Sony Seeks Same Success in Hi-Res Audio as It Has Scored in 4K, Okuda Says

Sony wants to have the same success in hi-res audio as it has scored in 4K Ultra HD, Toshi Okuda, Sony Electronics deputy president, told a media briefing Wednesday in Beverly Hills, California. When it comes to 4K TV, the U.S. is the envy of other Sony subsidiaries throughout the world, Okuda said. The U.S. has grown to become Sony’s largest global market for 4K TVs, so much so that it has won the U.S. operation greater clout with Tokyo headquarters, Okuda said. With hi-res audio, “we hope we can start to resonate with the needs of the customer” in a way that “we bring back the sense of quality in the music” that has deteriorated over the years with delivery mechanisms like MP3 or iTunes, he said. Okuda has been listening to Led Zeppelin “for years and years,” but the quality of its recordings progressively has been “getting worse,” he said. But with hi-res audio, "now it’s coming back, as if Jimmy Page were really playing in front of me,” Okuda said of Led Zeppelin’s lead guitarist. Sony spokesman John Dolak later joked it was the first time in his recollection that a Sony executive had invoked the name Jimmy Page in a business conference.