Pearl Jam limited edition chrome Pono Player

scurtis

Dollar said:

If you didn't get one on Wednesday,keep trying. Just got one as someone decided they didn't want it & I jumped on it! So happy! \:D/

I've been doing the same thing, one time it showed 1 available, by the time I clicked through it was gone so obviously we aren't the only ones.

wasa1971

I have watched the video a few times, and done some reading the last 24 hours, everyone is super excited about it. I'm buying one. October seems a long time away.

lejarmap138

lolobugg said:

I bought one of the PJ PonoPlayers. I think some of the discussion here is hilarious. i consider myself an audiophile. i have been waiting anxiously for the PONO since Neil really started explaining it in his book a couple years ago. I have been waiting for a versatile player that was portable but would also play all the FLAC files that i have acquired over the years that previously have been down sampled to WAV in order to play. This also has the potential to cut into (slightly) my vinyl purchasing. example-Neil and Crazy Horse's last album went for $80 on vinyl. That is a ridiculous amount of money for a record even by master recording standards. I assume the PONO version would be decidedly less $ for the same quality.

You should get the blu-ray of Psychedelic Pill. It's the same quality as Pono albums will be, and includes an extra 30+ minute jam, which is great.

courtmcc

morello said:

^^^ Sorry courtmcc, I don't know you, not trying to diss you, but I'd say you & others will afford it if you/they want to the same way so many afford extremely expensive(IMHO) iphones.

You're wrong. I'm not gonna spend money that much money on one thing. I wish I could but I won't. I'll rather buy concert tickets and I got my iPhone for free, but thanks for trying.

William Wallace

The Pearl Jam pono player will come with signatures from each band member on it.
Good news!

KV4053

William Wallace said:

The Pearl Jam pono player will come with signatures from each band member on it.
Good news!

Curious...Whats the source of this?

William Wallace

KV4053 said:

William Wallace said:

The Pearl Jam pono player will come with signatures from each band member on it.
Good news!

Curious...Whats the source of this?

Pono Music customer service - so it's official.

demetrios

Project Update #4: A Message from Neil Young
Posted by the PonoMusic Team Black heart (cards) Like

Thanks everyone for all of your support. It has been and continues to be gratifying to me to see how many of you are supporting Pono and our revolution in the way people can listen. Now we will have a choice that is as convenient as it is great sounding. We are celebrating our Freedom of Choice.

I especially want to thank Elliot Roberts for his tireless efforts to bring you the great signature artists we are offering with their special limited edition players. More signature artists seem to sign up every day! These artists love you to actually hear their creations exactly the way they were made. They, like myself, have been waiting a long time for Pono.

My talent at signing posters is getting a great workout. I’m happy to report that most of my signatures are legible. Ha Ha. I don’t think there will be any more posters offered though!

I just wanted to say thanks on behalf of everyone involved in PonoMusic.

We could not have done this without you.

Neil Young

demetrios

3 Pearl Jam Pono Player's back in stock!! https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1003614822/ponomusic-where-your-soul-rediscovers-music

CJ260717

So I still have my CDs, so what is the highest quality that I can rip them in flac? I assume that I can't hit the 192/24??

Also, I have been working on a collection of flac and have some that are 44/16. Does that mean they are really not that much better then an MP3?

I hate that all the music folks are gushing about the sound quality like it the first time they have ever heard anything like it. And besides they are the industry that brought us the cheap MP3 and they all made their $$.

Anyone else want to know what song Neil played for them??

Zod

cd's are 44.1/16. So that's the best quality from a cd. It's pretty good.

The flac vs. mp3 has a lot of variables. Mostly in the quality of the mp3 as you can encoded mp3's with a variety of different quality settings. I prefer flac, they sound better to my ears (playing them on my cowon s9 mp3/flac player).

My car stereo uses stock speakers so only being able to play mp3 on the car stereo isn't a deal breaker. Plugging in my cowon s9 via aux cable doesn't sound any better. The quality of the stereo, portable, speakers, and headphones are just as important as the device playing them.

No sense having a pono player if you're going to plug it into a set of $10 walmart headphones

btw what are people using for IEM's? I've been using a cheap set of brainwavz m1's which i quite like, but they never sounded as good as my Cyclone PR1 Pro's a few years ago (which had amazing sound quality but horrible build quality). I've never broken down to buy a set of IEM's that costs hundres of dollars because I'm afraid of buying a set and not liking them.

KV4053

Zod said:

cd's are 44.1/16. So that's the best quality from a cd. It's pretty good.

The flac vs. mp3 has a lot of variables. Mostly in the quality of the mp3 as you can encoded mp3's with a variety of different quality settings. I prefer flac, they sound better to my ears (playing them on my cowon s9 mp3/flac player).

My car stereo uses stock speakers so only being able to play mp3 on the car stereo isn't a deal breaker. Plugging in my cowon s9 via aux cable doesn't sound any better. The quality of the stereo, portable, speakers, and headphones are just as important as the device playing them.

No sense having a pono player if you're going to plug it into a set of $10 walmart headphones

btw what are people using for IEM's? I've been using a cheap set of brainwavz m1's which i quite like, but they never sounded as good as my Cyclone PR1 Pro's a few years ago (which had amazing sound quality but horrible build quality). I've never broken down to buy a set of IEM's that costs hundres of dollars because I'm afraid of buying a set and not liking them.

Shure Se535. Used to have UE TripleFi 10

shecky

I finally figured out how to open a second Kickstarter account and bought a second signed Neil poster.
I received the email this morning where Neil says he's getting real good at poster signing but probably won't ever do it again after this!
I still can't afford $400. for a PONO (I'll wait until the price comes down in the future) but can't pass up HAND SIGNED Neil posters for a hundred bucks.
GOOD LUCK TO NEIL & PONO!

demetrios

shecky said:

I finally figured out how to open a second Kickstarter account and bought a second signed Neil poster.

Sweet! Opening a 2nd KickStarter is easy.

From Kickstarter ..

It's only possible to pledge to a given project once on Kickstarter. That means no matter how many attempts are made, or how many authorizations are generated as a result of changing your pledge, you will only ever be charged once for your pledge. If a family member would also like to pledge to Kickstarter project, they'll have to create an account. You can certainly use your payment details to make the pledge, but it will have to come from a separate account.

davidos

I bought one of the PJ limited players and have been trying to learn for about FLAC (ALAC) and .mp3 quality, etc.... Still not totally sold on the quality difference between .mp3 and FLAC... I bought a good pair of headphones (Audio-Techinca ATH-M50s) over the weekend and fired up the Seattle boot that I purchased in ALAC and compared it to a few other boots from 2013 that I bought in .mp3 and could not really tell the difference in quality... The headphones made a HUGE difference in quality over the stock Apple ear buds... but the difference between ALAC and .mp3 in the 2013 boots I could not tell... whoever is creating the .mp3s of the 2013 boots is doing a really good job... IMO

As far as all those musicians gushing over the PONO player in the video... take it with a grain of salt.... I would say 99% of those musicians have some degree of hearing loss due to their jobs and probably can't tell the difference either...

Either way I understand and applaud the PONO folks for trying to preserve digital music at its highest level but if you have a cd of something or a good quality .mp3 do yourself a favor and by some decent headphones and that will make a bigger difference than anything...

alphawolf

i just scored a Pearl Jam Pono Player!!!
i had a Neil Young edition in my cart yesterday, and tossed it back into their inventory...hoping a pj one would show up.
refreshed a bunch yesterday and was thinking id made a mistake by not picking it up.
a little mad at myself for not grabbing it sooner... i went to bed and thought on it.
i figured it was hopeless...
i started refreshing this AM and saw Tom Petty edition pop up a few times.
almost sprung on it too...
i just kept at it...being persistant...hoping it (NY or PJ) would show up...and it finally did!
confirmation email and everything! woo hoo!
now i can go shovel more snow...
have a great day everyone!
i know i will
:bz

Zod

davidos said:

I bought one of the PJ limited players and have been trying to learn for about FLAC (ALAC) and .mp3 quality, etc.... Still not totally sold on the quality difference between .mp3 and FLAC... I bought a good pair of headphones (Audio-Techinca ATH-M50s) over the weekend and fired up the Seattle boot that I purchased in ALAC and compared it to a few other boots from 2013 that I bought in .mp3 and could not really tell the difference in quality...

There's a few things that could impact audio quality. Judging by the fact you are using the ALAC format I assume your listening to your music on an Ipod or Iphone? The DAC (Digital to Audio Converter) in apple devices aren't the greatest. It could be your limiting factor. This is the mechanism that takes the digital information in the file and turns it into actual sound you can here in your hears. When using digital formats these are what can be limiting factors:

1) Source (low quality mp3 vs. high quality mp3 vs. flac vs flac hd etc...)
2) DAC - The quality of the Digital to Analog Converter on the device being used
3) The headphones and/or speakers
4) If using speakers, the quality of the receiver/amp being used.

I think the whole reason of Pono is because companies like apple, samsung etc.. put mediocre DAC's into their devices. That being said I think the PJ live mp3's are a pretty high bitrate (so fairly high quality mp3) so unless you're using some quality equipment (aka not an apple device) you're probably not going to hear the difference.

edit: I've always got the feeling that DAC's were an afterthought on devices like Smartphones. IE to keep the cost of the smartphone down they use an inexpensive dac in the phone, as the music player isn't its primary function. I'll slag on Apple all day long, but it's not only Apple that does this. My Samsung Galaxy S2 has a pretty mediocre DAC in too. This is why I use a separate player for my music. Cowon has a good reputation for making high end players with quality DAC's. I have to admit I am fairly interested to see what a PONO can do once they get released.

jomary

Maybe I am a bit jaded, but is no one worried about what happens if this project never completes? I understand Neil is putting his name on the line, but there are a lot of hurdles to cross before I would drop $400 on a promised player.

At this point Pono player is vaporware and has lots of artist support but what happens if the high quality components fail. I have seen no promise of warranty so there is a decent chance if these things develop issues a lot of the shiny limited editions will be high $$$ bricks.

Also the other phase being an online music store makes me worry that we are going to see $3.00 High quality songs.

I do admit I had a hard time not spending the money on the PJ one, but there were just too many unknowns and while one of the arguments is not having a phone call interrupt your music, the fact I have to sync with my computer again made me realize how much I enjoy keep my music online and just streaming whatever, whenever I want to listen to it and not having to manage my song library all over again to fit on the device.

While it maybe high quality audio there are just too many things I enjoy being networked that Pono doesn't have yet.

lolobugg

lejarmap138 said:

lolobugg said:

I bought one of the PJ PonoPlayers. I think some of the discussion here is hilarious. i consider myself an audiophile. i have been waiting anxiously for the PONO since Neil really started explaining it in his book a couple years ago. I have been waiting for a versatile player that was portable but would also play all the FLAC files that i have acquired over the years that previously have been down sampled to WAV in order to play. This also has the potential to cut into (slightly) my vinyl purchasing. example-Neil and Crazy Horse's last album went for $80 on vinyl. That is a ridiculous amount of money for a record even by master recording standards. I assume the PONO version would be decidedly less $ for the same quality.

You should get the blu-ray of Psychedelic Pill. It's the same quality as Pono albums will be, and includes an extra 30+ minute jam, which is great.

Yeah,
I have been meaning to. I got the "Le Noise" blu-ray for about $15. and the sound quality was amazing. The vinyl was going for around $50.
I just had some issues converting it from Blu-ray format. That's why i am so excited about PONO music store.

october22

Just a note on the shape. A lot of people are criticizing it but I think it's pretty cool. Especially if what they say about needing space for the components is true. In that case, I think it's a perfect compromise. Sure, a triangle isn't the most comfortable in the pocket but neither was my Walkman and I made that shit work just fine. Plus, I think this shape works great on a desk. The way I figure it, with the type of headphones you'll be using for this, it's not the player you're going to bring to the gym anyway so who cares how it looks in your shorts? (Unless that's your thing.)