If you think the sound quality of MP3’s are terrible, then you’re not alone. Music enthusiasts who switched their CD collections over to modern MP3 formats will notice a huge loss in the sound quality. People who say digital is better are missing the picture. It’s only better if everything is still there and with MP3’s and even CD’s, it’s not all there.

This is the subject of Neil Young’s latest project. He’s upset by the current trends in digital music and he obviously has gotten tired of waiting for things to change. It all got started back in January when he attended the D: Dive into Media and presented his case for sound quality.

Here’s what Young Had to say about the degrading sound quality of music:

“We live in the digital age and, unfortunately, it’s degrading our music, not improving it.”

“My goal is to try and rescue the art form that I’ve been practicing for the past 50 years,”

“It’s not that digital is bad or inferior, it’s that the way it’s being used isn’t doing justice to the art,”

“The MP3 only has 5 percent of the data present in the original recording. … The convenience of the digital age has forced people to choose between quality and convenience, but they shouldn’t have to make that choice.”

“Steve Jobs as a pioneer of digital music, and his legacy is tremendous,”

“But when he went home, he listened to vinyl. And you’ve got to believe that if he’d lived long enough, he would have done what I’m trying to do.”

What we have found out today is that Young has applied for several patents that are believed to be for a new high definition download service and music management system that would allow for true lossless sound quality.

Rolling Stones Magazine suggests that the six patents are all ideas for the same music system. Ivanhoe, 21st Century Record Player, Earth Storage, Storage Shed, Thanks for Listening and SQS (Studio Quality Sound) are all the names listed on the patent document.

A new memoir about Young’s life published by Penguin Group will reveal his intent to continue pioneering this ‘save the sound’ movement. So there’s no mistaking Young is serious about getting a project moving that would work to these ends. He’s not made an official comment about this, but evidence definitely suggests he’s involved in more than just spirit, in some way.