How Good is the EEVBlog?

[German_EE]

Once in a while we see complains about the EEVBlog, some people don't like the camera work, some don't like the new seating position for the mailbag, others complain about the topics. Well, I don't think we appreciate how good the EEV Blog is, Dave has done well over six hundred videos and most if not all of them are still watchable years later.

However.....................

I only appreciated how good Dave's work is after someone sent me a link for the Ben Heck Show https://www.youtube.com/user/thebenheckshow/videos It's horrible, really, it's like watching the Discovery Channel.

Lots of sponsorship messages
Annoying background music
As in Mythbusters he switches between two topics in one video
Very little technical content
Questionable technical skill (heatshrink is not supposed to be applied with an open flame)

So, the next time you feel like complaining try somewhere else then come back, we'll be waiting 

[ovnr]

Well, to be honest I think most people with (serious) complaints about the EEVblog do so based on comparisons with other things they watch. I'm really not one to complain, but there are some things which are a bit offputting - Dave tries to be educational in pretty much every instance, and it can get a bit tiresome when a 5-minute video stretches into 30. I much prefer Mike's (as in Mike's Electric Stuff) format, where stuff tends gets done in an efficient manner - and the really tiresome details get offloaded onto either the end or another video.

That's not to say I don't like in-depth 1h+ reviews and the like, but discussing the finer points of wire looming in a desktop calculator for 10 minutes isn't my cup of tea. Which is why I have a fast-forward button, and I'm not afraid to use it! (Mailbag postcard? Forward, my brave video player! Not much of an issue these days tho.)


As for Ben Heck's show: I never liked the guy before he got his show, and things did not improve! I really hate it when people who generally have no idea what they're doing bumble around trying to appear skilled, then do the most ridiculously dumb things. Argh. I watched one episode and will not watch another again.

</grumpy_mode>

[george graves]

Ben Heck is a cool guy.  And he'll be the first one to admit, that his show is NOT aimed at people that frequent the eevblog.  Not at all.  Zip, zero.

It's for people that are curious about getting into the maker/hacker/builder/hobbiest(whatever name you want) market.   Honestly,  I think his market is people that are really interested, but haven't pulled the trigger on actually investing time into electronics.  Either they don't know where to start, or are afraid to fail.  (we've all been there at some point)

It's horrible, really, it's like watching the Discovery Channel.

You're argument of "The Ben Heck show sucks", is so lacking the bigger picture of making money on youtube.

The Ben Heck show is aimed at an audience, just cause that audience isn't you, doesn't mean it "sucks". 

Ben is very upfront about what he does and doesn't know.

I really hate it when people who generally have no idea what they're doing bumble around trying to appear skilled, then do the most ridiculously dumb things.

That I do agree with.  And that's why there is the down vote button.  The worst thing is people "pretending" to be a teacher, using the voice of a teacher, but are actually "faking it" for the youtube views, just to make money, and get views.  That's sad.

[T3sl4co1l]

How good?  Good enough I'm subscribed

If you want to compare to big names, like SciShow or VSauce, the production values and animations and stuff aren't there, but as far as a guy with a handful of cameras and some splicing, it's pretty good, and on par with others like Mike, Ben Kraznow or Fran.

Occasional mistakes pop up from time to time, as happens anywhere; follow-ups with text overlays are prompt (sometimes before posting!), and, well, YT/G+ comments are ever present, but the forum here is a bit better informed than your average YT commenter, so there's that.

Only major "experience" complaint I have: there's just something grating or irritating or something about Dave's voice.  Don't know if it's the accent, or the enunciation, or the recording (or post-processing, if any, e.g. compression), or what, but listening on headphones, I actually legitimately feel those muscles inside my ears twitching in response to the speech peaks.  (It's probably a normal experience that, when yawning, you get this shaking / throbbing sort of sound in your ears?  It's that kind of sensation -- but in response to loudness, which is, as far as I know, a natural reflex of the ear as well.)

This is probably the same experience as a lot of commentators, that "just can't listen" to Dave's voice.  Yes it's an accent, but it seems like it's more than that.  I haven't looked at a waveform or anything, but my first guess would be, maybe compression would help?

Tim

[Kjelt]

Depends where you come for, I always liked the tear downs of new test equipment which is not happening very often anymore unfortunately, the blog is pretty good though, but could be better.
I just recently looked at Mikes videos and boy in my opinion he takes it a giant step further actually hacking and debugging new stuff and making it work on his own breadboards (flir). I love it! but could be too much for newbies.
If you are just started with electronics or not doing any yourself I can understand that Heck show will be interesting just as I like to see the discovery documentaries about discovering treasures 400 meter below the sealevel but don't think I will ever do that my self. But as an experience hw sw person I kinda see the mistakes and hate those popular guys, give me a good well trained nerd any day above some showperson reading from the script.

[EEVblog]

Once in a while we see complains about the EEVBlog, some people don't like the camera work, some don't like the new seating position for the mailbag, others complain about the topics.

Every blog gets that when you reach a certain level, it's inevitable. Due to both increase in the search ranking bringing you more "non-core" audience views and hence more comments from the general populace, and also the odds of increased expectations the more viewers you get.

[EEVblog]

I only appreciated how good Dave's work is after someone sent me a link for the Ben Heck Show https://www.youtube.com/user/thebenheckshow/videos It's horrible, really, it's like watching the Discovery Channel.
Lots of sponsorship messages
Annoying background music
As in Mythbusters he switches between two topics in one video
Very little technical content
Questionable technical skill (heatshrink is not supposed to be applied with an open flame)
So, the next time you feel like complaining try somewhere else then come back, we'll be waiting 

I wouldn't be so harsh on Ben, his projects and hacking and build skills are generally excellent, some quite brilliant, and that's what the videos are about in the end. And of course you can't question his commitment or production rate.
He chooses to do the style he does, and it's either take it or leave it.
Same with me really. I chose a certain style and it's pretty much take it or leave it. Many people don't like my style, or my level of technical content, or *insert of complaint here*, and that's just fine of course, I don't expect everyone to like my content. No blog can be all things to all people.

I find comparisons with between bloggers pretty pointless, because you are never comparing apples with apples.

[RobertHolcombe]

I think its the best electronics channel in terms of regular, quality videos, with a good variety of content, most of which appeals to me. Personally I appreciate how thorough Dave can be, particularly in the fundamentals/tutorial videos where he'll present a circuit and then iterate on it through the video with really in depth explanation.

[Wilksey]

The best way to answer the question is personally I think it is extremely good, and there are some excellent topics and in depth videos (Op Amps for example), I would welcome and encourage anyone to watch a few of the videos, i.e. fundamentals, mailbag, teardown, etc, and if they don't like it then don't subscribe, Dave will be the first to admit it's not for everyone, but when people complain about stuff that is petty then we should all just be thankful that Dave keeps going.

Regarding Ben Heck, some of his videos are very good, his entertainment skills leave a lot to be desired and they all have the personality on screen of a block of wood, the only issue I have with the BH show is that he uses very expensive equipment so not every hobbyist etc can join along.

For example where i live there is no hackspace, so I don't have access to 3d printers or laser cutters, so I can't follow along that well, but I do still enjoy seeing what he comes up with.

Mike (Electrical Stuff) is very good at explaining things as he is tearing them down, some of the videos are not for me (no offence Mike) so I watch the first few mins and decide then if I want to watch them, but I am still a subscriber because he has a lot of cool stuff he tears down and 90% of the videos are of interest to me.

I don't know, I just think some people are too ungrateful!

[EEVblog]

The worst thing is people "pretending" to be a teacher, using the voice of a teacher, but are actually "faking it" for the youtube views, just to make money, and get views.  That's sad.

But if their content is accurate, who cares?
It's not hard for any content producer to appear to be an expert or genius on any topic, there is this thing called Google and Wikipedia.
I for example could easily go off and spend and hour or two on Google and become an instant expert on any topic before hitting that record button, but I usually don't bother, apart from some occasional fact checking or a few minutes of research on a chip or something if I could be bothered. Hence my style of saying "I have no idea", or "your guess is as good of mine", or asking for viewers opinions etc.
Or I could spend a week on a video and perfect it and get it right, but that's not my style. I hit record, something comes out of my mouth, and that's a wrap.
Some people don't like that, and it can make me look clueless on some topics (which I am of course, no one can know everything), lazy, or whatever. But hey, I don't care, that's my style, viewers can take it or leave it.

[mcinque]

I really think that EEVblog is very, very good, probably the best EEVblog. So good that I'm a subscriber it and I support it.
Dave has a very good attitude to teach and I like almost all his videos (but I prefer repair videos).
I like his sense of humor and I really enjoy his anger against idiot persons or stupid things.
People that are complaining probably ignore that all this is free of charge and that they can choose to not watch.

The only rant that I have against Dave is that he makes me spend too much money in equipment

[EEVblog]

Only major "experience" complaint I have: there's just something grating or irritating or something about Dave's voice.

A few others get complaints about their voice or speech style too.
I've seen quite a few complaints on here about Mikes "mumbling" and/or thick English accent, with many refusing to watch because of that. Shaharier talking too fast or some such, Martins slow style, and Fran get it a bit too I think.

Interestingly I've gotten many comments from German viewers saying that mine is the only blog they watch because they can't understand any of the others! Some how my style of speech sits well with them?

Don't know if it's the accent, or the enunciation, or the recording (or post-processing, if any, e.g. compression), or what, but listening on headphones, I actually legitimately feel those muscles inside my ears twitching in response to the speech peaks.  (It's probably a normal experience that, when yawning, you get this shaking / throbbing sort of sound in your ears?  It's that kind of sensation -- but in response to loudness, which is, as far as I know, a natural reflex of the ear as well.)
This is probably the same experience as a lot of commentators, that "just can't listen" to Dave's voice.  Yes it's an accent, but it seems like it's more than that.  I haven't looked at a waveform or anything, but my first guess would be, maybe compression would help?

Nothing will help! Nor would I ever process my audio just because a few people think that will help. Because I'll just get complaints that doing that makes it worse or ruined it for other people.
Similar to people complaining about motion sickness on my walking videos. Many said it was the blurring causing it, so I fixed that and I get a new batch of complaints 

My voice is my voice. I have a naturally high pitched voice that is "worsened" by (so I'm told) a partially good example of a typical High Rising Terminal common in Sydney and other parts of Australia.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_rising_terminal
And then on top of that I when I get enthusiastic (often!) it gets faster and even worse.
On top of that my throat gets hoarse very easily, which is not particularly easy to notice when you are talking and trying to shoot a blog and thinking about what the say next etc.
So yes, I have a horrible voice, sorry, people have to take it or leave it I'm afraid.

I can make it sound different or deliberately slower (and maybe "better"?) if I really want to, take this for example (I could do better):


But that's the same problem above all over again, if I did that I'd get countless people complaining I've changed my style, or I sound ridiculous, annoying, or whatever.

So I (and other bloggers) simply do what we do, and people either watch or don't watch based on what they like or don't like. That's the way it works.
As I've said, debating it or comparing people is pretty pointless.

[EEVblog]

the only issue I have with the BH show is that he uses very expensive equipment so not every hobbyist etc can join along.

Another area that's impossible to please people with.
I get complaints that I use expensive gear too.
I also get complaints that I don't use my expensive gear enough, and don't do enough interesting advanced things with them (true of course).
You can't win, it's impossible!

[EEVblog]

Personally I appreciate how thorough Dave can be, particularly in the fundamentals/tutorial videos where he'll present a circuit and then iterate on it through the video with really in depth explanation.

Thanks, I do like to think I do a half decent job of those. (It can always be better of course, every video is a time/effort/enthusiasm/what pops into my head at the time compromise)
I think Shahriar has the best tutorials, so much effort goes into them, but even on those I see complaints about it being too technical, too long, didn't cover this or that etc 

I hope people are sensing a theme here... 

[jancumps]

...

I can make it sound different or deliberately slower (and maybe "better"?) if I really want to, take this for example (I could do better):


...

did we spot the young Mrs. EEVblog there?

[EEVblog]

I think its the best electronics channel in terms of regular, quality videos, with a good variety of content

Personally I think that's where I do pretty well.
I've always been consistent and regular (even when I didn't do it full time), have always tried to improve my video and audio quality and production values, and have tried to produce a fairly wide variety of content. I'll whilst trying to stay sane and tolerating the haters.
Ultimately I have no real idea what makes me the most popular engineering blog (Although Ben has more subs, but less views), but I guess I must be doing a reasonable job?
And I do take constructive feedback, but reserve the right to not act on it 

[Wilksey]

the only issue I have with the BH show is that he uses very expensive equipment so not every hobbyist etc can join along.

Another area that's impossible to please people with.
I get complaints that I use expensive gear too.
I also get complaints that I don't use my expensive gear enough, and don't do enough interesting advanced things with them (true of course).
You can't win, it's impossible!

At least the only really expensive gear you use people can get cheaper versions of, i.e. scopes, magnifying glasses, you have some very desirable gear but there are cheaper versions around that do a similar job albeit not quite so long lasting or precise etc.

For example I can get a cheap scope from ebay for 1/8th of the price of an aglient / keyside whatever they are calling themselves these days which does most of the same stuff, just not as well, but it does for what I want to use it for.

With the BH show you can't get cheap 3D printers or laser cutters (3D printers are coming down in price but are still expensive), and he doesn't tell you it took him 20 hours to print a small case, which is fine, but I can see why that would get complaints. As I said I watch it to see what he comes up with, he is very good at making things "work" even if they are bodged!

[EEVblog]

With the BH show you can't get cheap 3D printers or laser cutters (3D printers are coming down in price but are still expensive), and he doesn't tell you it took him 20 hours to print a small case, which is fine, but I can see why that would get complaints.

But I think many people miss the point here with his videos, (like mine and many others) I think most people ultimately watch for the entertainment value, and I think Ben tries to play to that and make his videos fun in that way.

Among electronics channels, the opposite extreme to that would have to be Afrotechmods.
Very highly polished and scripted top quality short videos that are 100% instructional and educational. You don't even know the guys real name, and never see him on camera. So the "personality" based viewership would be bordering on zero, unlike most of the other blogs where people usually subscribe because, ultimately, they like the personality.

As I said I watch it to see what he comes up with, he is very good at making things "work" even if they are bodged!

And that why I think most of the criticism of him is not warranted.
Very few of us could consistently come up with the content and builds that he does, week in, week out, year in, year out.
If anyone thinks they can, then I think it's more likely than not you are overestimating your abilities!

[Flump]

wowsa you sounded boring on that Knox Canyon vid Dave,  don't do that often, please 

only thing I would like is more fault diagnosis and repair stuff, but i like the varied content and how you do it

[EEVblog]

only thing I would like is more fault diagnosis and repair stuff

Ultimately I'm not in the repair field (so no easy source of such repairs), and when I do try to do that, and acquire faulty gear for just that purpose, Murphy gets me and it's either beyond repair, or something very simple.
I must admit to being jealous any time I see another blogger buy something on ebay and luckily get an interesting repair video out of it 

[Flump]

yeah and there are loads of repair videos on YT to keep people happy
i think in many ways for me YT has taken over from normal television
as you can watch what you want when you want on it.

[coppice]

Questionable technical skill (heatshrink is not supposed to be applied with an open flame)

Don't you remember the good old days when we roasted heat shrink on a spit over an open fire?

[Wilksey]

All valid points Dave,
I agree with all raised, I too watch the Afrotechmods videos and they are also very good.

I take something from every single "tech" video I watch regardless of who is doing the video or what their on camera persona is.
We can all sit and nit pick about what we do and don't like, if I don't like a particular video, I just don't watch it, I don't complain to all and sundry about it though as some people would.

I think if you are (and you and others clearly are) getting the views you want then just keep on doing what you have been, you must be doing something right for a large majority of watchers else they would unsubscribe and watch something else instead!

[G7PSK]

I think Dave has it pretty well right and you can't please all of the people all of the time. I have never seen any of Dave's video's that I thought I don't like that.
If someone really dose not like something there is that miracle invention of of modern electronics- the OFF button.
It is easy to criticize and not so easy to do.

[djacobow]

No series can be everything to everyone. What I like about Dave's vids, is that he doesn't seem to be trying to please anybody but himself, particularly in the early videos. That's fine, since none of us are being forced to watch. If the video is appealing to you, you watch it, and you get to see someone in their best "mode of operation" -- doing what /they/ like.

Of course, in making a career out of something you have to think about audience, progress, etc. But when I first saw EEVblog, I was just pleased as hell to see an EE talking about EE and saying whatever the f*k pleases him. For someone who had a decent EE career but was so burned out* that I actually shifted away, it was great.

* I wasn't burned out on EE per se, but I was tired of working on ever more conservative projects that just seemed pointless. "This chip is just like the last, but it will support 192kHz 24 bit 7.1 channel ringtones!"