Neil Young's Pono music player raises millions

Audioengr- Because he is a savvy enough capitalist not to want to absorb all the risk on his own? Not to mention, doesn't that approach also sort of give it a kind of "grass roots" appeal? You know, something the "Occupy Warner Bros." crowd could get behind; so it's also a marketing ploy not exclusively a funding tactic. (IMO, of course)

Old analog master tapes transferred to DSD or 24/192 you bet. All the best jazz was recorded on analog tape and sound better than any high bit rate digital recording.

"The problem IMO is that Neil Young understands the problem, but he is not technical enough to understand the right approach for a solution."

Maybe not, but Charlie Hanson and team at Ayre Acoustics as well as others on the Pono design team probably are, IMO. We shall soon see.

Technical issues aside if the analog masters are used and new material is recorded at 24/192 then there is hope. The only remaining problem is the pricing. If it isn't in line with redbook CD's the mainstream will never jump on this technology.

if the analog masters are used and new material is recorded at 24/192 then there is hope.

The Record labels are not going to spend any money remastering albums. They will use their current masters which are of varying formats and bump them to the required standard used by Pono and iTunes, either 24/96 or 24/192.

I can foresee a few major bands remastering albums for HiRez services, one being Neil Young.