RIP Pono and Pono Music Store

The pricing on the Pono hardware and store were more than reasonable, in my book.

The Pono store had a wide, eclectic selection of 16/44 downloads (a format you still can't buy from Apple), offered more a la carte track buying opportunities than any other lossless service then or now, and all these months later, I miss the store.

Pono's main "problem" wasn't Neil. It was that the majors didn't own a piece. So they took their balls and went home by making it impossible to run the kind of store he wanted to run - the kind of store which still needs to be run. But g/a, make fun of Dumb Neil Young.

 

Yes it is! I chose him because I liked the background where the picture originally came from and knew that there was a matching forum background on here, so that's who I went with!

 

And, predictably, there are now a few players up for sale on eBay.

 

The thing about the Pono Store for me was the Pono Promise. Nobody else offered anything else like that. I used to buy used CDs by the dozens, but slowly changed that strategy to buying select 16/44.1 content from the Pono Store, knowing that if even a 24/44.1 release came about, I would get that without paying anything additional. I didn't mind paying what I was paying in the Pono Store for any level of resolution, because what I was paying was comparable to every other on line store out there. In fact, the Pono Store's prices were, for the most part, always lower than HD Tracks. I'm going to miss the Pono Store...I've been a faithful supporter for years, even though I wasn't a kickstarter participant. The Pono Player itself has some flaws and could use a lot of improvement, but for the $400 I paid for it, it is a kick-ass portable player, and I love the quality of the music I hear. Say what you will about Neil Young and his business acumen (or lack thereof), but he made me love music again.

As for Apple and the iTunes store, I hate it. The store doesn't even tell you what the sample rate is on content. Is it 320? Is it 256? I dunno...let me buy it and then I'll find out. Can't even get CD quality music there. Horrible.

 

Hi,

I have a PONO player and like it a lot.

During the time PONO went on hiatus, my computer hard drive went down (fortunately I had backed up my music files), but lost the PONO program.

IIRC, the program could automatically sync what music I had on my computer and add it to my PONO. I added quite a bit of music files to my collection on the computer and I would like to add all that stuff to my PONO.

Does anyone know if the PONO program sync'd as I recalled?
Does anyone know if the PONO program is still available
What might be an alternative way moving new content to the PONO that would easy? ( I am aware I could just compare the files on both devices, and simply copy over the new ones, but that would time and brainpower, things I have little of)

Thanks

 

Pono has the Pono Vault, but it is in beta, and its looking like that isn't going anywhere. Personally, I'm using JRiver Media Center to manage my content; the now defunct Pono Music World was a JRiver product, so there isn't much of a learning curve going from that to the full JRiver suite.

As for moving content to the player, you can sync content using JRiver, or pretty much any other similar product out there. Personally, I use my laptop's card reader and copy to a 256gb microSD card. I don't even both with the player's internal storage anymore because the transfer speed is stupid slow.

 

I totally agree. Let's face it... when it comes to hi-res in general, there's a lot of "that's just a waste of money because on paper it shouldn't sound any better than redbook and probably a lot less good than vinyl" POVs that get dispensed, primarily from folks who (gasp) prefer vinyl or CDs and need to believe that what they own and find most pleasing is some sort of universal ne plus ulta. I mostly ignore folks like that.

I see that yet another person posted after you about Pono being a "silly idea." Well, the store wasn't for me. I wish the store were still around. I still want to own the very best versions of the music I love. The recent Welch-era hi-res releases prove that at least in some cases, that best version can be hi-res digital.

Life's too short to put up with naysayers and thread crappers. I do however take note of such folks, and mentally place an asterisk next to anything they might say in the future.

BTW, I feel the same way about Apple. I should upgrade my iMac. I just can't bring myself to get excited about the OS X user experience these days.

 

I also saw the same picture on a voice acting site as well and it sparked the idea for me to use the background and the picture as an avatar.

 

since the inception of compact discs, which caught on like wildfire and blew vinyl out of the water to the point of its demise, how many formats have come and gone trying to do the same thing?

they, those with the money and the wherewithal to do so, really believe that hey can pull off another format to make all the baby boomers re-buy their collections for a third time....and, other than someone who has more money than brains, not to many of us 50, 60 and 70 year-old's are going to do it again. it just isn't going to happen.

and kids.....forget it...they could give a s**t about sound quality. give em a pair of ear buds and an i-phone and they are happy.

and every week, week after week, all the new releases come out on CD, except for the ones that they know that the old guys are not going to buy.

 

I never bought a Pono player, but I bought albums through the Pono store. Along with 7Digital, I found that it had the best prices and the widest array of releases. I'll miss it.

 

thank God for records!

 

Neil is too old to be Young.

 

Thank you for responding. I tried the beta program yesterday it's was waste of time to try to get it to work.

Your suggestion about using the microSD card is a good one. Problem is I can't find the little adaptor to use it in the full size SD slot on my computer! Looks like I will have to buy another one.

 

Many micro SD cards come with a standard SD card reader. Yours may have come with one and you lost it. The little buggers disappear.

 

There have been players on eBay ever since they were originally released once the kickstarter backers received theirs.

 

The claim is that the playback resolution of up to 24/192 can be preserved. I think Tidal (with MQA) tops off at at 24/96.

 

24/48 MQA-encoded, you mean?

 

Just going by what seems to be said on this page. I assume the highest resolution playback requires an-MQA compliant DAC in the listening chain as well.

 

Everyone just assumed you were happy to see them!

 

I see Amazon is still selling the players (but shipping in two to five weeks). Specifically using Senn HD 650, how well does this player drive them, and what is the recommended cable to play them in balanced mode? Nothing that I have now drives the HD650 properly so I was wondering.

 

24/48 MQA-encoded stream => 24/96 MQA software-only decoded or higher, in case of MQA hardware-decoded playback

 

First off...just wanna say I LOVE my Pono Player in balanced mode!!!

I run both a set of Audeze EL-8's and my trusty old Sennheiser HD565's in balanced mode with my Pono Player. I purchased both sets of balanced cables from Surf Cables, and I must say the quality of their custom Senn-spec cable is excellent:

Cables for PONOPLAYER; Balanced Cables for Pono Player Balanced Mode

If you haven't read the Stereophile follow-up review specifically regarding balanced mode, check it out here:

Pono PonoPlayer portable music player Balanced Mode

Finally, Ayre's Charles Hanson himself touts his own personal preference for his Senn HD600's (same 300-ohm impedance as HD650's) in balanced mode with the Pono Player here:

The Pono Player and Promises Fulfilled Manufacturer's Comments

 

This is one of the main reasons I dislike MicroSD cards, they are too small for my hands to handle well. As an example, the MicroSD card slot on my Nook Color ebook reader is very difficult to get the card in and out (I usually end up just unlocking the card and then shaking device to release the card) I'd much rather have a device with a standard SD card in an easy to access location.

 

I can see that this thread will turn into yet another anti-Neil Young thread.
Too bad that always happens with any Neil involved thread.
A lot of you REALLY enjoy bashing this.