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Neil young announces the launch of ponomusic


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As the saying goes: CONTENT IS KING. If Apple had launched the iTunes store without having deals with all the record labels then the masses would not have shown up.

Look also to the turn-around of many cable/satellite TV channels: All the original and compelling shows they began producing a few years ago have completely reversed their fortunes.

If PONO launches with compelling content then it stands a chance. Otherwise it will just become a curiosity and then the best we can hope for is it somehow spurring the larger services to offer higher-resolution downloads. Frankly, I'd be happier if I could buy 16/44.1 tracks and albums from iTunes. I am getting tired of oredering CDs from Amazon.

 

A companion, lower-priced ADC could shake that up. With vinyl resurgence, you could carry your vinyl-rips in your pocket on SD.

 

I am not sure what Sony is going to do with their catalog and hi-res files but they seemed to make noise about doing "something" when they released specs on their new players. With Pono & Sony sites it may allow Apple to negotiate with their existing labels to make higher bit-rates available.

Appreciation of audio is a completely subjective human experience. Measurements can provide a measure of insight, but are no substitute for human judgment. Why are we looking to reduce a subjective experience to objective criteria anyway? The subtleties of music and audio reproduction are for those who appreciate it. Differentiation by numbers is for those who do not." — Nelson Pass

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Number of albums makes more sense now.

 

Chris, what are you doing awake - baby daughter or travel?

One never knows, do one? - Fats Waller

The fairest thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the fundamental emotion which stands at the cradle of true art and true science. - Einstein

Computer, Audirvana -> optical Ethernet to Fitlet3 -> Fibbr Alpha Optical USB -> iFi NEO iDSD DAC -> Apollon Audio 1ET400A Mini (Purifi based) -> Vandersteen 3A Signature.

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As the saying goes: CONTENT IS KING. If Apple had launched the iTunes store without having deals with all the record labels then the masses would not have shown up.

Look also to the turn-around of many cable/satellite TV channels: All the original and compelling shows they began producing a few years ago have completely reversed their fortunes.

If PONO launches with compelling content then it stands a chance. Otherwise it will just become a curiosity and then the best we can hope for is it somehow spurring the larger services to offer higher-resolution downloads. Frankly, I'd be happier if I could buy 16/44.1 tracks and albums from iTunes. I am getting tired of oredering CDs from Amazon.

 

Agree 100%. They will need to really make a splash if they are looking to be something other than a very small niche in today's super heated marketplace. As iTunes is currently showing, the digital music download market is actually going down not up what with the various streaming services available for both portable and home delivery.

 

I too would be happy if I could buy 16/44.1 from Apple. Maybe this will turn out well if this helps Apple decide to make a push into higher res downloads. I really do hope that this turns out well for Pono and Neil but it is telling that no one in the investment community has put up the cash needed to get this off the ground and that they are carefully testing the waters with their Kickstarter campaign. I wonder if Neil and Crazy Horse are playing at SXSW?

David

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

 

Hello Chris,

 

Thank you for the updated information. As I surmised in an earlier post, more Pono info re: specifications and details will be on-going.

 

Not sure I need one, but I want one. Wonder (if) what the Pono ono will evolve in2.

 

With appreciation,

Richard

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I too would be happy if I could buy 16/44.1 from Apple. Maybe this will turn out well if this helps Apple decide to make a push into higher res downloads. I really do hope that this turns out well for Pono and Neil but it is telling that no one in the investment community has put up the cash needed to get this off the ground and that they are carefully testing the waters with their Kickstarter campaign. I wonder if Neil and Crazy Horse are playing at SXSW?

I guess one outcome of this might be if Pono was big enough to cause Apple, Google, Amazon, etc (the digital marketplace) to look at their offerings and say "Hey if we sell lossless compression and high resolution we could be raking in these profits".

 

Eloise

Eloise

---

...in my opinion / experience...

While I agree "Everything may matter" working out what actually affects the sound is a trickier thing.

And I agree "Trust your ears" but equally don't allow them to fool you - trust them with a bit of skepticism.

keep your mind open... But mind your brain doesn't fall out.

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

 

I am still waiting on the following:

 

1) When are reviewers going to get to test out the PONO player?

2) Did anyone at SXSW get to hear it? What did they think about it?

3) When is the music store going to come online?

4) What songs will be in the music store at release?

5) When will these songs start showing up in the dynamic range database (Album list - Dynamic Range Database)

6) Will we get the same old songs that are released on SACD, or can we expect more 90s rock like Megadeth, Metallica, Nirvana, ect...?

 

I would like contribute to the pono kickstart, but I will not be able to without more information!

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I am still waiting on the following:

 

2) Did anyone at SXSW get to hear it? What did they think about it?

 

 

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.

One never knows, do one? - Fats Waller

The fairest thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the fundamental emotion which stands at the cradle of true art and true science. - Einstein

Computer, Audirvana -> optical Ethernet to Fitlet3 -> Fibbr Alpha Optical USB -> iFi NEO iDSD DAC -> Apollon Audio 1ET400A Mini (Purifi based) -> Vandersteen 3A Signature.

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I would suggest perhaps he needs to work on educating mastering engineers as much as producing high res file formats...

 

Eloise,

 

Agreed. Through, perhaps, if some of them were fired by well known artists, that would be even more educational !

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Anyone want to take a wild guess at the total funding received for the 30 day kickstarter campign?

 

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

 

Any info on power or output impedance for the headphone section?

Appreciation of audio is a completely subjective human experience. Measurements can provide a measure of insight, but are no substitute for human judgment. Why are we looking to reduce a subjective experience to objective criteria anyway? The subtleties of music and audio reproduction are for those who appreciate it. Differentiation by numbers is for those who do not." — Nelson Pass

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This caught my attention:

"Pono confirms the service will support “other high-resolution digital music devices,” but doesn’t specify which ones."

Roon ROCK (Roon 1.7; NUC7i3) > Ayre QB-9 Twenty > Ayre AX-5 Twenty > Thiel CS2.4SE (crossovers rebuilt with Clarity CSA and Multicap RTX caps, Mills MRA-12 resistors; ERSE and Jantzen coils; Cardas binding posts and hookup wire); Cardas and OEM power cables, interconnects, and speaker cables

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I'm wondering if the Pono player is going to support non-PONO-encoded audio formats such as FLAC, ALAC, WAV, DSD64 and DSD128...

 

It uses the ESS 9018 Sabre DAC so it's capable of DSD. However, Charlie Hansen isn't exactly a DSD proponent. Neither is Neil. So I wouldn't count on it.

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