Neil Young readies Pono music service for expansion Part 3

I trust my ears, too, and find that the difference in sound quality between 16/44.1 and 24/44.1 files is significant--much, much moreso than the difference in sound quality between 24/96 and 24/192 files.

 

I never made any claim that the vinyl would definitely be the source of the Pono release. I do have hope that those same source files that produced the vinyl set will be the basis for the release, but, as of right now, that's simply my hope. The main point is that a better mastering does exist.

I don't believe it to be a coincidence that two of the first releases announced to be included for KS backers on their LE Ponos were Californication and Death Magnetic; arguably the two most divisive recordings of the past twenty years. We know from both the Californication vinyl and the Metallica video game that any audio butchery relating to either album occurred in the mastering stage. It's not inconceivable that the pre-mastered, pre-brickwalled protools files for both albums could be passed through an analog desk, have a little volume and EQ added, be re-captured digitally in "hi-res" and be pushed out the door. Hell, that's essentially what the Californication vinyl release was!

As for the files not being offered by another vendor as of yet....Have you heard John Hamm tell the story of how "The Eagles" LE Pono came to be? Neil Young called their manager directly on a Thursday or Friday while the KS campaign was in full swing. By the following Monday or Tuesday, an LE Eagles Pono was up for offer on the site. In his words, "no lawyers, no red tape, no BS."

He was telling the story as a means of conveying to the audience evidence of the clout that Neil Young holds with his peers in the industry. The takeaway being that this level of respect would allow Pono direct access to artists and their recordings that other sites simply couldn't offer. Now, to be fair, I don't know how firmly they are going to be able to leverage this going forward, but is it not possible that Neil approached the Chilis (who already appear in his marketing materials on Pono's website) and said "Listen, I'm looking to make an impact straight out of the gate here. What can we do?"

I'm obviously not privy to such things, but is it THAT unreasonable to consider? The same protools files that were used to create the Californication vinyl and the Metallica game are available to be used, should the bands agree.

 

Fair enough.

While it's possible that better masterings probably exist for almost any release if one had the access - I am finding it hard to believe (at all) that the RHCP or Metallica could give two craps about Neil Young or the "Pono" concept in general. Neither need or fit the audiophile mold in any way and both bands saw fit to present the world with those two useless albums as is - audio quality be damned - upon initial release. Why would they all of a sudden cave (and spend money) to provide a "better" mastering just to appease some "old guy" like Neil? Makes little sense to me.

Now - the Eagle story I can buy since the styles and substance of Neil and Eagles is a good fit. They both came up together, have some similar sounding tracks etc.

I have said it before and will say it again - my interest in Pono is strictly as another outlet of for decent HR music.

However Neil's ability or "clout" to somehow bypass the entire record industry to magically fast track special masterings seemingly from thin air remains a major point of skepticism for me.

Cheers,

VP

 

Completely agree. Especially in the improvement in bass.

 

Warner already spent money mixing and mastering the files used for both vinyl master of Californication and the video game version of Death Magnetic. Are we to believe that the files they worked from on behalf of these projects were discarded? Whether or not they give a flying hot pocket about Neil Young and Pono is irrelevant. Any band and or label is more than happy to sell you the same record you've already bought countless times, especially these days.

 

Well - Metallica controls ALL of their masters now so they get to decide who when or what. Knowing Lars - he will give us what he wants and we will have to like it It's a well known fact that he could care less about quality when bombast will suffice just fine.

And the Peppers I found very odd that they did not offer that vinyl master in any digital form. Are we to believe that Warners actually planned to leave fans hanging for two+ years from NOT buying the much better version of Cali - just to drop it as part of a new HD venture that was not even a thought in 2012?

VP

 

That cracked me up.