PONO Feedback? Anyone have one yet?

Thanks for the suggestion, I've dropped them a line.

I'm so gutted now, I've been looking forward to getting myself one for ages. What's annoying is that plenty of UK based newspapers and magazines ran stories about Pono, but not one of them said you couldn't actually buy one here!

 

That is weird.

 

I have a balanced Moon Audio cable for my Sennheiser HD650s, and I always get the warning pop-up, if the time preceding I was using one of the single headphone or lineout connectors alone. So the warning is nothing special in that respect.

Now I haven't put an ohm meter to the NAD Viso HP50 phones, but since the intention is that the input cable can be plugged into either the left or the right earpiece as a user preference, I strongly suspect that the left and right connector sockets are simply wired in parallel with each other.

That being the case, in a technical sense you aren't really running your cans balanced. You are, however, getting the advantage of the Pono having separate amplification systems for the headphone out socket and for the lineout socket. As I understand the Pono, the result is that you are essentially doubling the power your cans can be getting with your connection method. Pono true balanced mode does that as well, but in true balanced mode there shouldn't be a common ground between the headphone earpieces.

If the NAD input sockets are wired in parallel (and they really have to be, given the input design), then your Pono is seeing an external common ground when you connect it to your HP50s the way you've been doing. I would think the NAD phones themselves would be absolutely fine with that. The Pono player is more of an open question in my mind. I'd believe there is robustness in its design, and maybe even internally the Pono grounds aren't truly isolated, but in the strictest sense it probably isn't expecting that the headphone and lineout stages have their grounds externally tied together. Long term effects of that? Maybe nothing. Quite possibly nothing. But perhaps only Charles Hansen really knows.

 

There was one for sale on EBay for about £275 recently. Gone now. Have you tried Gumtree? Often worth a look I find.

 

Thanks, I'll keep an eye out, although I'm not sure I'd trust Gumtree - it's a lot of money. Will look into it though.

 

Fry's here in the US sells the Pono online. And they can ship internationally. Fry's is a geek friendly consumer electronics store.
PonoPlayer link: http://www.frys.com/product/8361897
Unfortunately they only have the yellow version and not the black version.

 

I know, but go local if you can, or within easy travelling distance. You never know!

 

Thanks for that. Ironically, I'd always wanted the yellow one until the other day when I tried to order (via Pono's site), when I changed my preference to black. I kinda thought the yellow one might stand out as stealable against the black. If it's the only way to get one though, I'll go for it.

 

I did not know you could get a black one. Thanks for the info.

 

I think there is a silver one too.

 

The Pono web site has both the black version and yellow version available. I got a black on during the Kickstarter campaign. The yellow is just a little bit too much bling for me.

The silver ones were the special edition ones with artist signatures. They were available only during the Kickstarter campaign and were an extra $100. There was also a special clear plastic special edition version available during the Kickstarter campaign.

 

Bruce Botnick's words on the Pono player after Tyll's.
http://www.innerfidelity.com/content/pono-player-and-promises-fulfilled-manufacturers-comments

 

Make sure you factor in potential customs fees for 'importing' said item and also, the arrangement fee the Post Office will demand for the privilege of charging you the customs fee.

Also, I tried to purchase music from the Pono Store, as I already have a hi-res player I'm happy with and - certainly for the immediate future - it seems you can't download anything from the Pono store either.

Best Wishes,
David

 

I know but what am I to do, I really want one. There don't seem to be any plans to release it in other territories.

That doesn't bother me, my main reason for buying is to listen to my music in FLAC. I can buy HD downloads elsewhere though I believe.

 

And the really frustrating thing is that I can buy any number of Hi-Res players from China with incredible ease and yet something that - and I think it was you who said it - was given considerable publicity in the computing, music and mainstream press here in the UK, is unavailable and doesn't look like being available in the immediate future.

Is there any particular reason why you want a Pono rather than another brand of Hi-Res player?

Best Wishes,
David

 

I love the design of it, and the reviews from people who've actually listened to one. The micro SD card appeals to me too. And the price, seems very reasonable for what you get IMO. Are there other players you'd recommend in the same ball park?

 

Steve - I have to go walk the dog now. There are a couple of players I'd probably recommend. I'll post a more detailed response for you tomorrow.

Best Wishes,
David

 

Good vibes? Ultimately I don't care about Sony or how successful their new Walkman is. Success or no, it won't really matter to Sony and Sony doesn't really matter to me. I like Pono and want then to stick around so I paid a little more for their product. I feel like a got a great sounding player out of the deal and have not second guessed the purchase once.

 

Steve - rather than hijack the Pono thread, I've sent you a PM.

Best Wishes,
David

 

This from a guy who has a thing for giant flying pink pigs???... I'm shocked...

 

Just got a reply to my email to Fry's, a bit different from their sales pitch on their site....

 

Correction: there WAS a silver one, but just for Kickstarter supporters who bought an artist-signed version.

 

Ayre has taken the audio circuit it designed for the Pono, stuffed it with better parts on a higher quality circuit board, given it a plug-in power supply, and is selling it as the Codex:



The product seems interesting but at $1795, it's selling to a completely different market than the Pono. The cosmetics are kind of ugly too, if that matters to you.

I wonder if Ayre will come out with a companion music player that utilizes the Pono interface and ability to use SD cards? That would be interesting.

 

That's frustrating. Fry's is a computer and electronics store that says they can ship international but has a policy of not shipping computers or electronics international. Strange.

It certainly is turning out to be more difficult than I expected to buy a new PonoPlayer outside of the US. In a world of international shopping this makes no sense. I wonder if there is a US based escrow style service that could handle the ordering and getting the player sent out to you?

 

There's a couple on ebay at the moment, one UK and one in Europe that ships to the UK. Both sellers state "no returns accepted", so I'm just a little worried what my rights are if I buy and it gets damaged in transit or something. It's quite a bit of money to get ebay burned with.