Neil Young's PureTone project

[JJMP50]

I am currently reading Neil Young's book "Waging Heavy Peace" and he is touting his hi-res PureTone format. He doesn't give a lot, if any specifics in the format. I'm just wondering, does anyone know anything about this here? How better can it be than lossless or Bluray?

 

[sterling shoote]

Southern man don't need him around anyhow, or Pure Tone. Neal Young sounds the same whether played at 128 or 24/96. The Hi Rez stuff I've heard so far, i.e. The Rolling Stones, The Eagles, and others offered from HDtracks seem to be no more Hi-Fi than the same material I have on CD.

 

[JJMP50]

Neil had to change the name from Puretone to Pono and it plans to launch next year.


Neil Young Expands Pono Digital-to-Analog Music Service | Music News | Rolling Stone

 

[stoned]

I am currently reading Neil Young's book "Waging Heavy Peace" and he is touting his hi-res PureTone format. He doesn't give a lot, if any specifics in the format. I'm just wondering, does anyone know anything about this here? How better can it be than lossless or Bluray?

I'm reading the book too, terrible editing through the first 60 pages.His mentions of "Puretone" are a bit too frequent for my tastes.Just what we need, another format

 

[j_garcia]

I am going to see him in concert on Saturday.

 

[JJMP50]

I'm reading the book too, terrible editing through the first 60 pages.His mentions of "Puretone" are a bit too frequent for my tastes.Just what we need, another format

Yes I agree, the book could have used a good dose of editing. I've read 3 books by rockers and I found "Clapton" to be the best. Neil's and Keith Richards "Life" I found very similar, as in a bit rambling but still entertaining.

 

[ACsGreens]

Here is Neil on David Letterman talking about it.

David Letterman - Neil Young - YouTube

 

[HifiSystems1]

Very interesting!
I think it will find more acceptance if they could get someone on the top of the charts like Katy Perry to endorse it though.

Let's be honest, for the mass market, you have to appeal to the kids. If we could just switch to 16 bit wave file downloads, that'll be plenty

 

[LindaLoo]

Neil Young and Puretones

MP3s do not provide the resonant emotional quality of the records we used to listen to. Vocals, which provide the closest proximity of emotional frequency, have to be spliced and diced and pulled back together in this over produced digital era, in order to imitate emotional quality. Still doesn't work. I've been all around this issue, as a musician, as a recording artist, and as a music fan. There is no value in dismissing Neil's vision of creating quality digital sound. Other than protecting those of you who are not comfortable experiencing emotions. Let me reassure you, you'll be fine.
I saw his Crazy Horse show in Montreal, Nov 2012. The best concert I've been to in years. Blown away. The passion he feels is rare. Let's not knock it. We need to support it.

 

[j_garcia]

Neil isn't creating quality digital sound, that is already out there. The vast majority of people are not taking advantage of it though. I am happy that Neil is doing something to get the word out there at the very least, but it still comes down to the people not embracing it.

 

[JerryLove]

The issue is mastering. There are already plenty of good formats out there (Have you looked at the resolutions FLAC can be pushed to?) , what we need are good recordings that weren't destroyed by some audio engineer somewhere.

 

[Archimago]

The issue is mastering. There are already plenty of good formats out there (Have you looked at the resolutions FLAC can be pushed to?) , what we need are good recordings that weren't destroyed by some audio engineer somewhere.

ABSOLUTELY CORRECT!

I really don't think it matters whether it's CD, hi-res, vinyl... Unless there is some good mastering involved, the potential for sound quality remains untapped.

 

[Greenlightwilly]

Source encoding is only one step in the signal path - as I would expect the wiser ppl in this forum to know. Young may in fact have determined that great fidelity can not be achieved through current digital technologies, however I have 2 questions for him. 1) When exactly was this 'glory time' when we 'heard' ALL the music as the artist intended? Are you talking about the sound that a little Emerson transistor produced? Or maybe a 'Kenwood Receiver' pushing some Advents? Or maybe even some Bose outfit? I lived during Neil's magical time and I can tell you that that time only EVER existed for you when you invested huge amounts of money into playback and then ONLY listened to direct-disc recordings (to avoid the DR reduction introduced via the mag tape process). Now for #2 - If PONO does succeed in restoring the entire range of sound onto a medium, what type of playback must we have to HEAR that quality? And will it put us out 20k or more to reveal it? ...When I was in the thick of pursuing 'the ultimate sound', direct-disc playback on my system would stun even the most naive people - because REALITY was a jolt to almost everyone who thought they had a great system. They became accustomed to what they thought was great sound until they heard my stuff. And I was barely in the same league as my more well-healed friends. ...I love Neil Young, but I wish he would come clean about this effort.

 

[Hobbit]

I am going to see him in concert on Saturday.

Seen him twice. Both were great shows. Enjoy.

 

[cpp]

The issue is mastering. There are already plenty of good formats out there (Have you looked at the resolutions FLAC can be pushed to?) , what we need are good recordings that weren't destroyed by some audio engineer somewhere.

so true and so correct

 

[Adam]

Arise, zombie thread...ARISE!

Okay, this player is on Kickstarter. My brother is looking at it. Anyone have any thoughts on the hardware itself? Hi-res files...whatever. There are other sources. I'm wondering if anyone thinks that the player itself will be any better than other options already available. I appreciate your thoughts on the matter.

 

[j_garcia]

Arise, zombie thread...ARISE!

Okay, this player is on Kickstarter. My brother is looking at it. Anyone have any thoughts on the hardware itself? Hi-res files...whatever. There are other sources. I'm wondering if anyone thinks that the player itself will be any better than other options already available. I appreciate your thoughts on the matter.

Until anyone knows what music will be available initially, I'd wait. Clearly those artists who are supporting it will likely have their audio available right away...and I do kind of find the player interesting, but it doesn't do me any good if it doesn't have enough stuff to listen to.

 

[Adam]

My brother likely won't back the project, as he wants to see reviews of the hardware. However, if the hardware is superior in playing back audio files (due to the amp, DAC, whatever) to other options out there, it just might be worth the money.

 

[j_garcia]

Their concept is that it is the high res files that matter and the files are unique to them; meaning I don't know if it will play other formats. I also don't know how much they focused on the hardware; hopefully enough at that price. Otherwise this is just another minidisc/SACD/DVD-A/Betamax

 

[psbfan9]

Their concept is that it is the high res files that matter and the files are unique to them; meaning I don't know if it will play other formats.

Can I play digital music files I already own on my PonoPlayer?
Yes, you can and it will probably sound better on the PonoPlayer than you've ever heard it.
The PonoPlayer is designed to play PonoMusic with stunning clarity. However, the player can play almost any kind of music track including FLAC, ALAC, mp3, WAV, AIFF, AAC (unprotected).
What this really means is the PonoPlayer can play all your digital music, and all of it will sound great.