Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Kanye West's Stem Player – An engineering disaster

krystalgamer.github.io

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

31–40 of 50 posts

Re: Kanye West's Stem Player – An engineering disaster

#31

Post by skavi »

sneak wrote: post #29
pcbro141 wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He's literally a multi-billionaire from his taste and vision (Yeezy fashion, music production).

I don't think his success in business is in any way whatsoever supportive of your claim. McDonalds also has billions in revenue; does that make it great food? Popularity and quality are orthogonal.

Given popular reception isn't enough to indicate good taste and vision, what about critical reception?

Kanye's music, particularly from before the last few years, has been well reviewed by critics. His shoes were popular among "sneaker heads", or people for whom sneakers are a hobby.

Re: Kanye West's Stem Player – An engineering disaster

#32

Post by fragmede »

thomasfortes wrote: post #28
fragmede wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You mean like Beats by Dre, who is also not an engineer, which was so terrible that Apple bought them for $3 Billion?

Isn't Beats by Dre considered not top of the line when it comes to sound quality and more like a fashion brand? I'm not saying that they are bad, just that they aren't at the same level as brands like bose and sennheiser which are way less focused on celebrities branding.

The same level as Bose? The company famous for simply turning up the bass? Now they're used as an example of quality? How times change!

Re: Kanye West's Stem Player – An engineering disaster

#33

Post by thomasfortes »

fragmede wrote: post #32
thomasfortes wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Isn't Beats by Dre considered not top of the line when it comes to sound quality and more like a fashion brand? I'm not saying that they are bad, just that they aren't at the same level as brands like bose and sennheiser which are way less focused on celebrities branding.

The same level as Bose? The company famous for simply turning up the bass? Now they're used as an example of quality? How times change!

Hear the same thing about beats, too much bass.

Anyway, the point still stands, Beats is considered a fashion brand, it was used by athletes all around the world a couple years ago, now athletes are all in on apple airpods and it's been a while since I've seen someone talking about buying a beats.

Re: Kanye West's Stem Player – An engineering disaster

#34

Post by blain_the_train »

thomasfortes wrote: post #33
fragmede wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The same level as Bose? The company famous for simply turning up the bass? Now they're used as an example of quality? How times change!

Hear the same thing about beats, too much bass. Anyway, the point still stands, Beats is considered a fashion brand, it was used by athletes all around the world a couple years ago, now athletes are all in on apple airpods and it's been a while since I've seen someone talking about buying a beats.

yes, which is why i just but Sennheiser, because it's clear they really care about the music.

Re: Kanye West's Stem Player – An engineering disaster

#36

Post by genmon »

This is a cool story about reverse engineering a protocol… combined with some really unnecessary (and sexually graphic) insults of the Stem Player/Kano founder.

The combined hardware and service seems to be highly experimental, and this is a startup finding its way. Not to excuse erratic behaviour, but none of this feels out of the ordinary or worthy of this level of attack.

The coda at the end, about the failed attempt to work together, gives a possible explanation for the high level of saltiness. (And it should really be at the beginning by way of disclosure.) It’s a shame there wasn’t a culture fit between the parties.

Re: Kanye West's Stem Player – An engineering disaster

#37

Post by fastball »

aliqot wrote: post #17
fastball wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I found all the hyphens in your comment distracting.

It's likely an unordered list, due to the way HN handles line spacing if you don't do double line breaks.

Actually I've now had a look and pigtailgirl seems to format all of their comments in this way, including having double dashes at the beginning and end. I guess it's a deliberate stylistic choice, but can't say I'm a fan.

Almost makes me think its GPT3 or something.

Re: Kanye West's Stem Player – An engineering disaster

#38

Post by Maursault »

pigtailgirl wrote: post #4

-- Not sure what alleged role she is alleging - even after reading this 10,300 word essay - my understanding was that it's supposed to be a fun toy for the musically inclined (similar to teenage engineering products) - maybe i'm wrong - but it does fulfill that role perfectly - I sat on a 6 hour flight and did nothing but make tunes with my OP-Z and Stem Player - similar to TE products - the Stem Player is one of the…

> did nothing but make tunes

You mean you did nothing but create tracks of insufficient fidelity burdened with copyright issues. Mostly, I have to agree with you, but oranges are not apples, and what you've created can't be shopped or sold, and even if it could, the poor fidelity of the source tracks (whatever Stem player produces for you to use) would prevent market interest in all but lofi consumers within whatever genre it classifies as, if they exist. But you entertained yourself, and that is really all that is necessary to validate the product.

Re: Kanye West's Stem Player – An engineering disaster

#39

Post by krystalgamer »

pigtailgirl wrote: post #4

-- Not sure what alleged role she is alleging - even after reading this 10,300 word essay - my understanding was that it's supposed to be a fun toy for the musically inclined (similar to teenage engineering products) - maybe i'm wrong - but it does fulfill that role perfectly - I sat on a 6 hour flight and did nothing but make tunes with my OP-Z and Stem Player - similar to TE products - the Stem Player is one of the…

that's a common thing I hear, "it fulfills its purpose". Doesn't excuse the limitations and that the website doesn't give you higher quality stems

It's interesting you call it a toy, the team behind it calls the next musical revolution. Your expectations were met, while the ones they set weren't.

Re: Kanye West's Stem Player – An engineering disaster

#40

Post by krystalgamer »

genmon wrote: post #36

This is a cool story about reverse engineering a protocol… combined with some really unnecessary (and sexually graphic) insults of the Stem Player/Kano founder. The combined hardware and service seems to be highly experimental, and this is a startup finding its way. Not to excuse erratic behaviour, but none of this feels out of the ordinary or worthy of this level of attack. The coda at the end, about the failed atte…

> This is a cool story about reverse engineering a protocol…

I was suggested to do a two-parter, but to me it didn't feel right. I think the current layout allows for people who are mostly in for the tech to quit mid-way.

> combined with some really unnecessary (and sexually graphic) insults of the Stem Player/Kano founder.

Understandable. For me it was cathartic, compiling their dirt and putting them in a neat package as in to show how under-prepared they actually are.

> failed attempt to work together, gives a possible explanation for the high level of saltiness.

The problem wasn't the fallout but the fact I dropped what I was doing to really start with them on a good feet. The fact Alex wanted to talk to me on a Sunday afternoon resonated with me, but as soon as I was ready to on-board it seemed that were overwhelmed. I'm not saying they weren't, but my expectations were sky high.

In the end, dropping my project to help them bit me in the ass, which contributed to the bitterness.

> And it should really be at the beginning by way of disclosure.

I wanted to do so, but at the same time I guess until "Stem Player or hype as a product" section is not as present. Also, a lot of people thought I got a lawsuit when I took the project down and I never told the story.

Post reply on HN