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Moderation
#1
The discussions going on in the Devialet News->Streamer board...? thread at the moment about whether there should be a new section for threads about Roon got me thinking a bit.

It strikes me that changing the structure of the forum in itself is not likely to reduce the number of posts that end up in the wrong thread: it's human nature that some people have ideas they'd like to express whenever and wherever they occur, while others like to organise things more carefully and will try to post to existing, relevant threads where possible.  That won't change overnight just because there's an extra section in the forum, and there will always be some tension between these ways of interacting with the forum.

So I wonder whether what we need is a bit more active moderation to keep the structure of the forum under control in a more dynamic and reactive way.  The Roon forum seems to be a good example of this: as hifi_swlon said in another post, the moderators there seem to act subtly but quickly to split and merge threads where necessary to keep things on-topic.  Their approach seems to be very effective.  Fortunately both the Roon forum and this forum (DC) seem very good natured for the most part so I expect the moderators don't often have to step in to stop threads going sour.

Which brings me to the question: do we need more moderators, and if so would anyone be willing to take on this role?  I'm not sure exactly how it works and how much time and effort it would entail; maybe Guillaume or Rufus might be able to give some guidance.

I should say right away that I'm not in any way trying to imply that the existing moderators are not doing a great job. Rather I'm aware that there aren't many of them and we shouldn't expect them to be spending 24 hours a day on the forum keeping it under control.  Spreading the load is all I'm suggesting.

Maybe I'm on the wrong track here, in which case I won't be upset if anyone says so.  But if more moderators would be a good thing then I'd be pleased to help (although I haven't done this sort of thing before!).
Roon (Mac Mini), Wilson Benesch Full Circle, Expert 1000 Pro CI, Kaiser Chiara
Warwickshire, UK
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#2
Wise words Ian, I would say. I have had similar thoughts myself recently, although it is easier to see what might be going wrong than to establish what the best resolution might be. Indeed, Guillaume asks a polite question about thread rationalisation yesterday, and gets about four conflicting responses.

It's a bit like herding cats though, recently I have tried politely guiding people to posting in the most appropriate threads and I would like to think this has mostly gone down well, but you do get the occasional person who takes umbrage to this stating a 'I'll post here if I want to' attitude, or whatever.

Oddly enough, seeing who nobody can agree on how the Roon threads should be rationalised, I would say that the slightly organic way similar threads can emerge probably works as well as anything and nobody can complain to much as it is a collective creation, it has kind of worked over the years. It is not perfect, if you are new to Devialet and interested in the Master Companion link for example, you will find about four relevant different threads to slog though. This could be rationalised but it would be a lot of work, would it be worth it?

As a comment on yourself Ian, certainly over the years and on many occasions I have seen you politely nudge people towards more appropriate posting. This is something I have appreciated I have seen some others do it, and indeed have tried myself. Although I know for sure that I have been guilty of gross off topic misdemeanours on occasion, it is irresistible sometimes. So I think the forum does have a degree of self moderation already. Which is good.

Just some thoughts from myself. I am not volunteering Ian for anything, or indeed volunteering myself. Although happy always happy to help out when I can, frankly I have zero idea what is really involved!
1000 Pro - KEF Blade - iFi Zen Stream - Mutec REF10 - MC3+USB - Pro-Ject Signature 12
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#3
Hi guys Rufus and I are giving this some consideration, actually it's been on our minds for a while now.

Whatever we choose to do in terms of changing the structure of the forum isn't going to please everyone and perhaps this is why we have been procrastinating a little. As Confused mentioned above my recent question regarding the treatment of Roon topics elicited 4 different responses. Neither Rufus or I are fans of over-moderation, we rather like the loose discussion feel of some of the threads. With that said we recognise that the pendulum has swung too far; we don't need new Roon threads popping up every day.

The other issue is that I am not active on the Roon boards like many of you are on here and therefore I don't necessarily have a good understanding of this subject. Recently I was confused as to whether I needed to run AIR separately in order to make the Roon/AIR integration work! Although I am a tweaker par excellence ironically when it comes to tweaking in the digital domain, be it room correction, HQPlayer etc I am a bit slow and reluctant to try new things. Don't get me wrong I've fiddled with Dirac and Trinnov and I'm a committed Roon user. I just don't spend a lot of time thinking about these things, preferring instead to experiment with hardware (I've always got more than one amp on the go here), power, mechanical isolation and grounding not to mention signal cabling.

Anyway I just wanted to respond to you all, and to let you know we are having a hard think about how we should move forwards. As ever all your suggestions are greatly appreciated. I've said this before but it's really your forum.  Smile

Guillaume
Industry disclosure: UK distributor for Shunyata Research

220 PRO, totaldac d1 server with additional external power supply, totaldac d1-seven, Echole PSU for Totaldac, Wilson Audio Sasha 2, Shunyata Research cables, Shunyata Hydra Alpha A10 + DPC-6 v3, Various Entreq ground boxes and cables, Entreq Athena level 3 rack, 2 X SOtM sNH-10G with sCLK-EX + 10MHz Master Clock input + sPS-500 PSU, i5 sonicTransporter w/ 1TB SSD

UK
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#4
I know that Roon choose their moderators very carefully. They are generally people who have been around the forum a lot and for the longest time, help lots of people, are friendly and well balanced individuals, write well, and are generally 'givers'. You can sense who will become a moderator months/years down the line, and then they appear. They do quite a bit behind the scenes too.

I think if you choose well, and have good guidelines, it's really useful - Roons has become a much busier place this year, and with that obviously comes a wider range if people and manners. I think the moderators do a great job (sometimes they perhaps get a bit defensive of Roon but it's not too bad).

The discourse platform helps a lot too I think.

As to who you'd pick around here with this lot I've no idea. Well, apart from the two above of course... if you had to they'd do Smile

>>> 1st Place Award: Devialet, last decades most disappointing technology purchase.  <<<

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#5
The problem with moderation is that it takes a lot of time and consistency to do it well. Roon's discussion forums are exceptionally well moderated, but most of those guys get paid for doing it (at least I think they do). And the software they're using is better designed for the level of moderation they perform.

Guillaume, Rufus - DevialetChat works quite well from my perspective (and I've been involved in a few that don't). Your gentle nudging, insight and suggestions have served us all admirably. Feel free to adjust as you see fit but also know all your efforts, past and present, are highly appreciated! Thank you.
Devialet 440 Pro (two 220s)- Oracle CD transport - Kuzma Stabi S/Stogi S turntable - Von Schweikert VR-35 speakers - JPS SC3 SCs - PI Audio power conditioning -
Triode Wire Labs ICs and PCs - Roon on NUC 8i7beh running ROCK
Durham, NC USA
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#6
Yeah just to clarify I wasn't implying moderation here was bad. Just sometimes more can help.


Sometimes when I browse here I actually think a slight reorganisation of the headings might help too.

Roons arent paid btw. At least that's my understanding.

>>> 1st Place Award: Devialet, last decades most disappointing technology purchase.  <<<

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