dCS' update and apology: dcs.community/t/goldensound-headphones-com-dcs-an-update/6740 I am pleased that this whole situation has come to an end. I'm looking forward to visiting dCS next week, and for now the most important thing I ask is that people refrain from giving anyone at dCS a hard time. Particularly at CanJam this weekend. The individual involved is no longer with the company, and I do not want anyone to be directing further messages their way nor giving any sort of hardship to employees who had nothing to do with this situation in the first place. However, I would also like to sincerely thank everyone in the community for their support the past few days
I don't like their apology. It's filled with ego. "My statement was issued in good faith and based on information I believed to be accurate." So he fired someone who gave him "Wrong information" - in other words, someone took the fall for his decision.
It's great that this has been resolved and the pressure you were feeling has now been lifted. You were really fighting for every consumer and reviewer and for that you have my gratitude. As for you dCS, the damage has been done. I can tell you that you have lost at least one customer. I guess I'm not alone on that. If enough people think like me, only then may you have learned your lesson.
@@NeilDeBarna I probably wasn't going to stretch my budget to what would be about a 20k€ product, but, it was was close enough to have been scheduled in the audition. I haven't watched the review, don't tend to need reviews... that I'm never considering a dCS is not anything about GS coverage or review.
This is actually most telling that this is not legally actionable. In the US, this individual would be told to, "Rightly F off." They would/will be required to prove "factual inaccuracies" if this was to go to court. One is not required to "defend" themselves.The burden of proof is on the one making the claim. This is just BS bully tactics. Ignore it. Note: Not a lawyer.
Absolutely! Some "influencers" (I realise Cameron isn't one) can absolutely destroy a company's reputation but saying a product is awful or with negative/unfavourable reviews. In this way I can see why the employee was concerned. This was a negative review yes (and it didn't align with the love I had for my Bartok 2.0) but it's certainly not nasty or presenting anything other than his opinion. In fact; you can tell he really wanted to like it and was a little let down. They should have just offered an upgraded version to review and opened a dialogue to work out what went wrong. There may have even been a follow up review then which would have been much more positive for DCS. By selecting this course of action (as you say) this may be the beginning of the end for this company. Very unprofessional behaviour.
@@Martijn1234If your content influences the opinions of other you are by definition an influencer, remove the media conditioning that has told you influencer is a dirty word, it's neutral and accurate.
"i'm not your mommy" tells volume about the maturity of that person and they have made it VERY clear it's about their ego and feelings being hurt, not about facts.
This is about nosebleed price territory audiophile stuff anyhow. What can be said for us older fogies who don't even have good hearing in both ears? Why doesn't someone make a headphone setup into which auditory compensations can be dialed.
Negative reviews are the MOST important thing these days. So many channels are just paid promotions, overviews, too scared to show negatives. Finding genuine reviews of products these days, is getting harder and harder.
Yes. About let's just throw some figure like >80% of reviews are stuff that I don't buy fully. Only ones that have actually made negative/neutral statements about reviewed items and who tell transparently in the beginning if item was bought or got free and where reviewer states like "all about you're going to hear states my personal opinion and that this review hasn't been approved by manufacturer".
@@Z-addnot a negative review, but point out the bad along with the good. so many paid 'reviews' simply go on and on about how the product is the best thing ever, while being careful not to say anything negative, for fear of not having their review be approved by the brand.
It wasn't even a negative review to begin with in my opinion, unless I am reading a different review. It seems typical of most high end audio product reviews I have read over the years in that almost everything has a relative weakness or flaw at any price.
Based on what the guy from dCS wrote, he probably thinks the sudden reduction in sales is the reviewer's fault, instead of being a consequence of his own actions.
This is total BS. Snark for intimidation purposes. Unprofessional. Gross. Also, companies feel WAY too emboldened to bully people around. This is a disgrace. And I’m happy this particular line was aired out.
Exactly, says the company who like schoolyard children said "I'm not your mommy". Perhaps that person was projecting their own parental problems onto the reviewer. Not a good way to get catharsis, also unprofessional and a good way to undermine themselves.
@@garydiamondguitarist Apparently the U.S. sales guy responsible for the emails has been fired, and DSC has released an updated statement apologising profusely for all the upset. Seems like it worked out in the end...
Their "apology" is equally disappointing. They even claim they never threatened litigation, because they didn't use that specific word. They say that "things escalated" as if this reviewer caused it. No, dCS escalated things.
@@thebestoffools If you only knew how many countries that have boicott laws (I'm including those that allow boicotts but put stipulations on how you do it)..
many reviewers in the rags were on the take so this is no surprise big $$$ stereo is suspect alchemist and charlatans selling to ocd yuppie type hobbisty
This came up in the algorithm for me. I've just watched the review. As a loyal customer to dCS, I will no longer make any purchases (and I do a fair bit from them) as a result of their actions and not as a result of the review. The review would never have swayed me, but their childish and petty response to sending a legal threat to you is enough to scrub their name from both professional and personal use. The whole "not your mummy" sentence is wild. That's not normal, decent and humble behaviour, that's legitimately borderline psychopathic behaviour from someone representing the company at its highest level. Pathetic.
Same here. I always aspired to a dCS product if I were ever in a position to afford one and that includes the Bartok after reading the review. But I would not buy an dCS product now, not when I now know the sort of people in the company who created it.
all of this is very well said. i'm sorry you are having to deal with this shit. there is no place for a company to try and threaten a reviewer with a lawsuit
The VP of sales & marketing comes across as a psycho trying to intimidate you into submission. Very disturbing to say the least. Hope you are OK Cameron.
This is going on all the time now, so many producers are being taken out. My strongest advice is contact Louis Rossmann TH-camr as he fully understands the legals around what can be said online. Going by the very wordy letters to you they certainly need legal advice to argue their point. It's pure scare tactics. Hold strong against this attack.
What a self own. That "mommy/ therapist" comment tells you all you need to know. ffs, movie theaters have less projection. It's also failing basic PR 101 and a great example of what not to do. Now because they can't let perceived slights go, they'll have created the very problem they sought to fix.
A real case of the Streisand Effect in action. That review was 2-3 years old and NOW they make a big stink of it. No doubt other audiophile content creators will end up speaking out against this kind of action, which ends up just highlighting the review more. If they had just stayed quiet, not too many people would have seen the review. (In the grand scheme of things) And it would have just been one review amongst many.
And also this is their weakest product in the lineup, comparatively against competition at a particular price point. Their highest ones are actually one of the industry leading. Now, this will affect their entire lineup.
The thing I suspect is that their sales has been dropping and they started attacking negative reviews to possibly save their sales. but I think this would be the end of them
I saw your Bartok review a few months ago after two of my audiophile friends whose ears I trust got a loaner from a friend of theirs. Simple story, they auditioned the Bartok at their system. I wanted to listen but they had to return the Bartok to its owner. But they gave me a summarized impression. Too smooth. It's so smooth it's lacking details, texture and excitement. Trusting their judgment, but being a little curious if not skeptical, I research Bartok review. Your review confirmed their conclusions. You nailed it. For context, the Bartok was compared to Mola Mola Tambaqui and Bricasti M1 DACs.
That "not your mommy or therapist" comment was totally unprofessional as is the way they just completely refuse to specify which parts were false and instead just accuse you of intentional misinformation. Just shows they are not working in good faith.
"You're doing something I don't like. I'm going to sue you" "What am I doing?" "I'm not your mommy or your therapist." Who the hell is running this company??
This John guy from dCS is nuts. I auditioned dCS stacks recently in 2023 and despite the impressive specs and finishes on the exterior, none of the products' sound stood out to me. MUCH cheaper stacks and all in ones literally sounded identical clock or no clock. No one was deceived here
100% agree, at CanJam they always setup this really fancy looking room with their expensive lina stacks and no matter what I plug into them they just sound bloated and dull.
Of course they sound the same. DACs are a solved issue and has been for decades. You can buy cheap single chip solutions that will literally have a conversion quality that is several orders of magnitude better than human hearing could ever distinguish, and they only cost a few dollars. The ONLY thing that is tricky in audio is the conversion between vibrations and electricity and back. Every other bit is a solved problem.
As someone in the market for one at the moment (well, a few months away), what did you end up going with? My shortlist got shorter by one.. so am waiting to do a side by side of the AR Dac9, PS Direct Stream and the Meridian Ultra. Budget is not quite yet set.
hi, This is what it's called . A Slapp suit. A strategic lawsuit against public participation. the objective is not to take a legal route towards a rightful claim, but to mire the defendant in legal costs and intimidate them into silence. there's quite alot of precedent , and it exploits the legal system's weakest spots in favor of the party with the deepest pockets.
they spent. These guys had some problems in their review and this is why they are not telling him what's wrong. They want to show to the industry that having AP setup is not making them a top reviewers. Same with their personal preferences when they tell tus hat it is "not my sound" and it is not 15k sound.
What you are doing by standing up to this is very admirable and important for the industry as a whole. They do not like your review, so they are trying to use the excuse that it contains inaccuracies because they are unable to have any grounds off the fact that a review was published which they do not like. Thank you for exposing this and fighting the fight for the entire industry. Reviewers are entitled to make positive and negative reviews of products - that is the entire point of the review. We are not looking for sales pitches or sales men when we watch a review of a product. We are looking for the reviewers opinion of the value of the item.
Good point... by the sounds of it they'll be threatening legal action for this video claiming damage to their reputation caused by GS telling people they are doing something frankly insane to him, which will massively damage their reputation.
I have full read the apology from dCS provided by your link. Looks to me like the CEO is clear sighted enough to see the problem and has taken appropriate action. Standing your ground and fighting against unreasonable push back, rather than caving to pressure, is commendable. Well done sir!
Just became aware of you guys !! We stand against censorship of honest opinion in our HiFi Tribe ! We support you wholeheartedly ! All 28K of us... we will showcase this in my livestream tonight at 9PM EST
I've been saving up for over 2 years in the hopes of getting the Lina. This situation spooked me a little, but after seeing the response from Davo, it's reassured me a bit. I'm a few months away from affording the system, so I've got time to see how the situation is closed before spending a considerable sum of money. I'm sorry that you have gone through this, I really hope that the outcome is favourable and that dCS are willing to learn and really implement positive change from this.
I've dealt with such legal bullying. The best course of action moving forward is to get a lawyer who can handle these types of threats. Then it's just a matter of replying with a CC to include your lawyer, and you'll usually never hear from them again. They know they don't have a legal leg to stand on (unless you made slanderous statements), but instead rely on bullying and fear of financial loss to fight them. Once they see a lawyer involved, they tend to back down because they know they'll lose. It's best not to send detailed replies because they may be able to twist your words into a "confession" that you did something wrong. Glad to see that it all got straightened out.
THANK YOU. Thank you for being open and honest. We need more or this. WAY TO GO. Thank you for letting us know about the poduct and thank you what the brand is like.
I will refuse to buy any dCS products. And I was actively considering buying a Rossini APEX player. I value honest reviews. All my support go to the *very* few honest reviewers out there, I hate corporate bullies and I am *Hugely* disappointed by dCS.
I was looking for dCS reviews and ended up here. Thanks for sharing! I love how detailed your reviews are and the transparency that you share in your reviews, but especially in your "dCS case". You got a new follower!
If they are willing to sue people who write negative reviews, I suspect they are also willing to pay people to write positive reviews and post them on the hifi and other audiophile sites. But that is just my opinion (Please don't sue me too DCS).
corporate bullying is unacceptable. Thank you Goldensound, not for the review itself but for making these bullying threats public. I will just exclude any DCS products from my shopping list.
As a marketing director and someone who loves hi-fi, I’m just going to say that if I had worked for DCS this never would’ve happened. In this day and age this is absolutely the worst thing that they could’ve done for PR. If I was the director of the company and was advised to do this, I will be sacking whoever was involved. If this was the Directors idea then they deserve the terrible attention that this will course. There is 100 different ways that this could be dealt with that would’ve had a positive outcome. Going down this line and actually using language that tilts towards immaturity of character is unbelievable. They need to reevaluate this, get on top of it right away with a positive strategy, and do the right thing if this is not going to impact on sales for the next few years.
This happened to Erin’s audio corner by tekton speakers as well. Tekton did this to several TH-cam reviewers including new record day. There is a trend of Hifi manufacturers who use these intimidation tactic to threaten reviewers.
0:17 I dont know who you are never heard or saw this review and dont care about the peice of kit.However, any company calling slander on someone for giving their honest feedback and or review is petty and means the company has fears over this channel i have never seen nor heard of as well as a product i couldnt care less about. its pathetic and petty to tie up legal system and finances for this im sorry this happened to you sir/ I know it is of little comfort in this situation. But wish you the best outcome.
As mentioned by another commenter below... I HIGHLY ENCOURAGE any attendees of CanJam London to drop by their booth and let them know how terrible this whole lawsuit threats business is. Let them know if it will stop you buying from them. They are a major sponsor of the show, this is unacceptable behaviour, and they need to be told that in no uncertain terms.
Man this sounds so familiar with what Erin went through with Tekton. Sorry you are going through this. This is unacceptable for any brand to behave in this manner.
Very glad to have watched the review and subsequently been made aware of this issue with DCS- both have impacted my decision of whether to purchase a Bartok - thanks
I had never heard of this company before. Ifi tried to bully me. Not to this level though. I'm sorry you're having to deal with this. It's complete BS and you're braver than I would be in the same situation. Well done.
You're doing the right thing by not giving in to their threats. I had a similar situation where I designed digital art in Photoshop and put it on my website as an example of my artistic abilities. I put the word Tabasco on there, as in Tabasco Mexico, a word that is not copyrighted. The Tabasco Sauce company lawyers contacted me and threatened to sue me for "confusing consumers" which is a joke. They sent 20 pages of legalese. Instead of hiring a lawyer, i just took down my artwork. These big companies will do whatever they want because they have more money than you.
Some brands will never learn. The damage they are doing to themselves with this is far greater than a 3 year old review most have already forgotten will ever do.
it makes their company look so bad, he's doing more damage than any review could ever do. They would probably lose the court case anyway because there's no basis to their argument. You are correct, we can not allow this sort of behaviour towards independent reviewers.
If you will need support in this case in the future, do not hesitate to establish some kind of donation based crowdfunding. Will be first to send small amount to support you and I bet I wont be alone.
I am very glad you made this video. It is extremely important to expunge all companies which bully reviewers. We cannot have honest reviews if this keeps happening. It shouldnt under any circumstances be possible to be sued on the basis of a negative review. WTF
That VP of Sales and Marketing needs to lose his job. Never seen someone so unprofessional. As someone who has a 10k+ TT and looking to get there in the digital space in the near future, dCS you will not be considered by me or any self respecting audiophile unless you issue a formal apology for this nonsense.
But this stinks anyway. C'mon management without guidelines and possibility for single person to sue someone without going directly to ie. CEO to get approved? Not gonna happen. There's no business in this planet where that would happen. Hell I doubt person X could even employ lawyer to proceed with things like this without ie. CEO's or shareholders approval. I'd suspect any reasonably lawyer would refuse to continue without this as heck couldn't they be sued for going by person X's way?
This is actually tragic, I watched your review at the time and I’ve always appreciated your honest OPINION on products. This type of behaviour will turn plenty of people off, the irony, likely more than would have been turned off by your review. People reap what they sow, I hope this will be a terrible harvest for dCS.
Lets hope that this is down to a single individual who is out of touch and that the company takes appropriate measures. Good on you for standing up and calling it out.
I hope all the other audio reviewers will make a react video to this one so everybody's subscribers know what a shit company this is. They'll regret being assholes even more.
Companies need to take negative reviews on the chin and improve their products. Channels like this keep companies on their toes to always keep improving. Really glad you made this video and did not fold. Good on you.
I've seen a recent post (I can't remember which channel it was on) complaining that reviewers do not give honest opinions. This is a prime example of why some are reluctant to do so.
Oh yea that's a classic youtube move lol, asking you to stop doing what you do but at the same time not telling you what exactly you should stop doing :D
Well, what we can do is just to pass by their booth at CanJam London. You know what happened to MQA after they messed with Cameron, now DCS want to be next. What a charade
@@pfx2259 lolz really like this idea...it doesn't target anyone specifically but the plonker that generated that idiotic email response and not by name either
DCS has been losing market share to the newcomers for a while now. their gear has always been overpriced and time has now caught up with them. To threaten a young youtuber over what is essentially an opinion is as clear a sign of this as you need.
I can only imagine the amount of stress and irritation you're going through. Being threatened and bullied this way for a perfectly balanced review is some classic evil-corp behaviour. I'm glad some big guys like LTT are offering help already. Negative publicity will put some serious heat on them and I expect public apology is coming your way soon... Hang in there and keep up with great work! 👍
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dCS' update and apology: dcs.community/t/goldensound-headphones-com-dcs-an-update/6740
I am pleased that this whole situation has come to an end.
I'm looking forward to visiting dCS next week, and for now the most important thing I ask is that people refrain from giving anyone at dCS a hard time. Particularly at CanJam this weekend. The individual involved is no longer with the company, and I do not want anyone to be directing further messages their way nor giving any sort of hardship to employees who had nothing to do with this situation in the first place.
However, I would also like to sincerely thank everyone in the community for their support the past few days
That letter is WILD 👀 glad to hear things have been resolved ❤
I don't like their apology. It's filled with ego. "My statement was issued in good faith and based on information I believed to be accurate." So he fired someone who gave him "Wrong information" - in other words, someone took the fall for his decision.
It's great that this has been resolved and the pressure you were feeling has now been lifted. You were really fighting for every consumer and reviewer and for that you have my gratitude.
As for you dCS, the damage has been done. I can tell you that you have lost at least one customer. I guess I'm not alone on that. If enough people think like me, only then may you have learned your lesson.
@@NeilDeBarna I probably wasn't going to stretch my budget to what would be about a 20k€ product, but, it was was close enough to have been scheduled in the audition.
I haven't watched the review, don't tend to need reviews... that I'm never considering a dCS is not anything about GS coverage or review.
classic CYA move after bad backlash…they’re not sorry, they’re upset they looked stupid for going after you
I will not be buying any products from dCS.
don't want to assume here but mostly likely neither of us can afford it anyway 🥲but I agree with you in spirit
Too bad. I have a Rossini and it sounds great.
Amen to that
You never were in the first place.
Me neither, it's a decent but utterly unremarkable DAC for 15 grand, nobody should be buying that.
How unprofessional that company is with sentences like "I am not your mommy", I am not very confident about the quality of their products.
"I'm not your mommy"?!?!
From the VP of Sales and Marketing? Guy's a child, he's the one acting maliciously, clearly.
@aleksoctop a schoolyard bully that still just sucks up to the bigger guy, his company
I’d love to see how they propose to calculate damages. I suspect they have no usable evidence you have damaged sales nor can they quantify the loss.
Sounds like a typical Sales / Marketing guy to me, tbh
@@Mattje8 "one BILLION dollars" Dr evil
This is actually most telling that this is not legally actionable. In the US, this individual would be told to, "Rightly F off."
They would/will be required to prove "factual inaccuracies" if this was to go to court. One is not required to "defend" themselves.The burden of proof is on the one making the claim. This is just BS bully tactics. Ignore it.
Note: Not a lawyer.
If they thought your review caused reputational damage, this is brand suicide
💯
Absolutely!
Some "influencers" (I realise Cameron isn't one) can absolutely destroy a company's reputation but saying a product is awful or with negative/unfavourable reviews. In this way I can see why the employee was concerned.
This was a negative review yes (and it didn't align with the love I had for my Bartok 2.0) but it's certainly not nasty or presenting anything other than his opinion. In fact; you can tell he really wanted to like it and was a little let down.
They should have just offered an upgraded version to review and opened a dialogue to work out what went wrong. There may have even been a follow up review then which would have been much more positive for DCS.
By selecting this course of action (as you say) this may be the beginning of the end for this company. Very unprofessional behaviour.
1000%
There are brands in other spaces that I've grown to dislike for certain reasons, but this is just beyond the pale.
👍👍👍
@@Martijn1234If your content influences the opinions of other you are by definition an influencer, remove the media conditioning that has told you influencer is a dirty word, it's neutral and accurate.
"i'm not your mommy" tells volume about the maturity of that person and they have made it VERY clear it's about their ego and feelings being hurt, not about facts.
This is about nosebleed price territory audiophile stuff anyhow.
What can be said for us older fogies who don't even have good hearing in both ears? Why doesn't someone make a headphone setup into which auditory compensations can be dialed.
Says it all
Sorry dCS, but this is how you get yourselves boycott
Negative reviews are the MOST important thing these days. So many channels are just paid promotions, overviews, too scared to show negatives.
Finding genuine reviews of products these days, is getting harder and harder.
Yes. About let's just throw some figure like >80% of reviews are stuff that I don't buy fully. Only ones that have actually made negative/neutral statements about reviewed items and who tell transparently in the beginning if item was bought or got free and where reviewer states like "all about you're going to hear states my personal opinion and that this review hasn't been approved by manufacturer".
So inorder to prove unbiased is to put a negative review.
@@Z-addnot a negative review, but point out the bad along with the good. so many paid 'reviews' simply go on and on about how the product is the best thing ever, while being careful not to say anything negative, for fear of not having their review be approved by the brand.
It wasn't even a negative review to begin with in my opinion, unless I am reading a different review. It seems typical of most high end audio product reviews I have read over the years in that almost everything has a relative weakness or flaw at any price.
I also can’t stand TH-cam “reviews” anymore.
Everything is all roses and sunshine with freaking everything.
Not impressed DCS. I used to be your customer but I will never be one again if you bully reviewers.
Ditto✊✊✊
Same Here. Boycott.
if?
Based on what the guy from dCS wrote, he probably thinks the sudden reduction in sales is the reviewer's fault, instead of being a consequence of his own actions.
@@ToyKeeperExactly!!
“I’m neither your mommy nor your therapist”. The guy sounds like a psychopath
This is total BS. Snark for intimidation purposes. Unprofessional. Gross. Also, companies feel WAY too emboldened to bully people around. This is a disgrace.
And I’m happy this particular line was aired out.
Sounds like the guy that wrote it could have used better parents and a therapist himself.
Likely CEO or someone at top management themselves. No one in their right mind would write something like that as worker for the business. No one.
In capacity as a representative for dCS that is really unhinged choice of words / behaviour. It's just a few hairs above "Yo momma" insults.
Not even Saul Goodman would write something so unprofessional
If there is anyone at dCS reading this comment, I will no longer have any plans to purchase any products moving forward.
they don't care to much. Their clients are not looking for such reviews.
By their actions, this company has just lost another customer for life.
"...your irresponsible and overtly malicious behaviour"
- oh the irony.
I am not a Lawyer but if that isn't a Libellous statement then I don't know what is.
@@doOf3r Yeah, I'm also not your mommy or therapist either lmaooo
Exactly, says the company who like schoolyard children said "I'm not your mommy". Perhaps that person was projecting their own parental problems onto the reviewer. Not a good way to get catharsis, also unprofessional and a good way to undermine themselves.
@@garydiamondguitarist Apparently the U.S. sales guy responsible for the emails has been fired, and DSC has released an updated statement apologising profusely for all the upset.
Seems like it worked out in the end...
@@iridescentgherkin Yeah I saw that. Smacks of being a cover your arse, damage control, backwalk a mistake move, dripping with hubris and insincerity.
That email from them was so unprofessional.
Their "apology" is equally disappointing. They even claim they never threatened litigation, because they didn't use that specific word. They say that "things escalated" as if this reviewer caused it. No, dCS escalated things.
Bye DCS! 👋🏼
Buy DCS! 💸
@@imacactus2 You're not even remotely funny.
@@imacactus2 Nice that you support a company that has bad morals and are bullies. 🤑
@@RafiGish I thought it was *remotely* funny.
“I’m neither your mommy nor your therapist” just wow. He's a psychopath. What a looser.
Dude should be blacklisted from the industry itself
Loser.*
Funny statement from a company presenting itself as purveyor of creature comfort goals.
@@Matticitt Loser.*
Totally unprofessional. It’s disgusting. They are a business and the mafia!!
wow dCS can you be any more unprofessional?? I would never buy a product from a company that tries to bully reviewers
Be careful. dCS might bully you into removing your comment. 🤭
@@thebestoffools*sue
@@thebestoffools Lol, they can try 😂
@@thebestoffools If you only knew how many countries that have boicott laws (I'm including those that allow boicotts but put stipulations on how you do it)..
many reviewers in the rags were on the take so this is no surprise big $$$ stereo is suspect alchemist and charlatans selling to ocd yuppie type hobbisty
This came up in the algorithm for me. I've just watched the review. As a loyal customer to dCS, I will no longer make any purchases (and I do a fair bit from them) as a result of their actions and not as a result of the review. The review would never have swayed me, but their childish and petty response to sending a legal threat to you is enough to scrub their name from both professional and personal use. The whole "not your mummy" sentence is wild. That's not normal, decent and humble behaviour, that's legitimately borderline psychopathic behaviour from someone representing the company at its highest level. Pathetic.
Same here. I always aspired to a dCS product if I were ever in a position to afford one and that includes the Bartok after reading the review. But I would not buy an dCS product now, not when I now know the sort of people in the company who created it.
The review came out in 2021? Great job resurrecting bad press, and starting even worse bad press, dCS! 😂
💯
They didnt take Streisand effect 101
@@roryr679 No lie.
🤣🤣🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡
Chad move 😅
"I'm not your mommy"? What, how is that a VP?
The fact that this was a VP actually makes that less surprising to me.
When you lose reputation over a negative review, so you lose even more reputation trying to sue said reviewer. Big brain move.
Not big brain move, but definitely small something else move. 🍆🤏🏻
It's like these lawyers never heard of the Streissand Effect.
Hey manufacturers STOP DOING THIS. Hire someone at your company that understands BRAND EQUITY.
all of this is very well said. i'm sorry you are having to deal with this shit. there is no place for a company to try and threaten a reviewer with a lawsuit
The VP of sales & marketing comes across as a psycho trying to intimidate you into submission. Very disturbing to say the least. Hope you are OK Cameron.
yep, actually unhinged. To see such unprofessionalism at the top level of a company is quite troubling.
He appears to be an absolute flog.
Typical VP
Most CEOs and people in those high level,positions are at the minimum a sociopaths and narcissists. If they cannot control something they lose it.
We really appreciate watching your honest reviews and stand with you! Keep up the great work! Tom from Audio Essence Switzerland.
dCS just lost a customer forever. This is disgusting.
This is going on all the time now, so many producers are being taken out. My strongest advice is contact Louis Rossmann TH-camr as he fully understands the legals around what can be said online. Going by the very wordy letters to you they certainly need legal advice to argue their point. It's pure scare tactics. Hold strong against this attack.
What a self own. That "mommy/ therapist" comment tells you all you need to know. ffs, movie theaters have less projection. It's also failing basic PR 101 and a great example of what not to do. Now because they can't let perceived slights go, they'll have created the very problem they sought to fix.
Yeah, it's like they hired a ghetto mall security guard to do their PR.
As an audiophile, dCS is fucked. My friends and I will abandon them, forever.
A real case of the Streisand Effect in action. That review was 2-3 years old and NOW they make a big stink of it. No doubt other audiophile content creators will end up speaking out against this kind of action, which ends up just highlighting the review more.
If they had just stayed quiet, not too many people would have seen the review. (In the grand scheme of things) And it would have just been one review amongst many.
Yep I didn't even know what dCS is until this random video popped up. Now they join Tekton I suppose lol
And also this is their weakest product in the lineup, comparatively against competition at a particular price point. Their highest ones are actually one of the industry leading.
Now, this will affect their entire lineup.
The thing I suspect is that their sales has been dropping and they started attacking negative reviews to possibly save their sales. but I think this would be the end of them
I never even knew about this channel until five minutes ago
Maybe they had to gather a few years of sales data to prove that they lost sales because of the review?
I saw your Bartok review a few months ago after two of my audiophile friends whose ears I trust got a loaner from a friend of theirs.
Simple story, they auditioned the Bartok at their system.
I wanted to listen but they had to return the Bartok to its owner.
But they gave me a summarized impression. Too smooth. It's so smooth it's lacking details, texture and excitement.
Trusting their judgment, but being a little curious if not skeptical, I research Bartok review. Your review confirmed their conclusions. You nailed it.
For context, the Bartok was compared to Mola Mola Tambaqui and Bricasti M1 DACs.
MQA 🚫 Tekton 🚫 dCS 🚫
Now what?
Well said
What did Tekton do?
@@GawainDragonthreatened law suits... Against Erin
@@GawainDragon th-cam.com/video/ItAwcW-3Kv4/w-d-xo.html
boycott these companies lol
That "not your mommy or therapist" comment was totally unprofessional as is the way they just completely refuse to specify which parts were false and instead just accuse you of intentional misinformation. Just shows they are not working in good faith.
do they not understand how much this hurts their brand?
I'm betting that this tactic has worked for dcs in the past, so they probably expected Cameron to cave and take down his review
I predict an apology or double down in this case, getting the popcorn ready.
Oh I think that leason is incoming myself
It doesn't seem so. ...but I sure hope they'll learn now.. 😈
"You're doing something I don't like. I'm going to sue you"
"What am I doing?"
"I'm not your mommy or your therapist."
Who the hell is running this company??
This John guy from dCS is nuts. I auditioned dCS stacks recently in 2023 and despite the impressive specs and finishes on the exterior, none of the products' sound stood out to me. MUCH cheaper stacks and all in ones literally sounded identical clock or no clock. No one was deceived here
100% agree, at CanJam they always setup this really fancy looking room with their expensive lina stacks and no matter what I plug into them they just sound bloated and dull.
My experience exactly.
Lawsuit incoming.
Of course they sound the same. DACs are a solved issue and has been for decades. You can buy cheap single chip solutions that will literally have a conversion quality that is several orders of magnitude better than human hearing could ever distinguish, and they only cost a few dollars.
The ONLY thing that is tricky in audio is the conversion between vibrations and electricity and back. Every other bit is a solved problem.
As someone in the market for one at the moment (well, a few months away), what did you end up going with? My shortlist got shorter by one.. so am waiting to do a side by side of the AR Dac9, PS Direct Stream and the Meridian Ultra.
Budget is not quite yet set.
hi, This is what it's called . A Slapp suit. A strategic lawsuit against public participation.
the objective is not to take a legal route towards a rightful claim, but to mire the defendant in legal costs and intimidate them into silence. there's quite alot of precedent , and it exploits the legal system's weakest spots in favor of the party with the deepest pockets.
aka... "The Process IS the Punishment" ... 😒
Some advice for dCS: spend your money on R&D instead of lawyers, then your products may actually be good
they spent. These guys had some problems in their review and this is why they are not telling him what's wrong. They want to show to the industry that having AP setup is not making them a top reviewers. Same with their personal preferences when they tell tus hat it is "not my sound" and it is not 15k sound.
@@mxvmx9568 These guys who specifically are these guys?
These companies must be run by 12 yr olds. Did they think we wouldn’t hear about this?
what the fuck dCS
Trust me, you dont want to know!🤣😇🥰😍💘❤🩹💯👍
What the f*ck is dCS?
What you are doing by standing up to this is very admirable and important for the industry as a whole. They do not like your review, so they are trying to use the excuse that it contains inaccuracies because they are unable to have any grounds off the fact that a review was published which they do not like. Thank you for exposing this and fighting the fight for the entire industry. Reviewers are entitled to make positive and negative reviews of products - that is the entire point of the review. We are not looking for sales pitches or sales men when we watch a review of a product. We are looking for the reviewers opinion of the value of the item.
So, do they have to initiate a whole new threatening email chain about this video too? Or can they just amend the previous?
Good point... by the sounds of it they'll be threatening legal action for this video claiming damage to their reputation caused by GS telling people they are doing something frankly insane to him, which will massively damage their reputation.
I bet ZReviews can't relate to this issue .
Zeos you are trash
@@loonation2185 I've heard him give negative reviews on a lot of things. I assume you're just being a sandy butthole for no reason?
No no no… The new email chain is scheduled for 2027.
I have full read the apology from dCS provided by your link. Looks to me like the CEO is clear sighted enough to see the problem and has taken appropriate action.
Standing your ground and fighting against unreasonable push back, rather than caving to pressure, is commendable.
Well done sir!
make a better product, dCS. On top of it your distribution channels are rubbish, will never buy your product - you did it to yourself.
Just became aware of you guys !! We stand against censorship of honest opinion in our HiFi Tribe ! We support you wholeheartedly ! All 28K of us... we will showcase this in my livestream tonight at 9PM EST
Great to see Mikey and the Tribe in support! 🙏
Well done Mike.. thx 🙏
Amen Mickey!
Nice brother.
I've been saving up for over 2 years in the hopes of getting the Lina. This situation spooked me a little, but after seeing the response from Davo, it's reassured me a bit. I'm a few months away from affording the system, so I've got time to see how the situation is closed before spending a considerable sum of money.
I'm sorry that you have gone through this, I really hope that the outcome is favourable and that dCS are willing to learn and really implement positive change from this.
sounds like an uphill battle for them to blatantly silence valid criticism
And criticism is protected speech in most jurisdictions.
Good on you. This absolutely happens and it’s quite frustrating when brands aren’t interested in improving but rather just avoiding scrutiny.
Boycott DCS (not that many would buy their overpriced products anyway)
@@radicalrealmrecordings42 +1
💯
go one step further, do not buy from ANY company that sells dCS, regardless of the product.
dCS just put themselves on the "do not buy" list. I don't support bullies.
I will never buy a DCS product in light of this. Thank you GoldenSound. MolaMola T next for me I guess.
I've dealt with such legal bullying. The best course of action moving forward is to get a lawyer who can handle these types of threats. Then it's just a matter of replying with a CC to include your lawyer, and you'll usually never hear from them again. They know they don't have a legal leg to stand on (unless you made slanderous statements), but instead rely on bullying and fear of financial loss to fight them. Once they see a lawyer involved, they tend to back down because they know they'll lose. It's best not to send detailed replies because they may be able to twist your words into a "confession" that you did something wrong. Glad to see that it all got straightened out.
no dCS, this is the worst advertising they could do
THANK YOU. Thank you for being open and honest. We need more or this. WAY TO GO. Thank you for letting us know about the poduct and thank you what the brand is like.
I will refuse to buy any dCS products. And I was actively considering buying a Rossini APEX player. I value honest reviews. All my support go to the *very* few honest reviewers out there, I hate corporate bullies and I am *Hugely* disappointed by dCS.
I was looking for dCS reviews and ended up here. Thanks for sharing! I love how detailed your reviews are and the transparency that you share in your reviews, but especially in your "dCS case". You got a new follower!
40 grand for a DAC? These guys are clowns, as presumably are their customers.
Holy fuck, 40 grand? In 2024? (Well, in whatever year the original review was published.)
Yeah, reviewers need to call out ridiculous prices far more often. That paperweight costs 500usd to produce AT BEST.
My cap for any component is $5K.
If they are willing to sue people who write negative reviews, I suspect they are also willing to pay people to write positive reviews and post them on the hifi and other audiophile sites. But that is just my opinion (Please don't sue me too DCS).
corporate bullying is unacceptable. Thank you Goldensound, not for the review itself but for making these bullying threats public. I will just exclude any DCS products from my shopping list.
As a marketing director and someone who loves hi-fi, I’m just going to say that if I had worked for DCS this never would’ve happened. In this day and age this is absolutely the worst thing that they could’ve done for PR. If I was the director of the company and was advised to do this, I will be sacking whoever was involved. If this was the Directors idea then they deserve the terrible attention that this will course. There is 100 different ways that this could be dealt with that would’ve had a positive outcome. Going down this line and actually using language that tilts towards immaturity of character is unbelievable. They need to reevaluate this, get on top of it right away with a positive strategy, and do the right thing if this is not going to impact on sales for the next few years.
damn now im actually never buying from dcs :)
Another company to add to the list of companies I will NEVER purchase from again. I think they have damaged themselves.
Well even if I disagree with reviewers about any particular dCS product opinions, I sure won't be buying any based on corporate bullying behavior.
Love reviewers who are independent and with backbone! I will support you every step of the way Goldensound! 💪💪💪
This happened to Erin’s audio corner by tekton speakers as well. Tekton did this to several TH-cam reviewers including new record day. There is a trend of Hifi manufacturers who use these intimidation tactic to threaten reviewers.
0:17 I dont know who you are never heard or saw this review and dont care about the peice of kit.However, any company calling slander on someone for giving their honest feedback and or review is petty and means the company has fears over this channel i have never seen nor heard of as well as a product i couldnt care less about. its pathetic and petty to tie up legal system and finances for this im sorry this happened to you sir/ I know it is of little comfort in this situation. But wish you the best outcome.
As mentioned by another commenter below... I HIGHLY ENCOURAGE any attendees of CanJam London to drop by their booth and let them know how terrible this whole lawsuit threats business is. Let them know if it will stop you buying from them. They are a major sponsor of the show, this is unacceptable behaviour, and they need to be told that in no uncertain terms.
We're with you , don't fold.
Man this sounds so familiar with what Erin went through with Tekton. Sorry you are going through this. This is unacceptable for any brand to behave in this manner.
Very glad to have watched the review and subsequently been made aware of this issue with DCS- both have impacted my decision of whether to purchase a Bartok - thanks
I had never heard of this company before. Ifi tried to bully me. Not to this level though. I'm sorry you're having to deal with this. It's complete BS and you're braver than I would be in the same situation. Well done.
I'll make sure to steer clear of DCS.
The letter at 3:30 has "Sincerley Disappointed, Karen" written all over it. Crazy that came from a 'VP'
You're doing the right thing by not giving in to their threats. I had a similar situation where I designed digital art in Photoshop and put it on my website as an example of my artistic abilities. I put the word Tabasco on there, as in Tabasco Mexico, a word that is not copyrighted. The Tabasco Sauce company lawyers contacted me and threatened to sue me for "confusing consumers" which is a joke. They sent 20 pages of legalese. Instead of hiring a lawyer, i just took down my artwork. These big companies will do whatever they want because they have more money than you.
Some brands will never learn. The damage they are doing to themselves with this is far greater than a 3 year old review most have already forgotten will ever do.
It's mind blowing, really. The power of the ego to override all rationality and caution.
A brand doing this damages itself more than its products do
it makes their company look so bad, he's doing more damage than any review could ever do. They would probably lose the court case anyway because there's no basis to their argument. You are correct, we can not allow this sort of behaviour towards independent reviewers.
Some companies egos are as fragile as their employees - pathetic
DCS.....you can do one !
Overpriced , overhyped
First time I see your channel, I'm really sorry this is happening, and I'm very glad you are not letting yourself be bullied.
If you will need support in this case in the future, do not hesitate to establish some kind of donation based crowdfunding. Will be first to send small amount to support you and I bet I wont be alone.
I am very glad you made this video. It is extremely important to expunge all companies which bully reviewers. We cannot have honest reviews if this keeps happening. It shouldnt under any circumstances be possible to be sued on the basis of a negative review. WTF
Really sorry you have to go through this, Cameron. Everyone is behind you
Always good to have things resolved amicably.
That VP of Sales and Marketing needs to lose his job. Never seen someone so unprofessional. As someone who has a 10k+ TT and looking to get there in the digital space in the near future, dCS you will not be considered by me or any self respecting audiophile unless you issue a formal apology for this nonsense.
But this stinks anyway. C'mon management without guidelines and possibility for single person to sue someone without going directly to ie. CEO to get approved? Not gonna happen. There's no business in this planet where that would happen. Hell I doubt person X could even employ lawyer to proceed with things like this without ie. CEO's or shareholders approval. I'd suspect any reasonably lawyer would refuse to continue without this as heck couldn't they be sued for going by person X's way?
Thanks for your bravery. Crazy that DCS doesn't see that we can't ever believe another positive review of their products.
ok have to comment to make TH-cam show this to more audiophile
Thank You GoldenSound for doing the good fight. It’s very unfortunate and I hope that the outcome will be good for you !
This is actually tragic, I watched your review at the time and I’ve always appreciated your honest OPINION on products. This type of behaviour will turn plenty of people off, the irony, likely more than would have been turned off by your review. People reap what they sow, I hope this will be a terrible harvest for dCS.
Lets hope that this is down to a single individual who is out of touch and that the company takes appropriate measures. Good on you for standing up and calling it out.
I hope all the other audio reviewers will make a react video to this one so everybody's subscribers know what a shit company this is. They'll regret being assholes even more.
Companies need to take negative reviews on the chin and improve their products. Channels like this keep companies on their toes to always keep improving. Really glad you made this video and did not fold. Good on you.
I've seen a recent post (I can't remember which channel it was on) complaining that reviewers do not give honest opinions. This is a prime example of why some are reluctant to do so.
I support you during this challenging time.
I will never buy from Dcs and will share to my audio friends about their disgraceful corporate bullying.
Sounds just like TH-cam. Strike your comments down but won't tell you which ones they didn't like
Oh yea that's a classic youtube move lol, asking you to stop doing what you do but at the same time not telling you what exactly you should stop doing :D
Well, what we can do is just to pass by their booth at CanJam London. You know what happened to MQA after they messed with Cameron, now DCS want to be next. What a charade
Casually pass by and yell out ‘mommy mommy where is my therapist?!? These audiogear are sending me trauma vibes!!’
@@pfx2259 lolz really like this idea...it doesn't target anyone specifically but the plonker that generated that idiotic email response and not by name either
Speaking out instead of folding, you sir are a good person!
DCS has been losing market share to the newcomers for a while now. their gear has always been overpriced and time has now caught up with them. To threaten a young youtuber over what is essentially an opinion is as clear a sign of this as you need.
dCS are pissed off that companies are making better Dacs than them at a fraction of the overblown amount they charge. dCS are done.
I can only imagine the amount of stress and irritation you're going through. Being threatened and bullied this way for a perfectly balanced review is some classic evil-corp behaviour. I'm glad some big guys like LTT are offering help already. Negative publicity will put some serious heat on them and I expect public apology is coming your way soon... Hang in there and keep up with great work! 👍