Forty plus years ago PS Audio opened its doors out of a love of music. Giving back to the community that fuels its desire to develop the best performing components, the Colo.-based company has announced a fund raising high-resolution audio music release.

In a press release the company says, “during those four decades, we've seen the rights of musicians diminish, along with their ability to earn a living through their craft. Where once recording engineers treated sound reproduction with reverence, today it’s more acceptable to just cram sound through poor equipment: Slice it, dice it, compress the life out of it, and call it music. Where once musicians earned a livable wage—occasionally even striking it rich—today it’s common for musicians to supplement their meager living serving coffee or waiting tables.”

In response to the music industry's current enconomic environment PS Audio has launched its ONE Music Project. The concept for this cause found its roots in the idea of reversing this trend and giving more back to those that created quality music and recordings than to those who marketed and distributes music. The project was founded by a consortium of concerned music lovers, including mastering engineer Gus Skinas, PS Audio CEO Paul McGowan, Steven Vidaic and Mike Yach of Immersive Records, Cookie Marenco of Blue Coast Records, Audiophile Societies International (ASI) president Sean McGowan, and the entire staff of PS Audio.

The goal of the project is to preserve the recording arts and build a financially sound platform where musicians come first says PS Audio. 

To support the project financially, the ONE Music effort has released its limited edition PS Audio Sonoma Master Series recordings that offer music fans to puchase the highest quality high-resolution audio content. PS Audio emphasizes that “each DSDPure recording captures a unique performance from some of the world’s finest musicians, featuring Elephant Revival, David Elias, Janet Feder. Ron Miles, Bill Frisell, and Lara Ruggles, among others.”

Mastered by Gus Skinas, every format included in the recordings were handled on the Sonoma DSD Workstation at the Super Audio Center to ensure the highest levels of sound quality. Tracks and artists were all curated by Skinas and Paul McGowan in PS Audio’s Music Room One, featuring the Infinity IRS V loudspeakers, BHK Signature amplification and DirectStream DAC.

The album is available as a two-disc set at $45, and the release contains a hybrid SACD and a DVD disc that offers hi-resolution 24-bit/176kHz PCM, and DSD files. The recordings are also available as DSD and PCM downloads for $35, and every purchase is said to help support musicians and state-of-the-art recording studios and mastering facilities survive.

PS Audio adds that based on the success of the first release, it and ASI will continue to invest in future musical collaborations that help ensure a market for quality recordings.

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