[Replicant187]

maybe you can, it's just Flac.
have they said anything about DRM?

 

[flatmap]

  maybe you can, it's just Flac.
have they said anything about DRM?

Pono says no DRM.  If this is straight, FLAC files from Pono store are playable on any player that does FLAC.
 
Referencing their Kickstarter page

 

[Saraguie]

  I want to play music from the Pono store on a device I already own, not play music I own on a Pono. 

As flat map says no problem you can.

 

[Saraguie]

I just can't see anyone paying more money for a hi res file when there is absolutely no audible difference from a normal resolution file.

You've been around here long enough to know that your statement is In Your Opinion.
 
I personally am usually skeptical about a lot things and hearing a difference between redbook and hires was one of them, and IMO I do hear a difference. Is it night and day usually not, is it a harmony or a note I had not heard before yes it is.

 

[jazzman7]

  Pono says no DRM.  If this is straight, FLAC files from Pono store are playable on any player that does FLAC.
 
Referencing their Kickstarter page

Agreed that Pono says no DRM.
 
What if -- and this is a big what if -- Apple responds by offering 24/96 music files for download of (pretty much) everything they currently have at that resolution, but uses FairPlay DRM?  Think Pono, but with lots more selection and with lock-in DRM to Apple devices.  
 
This possibility is the one that I fear might happen, which would be an ecosystem grab like what Apple has done with movies/TV.  

 

[Steve Eddy]

There's already quite a few websites selling High res music. If no one could hear any difference, I think they'd long have been ignored by now.

What makes you believe that? How many millions are being made by companies selling quack products, like the Power Balance bracelets? Because it's so trivially easy to get humans to subjectively perceive differences even when there are no actual physical differences, you can always sell things to people for which there are no actual audible differences.

se

 

[fiascogarcia]

What makes you believe that? How many millions are being made by companies selling quack products, like the Power Balance bracelets? Because it's so trivially easy to get humans to subjectively perceive differences even when there are no actual physical differences, you can always sell things to people for which there are no actual audible differences.

se

I don't necessarily hear changes in frequencies as much as improvement in timbre in the ranges I can hear.  Could that be because Hi Res recordings are created from recordings that are better mastered?  And I will grant you that there are tiny, tiny variances between 44.1/16 and the higher res recordings in most cases.

 

[Steve Eddy]

I don't necessarily hear changes in frequencies as much as improvement in timbre in the ranges I can hear.  Could that be because Hi Res recordings are created from recordings that are better mastered?  And I will grant you that there are tiny, tiny variances between 44.1/16 and the higher res recordings in most cases.

Well if you're comparing two different masters, then all bets are off. You'd need to compare a high resolution file to a 16/44 file decimated from the same high resolution file.

se

 

[Ivabign]

What makes you believe that? How many millions are being made by companies selling quack products, like the Power Balance bracelets? Because it's so trivially easy to get humans to subjectively perceive differences even when there are no actual physical differences, you can always sell things to people for which there are no actual audible differences.

se

“No one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public.”
 
"H.L. Mencken"
His actual words were:

“No one in this world, so far as I know — and I have searched the records for years, and employed agents to help me — has ever lost money by underestimating the intelligence of the great masses of the plain people. Nor has anyone ever lost public office thereby.”

 

[fiascogarcia]

Well if you're comparing two different masters, then all bets are off. You'd need to compare a high resolution file to a 16/44 file decimated from the same high resolution file.

se

That's generally how I do it.  I don't have a huge collection of high res music because I'm quite content burning from CD's (cost reasons alone warrant this).  I will download, say a 96/24 file, then convert it to 48/16 to use on an iPod. So I have the two versions to compare on a player like MediaMonkey.  Anyway, some tracks show differences to my ears, some you can't tell the difference at all.  

 

[fiascogarcia]

  You've been around here long enough to know that your statement is In Your Opinion.
 
I personally am usually skeptical about a lot things and hearing a difference between redbook and hires was one of them, and IMO I do hear a difference. Is it night and day usually not, is it a harmony or a note I had not heard before yes it is.

My impression as well.

 

[Canaudio]

Well if you're comparing two different masters, then all bets are off. You'd need to compare a high resolution file to a 16/44 file decimated from the same high resolution file.

se

 
Decimated - Really?
 
dec·i·mate  (dĕs′ə-māt′)
tr.v. dec·i·mat·ed, dec·i·mat·ing, dec·i·mates 1. To destroy or kill a large part of (a group).
2. Usage Problem a. To inflict great destruction or damage on: The fawns decimated my rose bushes.
b. To reduce markedly in amount: a profligate heir who decimated his trust fund.
 

3. To select by lot and kill one in every ten of.
 
 

 

[fenderf4i]

Decimation is the process of reducing the sampling rate.

 

[Steve Eddy]

   
Decimated - Really?
 
dec·i·mate  (dĕs′ə-māt′)
tr.v. dec·i·mat·ed, dec·i·mat·ing, dec·i·mates 1. To destroy or kill a large part of (a group).
2. Usage Problem a. To inflict great destruction or damage on: The fawns decimated my rose bushes.
b. To reduce markedly in amount: a profligate heir who decimated his trust fund.
 

3. To select by lot and kill one in every ten of.
 
 

 
Yes. Decimation is a term used in the field of digital signal processing. It's also called "downsampling."
 
se

 

[jazzman7]

Decimation is the process of reducing the sampling rate.

http://www.dspguru.com/dsp/faqs/multirate/decimation

In DSP, decimation does not involve loss of life, although it does involve loss of samples and (possibly) loss of information if there are high frequencies present.