[Severian]

This one looks pretty goddamn badass:
The Bug vs. Earth (?!!??!!)

 

Some of these releases are going to be ballbustingly expensive, though. Sheeit.

[The Soup Nazi]

Originally Posted by Severian

Some of these releases are going to be ballbustingly expensive, though. Sheeit.

Yeah, I think I gotta say goodbye to the Neil Young box set. Some wretched degenerates are already (!) selling it on eBay for brutal prices:

http://www.ebay.com/sch/Records-/176...lease+ Series

Eh, that's OK, I guess. I have the original 1973 Time Fades Away LP in spectacular condish and also the FLAC files from the 1995 HDCD that didn't see the light of the (commercial) day. And perhaps it'll show up at the Pono Store as well...

Now the Jenny Lewis 7" and especially the St. Vincent 12", I MUST have or DIE. Die!

 

[Severian]

Originally Posted by The Soup Nazi

Yeah, I think I gotta say goodbye to the Neil Young box set. Some wretched degenerates are already (!) selling it on eBay for brutal prices:

http://www.ebay.com/sch/Records-/176...lease+ Series

Eh, that's OK, I guess. I have the original 1973 Time Fades Away LP in spectacular condish and also the FLAC files from the 1995 HDCD that didn't see the light of the (commercial) day. And perhaps it'll show up at the Pono Store as well...

Now the Jenny Lewis 7" and especially the St. Vincent 12", I MUST have or DIE. Die!

 

What is this Pono thing anyway? And how long before Apple buys it up and shoves the software into iOS9? Y'know, like they did with Beats formerly by Dre...

[The Soup Nazi]

Originally Posted by Severian

What is this Pono thing anyway?

It's been described as "an end-to-end ecosystem":

 

— The labels and artists go back to their master recordings and come up with high-resolution lossless transfers, 24-bit/192kHz or the highest available (meaning if some cat originally recorded his tunes digitally in CD quality, the files won't be bloated and will stay at 16-bit/44.1kHz).

 

— The resulting files will be sold at the online Pono Store ($15-$25 bucks per album). The format will be FLAC, but obviously none of this will have any relevance whatsoever if you listen to this shit in your goddamn iPhone with bullcrap earphones. To really appreciate the quality, you'll need:

 

— The Pono Player, which

[...] uses circuitry taken straight from Ayre's own top-of-the-line products, costing tens of thousands of dollars, for unparalleled sound quality and unrivaled listening pleasure. [...] The PonoPlayer includes two 1/8 inch (3.5 mm) audio output jacks which offer you four modes of operation:

1) personal listening mode via headphones or earbuds,
2) home stereo or in-car listening mode with fixed volume output,
3) PonoShare mode with two pairs of headphones/earbuds,
4) balanced mode provides ultra-performance for advanced users, separating left and right channel outputs across the two jacks. Great for use with high-impedance headphones, high-end home stereo systems, or professional equipment using balanced XLR input connectors.

Audio files can be loaded onto the PonoPlayer using the Pono Music Center desktop application (soon to be released on Windows and MacOS). The PonoPlayer can also be sideloaded as a USB storage device (Windows, MacOS, Linux).

Specifications and more here. I got into this whole shebang when it was still in its Kickstarter phase, so I secured me a limited edish Patti Smith-signed chrome player:

 

Originally Posted by Severian

And how long before Apple buys it up and shoves the software into iOS9? Y'know, like they did with Beats formerly by Dre...

Noooo, dude, fuck all that. I think Pono will be very successful, but not crazy massive among the mookdom like those headphones, which, by the way, are DISMAL unless all you wanna hear is the kick drum.

[The Soup Nazi]

 

[Severian]

You assfucking bastard! I want the Patti Smith chrome Pono jobber!

Btw: I think it was Trent Reznor who originally made the Toblerone crack.

I don't really get how it's any different from Apple Lossless or higher-quality MP3 itunes rip. Much of my digital music is 192, and it all fits in the iPod classic.

Hmm.

[Severian]

Actually I've got a few straight weeks of uninterrupted listening on my iPod, and it's not even close to being full.

I have kinda become an Apple slave since my highly publicized move to the iPhone back in 2012. A decision which some of you chaps were a part of. No, it's not an "ecosystem" because my iPhone can't store more than 16gb of music without interrupting some of the functioning. But itunes + a high capacity player like the now discontinued 160gb iPod classic makes for a pretty handy pocket music library.

But man have I spent a lot on iStuff since my initial purchase of the 5. Like... A LOT of money.

[The Soup Nazi]

Originally Posted by Severian

I don't really get how it's any different from Apple Lossless or higher-quality MP3 itunes rip. Much of my digital music is 192, and it all fits in the iPod classic.

Originally Posted by Severian

I have kinda become an Apple slave since my highly publicized move to the iPhone back in 2012. A decision which some of you chaps were a part of. No, it's not an "ecosystem" because my iPhone can't store more than 16gb of music without interrupting some of the functioning. But itunes + a high capacity player like the now discontinued 160gb iPod classic makes for a pretty handy pocket music library.

Took me a bit to... decode your posts. When you say most of your digital music is 192, what you mean is their bit rate is 192kbps (kilobits per second). That is completely different from a sampling rate of 192kHz (audio sampled 192,000 times per second). Likewise, you're confusing a bit depth of 16-bit with a storage capacity of 16 gigabytes.

The bit rate is normally used as a measure of an audio file's quality (the original source has to be considered too, though; I'll explain in a, um, bit). Audio CDs have a bit rate of 1411kbps, as the information they contain has a bit depth of 16, a sampling rate of 44.1kHz and, since it's stereo, two channels: 16 x 44,100 x 2 = 1411. That's a big leap in quality from 192kbps, and yet it's dwarfed by the 9216kbps (24 x 192,000 x 2) of the high resolution files available online from Pono.

A turd is a turd, though, which takes us to the "ecosystem" concept. It doesn't have to do with storage capacity; it means that the audio files have been transferred to digital at a high resolution from the best sources available, and that you will get the chance to appreciate this because you'll listen to them on a player specifically designed to bring out the superior quality.

And now I want some free tunes from Pono considering all the good publicity I've given them.

[Severian]

No, I'm sorry. I actually just skimmed your post in the fastest possible way.

I understand now that I jumped the gun with my reply, and I now understand what it is about Pono that is so appealing, especially to audiophiles.

I'm no expert on any of this shit, but I'm also not quite as dumb as I made myself sound in that last post. But like I said, I skimmed. My apologies.

Clearly this is something to look into. I wish I'd kept up with the evolution of the project, but I didn't. Thanks for the explanation. Believe it or not, I get it.

[Severian]

Also Neil Young is one of the purest musicias alive. I'm a bit ashamed that I slept on news of this project for so long. Bad form.

[tesla69]

Originally Posted by The Soup Nazi

— The resulting files will be sold at the online Pono Store ($15-$25 bucks per album). The format will be FLAC, .

that is fracking hilarious - $25 for a soundfile - ridiculous

[Severian]

Originally Posted by tesla69

that is fracking hilarious - $25 for a soundfile - ridiculous

Yeeeeah, that is true. I'm not sure the price is justifiable. But I guess when you're Neil Young, you can more or less do whatever the fuck you want. This is going to be a niche market thing. Even if it bombs, who the fuck cares? Neil Young won't be out of a job.

[The Soup Nazi]

Originally Posted by tesla69

that is fracking hilarious - $25 for a soundfile - ridiculous

Per album. And $25, I assume, is what double albums or collections with a large number of songs will cost. If you consider that the 2009 version of "Starpower" costs $1.99 in FLAC format, it's not a crazy amount. Less crazy still when you take into account the higher sonic quality.

Anyway (and this may be your case as well), I remain and will die a PHYSICAL-MEDIA-FIRST! kinda feller. It's (mostly) the otherwise unavailable in lossless digital/CD format stuff, like an eventual new bitchen transfer of Time Fades Away, that I will be using the Pono store for.

[RanaldoNecro]

I never bought Heady Nuggs cuz of prcie but it is a sweet compliation nonetheless. If you that Lips era on Cd just go for the 5.1 collections which have B sides, promos and what not.

I see Nuggs on Ebay and discogs for 80 once in a while which is sort of fair. Imagine Piece is a deep, deep promo that had changed over time but some of those songs have become the soundtrack of my Christmas. What a Sound has never come out proper and they should get it over and re-issue it cuz assholes are selling it online for stupid prices. It is isn't even that good.

[hirsute_biped]

Originally Posted by Severian

This one looks pretty goddamn badass:
The Bug vs. Earth (?!!??!!)

 

Some of these releases are going to be ballbustingly expensive, though. Sheeit.

https://soundcloud.com/ninja-tune/se...rth-boa-cold-1

Looking forward to the eventual reissue of the 90's NY & Crazy Horse catalog on vinyl, wonder how long that will take. Archive 2 will be awesome when it eventually arrives. Not that I can afford any records right now.

[tesla69]

Originally Posted by hirsute_biped

Looking forward to the eventual reissue of the 90's NY & Crazy Horse catalog on vinyl, wonder how long that will take. .

Maybe once Young dies and his heirs get a hold of it.

The IRS is now taxing in advance, and will tax your estate for what they estimate is the possible value, in otherwords, the IRS is forcing heirs to use the music in shitty ads.

[The Soup Nazi]

Originally Posted by The Soup Nazi

Yeah, I think I gotta say goodbye to the Neil Young box set. [...] Eh, that's OK, I guess. I have the original 1973 Time Fades Away LP in spectacular condish and also the FLAC files from the 1995 HDCD that didn't see the light of the (commercial) day. And perhaps it'll show up at the Pono Store as well...

Originally Posted by The Soup Nazi

It's (mostly) the otherwise unavailable in lossless digital/CD format stuff, like an eventual new bitchen transfer of Time Fades Away, that I will be using the Pono store for.

Ah, my rock & roll plasma ball was once again right on the money...

 

Neil Young has revealed that his first 14 albums are due to be released on December 23, 2014 as digital downloads through the Pono Store.

As reported on Thrasher's Wheat, the Neil Young Original Releases Series 1 - 14 will see the albums remastered at resolutions of either 24/176.4 or 24/192.

Writing on the Pono community forum, Young said, "My first official release series LPs 1-14 will all be available PONO on DEC 23, in 192 and some cases 176. Beginning with Neil Young, ending with Reactor. Thanks, Enjoy!"

Many of these albums have not been digitally remastered since the original Warner Bros CD editions issued in the 1980s.

According to a further speculative post on the Steve Hoffman forum, this is the list of titles to be released and resolution:

Neil Young [PONO] {192/176.4kHz} {24bit}
Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere [PONO] {192kHz} {24bit}
After The Gold Rush [PONO] {192/176.4kHz} {24bit}
Harvest [PONO] {192kHz} {24bit}
Time Fades Away [PONO] {192/176.4kHz} {24bit}
On The Beach [PONO] {176.4kHz} {24bit}
Tonight's The Night [PONO] {192/176.4kHz} {24bit}
Zuma [PONO] {192/176.4kHz} {24bit}
American Stars 'N Bars [PONO] {176.4kHz} {24bit}
Comes A Time [PONO] {192/176.4kHz} {24bit}
Rust Never Sleeps [PONO] {192/176.4kHz} {24bit}
Live Rust [PONO] {192/176.4kHz} {24bit}
Hawks & Doves [PONO] {176.4kHz} {24bit}
re-ac-tor [PONO] {176.4kHz} {24bit}

Especially cool about Live Rust, too, because the solo on "Cortez The Killer" was brutally mauled for the CD edish.

[tesla69]

Originally Posted by The Soup Nazi

A
Especially cool about Live Rust, too, because the solo on "Cortez The Killer" was brutally mauled for the CD edish.

I am so over Neil Young and his phoney whiny singing and piano ballads. Its taboo to say this.

[Rob Instigator]

Live Rust rules.

[ilduclo]

Originally Posted by tesla69

I am so over Neil Young and his phoney whiny singing and piano ballads. Its taboo to say this.

never into him at all, so consider yourself in good co