How does your Pono sound?

lolobugg

so a couple of more things:
On Friday night, I finally downloaded and connected to the PONO Music World. At first it would not transfer any music from the desktop app to the PONO player. I called PONO support and they were very helpful. The kid was a little rattled but that is to be expected with all the calls they are receiving. We got everything to work and the interface is extremely user-friendly once you use it a few times.

Only issue I have: PONO has a blue light that is supposed to light up when you are listening to HD quality music. I transferred the HD FLAC versions of PJ "Leeds" and "Cincinnati" as well as SP "Mellon Collie". None of them triggered the blue light. not a big deal but I am curious about this. Anyone else have an issue with this or know of a fix?

tribejammer05

I wonder if the blue light only comes on when listening to songs purchased from Pono?

lolobugg

tribejammer05 said:

I wonder if the blue light only comes on when listening to songs purchased from Pono?

That was my thought as well. maybe something they tag the file with???

MedozK

I have read in other places that some people are having trouble with gapless playback. Has anyone here had that issue, because I am sure a lot of us will be playing HD-FLAC shows and a gap between songs would ruin the playback, imo.

evsgjamm

PJ_Soul said:

Truly sorry to sound like a nag, but you shouldn't do that. It's dangerous no matter how careful you think you're being. If it were just dangerous to you I wouldn't say anything, as that would totally be your own business.

Listen to your mother! She's part of your jamily and she cares. and so do i. smarten up son! You don't want to get grounded do you? GO TO YOUR ROOM! ...*mumbles* god damn kids and their music....*groans and mumbles*

lolobugg

MedozK said:

I have read in other places that some people are having trouble with gapless playback. Has anyone here had that issue, because I am sure a lot of us will be playing HD-FLAC shows and a gap between songs would ruin the playback, imo.

very true.
some songs have a slight pause between them. thanks for reminding me. that was another grievance as I will be playing a lot of live shows on this. I didn't see an option in the menu to change it.

MedozK

lolobugg said:

MedozK said:

I have read in other places that some people are having trouble with gapless playback. Has anyone here had that issue, because I am sure a lot of us will be playing HD-FLAC shows and a gap between songs would ruin the playback, imo.

very true.
some songs have a slight pause between them. thanks for reminding me. that was another grievance as I will be playing a lot of live shows on this. I didn't see an option in the menu to change it.

Surely they will take care of this with a firmware update. I couldn't imagine listening to Dark Side of the Moon with gaps between tracks.

lolobugg

MedozK said:

lolobugg said:

MedozK said:

I have read in other places that some people are having trouble with gapless playback. Has anyone here had that issue, because I am sure a lot of us will be playing HD-FLAC shows and a gap between songs would ruin the playback, imo.

very true.
some songs have a slight pause between them. thanks for reminding me. that was another grievance as I will be playing a lot of live shows on this. I didn't see an option in the menu to change it.

Surely they will take care of this with a firmware update. I couldn't imagine listening to Dark Side of the Moon with gaps between tracks.

I hope so. it is very annoying

SP96445

The Pono sounds great if you use Hi-Rez files. If you import a CD into it it still sounds pretty much like the CD sounds. Bought 3 hi-rez songs from Quadrophenia from Pono music (@$2.79 ea.) and they sound outstanding compared to same song played back from cd ripping.

There is a small pop between each track that must be fixed soon.

The Pono World 20 app is VERY BUGGY. Must be fixed soon or I'm afraid the whole experience for the user will be compromised.

Sound great through a stereo system if you have good patch cords. The idea that the output is through a 3.5mm mini jack seems short sided. Would have thought a 1/4" jack would have been a wiser choice.

No regrets buying it as it sounds outstanding in my car.

Patrick_Sea3

JohnnieBeBlue said:

Want to know how mine sounds? Ask Neil because he's still holding onto it apparently!

mine too

manitouman

Haven't seen this asked before but I think I know the answer....do you have to charge this thing up before you can use it? USB?

manitouman

manitouman said:

Haven't seen this asked before but I think I know the answer....do you have to charge this thing up before you can use it? USB?

So I got my answer....YES. And I know some people will be pissed to know today I received my PJ Pono that was bought from the secondary market. So.....it had to go to the original purchaser.....redelivered to me..and finally received by me.

So I have a question....Since 2-albums from a specific artist are pre-loaded from Pono. Can you exchange these 2 albums with another Pono owner of a different LE artist for those 2 (Pono included) albums?

For example, I have the PJ Pono. Can I trade the 2 Pono included PJ albums for someone who has the 2 Neil Young authorized Pono albums instead of having to purchase from the store?

JH57554

So, am I the only one who's disappointed with the Pono?

buck502000

Why are you disappointed?

JH57554

See my posts back on page 4.

buck502000

I think your experience may benefit from listening through a home stereo, car stereo or a set of headphones. I have a set of decent Sennheiser ear buds but would never use those for critical listening or comparison of non-hd tracks to hd tracks. Just my ideas.

camaros

JH57554 said:

So, am I the only one who's disappointed with the Pono?

Upgrade from Dr Dre's retirement fund earplugs and you should get higher fidelity across the board.

They don't even list Audio Specifications for their products. Just prices... [-(

JH57554

As I mentioned in my follow-up post, I've also listened through a Bose sound dock and some high end studio monitors at work and I'm still just not hearing much of a difference.

Not trying to start an argument, just curious if I'm the only one in this thread that's not impressed.

lolobugg

camaros said:

JH57554 said:

So, am I the only one who's disappointed with the Pono?

Upgrade from Dr Dre's retirement fund earplugs and you should get higher fidelity across the board.

They don't even list Audio Specifications for their products.

Nice

buck502000

@jh57554, would you sell for face, plus shipping?

MayDay10

I cranked mine in my car yesterday and I found it really enjoyable. I noticed a lot in Lightning Bolt I never noticed before, and even detected one or two spots where the mixing/editing of the recording could have been better. I guess it could be the placebo effect because I didnt directly compare with anything else.

JH57554

buck502000 said:

@jh57554, would you sell for face, plus shipping?

Thanks for the offer, but I'd rather keep it as a PJ collectible than just unload it for cost.

buck502000

had to ask

MedozK

The more I read up on this, Im not sure I need the 'Audiophile' sound when I am "on the go". I will probably just spend the money on a nice DAC for my system at home, because that is where I really do most of my critical/active listening.

This product looks VERY interesting to me.
http://audioengineusa.com/Store/D2-24-Bit-Wireless-DAC

lolobugg

JH57554 said:

As I mentioned in my follow-up post, I've also listened through a Bose sound dock and some high end studio monitors at work and I'm still just not hearing much of a difference.

Not trying to start an argument, just curious if I'm the only one in this thread that's not impressed.

mr vorhees,
you need to take that axe out of your head, )
get some q-tips and then fire that bad boy up with some studio quality headphones.
if still can't hear the difference- then I digress.

buck502000

I have a nice DAC at home. But it weighs about 30 pounds.......:)

camaros

I have a lot more listening/comparing to do, but Pono prevails over medium grade 192kbps MP3s on my iPhone5. It's definitely apparent at higher volumes... The VS Remastered album thru Pono doesn't fall apart like the original VS 192mp3s do at higher volumes. This is true for listening thru either my Grados with a 1/4" to mini adapter and also thru my home theater system with a mini to RCA adapter.

Pioneer VSX-1121 Receiver
5 Polk speakers
4x POLK AUDIO MONITOR40B II
1x POLK AUDIO CS2 B seriesII

Polk PSW505 Subwoofer

MedozK

camaros said:

I have a lot more listening/comparing to do, but Pono prevails over medium grade 192kbps MP3s on my iPhone5. It's definitely apparent at higher volumes... The VS Remastered album thru Pono doesn't fall apart like the original VS 192mp3s do at higher volumes. This is true for listening thru either my Grados with a 1/4" to mini adapter and also thru my home theater system with a mini to RCA adapter.

Pioneer VSX-1121 Receiver
5 Polk speakers
4x POLK AUDIO MONITOR40B II
1x POLK AUDIO CS2 B seriesII

Polk PSW505 Subwoofer

24bit compared to 192kbps MP3s are going to sound night and day different.

KV4053

Pink Floyd for the win. Check out One Slip 24/96 from A Momentary Lapse of Reason.

EdsonNascimento

JH57554 said:

So, am I the only one who's disappointed with the Pono?

Yes. But only because you're the only one listening objectively.