[tgdinamo]

  Time to bring up the taboo subject:
 
If you're all about listening and don't want anything visual for bias, you have taken a blind or ABX test of Redbook vs. hi-res audio, right?

 
No. I have not taken any tests. Couple of years ago I decided to consider switching from listening to ripped CD's on iphone to HDTracks hi-res downloads on some more advanced player. I read a lot of user feedback and reviews about various hi-end devices before deciding on Tera player. Have never been happier with any decision (hobby related) in my life.
By the way, my decision making was certainly not influenced by any charts. I read this forum for a while, decided which few very experienced posters seemed to know that they were talking about, and kind of followed their advice.
By the way, the initial decision to look for something better than iphone and CD resolution is because I still remembered that way back during my high school days my vinyls used to give me a lot more SQ satisfaction than what I was getting with ipods and iphones (even when ripped to CD resolution).

 

[miceblue]

Oh spectrograms? They're pretty easy to read.

Now I'm actually sorry I was joking about not understanding spectrograms (got you to do a whole lot of explaining for nothing). It's not that I can't read them - its more of a philosophy with me - I just don't believe in them.
I feel music should be all about listening and I don't want anything visual to influence/bias that experience (this is one of attractions of Tera for me - closer than other dac's in experience to how I used to listen to vinyl when I was back in high school).

Ah, oh well then. It could help someone else. XD

I'm all open for obtaining studio masters of albums and paying a higher price for them, but the store needs to list the albums' provenance. Places like HD Tracks have pretty much zero provenance, and I haven't purchased anything from them recently exactly because of this and my past experience with their "HD" albums. Hopefully the Pono store will be much more transparent.

Although different digital formats all together, Native DSD and Blue Coast Records have some of the most transparent provenances I've seen for a digital download store.
Even this album:
http://sanfranciscosymphony.downloadsnow.net/masterpieces-in-miniature

Provenance: Recorded and Mixed to 192kHz, 24-bit WAV PCM, except for Trk.6 The Alcotts from A Concord Symphony, recorded to 96kHz, 24-bit WAV PCM. The 19224 WAV files (19224 is our shorthand for 192kHz, 24-bit encoding) are the original digital file generation sent to us. The DSD and FLAC files are considered second generation and made from conversions using our Blue Coast conversion methods. DSF and FLAC will offer the convenience of metadata that the WAV and DFF files will not.

After several blindfold tests, it is our opinion that the 19224 wav files sound the best, followed by DSF or DFF and after that the FLAC 19224. The difference is minimal. We suggest you purchase files for your best performing home DAC. The DAC will make more difference than the file type.

 

[tgdinamo]

Ah, oh well then. It could help someone else. XD

I'm all open for obtaining studio masters of albums and paying a higher price for them, but the store needs to list the albums' provenance. Places like HD Tracks have pretty much zero provenance, and I haven't purchased anything from them recently exactly because of this and my past experience with their "HD" albums. Hopefully the Pono store will be much more transparent.
 

I agree about provenance. This is one area where HDTracks should improve (if possible). I'm looking forward to Pono store as well - mostly because Neil Young is one of my favorite musicians and it's annoying there is none of his music available on HDTracks (I have purchased all of his blurays which are all great - but what was released there only covers his early career).

 

[Canaudio]

I'm all open for obtaining studio masters of albums and paying a higher price for them, but the store needs to list the albums' provenance. Places like HD Tracks have pretty much zero provenance, and I haven't purchased anything from them recently exactly because of this and my past experience with their "HD" albums. Hopefully the Pono store will be much more transparent.

 

Same here.  Initially I was a big HD Tracks booster, but I have become a much more cautious and sceptical consumer after a few expensive and essentially worthless purchases.  Also recent changes to their website and ordering process are unfriendly to foreign (Canadian) buyers.  Now if I want to shop there I really need a proxy server.

 

[Soused]

   
Now I'm actually sorry I was joking about not understanding spectrograms (got you to do a whole lot of explaining for nothing). It's not that I can't read them - its more of a philosophy with me - I just don't believe in them.
I feel music should be all about listening and I don't want anything visual to influence/bias that experience (this is one of attractions of Tera for me - closer than other dac's in experience to how I used to listen to vinyl when I was back in high school).

 
Oh, you mean visual distractions such as being able to see what album or track you are selecting?
 
I assume when you played that vinyl at high school that you turned all the lights off and blindfolded yourself before selecting the record and placing the needle down?

 

[roadrat]

Good info from Project Update #50...
 

Gapless Playback 

We recognize the interest from many in gapless playback support. We had every intention of supporting this at launch but were unsuccessful at having it completed in time. However, gapless playback support for lossless albums is currently under development and will be offered as a software upgrade by Q1 2015.
 

Multiple Album Versions with Different Resolutions 

We are aware that currently in some cases multiple resolutions of the same album are available in the store. We are working with our partner Omnifone to remove all lower resolution versions of any album and only make available the highest resolution. We expect to have this work completed before we open up the store for general availability. In the meantime, we ask you to please purchase the highest resolution version of an album if multiple resolutions are available. Additionally we are working through some issues with pricing in the music store and once these are resolved we expect to be competitively priced. If you see an album where the pricing seems too high, odds are that it is going to be resolved shortly.
 
The rest of the email was very open and contrite.  I believe they are being transparent, but are not communicating frequently enough.  However, they are clearly reading forums and/or emails directly from the public as they addressed all the major issues being raised.

 

[RRod]

Glad they've got gapless playback almost figured out in 2014 (sorry, had to).

 

[tgdinamo]

   
Oh, you mean visual distractions such as being able to see what album or track you are selecting?
 
I assume when you played that vinyl at high school that you turned all the lights off and blindfolded yourself before selecting the record and placing the needle down?

 
None of the above. I like selecting the album and just sitting back and enjoying the music - back in the old days selecting the album involved complicated task of looking at the covers and then putting what I want on my vinyl player, and these days it's simple button presses allowing me to move into the album folder I want on my Tera player. Much prefer this to watching spectrograms while music is playing or obsessing with them when I'm not even listening - as a matter of fact I don't even remember my vinyl player having the option to show spectrogram or any similar visual clues - same as my Tera player.

 

[Soused]

   
None of the above. I like selecting the album and just sitting back and enjoying the music - back in the old days selecting the album involved complicated task of looking at the covers and then putting what I want on my vinyl player, and these days it's simple button presses allowing me to move into the album folder I want on my Tera player. Much prefer this to watching spectrograms while music is playing or obsessing with them when I'm not even listening - as a matter of fact I don't even remember my vinyl player having the option to show spectrogram or any similar visual clues - same as my Tera player.

 
Mate, you sound like a right weirdo.  These things called screens on these new fangled music players? Well, believe it or not but you can scroll through a visual list of songs or albums or artists, and with the touch of a finger decide which one to play! And then you can put the player in your pocket and listen to the music!
 
Or, you can display a pictorial representation of the album's artwork - artwork which the artist themself may have been involved with choosing.
 
You do know that there can't be a single player on earth which forces you to look at a spectogram while your music is playing?

 

[tgdinamo]

   
Mate, you sound like a right weirdo.  These things called screens on these new fangled music players? Well, believe it or not but you can scroll through a visual list of songs or albums or artists, and with the touch of a finger decide which one to play! And then you can put the player in your pocket and listen to the music!
 
Or, you can display a pictorial representation of the album's artwork - artwork which the artist themself may have been involved with choosing.
 
You do know that there can't be a single player on earth which forces you to look at a spectogram while your music is playing?

 
I know everything about screens because I have used ipods and iphones for years. And guess what? For my usage scenario they sucked. I listen to music during my commute to work and prefer to have my player in pocket all the time. I like large physical buttons I can feel through my jeans so I don't have to take the device out to operate. I can change tracks, albums, artists, and play in random mode completely out of my pocket simply by feeling buttons through my jeans pocket.
It is impossible to make a player as small as Tera (with great physical buttons and 17hr battery life) while also having space for screen - so Tera is in my opinion a great compromise where the only thing I give up is screen which for me is least important (for my usage scenario for sure). I'm not at all arguing this is best for everybody or even majority but it works great for me. And like I said I have used iphones and was frustrated beyond belief by touchscreen which forced me to take the device out of pocket all the time.

 

[Ableza]

Me, I don't give a damn aboud "provenance."  As long as it sounds good why should I care?

 

[RRod]

  Me, I don't give a damn aboud "provenance."  As long as it sounds good why should I care?

 
Because you can only tell so much from sound clips and its nice to have information when buying things?

 

[Soused]

   
I know everything about screens because I have used ipods and iphones for years. And guess what? For my usage scenario they sucked. I listen to music during my commute to work and prefer to have my player in pocket all the time. I like large physical buttons I can feel through my jeans so I don't have to take the device out to operate. I can change tracks, albums, artists, and play in random mode completely out of my pocket simply by feeling buttons through my jeans pocket.
It is impossible to make a player as small as Tera (with great physical buttons and 17hr battery life) while also having space for screen - so Tera is in my opinion a great compromise where the only thing I give up is screen which for me is least important (for my usage scenario for sure). I'm not at all arguing this is best for everybody or even majority but it works great for me. And like I said I have used iphones and was frustrated beyond belief by touchscreen which forced me to take the device out of pocket all the time.

 
I commute to work everyday with my device in my pocket too. My smartphone has physical buttons on the side for volume and touchscreen for everything else. Its probably the least hassle in the world to play music this way. Are you extra-fussy?
 
I don't understand with that Tera how you are supposed to choose and select albums and tracks without being able to see it on the screen - can you explain?

 

[tgdinamo]

   
I commute to work everyday with my device in my pocket too. My smartphone has physical buttons on the side for volume and touchscreen for everything else. Its probably the least hassle in the world to play music this way. Are you extra-fussy?
 
I don't understand with that Tera how you are supposed to choose and select albums and tracks without being able to see it on the screen - can you explain?

 
I can explain but you should instead do a search and look through Tera threads (or Tera website). All the info about how to navigate etc is there - no sense to continue this conversation in the Pono thread (we already disrupted it enough as is).
Oh, and yes - I'm extra fussy - really used to get annoyed trying to find/feel tiny buttons on the side of the iphone when it was in pocket just to get volume up or down and I especially hated double clicking and triple clicking to move forward and backward (and could not navigate artists/albums at all without taking phone out). Having said this my initial and primary reason for liking Tera so much is that the SQ  is the best I have ever heard - all the other ergonomic advantages are secondary to that and only became obvious once I owned the device for a while.

 

[Soused]

Ok, I looked at the Tera website. That guy is a dadaist, surely.  If you've fallen for this scam, more fool you.
 
Love that statement he makes:
 
WWorld's best price performance ratio: The Tera-Player delivers infinite performance at an unbeatable price!
 
Infinite performance! Too funny. The thing costs €3360 and doesn't even have a screen.  You really are a prize idiot if you are prepared to pay that.
 
 
 
rice performance ratio: The Tera-Player delivers infinite performance at an unbeatable price!