About the Equipboard Gear Score
What is the Equipboard Gear Score?
Some of the gear you're researching on Equipboard now features a numerical score ranging from 0 to 100 (or in some cases N/A). This is the Equipboard Gear Score, a proprietary numerical score which helps compare the following aspects of gear within a category:
- Quality
- Resale value
- Versatility
Why within a category? Because headphones with a score of 70 don't have much basis of comparison with a ride cymbal that also got a 70. We don't divulge the exact formula we use to come up with the score, but it applies a weighted average to things like the number of pro artists using it, ratings and reviews on Equipboard, as well as ratings, reviews, sales ranking, and accolades from trusted third party music gear sites.
How to interpret the score
Let's discuss each of the aspects the Equipboard Gear Score represents:
- Quality
- The higher the score, the more you can be assured a product holds a high standard for quality, both from a functionality and durability standpoint. This does not necessarily mean that a lower score indicates a lower quality product. However, since part of the gear score is based on usage, a higher score is a sign of a product that is well-thought-out and built to last.
- Resale value
- A high Equipboard Gear Score indicates a product has a very healthy presence in the marketplace, both new and used. Us musicians love trying out new gear, and it doesn't always work out for us. It's important to know when a product you bought is able to be resold quickly, easily, and at a good value. Gear with a low score does not necessarily mean it can't be resold, but niche gear sometimes takes more effort to find a suitable buyer.
- Versatility
- Because we take into account usage and opinions from pros and casuals alike, a high score correlates with a product's versatility. If a wide range of musicians rated gear favorably, it typically means the gear is suitable for multiple styles, genres, and applications. A lower score may indicate a more specific or niche usage.
What does a score of N/A mean?
When you see a score of N/A (short for not applicable), it just means there are not enough data-points for us to give a credible score to a piece of gear. This could be the case for newly released gear that has not yet accrued enough ratings and reviews on Equipboard or around the web, extremely niche gear or gear released in limited numbers. When there aren't enough signals of relative popularity, rather than "punish" this gear with an artificially low rank, we opt to show N/A instead.
We recalculate Equipboard Gear Scores on a regular basis.