PONO Feedback? Anyone have one yet?

Yep--iPod/iPhone DACs measure very well.

 

Not all 16/44 albums are priced at $14.99. I've noticed that some 70s jazz albums are priced at 7.99, 7.49, & 5.99. I suspect, or guess, that the Pono folks were being conservative in giving out the $14.99 low-end figure earlier in the year. I haven't noticed this sort of thing as widespread on the Rock side of the house, but I believe the long-out-print CSN Replay is $13.49. That's a bit under $14.99. So, $14.99 doesn't seem to be a hard-'n'-fast rule.

 

Author himself writes that "according to what I've been able to glean from available sources, only 1 to 2% of available music will be hi-rez."
Well if that's true, his conclusion is justified.

But somebody ought to ask the Pono folks if indeed, the 1 to 2% figure is accurate.
Minus that, it seems more, from what I know at this point this is irrelevant, and then takes a couple shots based on that.

 

Isn't that true of any playback system?

 

as far as i know, yes.

so........if have a sh**ty system to listen to something on, why would spend the money on high resolution?

who do the manufacturers of pono think are going to buy this thing?

 

Yet don't sound all that good.
My $99 Schiit Modi DAC sounds much better than my iPod Classic operating as a DAC. Much better. Bigger, wider, deeper soundstage for one. More dynamic sound for two.

 

No argument from me there. The amp in the iPhone is pretty weak, and presumably operating in an electrically noisy environment, with everything else the device is designed to do.

 

What file types will Pono accept, and what software do I use since I'm sure it won't work with iTunes.

 

I'm with you, but at some point it turns into why use a Neuman microphone if they're listening on a transistor radio? Somehow it still helps to jack up the sound quality whenever possible. Isn't the hoped-for result more than hi-rez - that Pono will be a broad catalog, better implemented than iTunes? BTW, to me 16/44 is full rez, if not so-called hi-rez. Isn't iTunes still mostly mp3 based? Please correct me if I'm wrong. I am new to downloads.

 

I agree, it's silly to measure a Pono against an Ipod or IPhone, etc. The measurement should be against other audiophile DAC's or mobile players in the $400 price range. In this respect, we already know the Pono is sub par in features to a point that makes it a non consideration for the versatile audiophile. There are far more versatile players/dacs in this price range today, available, let alone months from now when the Pono will become available to the public. The Pono player is already outdated and a non factor.
But the music store could become a big player by providing newly remastered lossless music or older out of print Cd quality albums.

 

The Pono Player is not subpar in features. It is exactly the features I want and no more. Which makes it perfect for me.
Nobody cares about DSD in the real world. Lack of DSD support doesn't matter. Doesn't matter at all. Nobody is buying DSD files. Nobody is selling DSD files. Nobody cares. I'm as nutso about audio geekery as anyone here. And I don't care if a portable supports DSD or not.

 

Yeah, I guess nobody cares, right. The audiophile market has been bringing out versatile DACS with DSD capabilities the past year for no reason. Stupid them. Let alone the ability to at least accept a digital stream or output one, which the Pono doesn't.
Like I said, the Pono is already a non factor just on feature versatility.

 

It all starts with the source

 

Depending upon your receiver, of course, there are cables that run from your dock connector port out to USB in on the receiver, bypassing the iPod's DAC. Or the dock connector to the aux jack (rather than the headphone jack to the aux jack) also provides somewhat better sound.

 

agreed.

but even if my source is the highest res available played through the best possible amplifier and pre-amp i can get, if my speakers are garbage........

 

Absolutely true!

 

I believe a licencing agreement between Apple and the "receiver" manufacturer has to be in place for the datastream suitable for a DAC to decode to be sent.

 

Pono is all about the store. It sounds like we still have relatively scant info on the store. But if you scroll up you will see a few examples and prices were posted.

For those new to digital the cheapest way to get a lossless file of an existing CD is to buy a used one from any number is sources and do a bit perfect rip. Its about the convenience for some.

I don't know if pono hardware or library will succeed. But if he puts 2M lossless titles online which were the numbers neil was talking then even if they are just CD rips I think that is an advance. It will cause others to compete.

 

Got mine today, wasn't expecting it. Elton John sig edition, came loaded with Goodbye Yellow Brick Road in 24/96 and The Diving Board in 24/44.1. And Neil's "There's a World" from Harvest in 24/192.

I'm listening on a pair of Sony MDR-7506s. It sounds really freaking good. Those phones can be harsh with bad sources. I'm impressed.

I'm loading it up with 24/96 needledrops and other stuff I had laying around in high res (Paul Simon's So Beautiful or So What had a hi-rez download option when it came out). Now I wish I could get the audio off of all my DVD-As.

 

Mark my words, This will be a gee wiz, isn't that neeto thing that a few boomers and upscale hipsters will use for a year or so then it will fade into backround noise. It's big and clunky for a portable device. If it gets more listeners turned on to high-res audio that's great. I'd love to be wrong, but there is not a large enough of a market to sustain this format infrastructure. Pick any "what happened to that format?" of the past: It will be the same for this. When the glimmer of Neil Young's mug wears off then what do you really have?

I know, I know! I'm raining on the parade. Sorry, I call 'em like I see 'em.

 

It might fizzle, sure, but there's no unique or proprietary format here. Or what do you mean by format infrastructure or "what happened to that format" of the past?

 

Whatever. Look, everybody's heard your spiel 100x before, including with the pejoratives ("boomers and upscale hipsters" -- thanks, you're 0 for 2 with me). So tell me again why you wasted your precious time typing it.

I bought the thing as a HiRez FLAC player. It does that and it sounds good. Worth the $? Probably not that much, but we'll see. It looks cool, it sounds really cool. If the store gets good content, then great. If it doesn't, oh well. I also bought it because I kind of admire some of the passion for music (including from Neil Young) that's driving this effort. It may be a complete flop commercially. But I'm heartened to finally see people giving a #@$% about how music sounds when it's played back. That to me is a worthy thing to be passionate about.

But please feel free to pee in some more cornflakes if that floats your boat.

 

DVD Audio Extractor might turn the trick for you. I've used it, it works.

 

I'd love to hear GYBR, or frankly any of the early Elton catalog. I recall "Sixty Years On" was one of the demo tracks during a listening party.

 

I hope you are right and I am wrong. Hopefully the growing pains won't kill the baby. There are some pissed backers.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1003614822/ponomusic-where-your-soul-rediscovers-music/comments