Posts Tagged ‘Ponomusic’

More poo-pooing of PonoPlayer

David Pogue says people can’t tell the difference in sound between Neil Young’s PonoPlayer and that of an iphone.

Describing himself as a former professional musician, Pogue said that “the Pono Player story is a modern retelling of ‘The Emperor’s New Clothes,’ ” making claims contrary to science.

He writes on Yahoo Tech News:

“I’m 51 and a former professional musician. I know how to listen. But when I bought Pono’s expensive remastered songs and compared them with the identical songs on my phone, I couldn’t hear any difference whatsoever.

<p data-reactid=".ocejpqdyww.$cover-mosaic-transition-group.$=1$cover-mosaic-0:0.$article-109496883039.0:$Pos-r.$article-inner-container.$inset-container singulair inhaler.$grid-template.0.$col-left.$content.$grid-content.0.1.$text-body.0.2.$p-7″>I got worried. Is the Pono story a modern-day “Emperor’s New Clothes” fable? Were those famous rock stars just imagining things?

There was only one way to find out: conduct a blind trial, using identical songs on identical headphones, comparing the Pono with a standard audio player — an iPhone. So that’s what I did. You can watch the process in the video above.”

You can watch the video at: https://www.yahoo.com/tech/it-was-one-of-kickstarters-most-successful-109496883039.html

The majority of testers picked the iphone over Pono in a blind test. He writes:

“How does it sound? I found 15 volunteers, ages 17 through 55. Each subject put on nice headphones — Sony MDR 7506 — and listened to three songs of different styles (“Saturday in the Park” by Chicago, “Raised on Robbery” by Joni Mitchell, and “There’s a World” by Mr. Pono himself, Neil Young). I bought these songs twice: once from the Pono store, in high resolution, and once from the iTunes store.

Each subject then listened to the same songs again, using standard Apple earbuds.”

He posts a good argument and it’s an interesting read.

Pogue is a former New York Times columnist.

Tags: pono, Ponomusic, ponoplayer
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Engineers at Neil Young’s company allegedly admit doubts on music player

<a href="http://www.bad-news-beat more helpful hints.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Neil-cartoon-with-pono.jpg”>The Pono naysayers are speaking out, since it recently went on sale for $400 to the public.

According to New York Post, and other sources, product engineers for Neil Young’s  newly released Pono digital music player have privately admitted they aren’t convinced that the high-resolution audio files it plays have any significant technical advantage over CD-quality files, sources told The Post.

“It has been clear throughout that Neil Young himself is all about the hi-res,” one source close to the situation said. “There’s no doubt in his mind that it sounds better.”

But for some of Pono’s other tech-savvy execs, selling files with more musical data than what’s available on a CD is mainly “a business decision,” the source said.

“Their take is that the serious audiophile has convinced himself he has to have it,” the source added. “They’re saying, ‘We don’t necessarily believe it, but nobody’s going to buy it if we don’t do it.’”

“I think Neil is barking up the wrong tree,” says Lukasz Fikus, a digital audio designer whose high-priced Lampizator components have earned a following among hard-core enthusiasts.

The benefits of hi-res files may be detectable on high-dollar stereo systems, but “the difference is so miniscule that it’s not even worth talking about,” according to Fikus.

The sound quality on Led Zeppelin’s second album is notoriously poor, Fikus notes. A hi-res version of it won’t change that, he says, although a recent remastering by Jimmy Page helped.

“There are many, many factors that contribute to the final pleasure (of digital music),” Fikus adds. “The density of the media file is only one of those factors — and probably not the first priority, but almost the last.”

Read more at: http://nypost.com/2015/01/11/do-consumers-really-care-about-digital-quality/

At Gizmodo, Marlo Agullar, writes that “recalcitrant rocker isn’t wrong for wanting to reclaim audio quality in the digital age, but in the service of that goal he’s peddling junk science, and supporting expensive gear and music files you don’t need. ”

Though Young and Pono have failed to produce double-blind studies on the benefits of high-rate audio or their music player, inquiring minds have taken the time to do it. In a 2007 paper published in the Journal of the Audio Engineering Society, Brad Meyer and David Moran outline the results of a study in which they presented a large sample of “serious” listeners with a double blind test comparing 44.1 kHz audio from “the best high resolution discs we could find.” The goal was not to show which was better, but simply to find out if people could even tell the difference.

“None of these variables have shown any correlation with the results, or any difference between the answers and coin-flip results,” they write in their conclusion. Later they note, “Further claims that careful 16/44.1 encoding audibly degrades high-resolution signals must be supported by properly controlled double-blind tests.”

Read more at: http://gizmodo.com/dont-buy-what-neil-young-is-selling-1678446860

Tags: New York Post, pono, Ponomusic
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Neil Young Recording New Album With Willie Nelson’s Sons

Rolling Stone’s Andy Green wrote that Neil Young is planning a new album with Willie Nelson’s sons Lukas and Micah Nelson.

He writes in Rolling Stone:

“Neil Young sat down with Rolling Stone Executive Editor Nathan Brackett at the International Consumer Electronics Show on Jan. 7 to discuss the long-awaited rollout of his Pono music player, but he also shared details of his next LP.

“I’m working on another album now that I’m going to do be doing with Willie Nelson’s sons,” he said, jokingly suggesting he would title it The Monsanto Years after the agriculture company he’s been railing against for years. “It’s an upbeat review of the situation.”

Young was less sure about his other future plans. “I don’t know much about the future,” he said. “I want to [focus on Pono] and I want to continue playing music. Those two things should keep me pretty busy.  I have some film editing and things to do on the side. I’ll probably be writing some more books. I want to keep doing what I do. I’d like to continue doing it for a long time.”

Read more: http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/neil-young-recording-new-album-with-willie-nelsons-sons-20150108#ixzz3OKa0E7kc

Tags: CES 2015, Lukas Nelson, Micah Nelson, pono, Ponomusic, rolling stone, Willie Nelson
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Young pushing Pono at CES 2015

Neil Young will be in Los Vegas tomorrow pushing his Pono music device at 2015 International CES.

According to Mobile Enterprise, Rock icon Neil Young and PonoMusic will hold a special press briefing on High Resolution Audio on Tuesday, January 6 from 3:30-4:30 PM at the Hi-Res Audio Workshop. Limited seating is available.

In addition, Young will share his passion for high-res music in a SuperSession led by Rolling Stone executive editor Nathan Brackett on Wednesday, January 7 from 10:15-11:15AM.

New products are meant to be in the spotlight, but celebrities could steal the show at the 2015 International CES. The event will feature Hollywood stars, TV personalities, professional athletes and musical icons promoting the latest innovations revolutionizing the ways consumers live, work, play, connect and access information,  according to Mobile Enterprise.

Owned and produced by the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), the 2015 CES, the world’s gathering place for all who thrive on the business of consumer technologies, will run January 6-9, in Las Vegas.

Wonder wh0 Neil will bring along? This should be good…there’s a long line-up of stars, like American Stars ‘n Bars, or something like that.

What EVER happened to: Revolution Blues: “Well I hear that Laurel Canyon is filled with famous stars…”

That was someone else singing in a third person character…

This sounds interesting: “Theoretical physicist, bestselling author, acclaimed public speaker, renowned futurist and popularizer of science Dr. Michio Kaku will attend Toyota’s press conference during the official CES Press Day on Monday, January 5.”

See the rich and famous line-up at: http://mobileenterprise.edgl.com/news/The-Stars-of-2015-International-CES97413

Tags: American Stars and Bars, CES 2015, Mobile Enterprise, pono, Ponomusic, Revolution Blues
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NY announces Lincoln Continental comeback

2002 Lincoln Continental concept pictured.

“And Lincoln is still the best thing built by Ford.”

Canadian singer & songwriter Neil Young has indirectly confirmed Lincoln will resurrect the Continental moniker for the 2016 model year, according to Worldcarfans.com.

The website states:

“A couple of years ago Neil Young founded a company called Pono Music which specializes in providing a high-quality audio music download service and now in an interview with CNBC he announced the service will be implemented in the 2016 Lincoln Continental which will benefit from Harman speakers. The artist went on to specify they have already reached an agreement with Tesla and their cars will implement the system once Pono’s music store will be up and running.

“The 2016 Lincoln Continental will probably act as a direct replacement of the MKS full-size luxury sedan which is now entering its final model year after being facelifted for 2013MY. The new model will likely be introduced towards the end of 2015 and is expected to be based on the Ford Taurus.”

The website sourced CNBC. Watch the video of the interview with Neil here:  http://www.cnbc.com/id/102084076

Check out: http://www.worldcarfans.com/114121786038/neil-young-announces-lincoln-continental-coming-back-for

Tags: Lincoln Continental, pono, Ponomusic
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