The Burnett ΧΟΔΕ: Bringing Value, Versatility to John Mellencamp’s New Album
This story is a corrected, updated version of one that ran on the site earlier. Unfortunately there was an error in that first draft so I have re-written the story to correct that error. I apologize for any confusion and thank the source of the corrected information
There are some people in this world who think vinyl LPs are required to enjoy the true audiophile experience and – paraphrasing a certain presidential candidate – they’ll probably desperately cling to their turntables and records whether it’s true or not.
I’ve been really intrigued by a new audio format T-Bone Burnett has developed. It’s a new take on high end audio that doesn’t require vintage or cutting edge technology and it’s being put to use for the first time on John Mellencamp’s upcoming Life, Death, Love and Freedom.
I wrote about this new format, ΧΟΔΕ (CODE), and some of its technical details at BC Magazine, but that’s only one part of the story. ΧΟΔΕ offers listeners a chance to listen to the album in high quality audio in a variety of formats.
- 1 CD, encoded at 16-bit/44.1 kHz
- 1 DVD, with four copies of the album presented as follows:
1 A DVD which will play in most DVD players
2 A 24/96 WAV file which is supported by iTunes (but not the iPod)
3 A ΧΟΔΕ AAC file (which is supported by iPod)
4 A ΧΟΔΕ mp3 file
“All copies are made at the highest quality and to the highest HD/ HiFi standards,” said Burnett. “Listeners will not have to rip bad copies of bad copies. At the moment, people are listening to a Zerox of a Polaroid of a photograph of a painting. Our aim is to democratize High Fidelity.”
What’s equally remarkable about this is the way the package is being priced. This mix of high quality and versatility is rarely offered and when it is you’d expect to pay dearly for it, but Amazon has the album available for pre-order for $9.99. Versatility and value… what a concept! This is what music fans want. We want choices. We want to pay once and have the option to listen to our music on our own terms. Someone has gotten the memo. I hope other artists, managers, and labels are paying attention.
Filed under: Tags: A Day Late and a Dollar Short
