Pono Player teardown - what's inside

Hey guys,
I've been following the forum for a while including the pono threads. I got my pono in the mail yesterday and had a chance to tear it apart and thought you'd be interested in seeing some pictures of the insides.

http://mikebeauchamp.com/2014/12/pono-player-teardown/

I'm hoping to add a video soon as well. I don't have any high-resolution music yet to try with it, just the CD-quality FLAC files that I've been listening to for years on my hacked iPod. It did come pre-loaded with "There's a World" by Neil Young, and I gotta say it sounded pretty great through Grado SR-60's. It seemed more dynamic than I remember, but that's more of a comment on the mastering and maybe the pono itself - not necessarily the higher definition audio file.

 

Nice review Mike, interesting to read. Noted your comments around the build shape and possible reasons why and likewise the resulting sound in the last paragraph. Will be following that up as your testing proceeds. Thanks!

 

Nice read. Thanks.

 

Very interesting: I think you're right about the capacitors determining the shape of the unit (which is based on the iRiver T-30 from about 10 years ago).

 

Nice review, informative with good pictures. Thanks.

 

Well, you could of course flip them if that would have been a requirement for the design?

" But it seems if the battery and 1000uF capacitors are what dicated the triangle shape, they could have used a flat battery pack and laid the caps sideways or used multiple smaller caps to acheive the same 1000uF. But it fits in my pocket fine, and spends most of it’s time on a flat surface anyways."

 

This was the original prototype. THIS design needed the shape. I don't think the new board does. Half the caps and of a smaller size.

 

I'm going to the UPS office to pick mine up in a few minutes. At first I was disappointed about the lack of hires recordings at Pono World at this time, but it will grow and in the mean time there are many places to purchase hires titles including some things at the International archive site which are live and FREE. I'm planning on taking my time filling this device up and avoid a lot of duplication.

 

Thanks for that prototype picture Chadbang, it's been a while since I've seen that. You're right, the capacitors in that version are way bigger. I did say they could have done a flat version, but that's arm-chair internet speculation at it's best. It would have required retooling the plastic molds and probably a lot of other expensive things the Pono team weren't prepared to do after their prototype in time to meet the deadline and budget. I'm getting used to the shape actually, the GUI works best on "landscape" and the 45 degree angle is nice on a desk.

 

Yeah, I have no problem with the shape. I sort of like it. It's a nice shape for a desktop.

 

I hate to see what you do when you buy a new car!

 

Thank you, this was very interesting. As someone that opens every piece of electronics once they get them, I can relate

 

Thanks for posting this video. Though I'm not interested in getting this player, I found your video very informative and interesting to watch. I feel much more informed about the PonoPlayer from a technical and mechanical point now.

Great job!!!

 

Geeze, now that the video is up, that is really some cheap plastic case. I'm disappointed. Is there an aluminum version?

 

I hope that you continue to post here at the Steve Hoffman Forum, your work is fantastic.