Become a test drive member!

Ever wanted to take a brand new product for a test drive for free?

Well here's the deal!

On all the forums I've taken part in (Rockgrotto, Head-Fi, Jaben Network - correct me if I'm wrong), members take pride in being trustworthy enough to be able to loan a "beta" tester (a production unit) for a couple of weeks and then pass it on to the next member in the queue.

The rules are that each member in the chain reports on a thread when he/she gets it (usually with pictures of the unit as received), their initial findings, then updates the thread after a couple of days then at each "milepost" of performance change they perceive, up to the point they've had it for a maximum of 2 weeks (less if other members pester enough...)

Usually trusted members are those with at least 100 posts who have shown their commitment to a forum. However, here we are still a foundling community.

How do you think this community should handle beta testers like the new NOVO headphone amp?


Edited by Graham Slee - 27 Jul 2008 at 8:55am

Hello from sunny Miami Beach, Florida!

Hello Graham

I’d love to be a beta tester for anything other than headphone stuff - headphones just aren’t my thing (except for bias setup).

If the testing is to be of value though I wonder what would be used as control.  I ask that because much as I love to ramble on about stuff, I was a bit stumped when I had the Elevator recently.  After a little burn-in it was clear that the Reflex+Elevator combo worked great but I could not think of any practical way of assessing the Elevator.  This was because even though the two MC's I used were known quantities, whatever I heard from them was via the Reflex.  Since I already know that the Reflex could probably make a fist of a matchbox with nail through it, without an alternative product to compare it to, it was impossible to say what the Elevator was doing (other than teeing up the signal for the Reflex). 

Hope that doesn’t sound negative – on the positive side, I do live near JC - John Cadman that is: not the other JC. J