Neil young announces the launch of ponomusic

[The Computer Audiophile]

 

March 10, 2014 – (Santa Monica, CA.) - PonoMusic is a revolutionary movement conceived and founded by Neil Young with a mission to restore the soul of music - bringing the highest-quality digital music to discerning, passionate consumers, who hunger to hear music the way its creators intended, with the emotion, detail, and power intact. "It's about the music, real music. We want to move digital music into the 21st century and PonoMusic does that. We couldn't be more excited - not for ourselves, but for those that are moved by what music means in their lives," said Neil Young, founder and chairman of PonoMusic.

 

PonoMusic is a full system that includes both an online music store (PonoMusic.com) and a playback device (The PonoPlayer). The PonoPlayer offers a digital-music listening experience that transcends the limitations of a multi-function smart phone. The PonoPlayer will bring this experience to you in your home, car, or through your headphones. PonoMusic.com will offer the finest quality, highest-resolution digital music from both major labels and prominent independent labels, curated and archived for discriminating PonoMusic customers. The Pono desktop media management application allows customers to download, manage and sync their music to theirPonoPlayer and other high-resolution digital music devices.

 

"Our goal was to offer the highest quality digital music available from all the major labels and build the world’s best sounding, easy-to-use portable music player. We’ve achieved our goal and we are excited to launch our Kickstarter campaign this week to invite music lovers everywhere to join the PonoMusic community and reserve a PonoPlayer for their own enjoyment," said John Hamm, CEO of PonoMusic.

 

The PonoPlayer is a purpose-built, portable, high-resolution digital-music player designed and engineered in a "no-compromise" fashion to allow consumers to experience studio master-quality digital music at the highest audio fidelity possible, bringing to life the true emotion and detail of the music, the way the artist recorded it. It also features a convenient and simple LCD touch screen interface that is totally intuitive. The audio technology in the PonoPlayer was developed in conjunction with the engineering team at Ayre, in Boulder Colorado, a leader in digital audio technology.

 

PonoMusic and Ayre have collaborated to achieve a lofty goal -- to make the power and majesty of music available to everybody. “We are absolutely thrilled to be a part of this project. We will always be grateful to Neil Young for changing the landscape of recorded music," said Charlie Hansen, CEO of Ayre Acoustics. (http://www.ayre.com)

 

The PonoPlayer has 128GB of memory and can store from about 100 to 500 high-resolution digital-music albums, depending on the resolution and length of the original recording. Memory cards can be used to store and play different playlists and additional collections of music. The PonoPlayer will be sold atPonoMusic.com for $399 MSRP and is available for pre-order at a discount on Kickstarter.com as of March 12th.

 

 

 

 

PRESS RELEASE UPDATED AT 2:57AM Monday March 10th 2014.

[The Computer Audiophile]

Wow tough crowd.

 

Pono has huge potential to get civilians into better sounding music. All ships rise with the tide. It makes sense to me to support Pono rather than snipe negative comments from the weeds.

[The Computer Audiophile]

DRM is no longer part if the Pono ecosystem.

[The Computer Audiophile]

Alex - I have much more information than publicly released. I promise DRM was in play when working with Meridian. I confirmed today via phone call that DRM is out.

[The Computer Audiophile]

I wonder if Neil used the Ayre QA-9 to do the digital transfers?

He used the QB-9 to demo Ayre's capabilities.

[The Computer Audiophile]

I think the big news, for most of us, should not be the hardware. It is the hope that this will increase interest in better music reproduction/resolution. It does not matter if we all want to buy the hardware... its the content I am interested in, and the potential for more and more people to gain interest in better sounding music. The more people that are interested, the more likelihood we will get more content.

 

If interest in better sounding music rises, we all benefit

Exactly.

[The Computer Audiophile]

March 10th, eh? Hmm.

Cleared by Pono to post early? Yes.

[The Computer Audiophile]

Basically other than Chris promising "this is wonderful" we know no more after this press release than we knew before. I'm sorry Chris but this is another example of journalistic "nod nod, wink wink, you need to trust me".

 

For example - does he have any major record labels on board. That was (I believe) the key to Apple's success with the iTunes Store - a large percentage of music old and new became available because they had a number of the major labels on board. Consumers aren't going to buy a Pono unless the Pono store is worthwhile buying from and at a price that they want to pay - does NY really think the consumers he is aiming at are going to start paying more for the downloads because they are at a higher quality?

 

I suggest this should still be tagged as vapour wear!

 

Eloise

No good deed goes unpunished.

 

You may know everything there is to know about Pono, but CA has 249,999 other readers that may have gleaned something from the press release and subsequent comments. If you've seen he other Neil Young / Pono questions thread you'll notice this release answers some questions from CA readers not as in-the-know as you.

[The Computer Audiophile]

More info about Ayre's contribution to the PonoPlayer.

 

1) Ayre's custom designed and implemented digital filter. It is minimum phase, with no unnatural (digital sounding) pre-ringing. All sounds made always have reflections and/or echoes after the initial sound. There is no sound in nature that has any echo or reflection before the sound, which is what conventional linear-phase digital filters do. This is one reason that digital sound has a reputation for sounding "unnatural".

 

2) All circuitry is zero-feedback. Feedback can only correct an error after it has occurred, which means that it can never correct for all errors. By using proprietary ultra linear circuitry with wide bandwidth and low output impedance, there is no need for unnatural sounding feedback.

 

3) The DAC chip used is the ESS ES9018, widely recognized in the audio and engineering community as the best sounding DAC chip available today.

 

4) The output buffer used to drive the headphones is fully discrete so that all individual parameters and circuit values and parts quality can be fully optimized for the absolute finest sound quality. The output impedance is very low so that the Pono Player will deliver perfectly flat frequency response to any headphone made.

[The Computer Audiophile]

In answer to "firedog's" challenge... These two quotes...

 

 

 

Sorry I have a real problem with journalists (and I don't think its wrong to class Chris as a journalist) who hints in a superior fashion that he knows more than the "plebs" (my word not his) who read his work. Very unprofessional IMO.

 

Eloise

Why is it unprofessional? What make this "superior fashion"?

[The Computer Audiophile]

You should report the facts which are available. If you know something else you keep it quiet. It's call non-disclosure and usually a non-disclosure means you also don't disclose you know things you can't disclose.

 

Just IMO of course.

 

Eloise

Real life conversations are not as black and white as you may think. Some things are off the record and woven throughout the conversation. I comment on what I know to be on the record and that may not be disclosed to others yet. The facts I've reported are available to me. Suggesting I keep quiet is weird. I like to share as much as allowed.

[The Computer Audiophile]

Hi Chris: Thanks for posting the above additional info. But I do have a couple of suggestions:

 

a) Since the text you posted is clearly a direct lift from a press release or promo sheet provided to you, I think it would have been more appropriate for you to have pasted it in either as an image of the release or with some couple word preamble such as "From a release provided by Ayre (or whoever). The way you did it makes it seem like those are your words and opinions. I know they are not since you would never make such promotional, embellished, declarative statements.

 

b) It would be good to know the source of your press releases. Are they coming from Ayre or PonoMusic?

 

c) Is there a date coming up when your non-disclosure/embargo on talking freely about the product/format/ecosystem expires? Knowing a date might end some of this endless speculation--and reduce the heat that people are putting on for/about these little leaks.

 

Have a safe trip to SXSW!

 

Alex C.

The information about Ayre's involvement is from a personal email not a press release. I have no NDA, just have the trust of those involved to only share what's on the record.

[The Computer Audiophile]

Hi Guys - I just received an updated press release and updated the original post with the new release.

[The Computer Audiophile]

I believe Neil Young is supposed to be appearing at SXSW tomorrow (March 11th), at which time he's widely expected to at least talk about Pono. Whether there will be a demo, I dunno.

I will be demo'ing the unit on Wednesday in Austin, TX.

[The Computer Audiophile]

New article posted on Time confirms 24/192.

 

Neil Young’s Pono Music Player to Cost $399 via Kickstarter Campaign - TIME

Nice to see Time linking back to us here at CA.

[The Computer Audiophile]

Hi Food4Thought - You aren't the only person who thinks the negativity in this thread bad. I've talked to a couple people on the phone in the last day who couldn't believe the level of negativity.

 

Pono is the only chance we have right now of increasing the numbers in this wonderful hobby. Sure it's not perfect but people need to give it a chance now that the company is headed in another direction and close to an actual launch.

 

I know for a fact that the people who run Pono are reading this thread often. It would be great if we could support Pono and offer constructive criticism when needed. Access to more music is never a bad thing.

[The Computer Audiophile]

Sorry but it doesn't make sense. All the production was done at 192 kHz. Why then would four parties need to agree to downsample or not? Nothing else would change but the sample rate? What does Yoko know about sample rates? Seems to me like it was a corporate decision so they could continue to resell the catalog forever.

Anytime something is released to make money or for charity all rights holder must agree in this case. Even if the packaging was changed I believe they would have to agree.

[The Computer Audiophile]

Chris ... with respect Pono isn't the only chance ... what about the Sony High Resolution launch - why weren't you all over that with praise and promotion?

 

Pono is our only chance currently.

 

Nobody can be "all over" every product launch or potential good thing. I talked to the Sony people at CEDIA and CES. As it stands now I don't see Sony's approach taking off in the audiophile market or the "civilian" market.

 

 

I'm not suggesting you shouldn't be saying that Pono is a good thing ... but do you really not understand where most of the criticisms and negativity is coming from?

 

I don't understand why people find the negatives and post them immediately in addition to speculation that falls on the negative side rather that giving the benefit of the doubt. Here are some negatives seen on the first page of this thread, with the exception of one. Is this all people have to say about a product that could provide this entire community more enjoyment?

 

Kickstarter

Error saying albums rather than tracks in press release

Price of player

Little information in press release

Not posting the press release on the Pono site

Speculation about price of music

Odd shape

Won't fit into pocket

Metadata in the press image bad

 

 

Hopefully they will take the negativity as being more constructive than destructive. Where has anyone not wanted Pono to succeed ... just (as I've noted before) the press release is full of nice platitudes while offering very little detail. I know Neil Young has his presentation sometime today so maybe more details will be forthcoming...

 

Eloise

 

Press releases aren't supposed to be white papers or design documents. Show me one press release where all the questions in this thread would be answered. Nobody issues a press release with enough detail to satisfy everyone.

 

I understand people are excited, as am I, but we need to be patient.

[The Computer Audiophile]

Talk about the negativity.

 

Sony introduced a range of new audio components (including DACs, HDD players, and portable players) with hi-res file support, created a website linking to all hi-res music stores (including HDTracks, SuperHiRez, etc) yet their approach isn't going to take off. Oh well. Pono portable is our only chance.

Hiro - If you are only at CA to support DSD and stir the pot, you're here for the wrong reasons. Many companies have released "DACs, HDD players, and portable players" lately. I'm talking about high resolution downloads being accessible to the mass market. Sony releasing DSD isn't going to get the mass market excited.

 

The fact that Neil Young is behind Pono is huge. Look what big names have done for headphones. NO way would I have guessed $200-$300 headphones would be the norm for mass market stores. Yet, they are.

[The Computer Audiophile]

I simply pointed out that your post about Sony's approach (that is to support all standard hi-res formats) not being able to take off rather negative and unfounded.

Sorry if I came off a bit harsh in my post.

[The Computer Audiophile]

Sony are making a big push for "high res audio" this year, with a full product line including a new Walkman, High Res headphones, USB DACs, HDD Players, Amplifiers, and Speakers.

 

Sony have their own music service, and obviously their own label too.

I don't think that should be dismissed out of hand.

 

Neil Young is kickstarting a portable music player (not selling a product) and launching a website to sell music.

The "big names" which have been popular with headphones have been targeting the teen or young adult crowd.

They are not sold based on audio quality, they are fashion accessories.

They have a reputation for sounding amazing (yes, really) because prior to that, most people with them just used the stock Apple Earbuds.

 

They do well as a product, because headphones are now accessories for your phone, which is always on your person.

Headphones were not such a big market prior to that, because a separate device for music is not something people wanted to carry with them at all times.

 

 

Please don't take this the wrong way, but how old do you think the target audience is for something Neil Young is endorsing?

He was big in the 70's, right? (correct me if I'm wrong - this was all long before my time)

 

Is that audience looking to buy a new "mp3 player"?

Are they the market that's buying headphones as fashion accessories?

 

 

I'm sure the device sounds wonderful, but is a single-purpose device made of plastic, with an unusual design that doesn't look like it would fit in a pocket (this is the main comment I've seen on other sites) going to replace a sleek multifunctional device like an iPhone?

 

I just don't see how it's bringing high res audio to the masses - at $400 this is not a mass-market device, and it's aimed at a niche market.

 

Now if this is also a portable DAC, rather than just being a 128GB music player, then I can certainly see a wider market appeal for it - still within the audiophile community, but now you're looking at a portable DAC with internal storage, than just a portable music player.

 

 

If it's only a player, then 128GB is not a lot of storage if you're going to be putting high res audio on there, and I've read a report on one site which says it's not 128GB, but rather 64GB with a 64GB SD card.

 

 

Don't get me wrong, I want the player and service to succeed. Competition is always a good thing, and if it does well, it will likely force Apple into the lossless/high-res download market, which will make it truly mass-market.

 

I will be there to buy music from the site on day one, and I will likely kickstart this too (it seems like a very good deal for the hardware inside the player) but I recognize that I'm not a part of the mass-market audience they claim to be going after, and even I have my doubts about it.

 

If nothing else, I'll probably end up buying a handful of Neil's albums on the 12th, as I haven't heard his music before, and from reading all of this, it seems like I probably should.

Your comments are a bit short sighted. Wait for the videos to come out with other artists. Neil is the face right now ...

[The Computer Audiophile]

http://www.computeraudiophile.com/f8-general-forum/pono-kickstarter-campaign-open-19730/

[The Computer Audiophile]

Also, we now all get to speculate about who is doing the software development for the desktop player/library management app.

Chris, if you read this while still at SXSW, can you probe around a bit about that?

I believe the device runs Android. No comment on the desktop software.

[The Computer Audiophile]

Is it too late for questions... Can you ask about availability of the Music Store in Europe?

Certainly. Anything for you Eloise :~)

[The Computer Audiophile]

But I also can't forget how originally Pono was an audio file format; now it's just a player and a store. A few pages back in this thread the music was PCM; then it became FLAC, after the true specs came out. It had 128 GB storage; then it only has 64 and a 64 GB microSD card, after the specs came out. It started with a lot of misinformation - even before the press release - and it's hard to know what exactly is true.

Hi Kirk - I'm a big fan of your articles about all things Apple audio. I think you're a bit off when it comes to Pono. Where is the real evidence Pono was a new file format? I know the phrase new file format has been thrown around but I really haven't seen evidence of this. It's more likely this phrase was used a a figure of speech to describe something new. You also may need to hit up the CA Academy to learn about PCM and FLAC. FLAC is a container for PCM files. Nobody releases plain PCM files. Pono is still both PCM and FLAC. 64 plus 64 is 128. This is much better than 128 internal because you can swap out half the library. Complaining about 64x2 rather than 128x1 is really stretching it Kirk.

 

The original press release came from the record label's nontechnical people. The update was competed by Pono people. Both had too much going on to prepare for SXSW to proof everything before the release. Big deal. In the grand scheme of things who cares.