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Neil Young's Catalog Returns to Apple Music After He Said Streaming Has 'Worst Quality in History'
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Dude, if someone "upscales" AAC files to some sort of lossless codec, they're going to be degrading the sound quality of that AAC so badly that I'm not surprised you can tell the difference.
It is much easier to tell the difference between a non-transcoded lossless file and a very poorly transcoded lossy file. It's been scientifically proven that the human ear cannot differentiate between a file at iTunes Plus quality (actually, even lower that iTunes Plus quality) and a totally uncompressed WAV file, given that all other things are equal including mastering and playback equipment.
Oh I am sure he has but he is so old and his hearing is probably not very good. I bet he thought that AM radio sounded as good as his Pono
I love some of his music, and he's definitely a wonderful musician, but yeah I think this whole thing is lame. Pono was a joke and it always saddens me when people get all "audiophile-y". I would consider myself to be someone who can notice the sound differences in higher quality bit rates, or the sounds coming from an analog device such as a record player hooked up to nice tube amps etc. but I still think its mostly ******** lol. I would really only say its useful for CREATING music, more than just listening to it. The difference is not worth the money for the devices if you're an average person who just wants to listen to their favorite albums for enjoyment. I can't remember how much the Pono Player cost, but I know there were cheaper options for listening to high bit rates on the go. Ones that didn't look as fugly too. If you have a lot of money and care about quality sound you should be spending your money on vinyl, tube amps, etc. It was just weird hearing Neil on podcasts, and in written articles talking about how great Pono is and how digital music is crap cause no ones doing it right etc. Not only could you tell he personally had no real understanding of how the digital side of all this tech works, he also just seemed like he was doing it for the money. (which I personally don't care about, but he could have at least backed something more sensible like a fancy turntable or something)
Well, your right on tapes but as far as fm or am radio goes, his fans wouldnt be spending money to hear his music on those outlets so he wouldnt restrict them. Its because people had to pay, and then get a crummy experience that he did that.
Funny how that coincided with his Pono player release. Now that http://www.ponosucks.com exists and his site no longer sells any players, it's definitely about the money. Guess the revenue from old CSNY vinyl records has dried up too.
Also, he lost the audiophile crowd with
1) creating the ugliest DAP ever. http://www.digitalmusicnews.com/2014/03/12/ponoworst/
2) charging too much $$ when there's lossless players like FiiO X1 for $80
3) Audiophiles' increased ridicule because of Pono: http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/..._brought_unfair_scorn_for_lovers_of_high.html
I used to call myself an audiophile decades ago, but got tired of the arguments.
Fact is, when listening to music on the go, be it in your car or on your iPhone on a train, the "lossless" portion does not make it sound better over VBR256, so producing a player that gives your "superior" sound while on the move, is really about perception, rather than "reception"... by your "golden ears" that is.
Many people can hear a difference when lossless music is reproduced on adequate amplification and high-end loudspeaker systems or in a quiet room on high quality headphones, otherwise, it's all self-delusion.
SiriusXM also sounds terrible. I thought something was broken when I heard SiriusXM in someone's car.
But then I learned that SiriusXM broadcasts at 64kbps. Yikes! Total garbage.
Yeah... I'd pick streaming over that nonsense!
Quite. Someone explain the Nyquist-Shannon Sampling Theorem to him.
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It's not the lossless I have an issue with, it's the insistence that 196kHz sampling makes a difference. If you do hear a difference (and assuming it's not a psychological effect) it won't be down to the higher sample rate.
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Yep the reality is music has never sounded so good, been so accessible and on demand than anytime in history! Quality is not the issue, it's that power online is now back in the hands of big corps and trusted outlets are pushing crap artists they can monetise over just good music. It's a shame that you need to actively fight music streaming and playing systems to find better music.
Good on Neil for allowing his prolific catalogue back on the streaming services for all ages to enjoy again after a 15 month hiatus
He had the bottle to swim
agianst the tide but also the bottle to go back will the flow.
Long may he continue making music and keep his catalogue streaming ad infinitum.
Please re-release the Live album 'Time Fades Away' for streaming.
He had the bottle to swim
agianst the tide but also the bottle to go back will the flow.
Long may he continue making music and keep his catalogue streaming ad infinitum.
Please re-release the Live album 'Time Fades Away' for streaming.
SiriusXM wasn't always that bad. Back in the early 2000s, it was actually quit good. Once they kept adding more garbage channels, they had to compress the signal to where it was eventually just garbage. When XM and Sirius merged, it became even worse. I still have XM in my car though mostly for the commercial free music.
Back when I was a nipper it was vinyl, a 4 inch speaker in a portable cheapo record player and that was just fine. He probably always heard his music through reference grade studio kit.
Neil Young was big in those days so talking about quality is frankly horse-dung - most of his paying public would have had pretty lo-fi kit by todays standards so he must have a pretty piss-poor (drug addled) memory. Bloody hypocrite out for the money, plain and simple.
A guy that has spent a lifetime on a stage surrounded with loud speakers -- he's able to distinguish sound quality on an audiophile level?
Last time I checked, most Canadians required a source of revenue to to provide food , clothing, and shelter.
Last time I checked, most Canadians required a source of revenue to to provide food , clothing, and shelter.
You had to check?
Not really, it was a counter to the statement that all Americans favor Quantity over Quality as it was framed in a Neil Young Bubble. I was simply making a personal statement that even after all his protesting, and nostalgic commentary on the state of the music industry, Canadians require Quantity as well.
Plenty around. You are more likely to find a discount on an iPod than a Fiio these days. I would cut him some slack for actually practising what he preached with his Pono project but deduct points for the Toblerone design, which is as ergonomically disasterous as any mouse Apple has foisted on the public.
Too bad that most music today is mixed for low grade output, i.e. smartphones, so putting that on fancy DAPs is only ever going to highlight its shortcomings.
Are you comparing whatever piece-wise pirated music you downloaded from who-knows-where with something which is officially streamed?
I'm not saying that Young is right at all, but your comparison makes even less sense than his complaint.
