In 1987 the International Electrotechnical Commission established the standards that all CDs would meet: stereo (2 channel audio) at a sample rate of 44100 Hz and a bit-depth of 16. This was referred to as CD-DA (Compact Disk – Digital Audio). Many at the time (and still) considered this to be the bare minimum “high quality” audio should be available at, not the maximum. Phillips most notably wanted sample rates to be at 48000 Hz which was considerably higher, but in the end Sony’s 44100 Hz rate won the day. Deflated audiophiles were then forced to deal with the further erosion of recorded sound brought on by the introduction of Mp3; files compressed (stripped of goodness), to allow for mass digital distribution.

Pono Musicwants revolutionize the quality of audio by introducing a player capable of producing exponential fidelity. The Pono Player will be capable to reproducing audio at:

  • CD lossless quality recordings (44.1 kHz/16 bit)
  • High-resolution recordings (48 kHz/24 bit)
  • Higher-resolution recordings (96 kHz/24 bit)
  • Ultra-high resolution recordings (192 kHz/24 bit)

These sampling rates will do for audio what high definition has done for our televisions. Of course it will require a whole new library of music, recorded at higher sampling rates….get your checkbooks ready!

This Kickstarter project is coming to a close, so check it out today!

[title size=”3″]Pono Music’s Project Video[/title]