T Bone Burnett unveils new analogue disc format, soon to be revealed featuring re-recorded tracks with Bob Dylan
The American producer says the new technology will overcome all of the aural shortcomings seen in both analogue and digital mediums.
Bob Dylan. Image: Harry Scott / Redferns
A long time in the making, producer T Bone Burnett has developed a new medium for recorded sound: a disc format entitled the “Ionic Originals”. Formed under Burnett’s newly-launched company, NeoFidelity Inc., the revolutionary medium seeks to provide a sound that vanquishes the limitations seen in vinyl, CDs and digital streaming.
Revealing a sample of the new analogue format on Tuesday (April 26), the medium of the “Ionic Originals” comes as an aluminium platter, somewhat resembling a traditional vinyl record.
“An Ionic Original is the pinnacle of recorded sound. It is archival quality. It is future-proof. It is one of one.,” Burnett stated in a press release. “[It is] the equivalent of a painting […] This painting, however, has the additional quality of containing that music, which can be heard by putting a stylus into the spiral and spinning it.”
While no secret that the producer has a strong preference for the analogue modes of listening to music, claiming that it has “more depth, more harmonic complexity, more resonance [and] better imaging” in comparison to its “frozen” digital counterpart, the development of the Ionic Originals claims to provide a quality that surpasses that of any other means.
Still in production, the new format appears to be closer to completion than ever before. This comes as news recently broke of Burnett working alongside legendary songwriter Bob Dylan in the studio, re-recording some of his classic tracks to be released on the ultra-high-fidelity medium.
“[These] newly developed discs [will] advance the art of recorded sound and mark the first breakthrough in analogue sound reproduction in more than 70 years.” the announcement concluded. “Burnett is also determined to reset the valuation for recorded music.”
Details remain vague as to the exact tracks being re-recorded by Dylan and when we can expect the new release to debut.
Representatives of the two artists dashed hopes of any immediate information, announcing that there will be no additional details on the album nor the hardware required to play it revealed any time soon.
