Neil Young readies Pono music service for expansion Part 2

The nice thing about standards like FLAC is that they are... standard. So in order for Neil Young to claim his device is compatible with Free Lossless Audio Codec files means that, yes, Pono FLAC files will play on whatever else plays FLAC files, and you can convert your Pono FLACs to WAV, AAC, MP3, whatever you want. Otherwise, they wouldn't be FLAC files.

 

Goal reached.

 

And Neil goes over $800k in Kickstarter - the Campaigner's got mashed potato and T-Bone! Good for the Neilster!

 

Any chance they set the goal at $800,000 knowing it would get demolished and drive even more buzz for the player. Making it seem like there is an overwhelming demand for it???

 

I would put those odds at, oh, say 100%.

 

So Pono is an oddly-shaped portable 128GB FLAC player with a mini RCA output for $400.

Pardon me if already covered in the few Pono threads, but why do I need this device?

My phone supports 24/192 FLAC.

 

I hope you're right Leigh. I wonder who would enforce the FLAC standard (Xiph?)

 

There would be such royal hell to pay if anyone released "FLAC" files that were not FLAC files. Simply not gonna happen. The negative publicity would completely undermine this whole effort which is on very shaky legs to start with.

 

Move over Zune. There's a new kid in town.

 

If they alter the container (which is essentially an Ogg container built for FLAC) to make it hard to transcode or play back on non-Pono devices, then it really isn't FLAC anymore. (EDIT: I was late to the party on this, it was already discussed).

I'm guessing they'll be a FAQ for the music portal eventually and that's the first thing I'd check -- "I don't have a Pono device...can I play back my files on another FLAC-supported device?".

 

Frequently when a Kickstarter project goes well beyond their initial goal, they will introduce "stretch goals." Often these are something like everyone who backed the project will get a free t-shirt if we pass [insert new goal].
I would love to see a stretch goal that would include getting a free download, even if it's a preset sampler to show of the sound quality.

 

Best case scenario, it is a really nice sounding player for the price.

Part of me thinks that NY knows this is going to flop but it's his way of trying to fly the audiophile flag (which is great), but at the same time, he's showing that he's really out of touch with the science behind audio reproduction. Then again many here think that MP3's (even 320 kbps) are worse than shoving ground glass into your ear canals.

My biggest hope is we get awesome sounding remasters that are truly done right, forget all the other stuff.

 

A $400 portable FLAC player with 128 gigs of storage...I can't suspend disbelief to that degree.

Obviously, YMMV.

 

Got me a Neil Young signature model in chrome.
Comes with 2 of his favorite records. The choice should be interesting, no? The more I read about this the more excited I'm getting. This could really be a sea change. I hope we all can keep open minds and a civil discourse. I'm especially interested to see if they retained the feature that let you do an A/B comparison of Pono vs non-Pono of the same track. I really think that Neil has committed his considerable resources and passion to this project, and that there is a substantial enough market to make this a sustainable business model. Can't wait till release in October. Wake me up when September ends...

 

Probably not. Certain vehicles support the Apple playback control protocol (which is not the same as the way-more-cool CarPlay) which allows for steering wheel control of tracks, playlists, etc. It is very handy, and most importantly safe. Screwing around with your Pono in a moving car is a guaranteed way to have an accident.

 

You have a point there

 

Thanks for that. Well that sucks that Apple has the monopoly on the car market.

 

Well looks like he did it.

2,652
backers

$845,166
pledged of $800,000 goal

34
days to go

 

I thought this Kickstarter campaign would be DOA? Can't remember where I heard that . . . .

 

But by god your ears will thank you, right up until your car ends up under a semi.

 

If the start of this thing goes well...it may have a chance.

Right now Neil has all these big-name musicians backing him and if it blows up from the start, they will stay on board and feel like some sort of founding member.

But if it starts tanking...no one is that invested where they're going to tie their name to a sinking ship. They'll bail quicker than...

 

My own take is that it could sound really great, but the form factor is too clunky and it costs way too much, considering it'll be manufactured in Shenzhen. I'm sure there are R&D costs to recoup, but if they really want this to take off with the kidz, they should lower the price. I'm likely a buyer at $150.

 

Out of curiosity - are there any car audio players on the market that can play FLAC?