HDCD first....then DVD-A...now he's rolling his own
Pono Music - high-quality music initiative from Neil Young
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HDCD first....then DVD-A...now he's rolling his own
You also have pollute your computer with iTunes, since Apple went out of their way to make it impossible to simply treat an iPod as external storage. Of course, it's possible that Pono will make the same mistake. At least Pono won't be format-locked.
Not if you want multi-room sync or easy remote access. But yeah, for one player in one room a computer can be great.
that video is excruciating to watch.. so many of those artists coming out to bat for Neil Young's stereo Pono who've had surround releases aplenty over the years (I'm looking at you Elton.. Tom Petty.. Springsteen.. James Taylor.. Foo Fighters.. Beck.. et al..) will doubtless now have the knives out for surround, they're all backslapping turds that go like sluts with the latest buzz in the goofball music industry.. I bet they all fell in line and applauded when NY made that pathetic dig at surround music..
..I mean, really, what kind of daft prick puts up with not having as many speakers in their house as they bloody well want..!?!? the proverbial missus can get back to their knitting and go screw themselves if they don't like it - if I want a room full of speakers in my house that's it, I'm having a room full of speakers, to say that's why DVD-A failed from a commercial point of view is just bull - NY backed a horse that didn't have the legs and now he's shot the poor nag down to save face. I reckon he'll be a bit more demur when this Pono horse falls at the first fence, which it no doubt will.
..however, if by some miracle this Pono thing takes off sufficiently to survive the record labels' axe, watch the surround backlash from the major labels & big acts start here, another nail in the coffin for the kind of music by artists that would sell in surround because people (the record buying public who put these labels and artists where they are today) are crying out for it.. look at Universal's HFPA page on Facebook, it's bonkers, the incessant requests for surround above all else on there have been so glaringly obvious the guy behind HFPA actually started releasing some surround on HFPA in a frantic knee-jerk. that's people power over Pono power.
bone of contention number 436: anyone can "tell the difference" with surround music, we've all done it with family & friends when they come over ("wow! there's stuff happening all around me! that sounds amazing!") but with Hi-Rez stereo its all up for grabs, I've never had anybody come round and marvel at stereo in any Rez in the same way, undeniable bottom line Hi-Rez stereo is more subjective/esoteric/whatever.. how many people will actually "get" this!?
follow on: who really cares about nuance, soundstaging and so on
when they're on the move? I know I don't. when I'm on my way to work on a noisy packed hot smelly old tube I'm going from A to B with any old background noise on in my earbuds to blank the whole dreadful experience out - ok, YMMV and all that but I personally can't see Pono being a go-er with the masses on the move, when critical listening at home is the domain of people who care about sound reproduction.
..and how many of these musicians can actually "hear" anymore anyway!? their hearings more than likely shot to ribbons by now.. just lazily re-packaging the same old stereo shit another way in the name of "better than vinyl/cd/whatever sound" to squeeze the last dregs out of the cash cow.. the whole thing makes my blood boil.
for me, Pono is a No-No No Go.
..I mean, really, what kind of daft prick puts up with not having as many speakers in their house as they bloody well want..!?!? the proverbial missus can get back to their knitting and go screw themselves if they don't like it - if I want a room full of speakers in my house that's it, I'm having a room full of speakers, to say that's why DVD-A failed from a commercial point of view is just bull - NY backed a horse that didn't have the legs and now he's shot the poor nag down to save face. I reckon he'll be a bit more demur when this Pono horse falls at the first fence, which it no doubt will.
..however, if by some miracle this Pono thing takes off sufficiently to survive the record labels' axe, watch the surround backlash from the major labels & big acts start here, another nail in the coffin for the kind of music by artists that would sell in surround because people (the record buying public who put these labels and artists where they are today) are crying out for it.. look at Universal's HFPA page on Facebook, it's bonkers, the incessant requests for surround above all else on there have been so glaringly obvious the guy behind HFPA actually started releasing some surround on HFPA in a frantic knee-jerk. that's people power over Pono power.
bone of contention number 436: anyone can "tell the difference" with surround music, we've all done it with family & friends when they come over ("wow! there's stuff happening all around me! that sounds amazing!") but with Hi-Rez stereo its all up for grabs, I've never had anybody come round and marvel at stereo in any Rez in the same way, undeniable bottom line Hi-Rez stereo is more subjective/esoteric/whatever.. how many people will actually "get" this!?
follow on: who really cares about nuance, soundstaging and so on
when they're on the move? I know I don't. when I'm on my way to work on a noisy packed hot smelly old tube I'm going from A to B with any old background noise on in my earbuds to blank the whole dreadful experience out - ok, YMMV and all that but I personally can't see Pono being a go-er with the masses on the move, when critical listening at home is the domain of people who care about sound reproduction.
..and how many of these musicians can actually "hear" anymore anyway!? their hearings more than likely shot to ribbons by now.. just lazily re-packaging the same old stereo shit another way in the name of "better than vinyl/cd/whatever sound" to squeeze the last dregs out of the cash cow.. the whole thing makes my blood boil.
for me, Pono is a No-No No Go.
so true, the mastering is key.. if its just the same modern masterings brickwalled etc = Pointless Pono.
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That was an epic rant.
Look, as far as I'm concerned, ANYTHING that brings better-mastered recordings to light, stereo or surround, is a plus in my book. And as much as I love surround, NY has a point about gear -- you can't do surround properly without a dedicated listening space. That's a non-starter for a huge chunk of the population.
Plus it doesn't help that his only 5.1 release was severely botched in the authoring process.
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Yep, it does.
That said, I ordered one of the devices on Kickstarter. I'll tell you why -- I have good gear and can rip my own HiRes FLACs from vinyl. I also have plenty of DVD-As with stereo layers and can rip those to FLAC using one of the available tools. So in theory, I could have a virtually unlimited supply of HiRes files to play back on a superior portable device. And I'll also buy some titles from the store if they get the mastering right. We'll see about that, as the article says. Best of luck to them.
Bottom line, like the author of the article, I support the idea and really want to see it succeed. And if the "ecosystem" falls apart, it'll still be a really nice FLAC player.
That was an epic rant.
Look, as far as I'm concerned, ANYTHING that brings better-mastered recordings to light, stereo or surround, is a plus in my book. And as much as I love surround, NY has a point about gear -- you can't do surround properly without a dedicated listening space. That's a non-starter for a huge chunk of the population.
Plus it doesn't help that his only 5.1 release was severely botched in the authoring process.
Harvest is botched? How? Mine worked fine the last time I played it (I've long since ripped it to hard drive).
LizardKing
2K Club - QQ Super Nova
That's someone's armchair theory of how it should sound, stated as 'fact'. But that surround mix, from what I read when it was released, is *supposed* to have an odd 'in the middle' perspective for the listener -- and that's what it sounds like to me.
It sounds like Pono is about to get some competition from the LH Labs team working on the Geek Out and Geek Plus high resolution music players. Check out their comments on Pono - and the hint of a portable Geek Player based on Android. They could probably start another Kickstarter campaign for that one.....
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/gavn8r/geek-a-new-usb-awesomifier-for-headphones/posts/775398
http://mustgeekout.blogspot.com/2013/09/geek-and-android-devices.html
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/gavn8r/geek-a-new-usb-awesomifier-for-headphones/posts/775398
http://mustgeekout.blogspot.com/2013/09/geek-and-android-devices.html
LizardKing
2K Club - QQ Super Nova
Give it a try...
Or perhaps you could do a blind A-B test in controlled conditions and then reach a conclusion.
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I've swapped the cables for the tracks in question. It's night and day. You're not supposed to have vocal echo in the fronts and the lead vocals in the rears. Somebody screwed up.
LizardKing
2K Club - QQ Super Nova
Perhaps you could contact someone who actually worked on the disc, to get their story?
Because that's all that really counts, when asserting what the mix was 'supposed' to be.
I don't doubt that swapping front for back would be a 'night and day' difference.
LizardKing
2K Club - QQ Super Nova
I have no desire to contact anyone who worked on the disc.
Perhaps you should stop being so "in your face" and go back to listening to Dolby Digital, & MP3s because you obviously can't hear the difference...
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We're off topic anyhow. Anything about Harvest should go in the thread for that release.
That was an epic rant.
Look, as far as I'm concerned, ANYTHING that brings better-mastered recordings to light, stereo or surround, is a plus in my book. And as much as I love surround, NY has a point about gear -- you can't do surround properly without a dedicated listening space. That's a non-starter for a huge chunk of the population.
Plus it doesn't help that his only 5.1 release was severely botched in the authoring process.
I agree totally about the mastering but has NY or any of his assembled music industry stars and cronies mentioned mastering yet? So far I've read a lot of blue sky thinking and PR spin (which I'm sure is all well-intentioned..) but not a lot of facts.. certainly no-one Camp Pono has mentioned how crucial mastering is.
his puerile 5.1 remarks smack of sour grapes.. maybe because his own 5.1 release didn't sell.. there are plenty of people with dedicated surround listening spaces, more than enough to help support the Pono Eco System. I just don't understand why NY would needlessly and childishly alienate a very apparent, very vocal, very committed part of his potential key demographic by pissing off the surround community!? We care more than most about sound quality and are used to early adoption, shelling out over the odds to get what we want, buggering about with formats etc.. Joe Public will want a plug & play experience with cheap hardware & software.. we shall see.
Adam (Fredblue) wrote: ..."(I'm looking at you Elton.. Tom Petty.. Springsteen.. James Taylor.. Foo Fighters.. Beck.. et al..) will doubtless now have the knives out for surround, they're all backslapping turds that go like sluts with the latest buzz in the goofball music industry.. I bet they all fell in line and applauded when NY made that pathetic dig at surround music."
So, Elton is a backslapping turd? Be sure to tell him that when you meet him.
Adam also wrote: "...I mean, really, what kind of daft prick puts up with not having as many speakers in their house as they bloody well want..!?!? the proverbial missus can get back to their knitting and go screw themselves if they don't like it..."
What kind of prick puts up with all that, Adam? Perhaps a guy who want to get laid. That usually trumps any hi-fi concerns.
Regarding your "missus" comment, I tried to f@*& myself. It didn't work. I did it while perched atop one of the FOUR Mission tower speakers in my living room. I fell off and cracked my derriere!
Furthermore, Adam, I suggest that you try to f@*& yourself atop your REL subwoofer. Likely you'll get off on all the low frequency vibration!
Linda (tongue in cheek)
So, Elton is a backslapping turd? Be sure to tell him that when you meet him.
Adam also wrote: "...I mean, really, what kind of daft prick puts up with not having as many speakers in their house as they bloody well want..!?!? the proverbial missus can get back to their knitting and go screw themselves if they don't like it..."
What kind of prick puts up with all that, Adam? Perhaps a guy who want to get laid. That usually trumps any hi-fi concerns.
Regarding your "missus" comment, I tried to f@*& myself. It didn't work. I did it while perched atop one of the FOUR Mission tower speakers in my living room. I fell off and cracked my derriere!
Furthermore, Adam, I suggest that you try to f@*& yourself atop your REL subwoofer. Likely you'll get off on all the low frequency vibration!
Linda (tongue in cheek)
ah well, so we have a 128GB portable player that does flac...nice idea in the car...but I'm going to need a few memory cards to hold the rest of my flac collection which is about 2.5TB...well at least memory cards are smaller than having a lot of cd's in the car....zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
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