Fans of grunge band, Nirvana, probably recall the first time they slipped this groundbreaking LP out of its sleeve and listened to Come as You Are or In Bloom. Some would argue that the affordability, immediacy and variety offered by mp3s and mp4s wrest from this rather magical experience, but the good news is that the joy of slowly building up a physical collection of music, is back. The new format is called High Fidelity Pure Audio. Produced by Universal Music Group, it harks back to original master tapes recorded by artists, offering listeners fully uncompressed, high-resolution versions of some of the most iconic albums in music history. It is already being hailed as the perfect marriage of tech savvy and retro style.
Pure Audio was born in the wake of previous failures to entice listening audiences with better quality sound. The advent of the new millennium had already given rise to formats like DVD-Audio and Super Audio CD (SACD), both of which failed to excite. What makes Pure Audio different is that it is has the backing of major recording labels, while its crisp sound (up to 192kHz/24Bit in resolution) and vast storage capacity take it into a league of its own. Thus far, there are over 25 titles to select from, by artists such as Amy Winehouse, the Rolling Stones, Marvin Gaye, Queen and Bob Marley. Global Head of New Business at Universal Music Group, Oliver Robert-Murphy, has great expectations about the new product, judging from what he told the press: “We are very excited about the potential for High Fidelity Pure Audio, allowing music lovers to experience the work of artists in a way that has never before been possible. Once you hear High Fidelity Pure Audio you can feel the full richness and depth of an artist’s vision.”
Pure Audio offers three choices of audio file format for playback purposes: Dolby True HD, DTS-HD Master Audio and PCM 2.0. It works just as easily as any CD: just load the disc into your Blu-Ray player and it will begin to play your choice of music, which you can control via Blu-Ray remote or by making your selections on the onscreen display.
The question remains as to whether Pure Audio is an attractive enough product to rock the solid mp3 and mp4 markets, or to wrest a significant percentage of listeners away from the immediacy, mobility and light-weight convenience of gadgets like the iPhone, iPod and the plethora of Android phones on the market. For one, there is the question of price: a Pure Audio disc costs in the region of $29.99; thanks to the advent of streaming sites like Spotify, however, listeners are increasingly getting used to paying nothing (or next to nothing on iTunes) for the latest releases.
Additionally, smartphone, tablet and iPod sales continue to soar. In the UK, technologically savvy cities like Manchester and London report record line-ups at Apple Stores following new product launches, yet interestingly, despite Apple boasting record sales of iPhones in the third quarter of 2013, the company has experienced a fall in annual profits for the first time since the release of the iPod. Still, Apple has little to complain about, with a predicted revenue of between $55 and $58 billion in the first quarter of 2014. Additionally, iPhone sales have reached a record-breaking high and Chief Executive, Tim Cook, looks ahead to 2014 with hope: “We’re excited to go into the holidays with our new iPhone 5c and iPhone 5s, iOS 7, the new iPad mini with Retina Display and the incredibly thin and light iPad Air, new MacBook Pros, the radical new Mac Pro, OS X Mavericks and the next generation iWork and iLife apps for OS X and iOS.”
Even though Pure Audio will probably make no substantial dent in the mp3/mp4 market, it is poised to fufil a niche role among lovers of authentic sound and collectors who value the feel of a beautiful piece of cover artwork in their hands. Indeed, with the Christmas season coming up, a Pure Audio disc sounds like an ideal gift for the music fanatic who has everything. If the mere idea of listening to Amy Winehouse’s voice belting out Me & Mr. Jones as originally recorded sends chills up and down your spine, you might just consider including a Blue-Ray Pure Audio Disc in this year’s list for Santa.