Jump to content

Neil Young is Launching Pono on Kickstarter March 15


robertw

Recommended Posts

If it is of interest then it's appropriate.

I'm all in favour of higher quality music delivery. I have always thought mp3 was part if the dumbing down of music consumption. Not sure if another format is really needed - but happy to wait and have a listen - being happy with FLAC and Apple lossless on iDevices.

Also not sure the $399 price point is where it needs to be to gain anything more than enthusiast support. Also interested in what premium will be charged for albums in the higher quality format.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Neil Young has hundreds of millions of dollars. Why does he need donations?

 

At least they got rid of the DRM copy protection. Full press release here:

 

http://www.computeraudiophile.com/f8-general-forum/neil-young-announces-launch-ponomusic-19703/

 

pono-players-yellow-blue.png

 

Somebody has to explain to me why a triangular-shaped music player will be easier to keep in my pocket than an iPod...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

" Neil Young has hundreds of millions of dollars. Why does he need donations? "

so he can keep his hundreds tens of millions of dollars, and play with someone else's  dollars; gee, just like other producers...

 

--sent from one of my personal computing devices, using a web browsing program...

  can you tell which ones ?

Edited by studiomprd
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Neil Young has hundreds of millions of dollars. Why does he need donations?

At least they got rid of the DRM copy protection. Full press release here:

http://www.computeraudiophile.com/f8-general-forum/neil-young-announces-launch-ponomusic-19703/

pono-players-yellow-blue.png

Somebody has to explain to me why a triangular-shaped music player will be easier to keep in my pocket than an iPod...

Actually, according to a quick internet search, Neil Young's net worth is about $65,000,000. His music isn't bad, but he's certainly is not worth "hundreds of millions of dollars". Regarding the shape of the player, I fully agree. However today "style" seems to trump practicality. I suppose acceptance will largely be based on how "cool" it is perceived to be,

Tom

Link to comment
Share on other sites

In case anyone is interested...

 

A couple of years ago Gian Ghomeshi, host of an extremely popular CBC radio program called Q, interviewed Young and producer Daniel Lanois. The interview is revealing both artistically and in terms of approach to recording, and is one of the few long form interviews that Young has done (it runs 35 minutes). It was conducted at a bar that Young likes outside San Francisco and was recorded on video: https://blip.tv/q-tv/neil-young-exclusive-on-q-tv-4191094

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Actually, according to a quick internet search, Neil Young's net worth is about $65,000,000. His music isn't bad, but he's certainly is not worth "hundreds of millions of dollars". Regarding the shape of the player, I fully agree. However today "style" seems to trump practicality. I suppose acceptance will largely be based on how "cool" it is perceived to be,

 

I'm just skeptical when somebody who clearly is very, very well-to-do has to resort to Kickstarting to raise money, rather than finding traditional venture capital people, electronics corporations, and record labels to invest in it. And there are already a half-dozen different audiophile players out there that will play 192kHz sampling-rate files. And to tell you the truth, I'm not completely convinced high-sampling rate files of rock music will really sound any different from a well-mastered CD, especially on a $400 portable device. 

 

The consumer audiophile community has a raging controversy about the Pono player right now:

 

http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/neil-young-readies-pono-music-service-for-expansion.297733/

 

http://www.head-fi.org/t/629454/pono-neil-youngs-portable-hi-res-music-player

 

That's hundreds and hundreds of messages arguing one way or the other. My problem is that the device is about 10 years too late. I do agree that the concept is good, but they have to go to an open source format, and the player should have twice as much storage; 128GB is not enough, especially for lossless high-res.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Regarding portable music players, I'm happy with my old school iPod and the apple lossless format. It's not great but for digital music it'll do. Apple has spent more than you can imagine, and continues to do so, to get high battery life, and their sound quality and converters sound considerably better than other portably players.

Now, as an audiophile, I collect high quality vinyl pressings, and do my intense listening that way. So what if I can't take it everywhere with me.

I applaud Youngs efforts, but I agree it's about a decade too late, too expensive, bad design in terms of practicality, and I'm not interested in another format. Unless iTunes is going to let me re download everything I've already purchased for free, it's simply not gonna happen.

I'm not excited about buying all the Beatles records again, since I've already done it on vinyl in various pressings (probably about 5 different pressings per album!), cassette, CD, remastered digital copies, remastered vinyl again, reel to reel, and even 8-track!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm just skeptical when somebody who clearly is very, very well-to-do has to resort to Kickstarting to raise money, rather than finding traditional venture capital people, electronics corporations, and record labels to invest in it. And there are already a half-dozen different audiophile players out there that will play 192kHz sampling-rate files. And to tell you the truth, I'm not completely convinced high-sampling rate files of rock music will really sound any different from a well-mastered CD, especially on a $400 portable device. 

 

The consumer audiophile community has a raging controversy about the Pono player right now:

 

http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/neil-young-readies-pono-music-service-for-expansion.297733/

 

http://www.head-fi.org/t/629454/pono-neil-youngs-portable-hi-res-music-player

 

That's hundreds and hundreds of messages arguing one way or the other. My problem is that the device is about 10 years too late. I do agree that the concept is good, but they have to go to an open source format, and the player should have twice as much storage; 128GB is not enough, especially for lossless high-res.

Marc,

I understand what you are saying and I too find it odd, perhaps even humorous! My underlining concern has nothing to do with the product or the codex, but rather is a reaction to the hatred that some seem to have towards the rich. The fact is most wealthy people are terrific philanthropists who often want to see the same opportunities available for other people. While we may at times argue about the "evil" rich conservatives, or the "evil" rich liberals, I truly believe most of them (not all) are doing what they believe to be the best for their country. They may be wrong, but most of them have good intentions. Right or wrong, I believe ALL people should be respected, even rich people (and yes even politicians we don't like!).

Besides, why hate rich people? Most of us want to be just like them, and if one day we were to achieve their wealth, would we want people to think us as we now do of them?

We have made such amazing progress towards "tolerance", but sadly it does not seem to apply to the wealthy or anyone with a differing political opinion. Of course, disagree and oppose anyone who you do not with feel is doing the right thing, but always treat them with decency and respect.

Tom

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Taken at face value, I agree with all the sentiments here and elsewhere, it's a non-starter.

But, Mr Young knows what he is competing against, and I'm sure there's a part to this story that won't get revealed until the 15th.

Much like Apple's products can be said to be constrained or spec-poor in comparison, when taken as a whole with their eco-system, everyone goes "well if you put it in that context, it makes so much more sense".   

 

If Mr Young doesn't have anything up his sleeve, that would be the shocker.

 

Either way, I don't think this battle is important for the future of music. What is important is how people discover new music.  I'm severely unimpressed by the current crop of streaming radio services.   I want my kids to be exposed to all genres, but I'm not paying $10/month per person for some either random or weirdly curated service.   Heck, I'm even thinking of getting them good old FM radios for their rooms.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

I love Uncle Neil!

 

I was shocked to hear his name getting put on a digital music device with the whole "Analog is like a warm mist on your face. Digital the same, but with ice cubes." feeling that he used to go on and on about. In the early nineties I remember reading that quote from him in Wired or something.

 

Most people's mp3 collection sounds like poop because people re-encode their files over and over again, like a fourth generation cassette that people used to have in their cars in the 70s. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...