The Pono Promise

The breaking news from Pono yesterday included a rehashing of the PonoPromise to “upgrade” any files that the labels issue at a higher resolution without charge for any PonoMusic customers. As was pointed out, the chances of being around when your favorite albums are “upgraded” is pretty slim…given the rate at which the mastering rooms are transferring old analog tapes to high-resolution PCM bit buckets. In reality, the world of music listeners is probably content with the fidelity of CD and even MP3 files…so waiting for an “upgrade” is probably unnecessary. But Pono is making a very big deal out of their promise.

The email blast says, “Most music available today is CD format (44.1/16). Record companies are sometimes capable of providing the same music at higher resolutions, making it sound superior to CD quality.
Pono, with your help, is encouraging artists and record companies to upgrade their music to the higher resolutions which the PonoPlayer can play, so that you can hear and feel all of the soul of the music, just as the artist created it.”

They’re right that most music is available in CD format (as well as digital downloads at iTunes at slightly less fidelity). But most source recordings aren’t limited to 44.1 kHz/16-bit fidelity…except for the decade of the 80s when digital recording was just starting. These were tough times for compact discs quality albums. The equipment was not nearly as good as it is today and the complaints about digital recordings were justified. However, I do find it interesting that one of the best-loved audiophile albums is Jennifer Warnes’ “Famous Blue Raincoat”, which was recorded using an early digital multitrack machine in 1986 at 44.1 kHz/16-bits! Audiophiles have been buying this album for well over 20 years. There was a 20th anniversary edition CD and numerous issues on vinyl. Does this seem like a contradiction?

Here’s Pono’s idea to increase the availability of “higher resolution” albums. They’re asking members of their community to vote for artists and albums that they want in “higher resolution”. Here’s the paragraph from their new bulletin, apparently written by Neil Young:

“You can work with Pono to encourage artists and record companies to create higher resolution music. Just visit ponomusic.com, browse the music selections, and vote for the recordings you would like to see upgraded to a higher resolution. Check “VOTE FOR UPGRADE” on your desired albums.

Your votes will be tracked on the ‘Most Requested Upgrade Chart’ and Pono will actively pursue the record labels and artists, asking them to raise the resolution of these popular albums to the highest possible level. Not all music can be upgraded to a higher resolution, because some music masters are offered at their native resolution, but with our combined efforts, we will push for those that can. The final decision to upgrade, of course, is made by the labels or artists.

The PonoPromise is in keeping with the Pono mission; making the best sound and the highest resolution available, always. To hear your favorite music best, use the industry leading PonoPlayer (powered by Ayre), available at Amazon and other retailers.

We are offering the PonoPromise to you, our community. You have supported us through purchasing your PonoPlayers and Hi Resolution music at the only hi res music ecosystem in existence – ponomusic.com. You are engaged in the Pono community and you are helping us to raise the bar. So through the PonoPromise we say thank you. Thank you for supporting the Pono mission to preserve music quality in its highest form.”

There is a real sense of confusion in those previous sentences. I’ll dig into it further tomorrow but my favorite is Neil’s claim that PonoMusic is, “the only hi res ecosystem in existence.” I guess they believe that having a player and a content website that offers 99.9% rips of standard-res CDs and 5000 high-resolution transfers from standard-resolution analog tapes that makes them unique. Give me a break.