Neil Young’s“high resolution ” PonoPlayergoes on cut-rate sale for $ 400 today . You should n’t buy it . The recalcitrant rocker is n’t incorrect for wanting to reclaim audio calibre in the digital age , but in the service of that goal he ’s pitch rubble science , and supporting expensive gear and euphony files you do n’t want .
For the last few years , Neil Young has been been the most visible exponent of what ’s called both “ high resolution ” and “ high definition ” audio . These huge audio single file theoretically sound much better than any other digital files that have ever live before . To put that strait in the hand — and ears — of the the great unwashed , he make the PonoPlayer , a triangular portable music player that promises only the highest of fidelity . He ’s not alone . Last week at CES , Sony announced a whole battery of unexampled in high spirits - resolution audio products , conduct by an absurdly expensive$1200 Walkman , loaded with hardware that ’s supposed to optimize the facts of life of the music loaded on it .
At the most canonical level , the push for eminent resolution sound is rooted in realness . By adopting digital formats like the MP3 , and the lossy encryption of the music stream by subscription services like Spotify , we ’ve sacrificed audio caliber for convenience . A music devotee should care about improving their audio quality by using better files .
That ’s clean ! But from there , the argument for mellow - resolution sound recording fall apart .
The science doesn’t make any sense
Though the condition is used loosely , in high spirits resolution audiois in general meant to refer to music that has been digitally encoded at very high sampling rate and chip - depth . Specifically , it means medicine encoded at much higher rates than even the CD - calibre digital standard that was sweep up decades ago .
Here ’s a chart from Pono draw various level of audio character . At the very bottom , you ’ve got the lowest quality streaming files , in the middle you ’ve got 44.1 kHz/16 - snatch CD quality standard , and at the top , you ’ve got absurdly high-pitched - resolution files that are encoded at 192 kHz/24 - spot .
The rationale behind high - settlement audio is that by maximize the sampling rate and second depth , you also maximize hearable particular and active reach in the music you ’re listen to . This sounds great on paper , but in drill it ’s an absolute illusion .
The CD - quality standard — which Young and HRA advocator say is n’t sufficient — wasn’t adopted randomly . It ’s not a number plunk out of tenuous atmosphere . It ’s base on sampling theory and the actual limits of human hearing . To the human pinna , audio recording sampled above 44.1 kHz/16 - bit is inaudibly dissimilar .
Still , this demonstrated mathematical the true does not stop masses from claim that they can take heed the remainder on higher quality audio . The evidence for Pono ’s immensity begin with a video testimony that were postedon the Pono Kickstarter page . Young used his diligence connections to put the PonoPlayer load with high definition audio tracks in the hands of famous musicians , who all gross out out and say Pono is the secure thing they have ever heard .
This proves nothing . I ’m not calling Norah Jones and Dave Grohl liars , but I ’m saying that they ’re succumb to confirmation prejudice , that natural impulse to discover or see what it is you want to hear or see . If Neil Young thrust a convenience in your hands and says , “ take heed dude , you are not going to believe this shit , ” you are probably going to get word exactly what Neil Young require you to hear .
Of course , there ’s a scientific way of life to overcome substantiation bias , called dual - blind testing , whereby you are presented two alternatives randomly in such a room that you have no idea which is which . There are some problems with dual - blind examination , but it ’s generally accepted as best pattern , especially when it come to evaluating something as knotty as audio timbre .
Though Young and Pono have failed to produce dual - blind studies on the benefits of high - charge per unit sound recording or their music participant , inquiring mind have take the time to do it . In a 2007paperpublished in the Journal of the Audio Engineering Society , Brad Meyer and David Moran outline the results of a study in which they presented a enceinte sample of “ serious ” listener with a two-fold unsighted run comparing 44.1 kHz audio from “ the good high firmness discs we could find . ” The goal was not to show which was better , but simply to happen out if people could even tell the dispute .
“ None of these variable have show any correlation with the results , or any divergence between the answers and coin - pass results , ” they write in their determination . subsequently they remark , “ Further take that deliberate 16/44.1 encode audibly degrades high - resolution signal must be supported by by rights controlled double - unreasoning tests . ”
This is how you do skill . It ’s incredible to me the distance that civilize and intelligent people will go to say that they ’re somehow invest with impossible auditory modality power that necessitate a level of audio encryption that ’s demonstrably unnecessary .
The hardware is unnecessary
countenance ’s set the bitrates apart for a moment . We can all jibe that better audio quality is a good thing for everyone , so who handle if the charge per unit are right smart higher than what we need ? It will be better ! This might technically be true , but the push button for gamy - resoluteness audio frequency that hold science creates an irrational compulsion with hardware we do n’t call for .
First of all , high - firmness of purpose audio data file take up tremendous sum computer memory space . A “ high resolution ” 96 kHz/24 - bit data file is some three time big than a CD - quality 44.1 kHz/16 - bit file . And if you are n’t currently using CD - caliber single file , it ’s about 24 - times larger than what ’s consider a decent quality MP3 . If you have a large music collection , storing any significant amount of high - resolve audio need a huge amount of storage space , for which company like Sony require to sell you$1000 + hi - res medicine playersthat are basically connection attached flash storage .
Moreover , the button for gamy resolution audio leads people to think they need more expensive hardware than they do , from in high spirits - resolving power thespian like the PonoPlayer and Sony ’s rebooted Walkman , to atrociously price headphones , verbalizer , amplifier and other gadgets .
I ’m shamefaced of this as much as anybody else . Back when Sonyannouncedits ( relatively ) cheaper $ 300 in high spirits - firmness Walkman last fall , I marveled at it , and thought to myself , “ I kind of like the idea of a cunning standalone medicine player that ’s designed just for my medicine data file . ” And from a gear lover ’s head of view , I still feel that way .
On a more rational stage , though , I ’m actually tender to claims that the Pono Player ’s circuitry is superscript to the circuitry of your average medicine musician , which in the case of most people is our smartphones . In audio the tone of the power train you use does often improve the sound . That ’s why people yield braggy bucks to memorialise in fancy recording studios that have completely analog circuits . From the Pono ’s product description :
This portable audio player uses circuitry have directly from Ayre ’s own top - of - the - line products , cost tenner of thousand of dollar mark , for unparalleled heavy quality and unrivaled listening pleasance .
The interrogative sentence then becomes if the unspoilt circuitry on these player is really deserving $ 400 , or the inconvenience of carry around an entire equipment dedicate only to medicine playback .
I retrieve for a moment it ’s deserving addressing my own headphone use . The cans I apply on a daily basis cost $ 300 . Do I think a practiced set of headphones sound better than a bad set ? Definitely . But I also know that you may get good quality sound from a Seth of$80 Grados , and that the reason I spend more money on phone as actually for build quality , comfort , and aesthetics . Much of it does n’t have anything to do with sound at all .
The point is that you do n’t demand fancy hardware to make music vocalize good , and that no amount of ironware will make your ears hear better than the limitation of biota and natural philosophy .
Neil Young ’s heart might be in the right office . Unfortunately , he ’s put his considerable connections and resources behind a quality - deaf move .
figure by Sam Woolley
Sony
Daily Newsletter
Get the good tech , skill , and culture intelligence in your inbox daily .
news show from the future tense , delivered to your present tense .
You May Also Like
