Pono music store closing temporarily...

They probably need to figure out how to add 7digital's download infrastructure to its ported JRiver "PonoMusic" software. Which is ridiculous, IMO. You're locked into downloading via that software, whereas via 7digital's website it's much more streamlined.

Anyhow, I'm perfectly content with 16/44.1, so I don't really care how that all shakes out. I used to bounce back and forth between Pono and 7digital to see who had what in FLAC at which lower price...now I won't have to do that, though I'm sure that'll limit what's available in the first place as there were several instances where something was available on one service and not the other.

(Oh, and I don't and likely won't ever own a Pono...)

 

"We're ardent supporters of high resolution music and are delighted to be working with the team at Neil Young's Pono to provide content for their service," said 7digital CEO Simon Cole in a statement to Billboard.

Neil Young's PonoMusic Store Goes Offline as It Switches Content Providers »

 

I wish I could buy everything I wish to own in redbook. Unfortunately, a lot of back catalog stuff is still only available in lossy formats. Pono was nice because I never had to separate wheat from chaff (i.e., lossless from lossy) on Pono. I wish that 7digital would at least store my format preferences via cookie. I hate having to unset the lossy options overtime I search there.

 

I don't believe this is right at all. No files were ever uploaded or sent to Pono. Pono only had access to what Omnifone had - if Ominofone didn't or couldn't get something, Pono didn't have it. Prior to the store going live, they were making a big deal about the size of Omnifone's catalogue. Whilst I'm not aware of any other Omifone powered download stores, there are several powered by 7Digital and 7Digital do not host special seperate catalogues for the different stores.

 

That's a very good question. Will the Pono Promise be intact when all is said and done? There's no reason really to shop anywhere but the Pono Store, for that benefit, and because I've found that prices on HDTracks are a bit higher than the Pono Store.

 

Do you use another portable media player? I'm wondering what people are using aside from the Pono Player. Thanks.

 

Actually it is correct. He didn't say the files were sent to Pono, in fact he did a very good job of explaining what happened. And Pono had several albums that Omnifone didn't have, including Tom Petty's Wildflowers in 24bit 96k which was a Pono exclusive.

 

I don’t follow these things religiously but aren’t Neil’s albums, Déjà Vu, Botnick’s ’15 remaster of Forever Changes exclusive to the Pono? So unless I am missing something, Pono got the rights to those albums and had Omnifone host those for them and no one else. I don’t think Pono will have to exclusively rely on what 7Digital has, but I would suspect they could well lean on only what 7Digital has for the bulk of the material for expediency’s sake.

 

I use a Fiio X5 1st gen with dual 128gb cards in the slots. I mainly listen with Dunu 2000J earbuds. I've been happy with the combo for what it's worth.

 

In that price range I see Fiio, iBasso and Sony mentioned the most

 

...except for the Pono Promise...no other content provider offers that.

 

I have a Sansa Clip + and a Rockbox'd Ipod Mini. I also have an Android phone. That said, I mostly useless lossless files for listening at home via DAC. If I need portability I will typically use lossy files.

 

I'm using a Galaxy S3 phone as a music player.
Onkyo app plays flacs.

 

iPhone 5s loaded with 24bit flac player via onkyo app with oppo ha 2. The sounds is amazing to my ears.

 

My, my, hey hey, I thought rock'n'roll was here to stay?

 

Hey hey, my my, rock'n'roll will never die!

 

Another thing us Pono consumers are hoping for is that when the Pono Store comes back on line, there will be advanced filtering and search capabilities available.

 

My hope is prices remain competitive. 7Digital is usually more expensive for hires material.

 

Pono updated their FAQ and noted they will be relaunching initially with the same catalog as before. PonoMusic | Store »

 

Question is when. I also wonder about "new" releases since the shutdown.

 

New info on the Pono FAQ indicates the "Pono Promise" is now only good for one year.

"The PonoPromise, created by Neil Young, solves this problem:
Any album purchased from Ponomusic.com, regardless of its resolution, will be upgraded at no cost, if a higher resolution version becomes available within one year of purchase."

 

IIRC, that's the same as it has been since around January of this year. The PonoPromise upgrade is good for one year after purchase. The people who bought in through the Kickstarter launch may be grandfathered in to a longer PonoPromise period, but I'm not sure.

 

There's been extensive and exhaustive discussion on the Pono community message board on this topic. the PonoPromise was originally for Kickstarter backers only, then it was opened up to everyone, and the PonoPromise announcement never said anything about a 1 year time limit. That PonoPromise announcement specifically states: "when you buy your favorite music at PonoMusic.com, the PonoPromise means you will never have to purchase it again, ever!" Seems pretty clear to me.

 

That's what I remember. Purchased a number of CD res albums in the hopes of future upgrades.