Neil Young readies Pono music service for expansion

Very interesting read over at Rolling Stone:

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/n...pono-digital-to-analog-music-service-20120927

I wonder what the cost would be? I'd definitely be interested in giving this a shot.

 

What will this do that HDtracks doesn't already?

 

Is this based on all the unscientific non-sense he was spouting last year?

 

My concern is if all it does is play higher resolution files and the mastering was bad to start with, the sound will still suck. Garbage in - garbage out.

But I am interested to hear what this sounds like on well mastered material. I support Neil in his efforts to improve the sound quality of music.

 

Why is Flea even mentioned in this? Has he heard the mastering on last album he and Chili Peppers put out? Pot, meet kettle.

Shut up, Flea.

 

My biggest disappointment so far about the Pono hype is the total absence (at least as far as I know) of detailed technical information about what the heck it is. There's a lot of vague stuff about it in Waging Heavy Peace, for example, but nothing that actually spells out what's on offer.

Maybe the secrecy and lack of information means that it's some innovative and revolutionary breakthrough that will surpass what HDTracks is offering and will introduce an amazing new dimension beyond Blu-ray audio and the best vinyl. Maybe it will address not only the benefits of high-resolution but also the problems inherent in the wildly variable quality of mastering. Maybe it's gonna be a fantastic pigs-can-fly miracle.

I'm skeptical. The thing I sincerely love about the Pono project is the way that Neil is doing his gadfly best to shame Apple and Amazon and the recording industry into accelerating the transition beyond compressed, lossy, low-bitrate audio, while helping to make the unwashed masses aware that something much cooler lies beyond 256 kbps.

Here's hoping Pono doesn't fall flat on its face and turn into a setback for the forces of good. Plus, I'd like to see the crazy s&*# that Neil Young might do if he becomes a tech billionaire.

 

Does this mean Neil no longer supports Blu-Ray?

 

Who knows? The good news is that Psychedelic Pill is coming out on Blu-ray.

Maybe a Ponodelic version will follow. And perhaps high-rez telepathic audio will be available by the time Archives Volume Two comes out.

 

4 deaf or near deaf guys sitting in a vintage car listening to music on already existing speakers (I assume, not magical patent-pending ones)-sounds hilarious.

 

I applaud any effort to offer downloaded music at better than the crap quality iTunes offers.

HD Tracks is great, but lacks the range of catalog, this sounds like record execs are involved at the highest level.

Go Neil!

 

Yeah, Flea knows what sounds good.

 

iTunes Plus is far from crap-sounding, given a good enough preamp and non-garbage speakers/headphones. I would be *shocked* if anyone consistently beat a double-blind test against Blu-ray or Pono of the same master properly downsampled and converted to AAC.

I applaud Neil for insisting on better-quality D/A converters and so forth. But there is NO reason anyone needs 192kHz sample rates in consumer audio format. Apple is not the enemy here.

 

Neil's Blu-rays have all been very good to great, so I won't dismiss him on this issue...yet. Hopefully there is a wider market for Hi-Rez music.

 

If you're right, Pono — whatever it turns out to be — is doomed. But Neil Young is clearly groping toward something he believes you can easily hear that beats the pants off iTunes files and MP3s, and he's bombing around the country demo-ing exactly that difference in A/B presentations in his big old vintage cars. And unless you think it's all Shakey's charismatic reality-distortion field, his listeners (not all of them dopey rock stars with trashed hearing) are confirming the difference wholeheartedly.

I'm keeping an open mind for now.

 

These "demonstrations" are pretty much designed to reinforce confirmation bias. There has been no information on exactly what the A/B test process is — but you can bet it gives some unfair advantage towards the 192kHz file even though no D/A converter on earth is going to actually deliver on the promised benefits of playing back music at such a high sample rate.

 

Odd choice of name, it's practically "Porno".

Weirdos.

 

Gary, get a copy of I'm With You and then talk to me. BTW, I have the SA vinyl and it still leaves a lot to be desired. You can't polish a turd.

 

I keep reading this as Porno Music.

 

Like I said, "unless you think it's all Shakey's charismatic reality-distortion field," so that's really where the discussion stops with you, right? I'm looking forward to the evidence-based fun of finding out what's waiting in the Pono mystery box.

 

i wouldn't be surprised if pono launched next year with the archives volume 2.

didn't archives guy say the next one would arrive on "new formats"?

 

Cautiously optimistic, as I am with any new technology.

My my concerns are 1) the price of these players, 2) the price of a 24/192 album on the Pono service and 2) can I take the high-def purchases from the music service and transcode them to FLAC, if I don't have a Pono player?

 

The word "pono" in Hawaiian, translates out to "righteousness"

With a spread in Hawaii, I'm guessing that's where Neil came up with the name....or I could be completely wrong.

 

Good for Neil. At least he's thinking about new stuff and working on different projects instead of getting wasted on booze and other drugs.