http://www.cnbc.com/2015/07/15/neil-...ing-music.html
I assume Pono is excellent. But expensive.
http://www.cnbc.com/2015/07/15/neil-...ing-music.html
I assume Pono is excellent. But expensive.
had L25,L36,L40,L120,L300,AquariusIV(2),S1,4408 have L65,L100,L222,DorianS12,B380
I've been using Deezer for a few months now; streaming flac into my living room. I'm quite happy with the quality.
DIY Array, 2242 sub, 4408, 4208, Control 8SR, E120 Guitar cab, Control 1, LSR305.
Then why did he accept to see his recording edited on those pesky cassette tapes back when?...He blamed the poor sound quality of the medium.
"I don't need my music to be devalued by the worst quality in the history of broadcasting or any other form of distribution," Young wrote in the post. "I don't feel right allowing this to be sold to my fans."
Fact is a properly encoded mp3 (at the very least 128kbps for stereo, and more importantly a decent codec such as the original fraunhofer) *is* better than FM broadcasting on almost every aspect, and *much* *much* better than cassette tapes.
In practice a well encoded mp3 is indistinguishable from the original, and that is exactly what it was meant to be.
That is more like it...Although his decision is "not because of the money," he notes that bad deals made without his consent had cut into his income.
Just for the curiosity, here's how much music is missing when converting to MP3. And that's only one aspect of the conversion ;-)
http://www.factmag.com/2015/02/19/li...oms-diner-mp3/
Actually that is the only one.
I did similar experiments around 1999 by simply subtracting a mp3 and its original wav.
The trick is that these artifact should not be audible thanks to the masking effect, and it works pretty well indeed.
Of course the lower the bitrate the more audible the artifacts. Different codecs will also have different artifacts.
From the pitch man for "PONO" no less
I love all this talk about "sound quality"; targeted primarily at the portable players/smart phone crowd, to be used with ear buds or cheap head phones (most of the time in a public/semi-public space)
Gotta love progress!
While the music business looks on, standing in the ruins and asking "how did all of this happen!?"
I refuse to participate; it's all crap for one reason or another, convenience and portability notwithstanding
Too late Neil, the cat is already out of the bag!
(this "Bud"'s for you!)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSSvzCNBvlQ
Thats got me scratching my head too... on a very high resolving system there are definite losses with all sources compared to the master tapes or master digital files, but will you hear them through a portable player with headphones as you wander the planet? It just doesn't make sense to me. I think the result is market driven... the logic being most young people today do most of their listening through a portable device so give them an option for an excellent portable. Yeah, maybe...Originally Posted by Wagner
But the Pono doesn't accept the files directly, you have to interface with a computer and store the music on flash memory cards... seems a bit retro to me and not in a good way.
Widget
If memory serves (shades of Iron Chef), the concensus here was that 320 mp3 was difficult to distinguish from 44.1. As a practical matter, of course.
As to listening to portable, my contention from day one has been that the issue is how much attention is being paid to the music. If the listener is multi tasking music listening, which after all is also done whenever listening while driving a car or socialzing at a party - even in the presence of a fine stereo, then high fidelity may be of lower importance. When I take my Rhapsody, IPod and Etymotic in ears or Sony MDR-1Rs out and get a chance to listen, it is another story, isn't it?
Not everyone using portable is multitasking. Think a long flight. Not everyone playing that great stereo is is giving it their full attention either. Still, I am saddened (for our society) that most new listeners will probably not ever buy a stereo system. At least if their portable systems are of high quality, they have a fighting chance of discovering the joys of music for real.
I feel Neil's Achilles Heel is his complete nostalga for analog. Neil loves retro. I am reminded of an audio reviewer who wouldn't review tube gear. His expanation? Car magazines don't review buggy whips. No need to agree with him or me to get the point. To be fair, Neil may sometimes seem to have strange ideas, but if Daryl Hannah were my girlfriend I might be distracted too. He is one of our great creative artists, no doubt, so I will always hear him out.
Information is not Knowledge; Knowledge is not Wisdom
Too many audiophiles listen with their eyes instead of their ears
Not to derail into analog vs. digital as that isn't the topic here and they both have their strengths... even Bob Stuart, founder of 100% digital Meridian and an excellent digital codec MLP, says that all music is analog when we hear it and digital attempts to capture most of what we hear.
I do agree that someone could use their Pono player with excellent headphones in a quiet room and get a lot from them... and you can plug the "portable" player into a home system, but I find it odd that their flagship product is a portable. I would likely be on board if they had an equally compelling home player/streaming device.
Widget
Sorry to mislead/go off topic/open old wounds. My point in the last paragraph was that Neil Young seems to prefer retro in nearly everything. He drives cars as old as I am and goes on about it. A classic good old days rant. He also goes on about much prefering the way records used to sound. The Pono project was bound to be going forward to reach back, so the way it ended up, warts and all, does not surprise me. He wants the World back to pre digital and knew he had to use digital to realize his vision. It was almost sure to be neither fish nor foul.
Face it, it's a digital Walkman.
Information is not Knowledge; Knowledge is not Wisdom
Too many audiophiles listen with their eyes instead of their ears
Neil's "Achilles Heel" as you put it is how to reconcile his past words and actions (cool then) with his current deeds (and nowadays, so far as the record business is concerned, his irrelevance) and make it all fit together with his love (and NEED) for money
Daryl Hannah, another irrelevant soul as far as the "pop culture" (read: money/revenue generating ability) world is concerned
ART is another matter
No one (as in very very few) under the age of 35 would even give a shit whether Neil Young allowed his catalog to be "streamed" if it were not for his self-serving association with the current trendy (and no talent) Jack White (who currently enjoys "cash cow" status as I am sure you are aware) They wouldn't/don't even know who Neil Young is
I am NOT knocking on Neil's music past or his contributions.................40 years ago
Neil is for all intents and purposes 70 years old now; the only thing he knows about what "sounds" good is what somebody tells him (when we are getting down to discussing low level resolution and the like)
It is depressing to see someone like Young go from eccentric "rock" persona to an endorsement clown and shill (but I am not surprised; seems to be the norm in today's world)
Don't want no cash
Don't need no money
Ain't got no stash
This note's for you.
Ain't singin' for Pepsi
Ain't singin' for Coke
I don't sing for nobody
Makes me look like a joke
This note's for you.
Ain't singin' for Miller
Don't sing for Bud
I won't sing for politicians
Ain't singin' for Spuds
This note's for you.
Don't need no cash
Don't want no money
Ain't got no stash
This note's for you.
I've got the real thing
I got the real thing, baby
I got the real thing
Yeah, alright.
-NY
Some kind of happiness is measured out in miles
At least Taylor Swift, Bless her heart, is honest about it
It's ALL about the money (and in my opinion, rightfully so)
According to Neil "The Legend" Young:
" Neil Young has left the door open to return to streaming: ‘When the quality is back, I’ll give it another look,’ he said."
http://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/jul/16/neil-young-bans-his-music-from-streaming-due-to-worst-sound-quality
Right Neil, will it all sound better when they work out how you guys'll get paid properly?
Neil is a clown, he quit the best bands he was ever in for stupid doper reasons
Not a career to ashamed of, but other than one #1 pretty typical for quite a few bands of the era of his greatest "prowess" (late '69 to late '72 or thereabouts)
In my OPINION his almost cult like status is built on 3 strong solo albums from the best of times, post CSN&Y, but that's about it
Some people say all they have to say in only two or three and then fade away; Neil's done about 35 or 40 studio albums I believe
You know it's over when everything you do subsequently is compared to two or three records from decades ago
And now, today thanks to marketingand hype he's a legend?
Maybe some folks think he is but I am not among them
I own at least 1/2 a dozen Neil Young records and I like them, just to let it be known
It's too bad all this press isn't about his latest studio album (and CHART success) instead of some crappy throw away music player, what late night talk show he's going to be on or who he's hanging out with
True about Neil's love if retro, but he also loves cutting edge technology. One of his vintage cars was modified into a massive electric car.
As for the under 35 set knowing about or even caring about Mr. Young? I can't say that I've read any studies on the topic, but anecdotally I did have a 20 something over to hear my big ass stereo and he singled out a number of Neil Young albums and particularly wanted to hear them on vinyl. I don't think the vinyl craze in general has much to do with quality and is more about retro-cool... but at least some of the younger set know about that old man of rock.
Widget
I touched on that above....................I am aware he's hot with the "millennials" now, and the hipsters.............it's all because of his Jack White connection/associationTrue about Neil's love if retro, but he also loves cutting edge technology. One of his vintage cars was modified into a massive electric car.
As for the under 35 set knowing about or even caring about Mr. Young? I can't say that I've read any studies on the topic, but anecdotally I did have a 20 something over to hear my big ass stereo and he singled out a number of Neil Young albums and particularly wanted to hear them on vinyl. I don't think the vinyl craze in general has much to do with quality and is more about retro-cool... but at least some of the younger set know about that old man of rock.
Widget
I did not say they did not care:
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