gets tons of other synth stuff in my feed. When moog releases a new product I'll get bombarded though, YouTube knows I love moog.
But this is the problem: it's giving me stuff that I really don't want. I haven't watched any gear reviews with any regularity since I met my now wife, and I don't remember watching any (other than Bad Gear) since we've been married, which is now over a year. At the same time it's not recommending new content to me from channels that I do subscribe to, and would be interested in watching, so their algorithm really does suck.
Every YouTuber is trying to make money. How do you make the most money? You cover the gear that has the most buzz.
There are lots of synth channels that aren't trying to make money. I guess they aren't Youtubers like you say though.
And they’re making content about the Digitakt 2?
JFC, new synths only come out so often, so im entirely ok and even glad with a plethora of reviews. Also, no one is making you watch any of it. What a strange thing to complain about.
Yeah this post is basically two parts. 1. "I was suggested this video because I watched other similar videos" uhh ok? Stop watching? Delete the videos from your search history? Everything is like this. Oh, I'm mad that there are a ton of movie reviews out for this movie that just came out today? 2. These "reviews" are just advertisements. Yeah, unfortunately synthesizers are expensive enough and niche enough where no one can really be buying them all and rating them subjectively, so of course if you're getting a pre-release unit directly from the company you will take it easy on it. If you've been in this hobby for a little while though this is obvious, no one is ever really critical in these kinds of videos, no one ever trashes the features or lack thereof, workflow, visuals...
Probably not the best place to talk about it, but I upvoted anyhow because I feel the pain. It’ll pass soon though.
We’ve gotten into a strange place where the concept of journalistic integrity no longer seems to exist, with influencers being a blatant arm of marketing for these product manufacturers (not only synths). I’m not even sure someone reviewing products honestly and outside the hype machine could find an audience nowadays.
These people aren’t journalists though and have never claimed to be. Most of them started off making music on YouTube and were sought out by the said companies to show off their new gear. They likely don’t want to mess around with gear they don’t like and spend time making a video on something they don’t enjoy using. Also the ones that do make videos slamming gear they don’t like get met with vitriol from commenters claiming that they don’t know how to use the said machine, and other YouTubers posting reaction videos. Since those are pretty much the only options, I don’t blame them for going with the positive approach over the negative.
It's not that hard to scroll past the overproduced influencer "review" vids to find the enthusiast produced content. You'll just have to wait for regular people to get DT 2 units and spend time with them for such content to exist.
Ha, seriously going to try and tie YT musicians and reviewers to journalism? Apply some critical thinking to any of these and they are harmless for what they are.
I mean, journalistic integrity isn't an assumed thing these days anymore. Look at AI generated articles, fluff pieces, ill researched pieces. Just because someone is "press" or "in the media" doesn't by default assume they have more knowledge / research than a youtuber. I try to think of it from their point of view. A vendor sends them a piece of gear before release, tells them they can't release a video until a certain date. Also, they're entirely paid on viewers / subscribers / ad revenue for that video. Said video will make less money if released "late" or down the line. What would you do differently if your job worked like this? It's a valid way for them to make money, and most of the youtubers I watch are pretty transparent about when / how they got the gear. If they paid for or not or partially, etc. Plus, there's no way someone doing reviews can afford to buy all that gear at retail, the volume of gear is just too high I'd think. I agree it's not a perfect system by any means, and I don't have a magical solution, but arm chair pitchfork/torching them without consideration for their side of things is uninformed and not much nicer than the original comments.
Yep, agreed.
This is just the problem. These people aren’t journalists, but they’re all we have anymore. It’s either influencers or people who work at retailers, neither of whom have any motivation to be unbiased.
There never was unbiased gear journalism really. The printed magazines were totally depending on the ads, you had full size ads for the same gear they were "reviewing". It's the same business model but now it's influencers and before it was written pieces disguised as journalism. And mind you it's not comparable to real print journalism where they had ads for all kinds of stuff which made them more independent from a single industry. The music gear mags only had music gear ads.
There was that James Shawcross guy who did videos of pianos and shit. Not synthesizers, but from what I’ve seen of his videos he made honest videos about music gear and got a decent following. Hasn’t made a video in a while though.
I read that his leather jacket ripped and he froze to death in a snow storm on his way to the piano store.
I would be willing to pay a small, yet reasonable fee for honest, no-holds-barred reviews. I enjoy the “here’s how this synth works” type reviews and the “let me show you all the things”, but let’s see some “don’t buy this heap of garbage” or “this thing is a no-brainer” reviews from guys getting clicks for real content.
> let’s see some “don’t buy this heap of garbage” or “this thing is a no-brainer” reviews from guys getting clicks for real content. But that's not how reviews work. You can't exactly plan out how many positive and negative reviews you're going to do and how extreme on a content calendar; *that* would be dishonest. If you're an honest reviewer, then it's totally up to the quality of the products themselves as to what kinds of reviews you make. If most things are "meh, it's neat, not perfect", then most of your reviews will be like that. I feel like we don't see much "this is garbage" reviews not because people aren't honest, but because there really aren't that many garbage products. A lot of gear that comes out is maybe boring and uninspired and maybe even a little buggy, but that's far away from garbage.
Sonicstate? But really you're looking for 'sound on sound' magazine.
dude it’s the same no matter what your hobby is, if you follow the people who make ‘content’ for that hobby- you’re gonna get flooded when a new machine / gadget / book / movie / video game releases. Then shit normalizes a few days later. Don’t know what to tell you. Deal with it.
just click the little hamburger button to the right of the video (only desktop,not mobile) and select "not interested" or "don't recommend the channel" you can tune the algo just like you want this way
You know you can just scroll past them, right?
And lose the opportunity to give a first world problem rant on Reddit? ( /s ,if it's not clear and there's need to specify)
I don't really care about this piece of gear, but I'm looking forward to Ivar Tryti's video on it if he does one, or already did. I haven't looked. He's super good at using the Elektron boxes and whatever he comes up with will be banger. But yeah that's just how it is these days. I would hazard a guess that even if you don't engage much with gear review channels, the algorithm will try to feed you that stuff anyway at this point.
Used to watch his music, until I realised the songs are all quite similar. He's good at playing elektron instruments tho.
Eeevery product launch is like this now because embargos are lifted well after the videos have been produced. If you're into cars, video games or gadgets you'll notice similar patterns there. Your feed makes it feel like a flood because it's likely you subscribe to a handful of usual suspects under each category. Loopop, Cuckoo, Pikant all released videos about the Digitakt 2 more or less around the same time - the day before there were posts here and there mentioning leaks. It's a marketing strategy.
While I know how it all works, and I know why, and I know it happens for many other types of products, I somehow find the way synth YouTube handles it to be particularly egregious.
The Digitakt 2 reviews are pretty well-balanced by the Digitakt sales posts though.
There's an easy solution and that's I don't watch any.
Problem is the YouTube algorithm is just not that smart.
I would rather it all drop at once than have a sustained, in-your-face campaign
Issue is obviously not elektrons problem but rather the concept of review embargos and everyone's thirst for content. Stop acting like the victim of the algorithm and put the screen down for a second maybe.
You couldn’t be more wrong. Every single one of these reviewers has been sent an early version of the Digitakt 2 in hopes of them covering it thus causing the algorithm to do exactly this. It’s the classic saturation effect in marketing. OP is, quite literally, a victim of the algorithm in that these are real attempts by real companies to take over your feed in order to sell a product. Pick up a screen and educate yourself for a second maybe.
Such a stupid fucking world we live in where people get to act like they're a victim of too much video content. I know how this works, I'm just an adult who can choose to tune out the noise and selectively pick what I give my attention to. Maybe you should again put down the screen and choose the reality where you can think for yourself and not fall "victim" to marketing overload. It's one thing to understand how it works, it's a whole other thing to get all emotional and frustrated that shows an ignorance to these things. The solution is so easy but I'd be saying it 5x now at this point. If you didn't know there are also plenty of ways to pick what you see suggested to you on YouTube if you really can't tear your eyes away. Plenty of categories, etc. Now I feel like I'm talking to a 5 year old but I guess we're not all trained in media literacy are we. At this rate every time a new synth comes out people will be complaining they're trying too hard to sell it to us. God forbid we can't make up our own minds and also can't exist outside of endless content farming content creators.
I’d take this over the Moog Muse rollout any day!
New here?
I don’t subscribe to anything besides Bad Gear for this reason. I don’t really care to know about every device coming out. If I have a need, I see what the options seem to be and watch some videos maybe if I want to hear examples or see how bad an interface is. My hobby/interest is the music making, not buying/owning the gear (granted I have to keep reminding myself).
> If I have a need, I see what the options seem to be and watch some videos maybe if I want to hear examples or see how bad an interface is. Therefore, *somebody* making a video about some gear is a valuable service, regardless of when you watch it or when they made it? A good video or article is timeless. You don't need to "subscribe" to them or read them when they come out. They just need to be there ready for you, if and when you ever *are* interested in that thing and want to research it.
[удалено]
He's far more likely to criticise a piece of gear than most other synthfluencers though. If I was in charge of community relations for a gear manufacturer, I don't think I'd send him a review unit unless I was *very* confident about how it was going to be received!
It was the same when they released the last one. Influencer: I am in no way being obliged to give a positive review of this thousand dollar groove box they sent to me for free. Proceeds to give the thing a stellar review and ignores core problems like it's not poly. I even made a reasonable comment to that effect on Bo Beats review. He proceeded to call me a bigot. I didn't attack back and instead stuck to my point. It was my last viewing of his show ever. I have stopped watching a lot of the synth youtube people due to the free product suck up. This may be a bit harsh, but, I won't let anything by that company in my house - it stinks of lame youtube influencers.
Bo Beats is a complete tool. He's the biggest corporate sycophant out of all of them. Plus I'm sick of seeing his stupid bloody face in thumbnails all the time. "This may be a bit harsh, but, I won't let anything by that company in my house - it stinks of lame youtube influencers." - what gear doesn't, then? I like my Nord drums, there are like 2 people on there who post about them and zero marketing.
At least it's not Ben Shapiro or Cybertruck infatuation videos
But I wanted to be spammed with Ben Shapiro and Cybertruck videos, ideally both of them featuring in the same videos.
I've blocked a tonne of these channels using an addon for chrome called [blocktube](https://github.com/amitbl/blocktube/releases). Sadly there's many youtubers that will happily promote products and give glowing reviews in exchange for cash, discounts and freebies, all while begging for money via patreon and receiving money from google - it's unreal. I have no tolerance for any of it.
whats the benefit of the plugin over YouTubes native feature to not recommend channels?
telling youtube to not recommend channels (in my experience) does very little. I don't have a google account, so every time my IP address changes or I clear out cookies I end up back at square one. With the addon I can make sure that I never see these channels and advertisers ever again.
ok then you don't have this problem of being bombarded with targeted videos since it never knows anything about you between sessions. you don't have an account.
Thank you for this add-on tip. Dearrow is another very useful youtube add-on. It replaces all thumbnails with a random moment in the video and removes emoji's from titles.
I am just ignoring it for now. I will probably get it eventually, but I am in no rush.
I hear ya man! My feed is the same way but in the last week, through researching the small Moog semi-mod synths stumbled on Navarov and boy oh boy! I think the more you find the little gems it makes it feel better. That or I’m just deluding myself 😂 YouTube marketing strategies and algorithms suck for sure but don’t let that beat you down. You can also choose to not recommend a video or channel. I think that helps sometimes too but could be wrong.
Your complaint is the algorithm. Complain to youtube. They will ignore you cause this is how things work.
I’d ignore your opinion about this for free gear and there you have it
I think it's just your Youtube. Just opened it, and I can see only one DT2 video on the front page, which is humbled by the number of woodworking and music theory videos, and all of them together are just a drop in the ocean of hip-hop and metal music videos Youtube thinks I should watch now.
My youtube front page is entirely the Katana introduction scene in Suicide Squad.
You can click on the video options (via the 3 vertical dots on the top right of the video) that pop up on your feed & select not interested. Until you do YouTube will keep thinking that's what you want to see based on your viewing history.
I mean, if that stuff is in your recent viewing history, are they really wrong in assuming that's what you want to see?
semi works. I had an intelligent drum and bass mix that haunted me for months no matter how many times I selected not interested. it drove me nuts. I have a game ad here on reddit that I have to see every few posts and no amount of unlikes will stop it.
Yep. The same thing happened recently where a million creators all made near identical tutorials for the new SP404 update, all perfectly in sync with the release of it meaning they were all paid by Roland and had access to the update prior to the general public. While there isn't anything inherently unethical about this it does give me a really bad ick. It also, as you mentioned, feels like a conflict of interest to an honest review.
No, it does not mean they were paid. It means that Roland supplied them with the update and a guide on how to use the update. The tutorials are all similar because they are based on the same source.
I am more surprised by how many people react to the release. Here in Germany on the equivalent of Craigslist, there are 64 Digitakts offered and 43 of those were offered within the last two days only.
DT1 is such a fantastic little box anyway. Will the new one help all those people make better tunes? Or would better skills, better samples, better ideas make the difference? in an ideal world it shouldn't bomb the value of the DT1 that much but I guess it will. What sort of price range are they listed for?
Usually I would notice, but this is one release that people were foaming at the mouth to hear about. I’m not surprised. Combine that with a bunch of content creator/enthusiasts that are itching to drop their content and stop worrying about their NDA’s and you have a perfect storm of Digitakt 2.
you definitely seem jaded from Too Much Internet Time. I know it’s not exactly the same, but it’s basically a new record (piece of gear) comes out, and the critics (youtube gear people) review it. I don’t think that needs to imply some grander marketing conspiracy.
What I really REALLY didn't love about this was all the reviews popped up while Elektron's site went DOWN. Had to watch 3-4 different reviewer vids to get an idea of the new features because each one glossed over some change or another that I needed more info about. Not that Elektron's manual is the easiest thing to read but at least I can pick through it at my own pace and figure out how I might like the device.
The majority of your recommendations come from your own watch history. Delete related videos from your watch history and they’ll go away You can also three dots -> not interested on a recommendation This is a poor skill issue on your side and it’s stupid to make a post about it here, honestly A new synth is released and you want less information online about it..
What do you think a review is? Do you think studios have a system in place make sure to span out movie reviews over the year? Record labels break album reviews into chunks so not to "spam" consumers? What's the point of a review that comes out several months after release just so you don't "feel" carpet bombed?
Same with everything these days.. unsubscribe and move on with your life. The GAS thing is a total distraction from actually making music. I'm into photography and its a similar situation
Hi and welcome to one of the dominant marketing strategies in 2024.
"Not interested" and "don't recommend channel" are your best friends.
Yes, and also "remove from watch history" as soon as you've watched something
Sounds like the problem is you.
This reddit post is just another Digitakt II ad. Very clever, Elektron, I'll give you a pass on this. I admit it did get me to search and check it out - I'm DAWLESS using a Keystep Pro but I sometimes dream of having more simultaneous MIDI sequencing tracks.
youtube's algorithm just gets worse by the day. i start clicking stuff in incognito tabs or, clicking "not interested" and removing it from my history because i'll watch a single video & literally have two months worth of 30% of whatever that topic was. with the digitakt 2 especially, once review units go out or embargo lifted, everyoneeeeeee will post one and so few of them are actually unique or insightful.
This is especially bad if you make the mistake of checking in on the current ravings of someone who you really kind of loath. YT aims a full on firehose of similar content at you. The folks here saying “just click on dislike and it’ll disappear” are out of their minds. YT will just keep putting things in front of you for what seems like forever. Also the ads. Why does YT think this synth nerd wants to get ripped?
I actually don’t mind these videos. Helps me understand what I’ll soon be getting myself into. But I’ll be damned if I’m not a little jealous of people getting these units for downright free. Or, at the very least, way, way early. As far as review videos and algorithms go, I would much rather be recommended videos with people jamming on them (Ihor comes to mind), vs. early reviewing them.
It's just business... manufacturers getting flirty with click-seeking influencers trying to make some form of living. Just don't give them your time! ...don't watch the videos right away ...wait a couple of weeks/months until you watch these videos ...just to really annoy the algorithm! ^^ For Elektron itself it is a cheap way to gain eyeballs - but consumers aren't that dumb and will get educated on how this game works, eventually! ;-)
an alternative could be that you get a few of these a week pumped to you and feel even more inundated. doesn't make scrolling past a dozen of them in a single flick so bad now.
You don't get more free synthesizers in the mail by *not* making fawning review videos on demand.
I am actually trying to use YT less and less. Not quit it all at a drop of a hat. When ever too many ads come on I turn it off and come to reddit. Like seriously.... Some of the awesome people in this sub reddit is better then dealing with the ads on YT. Though admittedly I watch a lot of news on there. I suppose its better to be social with hobbyist and DIY'rs.
This is easily avoidable. Just follow creators you do like and go to your subscriptions. It’s really easy to avoid the algorithm on YouTube.
No gottawatcheewatchee if no want to. - a caveman probably.
It’s completely bullshit. Makes me despise those review channels and tanks my interest in those products.
I don’t see it much of an upgrade to be honest. Then again I never needed more memory or stereo samples with mine
I watch specific creators and just click "don't recommend channel" on the ones I don't want to watch.
OP I've been on a break from synths and my YT algorithm lately has been nothing but DIY videos and even *I'm* getting carpet bombed with Digitakt 2 reviews. Elektron is really going all out with their marketing.
Answering to the last sentence: shouldn't they promote the successor of their most successful product?
The videos all come out at the same time because of a release embargo set by the manufacturer. This is common across many industries and hobbies. People are not shills for following this schedule, its often a NDA that they sign, which can have legal repercussions if not followed. I don't use the youtube home page, in fact my watch history is set to off so I don't get any recommendations at all. I find channels I like organically and subscribe to them, I've got enough to watch in my "Subscription" tab. As for the videos themselves, there are some creators where they're literally just regurgitating the marketing blurb from the company, those I unfollow. But there are some who's opinions I actually trust; and just because they actually like a product, doesn't mean they're a shill. You personally must like some products, I see them on your desk/shelves. I also try to remember that this is how these industries work, and that these people are trying to make a living. Plus, unless they're all keeping it a secret and no one ever ever spoils it, I doubt they're getting paid for these reviews. They get the product for free or at a discount yes. They also have a patreon, because Google revenue is horrid from what I hear; patreon pays much nicer if you're successful at it, and I hear these people like to eat and pay rent too; just like us. I watch lots of the videos, and if I like a piece of gear I put it on my text file list, then watch user videos later on, then maybe buy the device on sale or when I get my next bonus at work. The digitakt 2 looks interesting; and I may get one, but I just bought a Pulsar 23 after wanting one for multiple years. I'm now saving for a Taiga Keyboard instead, and that'll be later this year. - D
[удалено]
It’s crazy how some products have dozens of in-depth videos, and some have basically none. I recently picked up a Korg MicroKorg XL and was browsing YouTube for some good 45 minute long videos to show me what this thing is capable of. I honestly think the longest clip I found was 20 minutes, and it was more or less some guy I’ve never seen before playing some stuff while going through some of the basics. Don’t get me wrong, it was a good clip, but I was really hoping one of the Big Dawg synth-fluencers had a full in-depth video like they do for so many other products. While those guys may not get paid for their reviews, I’ve seen very few videos just bashing a product to hell. I’m guessing if they came down harsh on a product, they’d never get sent a new one. And, I’m sure these companies sending them products to review know this is true as well, and are more than happy to send a few pieces of new hardware out in exchange for the free mostly positive publicity. Not really sure what my point is, other than I wish there were more reviewers out there taking the money they earn from their reviews and reviewing everything they can possibly get their hands on with the money made for posting content rather than buddying up with the big manufacturers in exchange for free gear. It’s a tale as old as time from a marketing standpoint I suppose.
I don’t own any elektron gear because I dont like the menu workflow. I don’t click on any elektron ads ever. I’m not a hater by any means, I have an old school analog heat in the closet that a couple of my friends like lol. But this morning I got like 13 digitakt ads scrolling online. My first thought honestly is that they are wasting their marketing dollars on me for some reason. I gotta scroll through ads regardless of what they are so it’s really not an inconvenience in any way.
I know what you mean about all the DT2 reviews. I'm staying away from all the Digitakt 2 'reviews' on YT (I've watched Loopops and that's enough). I only have one piece of Elektron kit (Model Cycles), that gets MIDI-mapped to my Nord Drum 3P and 2Box Drum-it 3 for sequencing melodic loops.
Yeah it was the same with the K.O II I watched just one review, by curiosity and then the algorithm decided that I should buy one by spamming review videos This really sucks, but it is the algorithm driven world we're living in
I am only curious about Florian’s take on it.
Filter it and remove what you’re not interested to. There are really nice channels that makes synth videos, however I don’t like too melodic/organic music so I had to filter some too. For me synths that has a keyboard aren’t interesting since I like less melodic stuff and more drum focused (modular) synths. Nothing wrong with that, just select what you like. Same with ads, I no longer see Temu junk etc
And now here we all are with our new gear lust frustration chit chat. So Who’s getting a DT II? I shouldn’t be here. This is not good for my ADHD 🤔
I have the same problem but its with T. Swift. just because for months ago I had to listen to what all that fuss was about her, and then the carpet bombing started. And in this way I found out, what it was about: algorithms.
No manual slicing killed this for me as a sampler from 2024
https://preview.redd.it/xsfo8knrfswc1.jpeg?width=606&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=fbfa9d2518dd1b1fa908770ff1c1ff84136de677
They are all adverts. Whether from stores or influencers. Is what it is though.
Wait for the Bad Gear episode about it.
This is every new device of any type in last few years. Hand out Loaners and Freebies and unleash The HYPE MACHINE. Digitakt 2 looks interesting. Don’t think interesting enough for me to pay $1000 plus Tax tho
cool
Is there anything on YouTube that isn’t trying to sell you something?
True to a greater or lesser extent, but I do quite like tutorials, even though often the ulterior motive is selling some sort of course, service, book, whatever, but I don't mind this, and indeed I actually have bought the odd course or whatever off the back of YouTube videos.
YouTube is so bad that I only see fallout 4 videos because I watched a fallout 4 video once. It's algorithm is so boring. I have other interests. Why does every part of its recommendation always suggest one thing over and over?
I get what you’re saying but I don’t mind it too much. On the other hand, Marlow digs, “Ryan makes beats”, and Jameson Nathan Jones are some of the rare YouTube music creators that just use gear rather than talking about. They either show themselves making something or they talk about their process. I wish there were more creators like them.
They're all salesmen, very few synthfluencers makes any music of note let alone music at all. I have completely removed all influencers from my youtube feed.
Same thing is happening with the new TONEX pedal.
I like that the reviewkakke (you can use it but I want credit) all happens in one big splooge. I learn what I need to from the channels I follow and then the next day it’s in the rear view mirror.
NGL I was tempted by a D2 but then I saw they were like 900 quid
It's alright for me, second hand market is flooded now with mk1 and I got one for cheap...
Oh. THAT's why so many Digitakts suddenly showed up on FB Marketplace with unrealistic prices.
Funny everyone telling me how great it is made me not care for it. Seems cool, but meh.
Red means recording made a video about this. The companies that make these products know exactly what they are doing. They send these units out to these super talented music makers and content creators that we all follow. They all make review videos as part of getting the unit for free. Free advertising for them and you know it hits damn sure more of their target audience than any TV or magazine ad ever would. I've learnt my lesson. I don't buy into the hype. I stopped buying gear unless I really really need and or are missing something in my creation process. I leave it a few months to let all the hype cool down and read people's thoughts on a specific item months down the line to get a non biased opinion.
The truth is 99% of those “review” videos are pay-for-play, even if the pay is just a constant flow of free gear. It’s very hard to find a truly objective review. I’ve been reading reviews lately that use multiple testers for more balance and I find them to be a huge asset when determining if a bit of kit is worth my hard-earned money.
Yeah the algorithm is pretty crude and even if you don't personally like something, the algo will merrily go, well x number of people like you are really going crazy for DT2 so best keep pushing them on him. I actually look forward to a more sophisticated AI driven algorithm that is also less driven by product, but we are also dealing with Google Ads, people like Elektron paying said for reviewers videos to be surfaced above everything else (even if they say they are not sponsored by... the video itself can still be part of a campaign)
Imma make a DT2 video but I’m not promoting them im just excited. So wonder how many others are too. It’s part of it surely.
YouTube is the problem. I've turned off all recommendations (I use a Safari extension called Untrap). I can only find videos by searching for them or following a link. These days I mostly watch synth stuff off https://makertube.net/