How does your Pono sound?

2-feign-reluctance said:

http://www.cnet.com/news/sound-bite-despite-ponos-promise-experts-pan-hd-audio/

For those that are curious...a good read.

Just checked on the Pono website community to see if there was any mention but that article is older than that site being set up so it isn't discussed. Interesting though, has the author posted something since now the player's exist and have been used?
Personally I'd been waiting for Pono to finally upgrade to a digital player, having drunk the Neil Young kool-aid probably, and am really happy to have by far the best sounding music I've heard with the normal $25 headphones I use.

2-feign-reluctance said:

I simply look at it this way. This thing is marketed towards kids. The ones who grew up on and still listen to shitty mp3s - and for those that exclusively use their phones and crap computer speakers for their playback. For us audio nerds, there isn't much of an upgrade since some of us grew up listening to analog recordings, tapes and CDs, which were not digitized in playback formats.

FYI... CD's are digitized

2-feign-reluctance said:

I simply look at it this way. This thing is marketed towards kids. The ones who grew up on and still listen to shitty mp3s - and for those that exclusively use their phones and crap computer speakers for their playback. For us audio nerds, there isn't much of an upgrade since some of us grew up listening to analog recordings, tapes and CDs, which were not digitized in playback formats.

I think if kids are the target market this thing will be a colossal failure. Like you mentioned... Kids have grown up on mp3's and listening to music on the computer. They've also grown up on 99 cent songs and downloading music for free. They like playing Angry Birds for free. I don't see many kids deciding that they need to buy a $400 device and start paying $20 plus for an entire album when all they want is one or two songs.

To me... this thing is clearly marketed towards people in their 30s and up who have been exposed to analog recordings in the past and have the disposable income to pay for the luxury of HD music.

I think aiming this thing at kids would be a mega failure.

on2legs said:

2-feign-reluctance said:

I simply look at it this way. This thing is marketed towards kids. The ones who grew up on and still listen to shitty mp3s - and for those that exclusively use their phones and crap computer speakers for their playback. For us audio nerds, there isn't much of an upgrade since some of us grew up listening to analog recordings, tapes and CDs, which were not digitized in playback formats.

I think if kids are the target market this thing will be a colossal failure. Like you mentioned... Kids have grown up on mp3's and listening to music on the computer. They've also grown up on 99 cent songs and downloading music for free. They like playing Angry Birds for free. I don't see many kids deciding that they need to buy a $400 device and start paying $20 plus for an entire album when all they want is one or two songs.

To me... this thing is clearly marketed towards people in their 30s and up who have been exposed to analog recordings in the past and have the disposable income to pay for the luxury of HD music.

I think aiming this thing at kids would be a mega failure.

Yeah. I fit your description except maybe the disposable income part
I threw down because I have never owned an IPOD
and was waiting on something that could play FLAC.
afraid that targeting the youngsters will fall flat....
as for disposable income...
just checked the Bay and two NY PONOs sold for over $1100.

I think if you are an uber Pearl Jam collector buying the PJ signature model was a good move if you can spare the cash.

If you are looking for a portable player capable of playing high quality digital files, I would wait for a later generation of these players. They will surely improve the design and portability in the next couple years.

I missed out on the original kickstarted preorder. My Cowon S9 recent lost another button so I've ordered a Fiio X3 to replace it. It was about $170 bucks. It has a high quality DAC, comes with 8gb's internal memory and a microsd slot that can fit a 64gb card (so 72gb's total). It can play both FLAC and HD FLAC formats (and the usual mp3, m4a etc..)

I'd be curious to know how much better then PONO is that this thing. Fiio has a higher end model (the x5) that's an extra $150.. the reviews are mixed as to which device actually has better sound quality.

The Pono at full price seems pretty expensive (400 USD). That would be around $450cdn plus someone posted that they had to pay about $95 in duties to import theres, so your looking at $550 cdn... ouch!

The main selling point of a high quality DAP (digital audio player) is the quality of the DAC. You don't need high res files (HD FLAC) to benefit from a kickass DAC (the technology that converts digital data to analog sound). You don't really have to rebuy our catalog to take advantage of a better DAC. It will make standard CD quality FLAC sound much better too.

DAC's in Smartphones (which is how all the kids listen to music) are generally mediocre, so it's going to be easy for the Pono to out perform smartphones. My question is how much better will a PONO sound compared to the other high quality DAP devices out there that can be bought for much less money? The audiophile market is still a niche market. Is the PONO's quality going to be so good it's worth the sticker price... that's what i'm wondering.

Kev - Coat and Keys said:

lolobugg said:

Nice.... can't wait to pick mine up.
You had me cracking up in the other thread.

Thanks Man - I was getting too frustrated by some people. I keep forgetting the music isn't the important thing for everyone. Fortunately it is for a lot of us.

MedozK said:

Hopefully this push towards Hi-res music will also push towards better mastering processes. Making something more loud, and taking away from the overall dynamic range is not good...even if its 24 bit.

Yes, that is it. The more Hi-Res players and users, will lead to more HI-Res being bought and so more will be available. I hope.

I find the PJ collector mentality a little weird. I mean I buy my share of merch but I would never buy a sticker because it has "PJ" on it. I think some people bought these just for the autographs.

and also I am hoping to see HD music get popular and hopefully drive some of these prices down. In some cases they are charging the same as the physical product. SACD, vinyl, etc.