Neil Young has for a while now been a champion for hi resolution formats and released his Archives Volume 1 box set on Blu-ray as far back as 2009 whilst making noises about Blu-rays superior sonic attributes. Hifi Pig reads with interest that the multi-faceted Young (Hifi Pig is a bit of a fan) is in the throes of developing a brand new hi-res format for audio that is said to equal studio quality.

Young has been forthright in his condemnation of current digital formats and their inability to present a recording in the manner the artist would like.

Mid last year the Canadian singer-songwriter reportedly filed documents with the United States Patent and Trademark Office which in effect were applications for the following trademarks: 21^st Century Record Player, Earth Storage, Ivanhoe, SQS (Studio Quality Sound), Storage Shed and Thanks for Listening). The trademarks applied for relate to “Online retail store services”, “High resolutions discs featuring music and video of music” and “High resolution music downloadable from the internet”

Press releases for Young’s forthcoming memoirs have also hinted that he is “spearheading the development of Pono ( an Hawaiian word meaning righteousness) which promises to be a “new audio music system  presenting the highest digital resolution possible, the studio quality that artists and producers heard when they created their original recordings”

Pono’s cloud-based libraries of recordings will provide “a convenient music listening experience that is superior in sound quality to anything ever presented.”

As well as championing hi-resolution audio Young is also about to release the new album “Americana” (Due out June 4^th) where he is reunited with Crazy Horse. Hifi Pig looks forward to it.