Apple, because it's Apple, hates FLAC and refuses to allow it in iTunes. Meanwhile, Sony is 
belatedly putting on a big push for native DSD, including a hardware/marketing push. So it's likely 
to be muddled, SACD vs DVD-A all over again. That said, anything to promote higher-quality downloads 
is a Good Thing in my book. I include in that Mastered for iTunes, but note that the vast majority 
of material sold on iTunes was not well mastered or well converted to the lossy format. Newer stuff, 
if it carries the Mastered for iTunes certification is better.

On another front, I'm seeing slight signs of progress against terrible-sounding toothpaste MAKE IT 
LOUDER mastering. Just the fact that the high-rez downloads places are demanding reasonable dynamics 
is trickling down to the CD mastering. I've now heard enough tales of woe from mastering 
engineers -- "The Artist Made Me Do It" or "The Record Company Suit Made Me Do It" -- that I tend to 
believe them, that Make It Louder is completely the fault of tin-eared artists and record company 
hacks. But that doesn't make the results sound any better!

--Tom Fine

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Tim Stamps" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Monday, March 10, 2014 6:20 PM
Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Neil Young wants to take h igh-resolution FLAC audio recordings mainstrea m 
with Pono - Tech News and Analysis


>I hope all the players update their software so FLAC will play on everything, but unfortunately 
>it's not possible since many players (both software and hardware) sold and/or distributed in the 
>past cannot be updated.
> Tim
>
> On Mar 10, 2014, at 4:42 PM, Steve Greene wrote:
>
>> http://gigaom.com/2014/03/10/neil-young-wants-to-take-high-resolution-flac-audio-recordings-mainstream-with-pono/
>>
>> Stay tuned...
>>
>> Curious as to what kind of mass-market penetration you can make at that
>> price-point. Is the audiophile market alone enough?
>>
>> Steve
>
>