Have Any Pono Backers Received The Email Their Player Has Shipped?

I've heard both. The CD is only DR 5. I'm not sure what the vinyl is but it doesn't sound much better.

 

The iPod isn't good portable audio. No high res support. No FLAC support. Intentionally limited format support (no FLAC). Wimpy built-in headphone amp. Only middling audio quality unless you spend several hundred on an external headphone amp or even more on a proprietary external DAC that combines a headphone amp. Once you strap an external headphone amp and/or DAC to an iPod the combination becomes more inconvenient and impractical than the smaller triangular shape of the Pono.

I really don't consider a stock iPod or iDevice to be competition for the Pono Player.

 

As soon as Apple or Samsung)

And you did a blind test with a volume matched alternative source using the same CD rip?

 

http://hifiman.com/Products/?pid=186

There you go.

 

Some further reading for those into the science of such things

http://www.head-fi.org/t/717836/the-scientific-merit-of-pono

 

I don't think I could find 90,000 songs that I would want to hear. Stamp collecting.........

 

Many recent albums need gapless playback as well, dj sets,...

Pono had announced in the past they would support gapless playback! It was stated on their forum, announcements,...

 

Then perhaps try contributing to another thread. The title of this thread is "
Has Any Pono Backers Received The Email Their Player Has Shipped?" Doesn't seem to apply to you.

 

LOL. You are joking with that comment aren't ya? Hard to tell sometimes on this forum!

 

Not to me. I listen daily to my iPod at work with a pretty good set of Seinheiser cans. Can't wait for what should be a major upgrade in sound. Not to mention that I will have my entire 24/96 & 24/192 (etc.) library available on removable SAN cards, unlike the iPod, in which I have to take it home an resync in order to change the (lower quality) music files.

Great model for me, and for others.

 

Is it OK to call Neil Young a Pono Star ????

 

No gapless playback? Seriously? Maybe that's the way Neil wants people to listen to "The Needle and the Damage Done > Words"

 

This. People are into convenience and having a phone and a dedicated music player is inconvenient. I just got an iPhone 6 Plus 128 so I can finally do it all without dragging my iPod around. Much easier for me. The iPhone is largely as good as what you put into it and I'm totally fine listening to ALAC files in my car. I can be all "audiophile" about things when I'm at home. Many feel this way and that's why Pono will only survive as a niche thing.

Ed

 

Good point Ed, Sony's new line of phones even have DSD capabilities

 

Unfortunately no, not yet.......although I'm very much looking forward to receiving my Pono, despite many of the comments within this de-railed thread. I'm an early (ish) backer in the UK who has pledged for a standard black Pono.

 

Good to know, but I think you missed my point.

Many posters on this forum and others say that PONO will fail because the mass consumer doesnt care about better quality music and wont give up portability to get it.

I think that is wrong.

If you give the consumer a portable system, and higher quality music at about the same price point, why wouldn't they adopt it?

By the way, one doesn't have to be an audiophile to enjoy higher sound quality music.

Following on that, a great song, wonderfully mastered and presented in a high res format, doesn't make it an "audiophile" recording. It's only that to an "audiophile" when he/she defines it as such.

I love music, and I love high sound quality recordings and seek out same, but I dont call myself an audiophile.

 

I'm also an early pledger of a standard black Pono, and also eagerly anticipating shipment. Hopefully soon, but wouldn't be surprised if it takes a few more weeks. Delays happen, especially with new companies and new products.

I am very encouraged by early reports of the sound quality. There seems to be some issues with the PC software, but I doubt I'll even use it, other than for firmware upgrades. From what I've read, it seems much simpler to drag and drop songs onto the SAN card directly from any computer, provided the player in transfer mode. Much easier, works on Macs and PCs, and does not require any software to be installed.

Speaking of firmware upgrades, if gapless playback is not working correctly, perhaps a firmware upgrade can take care of this (I heard there has been one already.)

 

Because the music on their iPhone or Android is already more than high quality enough for their on-the-go needs, and, as noted above, ordinary people don't want to carry around multiple devices besides their phone when their phone can do everything?

 

I'm sure Joe and Jane Average will find manually dragging files to their SAN card, provided their player is in transfer mode, easier and more intuitive than the iTunes auto-sync that takes place when they plug their phone into their computer.

 

Dragging and dropping files is too difficult?? Really? Anything else to criticize? You got to have something better than that.

 

You can't separate your own tech-head superiority from the way ordinary people interact with consumer electronics, which makes you a lot like Neil, and the perfect target audience for this white elephant. I continue to maintain that ordinary people are not going to fiddle with dragging files to their SAN card, when iTunes and other consumer-oriented products make managing their portable music far simpler. We can debate this forever, but the numbers will tell the story, and, outside of the dork squad who have already pre-ordered this thing, no one will buy it.

 

Now if Taylor Swift would come forward with how much she likes you and your Pono, maybe that could change your mind ? "Teardrops on my Pono"

 

People want ease. Plug it in and ignore it. I can plug my iPhone in to sync and go do something else for a few minutes. I come back, it's done. It doesn't get easier than that. Why fuss with drag and drop when I don't have to?

Ed

 

Time will tell buddy........

what I don't understand is why anyone who seeks out higher quality music ,(I assume you do?) , would not hope and support a movement to create demand and make it more widely available??????

 

Seriously? That must be some powerful Kool-Aid Neil has brewed. This is like if Neil announced a new mass-market electric car, and the brakes didn't work, and everyone was like, "Well, next year's model will fix that."