So-Does The Pono Store Open This Week After CES?

With CES happening this week and Neil giving it the usual "Pep Rally" are we actually going to sees the store get out of Beta and open to the general public-or is it's opening date still unannounced?

 

Technics launches his lossless download service here in Europe this month,initially Germany and UK only. The main advantage, comparing to Pono,is the offering of both the resolution, Hi-rez and 16/44 Khz.Here in Europe Technics is more a trusty firm.

 

I'm curious to see their prices and what they actually have in HD that isn't already out there.

 

A couple of days ago, someone posted that the Pono store was going public today. I keep checking and it's still in Beta.

 

There's an update somewhere that says it will launch this week. That it is apparently launching 3 months late with only about 2 million tracks (a tenth of what Qobuz has) is slightly embarrasing. I bet Neil Young/Pono regret that hilariously dumb graph now.

 

Not to mention that the vast majority of their content is in 44.1/16. So much for hi-res!

 

It appears that Neil has overestimated label interest in supplying Pono with hirez recordings. So far i have bought zero music from Pono but four albums from HD Tracks. I have chosen well mastered redbook discs I already have to have a decent library to work with to test the player and make sure it works as stated and work out any bugs. So far so good.
I can be very patient with Pono and as long as I can get hirez from somebody i am good. I will say that so far there isn't one website that is worth my deviotion. I'm glad I am primarily vinyl so this is a smaller issue for me. I am merely dabbling in this new world to see if it is worth getting into but so far I am underwhelmed.

 

Chomping at the bit to buy stuff. <Insert my usual rant about how hard it is to actually give records labels my money here>

 

The record labels are still acting like they aren't sure how they are going to do business in this century. This Pono store
situation tells me more about the industry than all of their press announcements of the last few years. It's probably a sign of age but I'm glad I am nearing the end of my music buying life. I keep thinking I am done buying and if it wasn't for used records and labels like Music Matters I would be.

 

Ladies and Gentlemen, the Pono store is now open to all. Check it out!
https://ponomusic.force.com/

 

In what possible way? Did you expect record labels to start digging up old tapes and remastering them "High res" just for sale on Pono or something!? Archive releases will get remastered on the labels and artists terms as their own releases, not to create relevant content for one niche download store that isn't going to contribute financially to anything getting remastered. The only people at fault here is Pono/Neil Young as they initally made some people think they'd be opening up record companies archives and getting exclusive "High res" content or something - this was clearly never ever going to happen, because it'd require far too much investment.

 

Woohoo!

 

I was hoping that it would have more dynamic sounding masterings for newer artists compared to HDTracks. I guess not. The Red Hot Chili Peppers hi-res downloads are crushed.

http://dr.loudness-war.info/album/list?artist=&album=pono

 

thus far everything I've looked at seems to be price about the same as elsewhere, but one cool thing is that individual track purchases are available for all the hi-res material I've looked at. that being said, that they can't get previews working for Firefox users is just silly.

 

I'm eyeing the 40th Anniversary Thick As A Brick because (and I assume I am in the minority here), I actually want the Ian Anderson song edits. It feels like such a crapshoot... $14.29 to find out whether or not it has been crushed to death. But hey, at least I can buy the music I want to own legally. Finally.

 

has there been any indication that Pono isn't just getting the same masterings as all the other hi-res retailers?

 

I don't think Neil/Pono paying someone to remaster millions of titles to 'unbrickwall them was ever on the table.

 

How would they, right? I'm sure the expense of remastering is considerable. How many downloads would it take to recoup those costs, let alone turn a profit.

I'm happy to have a legal alternative to downloading or crappy lossy purchases.

I'm happy that they thus far seem to support per-song purchases across the board. No more buying 10 songs I could care less about to get 1-2 that I want. That is huge.

I've been bitching about this for so long, that I just want to stop and smell the roses. I'm sure that it will improve over time.

Thank-you, Neil! Much appreciated.

 

yeah, that's a big deal. and even in terms of sampling before buying a full album, being able to drop $2.49 to check out something before spending $30 makes a lot of sense.

 

Coupla niggles...
Per song sales are not across the board. TAAB 40th is full album purchase or nothing.
Also, they don't take AMEX, which is my go-to card for online purchases just because they don't take no sh!t from sellers and aggressively protect their cardholder's rights.

I rate the experience a sold 8 on a scale of 10. More hi-res, less redbook. Maybe post DR values. Accept AMEX.

This is a great moment for lovers of digital music.

 

don't know what "TAAB" is but I just noticed that the Neil Young albums don't seem to allow individual track purchases

also, you mentioned no Amex, does that also mean no PayPal?

 

Agreed. At the very least, this appears to be the largest collection of Redbook titles available for legal download in the US, with a smattering of reasonably priced 24/192 titles not available anywhere else. It's not everything that Uncle Neil promised, but it's a step in the right direction.

 

TAAB=Thick As A Brick
The only payment options offered at checkout are Visa and MasterCard.

 

Wouldn't the labels already have their master tapes digitized to the highest possible quality for storage and distribution or are they still only archiving magnetic tape? I thought there wouldn't be that much work to do to give Pono what they want. I agree that Neil was a bit naïve to think they were going to get exclusive anything from a label but then there isn't that much music available at hirez even if you search multiple "stores" on the internet. I personally don't care if I buy from Pono, HD Tracks or whoever but what I'm not going to do is repurchase music at 44.1/24bit. If any of these stores think they are going to sell hirez at that particular quality then they are once again shooting themselves in the foot. Although I like the idea of Pono upgrading my 44.1/16bit purchases I won't be holding my breath for that upgrade and they aren't going to get much of my money from that program. We won't have any idea when that upgrade is going to come. No thanks. I'll take upgrades if I get them but I won't be planning my music purchases around a promise that they haven't even figured out how they are going to implement.

I like my Pono a lot. The SQ is ten times better than what I had although it cost a lot more too. It's a good portable player that needs a few tweaks like longer battery life but I will not be tied down to the Pono store and I can only hope that they will eventually get their ducks in a row and deliver what they promised.

 

thanks for the info. honestly, that'll likely keep me away from the Pono store for the foreseeable future.