Neil backs down.

[realhifi]

Sign of the times.......

 

Neil Young restores catalog to Apple Music, Spotify & other streaming services

 

 

PS. I immediately went to Spotify to listen to "Decade".

[semente]

There are bills to be paid...

[wgscott]

Alimony is a gift that keeps on keeping on.

 

Whatever became of the Pono store?

[esldude]

Alimony is a gift that keeps on keeping on.

 

Whatever became of the Pono store?

 

There was this back in June.

 

Neil Young's PonoMusic Store Goes Offline as It Switches Content Providers | Billboard

 

And currently you see this:

 

https://www.ponomusic.com/

 

Under construction as we still work to find a new content partner. I guess a few weeks in the first link became a few months and counting.

 

FAQ on the matter here:

 

https://www.ponomusic.com/faq

 

I found out though you can't get music, you can still buy the player and T-shirts. Hmmmmm, maybe I need a T-shirt. Or was it an MQA t-shirt I wanted before it becomes under construction (like it ever got out from under construction the first time).

 

If only Neil had partnered with MQA as originally planned. They both would be on the T-shirt together.

 

Maybe they should have partnered with Dr. Dre.

 

Still have hope for my own format though. RATANUS will rule!

[new_media]

I thought Pono was partnering with 7digital as their content provider? What happened to that?

 

Neil's catalog is now on HDtracks, too, which makes me think maybe the Pono store isn't coming back.

[craighartley]

I thought Pono was partnering with 7digital as their content provider? What happened to that?

 

Neil's catalog is now on HDtracks, too, which makes me think maybe the Pono store isn't coming back.

 

And on http://www.highresaudio.com. First time the high res downloads have been legitimately available outside North America, I think.

[Apesbrain]

Still have hope for my own format though. RATANUS will rule!

Wow! This is news to me. An audiophile format developed by one of our own. Is it better than MQA? Where can I download the binaries?

 

P.S. It's pronounced RA-TANUS, right?

[asdf1000]

Wondering why Harvest Moon isn't available in 24 bit? I haven't checked his Pono store for over a year but was it available there? Can't seem to find it on HDTracks and the others.

 

The last track, Natural Beauty, is one of my favs ! Would love to have it in Hi Res

[wgscott]

I'm pretty sure it (and unplugged) were never issued as high res. I would have bought them if they were.

[asdf1000]

I'm pretty sure it (and unplugged) were never issued as high res. I would have bought them if they were.

Thanks mate. Shame though isn't it. This thread made me relisten to Natural Beauty after its been a few months since I last listened to Neil. Too much talent in that man.

 

Sent from my Blackberry DTEK50 using Tapatalk

[craighartley]

Now the Neil Young hires downloads are available in Europe, can anyone advise me whether the 192 versions are genuine or upsampled versions of the 96? HDTracks (UK) has both, whereas http://www.highresaudio only has the 96, which sometimes means they think this is the native mastering rate.

[wwaldmanfan]

Now the Neil Young hires downloads are available in Europe, can anyone advise me whether the 192 versions are genuine or upsampled versions of the 96? HDTracks (UK) has both, whereas www.highresaudio only has the 96, which sometimes means they think this is the native mastering rate.

 

I like this guy's blogs. He succinctly dispels a lot of myths about this hobby.

 

Even Pono Personnel Admit High-Res Music Files Don’t Meet the Hype | Kirkville

 

I bought the first four Neil Young albums remastered in 24/192 from Pono when they first came out. I don't even listen to those files anymore. I prefer the original 1980's Reprise CD's. But, that's just me.

[brucknerdoc]

I agree Kirk is a quality commentator - and his efforts to provide advice for iTunes users are especially useful.

 

However, quoting a Post article as meaningful commentary about hi-res is about the same as quoting the Enquirer about the existing of aliens - maybe they're right, but hardly a credible source... ;-)

[wwaldmanfan]

I agree Kirk is a quality commentator - and his efforts to provide advice for iTunes users are especially useful.

 

However, quoting a Post article as meaningful commentary about hi-res is about the same as quoting the Enquirer about the existing of aliens - maybe they're right, but hardly a credible source... ;-)

 

I paid more attention to Lampi's comment. If you think about your entire signal chain, 24/192 (from the same master) is not going to sound much better than 24/96, it makes sense.

[craighartley]

I paid more attention to Lampi's comment. If you think about your entire signal chain, 24/192 (from the same master) is not going to sound much better than 24/96, it makes sense.

 

It doesn't answer my question though. I don't want to pay extra for the 192 if it's upsampled from 96; on the other hand I would pay extra if the mastering was done in 192. I'd rather do my own HQPlayer upsampling direct to 512 DSD and avoid a spurious up- or down- sampling filter, especially one I had to pay extra for. YMMV.

[esldude]

It doesn't answer my question though. I don't want to pay extra for the 192 if it's upsampled from 96; on the other hand I would pay extra if the mastering was done in 192. I'd rather do my own HQPlayer upsampling direct to 512 DSD and avoid a spurious up- or down- sampling filter, especially one I had to pay extra for. YMMV.

 

If you are referring to Neil Young in particular, at one time he released a number of albums on DVD-Audio discs. I believe most of these included both 5.1 Surround mixes and Stereo DVD-Audio on the same disc. 5.1 was limited to 96/24. Stereo DVD-A can be 192/24 and some at least were listed as this for some of Neil's music. Without transparent provenance no one could be sure. My guess is there are at least digital remasters at 192/24 of his albums. Which you are getting when you buy downloads is unknown. I guess in time MQA versions will be out since he is with Warner.

[new_media]

Wondering why Harvest Moon isn't available in 24 bit? I haven't checked his Pono store for over a year but was it available there? Can't seem to find it on HDTracks and the others.

 

The last track, Natural Beauty, is one of my favs ! Would love to have it in Hi Res

 

According to the liner notes for Greatest Hits, Harvest Moon was originally recorded in 16/44.

 

Neil Young Greatest Hits Tech Notes

[asdf1000]

According to the liner notes for Greatest Hits, Harvest Moon was originally recorded in 16/44.

 

Neil Young Greatest Hits Tech Notes

Nice find, that explains it because Neil was against upsampling

 

Sent from my Blackberry DTEK50 using Tapatalk

[esldude]

According to the liner notes for Greatest Hits, Harvest Moon was originally recorded in 16/44.

 

Neil Young Greatest Hits Tech Notes

 

The following is also from that same page:

 

In the case of the CD and DVD-Video versions of this release, the output of this tape machine's electronics was input via custom-built cabling directly to the input of the analog-to-digital converter section of a Pacific Microsonics HDCD� Model II digital processor. Two seperate transfers were made from the original analog master tape to digital; one sampled at 176.4kHz/24-bit, from which the 44.1kHz/16-bit PCM stereo CD master was ultimately derived, and another sampled at 192kHz/24-bit, from which the 96kHz/24-bit PCM stereo audio tracks of the DVD-Video master were eventually made. The resultant audio files were stored on 5.2 gigabyte optical disks prior to the digital mastering process.

 

 

And then this:

 

Tracks 15 & 16 were each originally recorded on digital 1/2" 24-track tape sampling at 44.1kHz/16-bit and mixed in the analog domain to a Sony PCM-1630 2-track digital recorder sampling at 44.1kHz/16-bit. In each case the resultant stereo PCM digital audio bitstream was stored on 3/4" U-matic videotape.

 

For the CD version of this compilation, these two digital masters were played back and the digital output of each upsampled to make new 176.4kHz/24-bit stereo PCM digital masters. For the DVD-Video version, the original 44.1kHz/16-bit stereo PCM digital signal was converted to analog using the digital-analog section of a Pacific Microsonics HDCD� Model II digital processor. This analog signal was then re-converted to a 192kHz/24-bit stereo PCM digital signal via the Model II's analog-digital converter. In both cases the resultant digital files were stored on 5.2 gigabyte optical disks prior to the digital mastering process

 

Even the vinyl was digitized before being made an LP:

 

For the 2-LP vinyl release, the newly made 176.4/24-bit stereo PCM digital masters were played back through the Model II, and its analog output was input directly to the same above-mentioned analog tape recorder in order to create 1/2" stereo 2-channel 30 IPS flat master analog tape copies of each of these two tracks. These too were stored on precision metal reels prior to the LP mastering process.

 

There is more info there, but this is what you get with such recordings. Is there really a hires version anywhere in all that swapping, upsampling and rerecording that was done? All the upsampling and recording would have added at least a few layers of dithering. So even if you get a copy of a 192 or 176 master tape it is hardly a pristine copy of the master reels. Oh and I am sure when they MQA it they will be able to undo, fix and deblur all the multiple in between steps involved.

 

What a mess!!

[asdf1000]

The following is also from that same page:

 

In the case of the CD and DVD-Video versions of this release, the output of this tape machine's electronics was input via custom-built cabling directly to the input of the analog-to-digital converter section of a Pacific Microsonics HDCD� Model II digital processor. Two seperate transfers were made from the original analog master tape to digital; one sampled at 176.4kHz/24-bit, from which the 44.1kHz/16-bit PCM stereo CD master was ultimately derived, and another sampled at 192kHz/24-bit, from which the 96kHz/24-bit PCM stereo audio tracks of the DVD-Video master were eventually made. The resultant audio files were stored on 5.2 gigabyte optical disks prior to the digital mastering process.

 

 

And then this:

 

Tracks 15 & 16 were each originally recorded on digital 1/2" 24-track tape sampling at 44.1kHz/16-bit and mixed in the analog domain to a Sony PCM-1630 2-track digital recorder sampling at 44.1kHz/16-bit. In each case the resultant stereo PCM digital audio bitstream was stored on 3/4" U-matic videotape.

 

For the CD version of this compilation, these two digital masters were played back and the digital output of each upsampled to make new 176.4kHz/24-bit stereo PCM digital masters. For the DVD-Video version, the original 44.1kHz/16-bit stereo PCM digital signal was converted to analog using the digital-analog section of a Pacific Microsonics HDCD� Model II digital processor. This analog signal was then re-converted to a 192kHz/24-bit stereo PCM digital signal via the Model II's analog-digital converter. In both cases the resultant digital files were stored on 5.2 gigabyte optical disks prior to the digital mastering process

 

Even the vinyl was digitized before being made an LP:

 

For the 2-LP vinyl release, the newly made 176.4/24-bit stereo PCM digital masters were played back through the Model II, and its analog output was input directly to the same above-mentioned analog tape recorder in order to create 1/2" stereo 2-channel 30 IPS flat master analog tape copies of each of these two tracks. These too were stored on precision metal reels prior to the LP mastering process.

 

There is more info there, but this is what you get with such recordings. Is there really a hires version anywhere in all that swapping, upsampling and rerecording that was done? All the upsampling and recording would have added at least a few layers of dithering. So even if you get a copy of a 192 or 176 master tape it is hardly a pristine copy of the master reels. Oh and I am sure when they MQA it they will be able to undo, fix and deblur all the multiple in between steps involved.

 

What a mess!!

Eep, sounds very messy indeed !