INDEPENDENT BY DESIGN
Support Independent Reviews
Of Sound Design is independently owned and operated. No outside testers. No writers’ room. No film crew. No management team.
Andrew and Kristi handle everything in-house—from testing and measurements to writing, filming, editing, unboxing and setup, and getting products in and out the door.
EVERYTHING IN HOUSE
Every review starts and ends here
When a product comes in for review, the work stays with us from beginning to end.
Testing, editorial and production aren’t handed off between departments or filtered through layers of staff. The people doing the work remain directly connected to it throughout the entire process.
FROM OUR HOME TO YOUR SCREEN
No fancy studio. No film set.
We test every product in a real home, in rooms like yours, under the kinds of conditions you live with every day.
HOW OUR REVIEWS WORK
Our viewers come first.
Viewer trust matters more than easy revenue. That means no paid reviews. Brands cannot buy our coverage or the conclusion they want.
We’re also highly selective about the sponsors we accept, turning away roughly 99% of sponsorship opportunities because relevance and trust come first.
REVIEW SAMPLES AREN’T FREE PRODUCTS
They come in. We test them. They go back.
Virtually every product we review is temporary.
Roughly 97% of the products passing through are returned to the manufacturer after evaluation. The small percentage that stays with us consists of products we purchased with our own money.
THE PRICE OF INDEPENDENCE
Honest and accurate reporting can make future access harder.
When that happens and a product still matters to viewers, covering it can mean purchasing it ourselves and taking on the financial risk.
Your support helps make purchases like these possible.
HOW WE’RE FUNDED
A business philosophy built around audience trust.
PRIMARY SOURCE
Google AdSense on YouTube
When viewers choose to watch the videos we create, YouTube advertising generates a small amount of revenue for us. Google distributes that income through its advertising system—not through negotiations with the brands whose products we review. No advertiser gets to purchase influence over our coverage or conclusions.
SECONDARY SOURCE
Affiliate Commissions
Affiliate commissions are an important source of revenue, but they’re never guaranteed. We frequently publish reviews and other content with little or no affiliate earning potential. Using one of our affiliate links does not increase the price you pay. And when a product purchased through one of our links is returned, the associated commission is reversed as well.
SMALLER SOURCES
Sponsorships & Licensing
Sponsorships and licensing make up a much smaller portion of our revenue. Sponsorships are separate from editorial review coverage, while licensing allows companies to pay for limited rights to use work we’ve already created.
Viewer Support
Viewers and readers support our work through YouTube memberships, Super Chats, and voluntary contributions, as well as by accessing select paywalled content.
SUPPORT THE WORK
Help keep independent reviews possible.
If our reviews have helped you make a better decision, direct support helps us continue doing this work independently. Every contribution goes back into the work, from the products we test to the tools we use to evaluate and produce each review.
WHAT DOES DIRECT SUPPORT FUND?
Product & Reference Gear
When direct access to a product isn’t available, your support helps make it possible for us to still cover the products that matter. Proper reviews also require us to maintain a range of reference equipment—from speakers and amplifiers to AV receivers, TVs and other components—so we can evaluate products in the right context.
Professional Testing
Every review requires more than the product itself. We maintain professional calibration software, meters and measurement tools so we can test objectively and verify what we see and hear. For Dirac-capable products, we also purchase the necessary licenses ourselves so those features can be fully evaluated. Your support helps us maintain and update the tools that make this level of testing possible.
Professional Production
We take a lot of pride in our work. Producing reviews to that standard requires professional cameras, lenses, lighting, sound, computers, editing software and substantial digital storage. We film in high-resolution formats so each video holds up whether you watch on a phone or a 100-inch TV. A single review can require roughly 200–400 GB of working storage. Your support helps us maintain the production tools and infrastructure that make this possible.
Support Independent Reviews
If you’d like to support independent reviews, you can make a one-time or monthly contribution below.
Contributions support our work but do not influence what we review or the conclusions we reach.
