I agree that it's lots of hype, but I don't think it's insane. Folks are tired of music that sounds bad.
The Pono is using the ESS Sabre 9018 DAC chip (best currently available) and the audio and filter circuits were designed by Charles Hansen from Ayre with attention paid to phase response. I also read someplace that it uses a discrete output stage with zero feedback that was likely originally designed by Meridian.
They went for the absolute highest quality audio they could from a portable player.
It's very cool and I'm excited. It's about time we had something portable that pushes the envelope!
"Our goal was to offer the highest quality digital music available from all the major labels with the world's greatest sounding, user-friendly portable music player."
I like "ecosystem" concept of releasing a high-end player with a significant amount of 24/192 FLAC source material. It will be the iTunes for high-end portable audio.
Pretty cool and long overdue!
Steve
The Pono is using the ESS Sabre 9018 DAC chip (best currently available) and the audio and filter circuits were designed by Charles Hansen from Ayre with attention paid to phase response. I also read someplace that it uses a discrete output stage with zero feedback that was likely originally designed by Meridian.
They went for the absolute highest quality audio they could from a portable player.
It's very cool and I'm excited. It's about time we had something portable that pushes the envelope!
"Our goal was to offer the highest quality digital music available from all the major labels with the world's greatest sounding, user-friendly portable music player."
I like "ecosystem" concept of releasing a high-end player with a significant amount of 24/192 FLAC source material. It will be the iTunes for high-end portable audio.
Pretty cool and long overdue!
Steve
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So it really is good huh? 🙂 Finally there is something fancier than toblerone on this earth!
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From everything I can tell, it's "real". Meaning they're not marketing a bunch of BS.
I think it's far better than anything else that is available right now on the portable market. Time will tell. Until I hear it in person, can't say for sure.
I do like the idea that it is DESIGNED to output to home and car stereo systems. I has a line out jack in addition to a headphone jack. I've heard the ESS Sabre chip in person and know how good it sounds, so this thing really does have huge potential. And no, I don't have any affiliation with the company, just excited to at the idea of high-end audio making a comeback and VERY excited that it's portable.
Hopefully it will be really cool and exceed the hype!
I think it's far better than anything else that is available right now on the portable market. Time will tell. Until I hear it in person, can't say for sure.
I do like the idea that it is DESIGNED to output to home and car stereo systems. I has a line out jack in addition to a headphone jack. I've heard the ESS Sabre chip in person and know how good it sounds, so this thing really does have huge potential. And no, I don't have any affiliation with the company, just excited to at the idea of high-end audio making a comeback and VERY excited that it's portable.
Hopefully it will be really cool and exceed the hype!
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Playing the FLACs I have with something else but my mobile phone (with no sd slot) is already a good thing. I am glad the "default" for the pono is FLAC and not some proprietary format. And it is a good thing they got rid of the DRM ideas.
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I agree!
And while the 128 gig won't hold 5000 24/192 songs, it will hold between 200-800 and I think that should be enough. Especially considering that it has a removable SD memory card so one could load various libraries on various cards.
I do think they did their homework.
Apparently is also plays most if not all of the other formats as well.
It will be interesting to learn if it will also play DSD. I haven't seen anything about that yet.
And while the 128 gig won't hold 5000 24/192 songs, it will hold between 200-800 and I think that should be enough. Especially considering that it has a removable SD memory card so one could load various libraries on various cards.
I do think they did their homework.
Apparently is also plays most if not all of the other formats as well.
It will be interesting to learn if it will also play DSD. I haven't seen anything about that yet.
That remains to be seen. It's still far behind the FiiO X5 in user options though, and I sincerely doubt it will perform much better than that, if at all.
I like the underlying idea of the Pono. Implementation and design of the physical player is hopelessly outdated though.
It's interesting to watch the kickstarter campaign take off. It exceeded their goal in under 8 hours and will likely double it in less than 24. I would submit there is HUGE interest by the public in this. Folks might not realize how bad their music is really sounding, but they do "get" that it doesn't sound very good.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1003614822/ponomusic-where-your-soul-rediscovers-music
Also, watch the "message from our founder" video on this page and listen to what the musicians have to say about how it sounds. I think that is by-far the most interesting:
PONO
Again, I have NO relationship to the company in any way. Just excited that somebody is trying to interest the public in high-end audio.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1003614822/ponomusic-where-your-soul-rediscovers-music
Also, watch the "message from our founder" video on this page and listen to what the musicians have to say about how it sounds. I think that is by-far the most interesting:
PONO
Again, I have NO relationship to the company in any way. Just excited that somebody is trying to interest the public in high-end audio.
I don't mind an outdated look. But it's a pity I think that there is no next/back button...and all navigation will probably be through the touchscreen. (Volume buttons are present though)
In the end...I know I would have jumped on the kickstarter campaign if I was a "mobile" listener. Main reason I posted though is that I could not bear to completely watch the promo of the pono. With all the artists raving about it. After all....I've "seen" it all before with Herbert von Karajan proclaiming "all else is gaslight" when the CD came out.
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I'm excited about the hi-res material though. The player, not so much. FiiO have with their X series players been offering hi-end audio quality players for a long time now, and have with the X5 a far better overall product than the Pono player look to be when it eventually comes out. The X5 already have support for DSD, and all major lossless formats. It also have a usable UI and can even be used as a portable USB DAC.
I'll sure give the Pono player a look when it eventually comes out but I'm not getting my hopes up that it'll live up to expectations.
I'll sure give the Pono player a look when it eventually comes out but I'm not getting my hopes up that it'll live up to expectations.
Here is what I don't like about the X5 AND the pono. No user replaceble battery. No screws to open it up 😀
I read about the audio system Neil had put in that car when he had it built a couple of years ago. Apparently the system in that is unbelievable!
What he does is play the same music track switching from various MP3 sample rates, up through CD and up through 24/192. Hence why the various artists reacted the way that they did. They heard it for themselves.
It's pretty cool that, due to him have access to other artists, he's been able to "teach" them and get their reactions. You can't buy marketing like that from so many different people...
What he does is play the same music track switching from various MP3 sample rates, up through CD and up through 24/192. Hence why the various artists reacted the way that they did. They heard it for themselves.
It's pretty cool that, due to him have access to other artists, he's been able to "teach" them and get their reactions. You can't buy marketing like that from so many different people...
Bas, you should write the Pono folks and tell them. The design isn't yet final and those are both very good points!
That's not a big deal for me. However, the battery capacity is on the small side, and I certainly would like it to be longer. And being a premium product, I don't get why they use ancient Li-Po batteries. Use LiFePO4 batteries instead so it can be recharged 4 times faster and lasts at least 10-20 times more charges than a LiFePO4.
I would submit that if enough folks from this forum all emailed them suggestions we might have a shot at influencing this design.
Maybe not, but from what I've read, they are still multiple iterations from final production design.
Maybe not, but from what I've read, they are still multiple iterations from final production design.
Gizmodo said:
Clearly Gizmodo hasn't kept up with the research in the field since the 80s. 24bit 96khz have been scientifically proven to be an improvement over 16bit 44.1khz for the average person. And there's a case to be made that in some circumstances going to 192khz is also a slight improvement for some people. The big question is why not? though. If we take the former case of 24bit 96khz the amount of data needed is only 3.2 times more than 16bit 44.1khz, and with today's storage capacities it hardly makes a difference. Or at least not that much of a difference.
Gizmodo wants the research? Well, they'll have to pay to be an AES member like everyone else.
That Mario, says it right: for HD 96/192 you need about 35 MB per minute while for 16/44 10 MB are needed. If the apparently needed sofistication of the process doesn't give a robust increase in performance it's just another...gizmo!
There's an old saying. Crap in, crap out. And that's the whole point here. When the source material is only adequate to get high fidelity under optimum conditions then any degradation in the processing and play-back is audible. When you have higher resolution and quality source material it allows for considerable and may I stress unavoidable degradation without affecting the resulting audio quality significantly. That is the problem with 16bit 44.1khz audio. It's technically "good enough" but only if there is absolutely no degradation in the whole playback chain.
Well Gizmodo can load cd quality flacs in their pono. It is not the point. The point to me is that another high end high profile player is coming out and is making young people aware that there is more than mp3. And to tell the truth I've been frustrated with the music industry for a while now. They should have made it possible to buy high quality digital tracks at least a decade ago.
I like the fact that they put it on kickstarter because investors thought it was a bad idea (probably because everyone is supposed to be happy with their mobile phone and they are probably right...since that is what 99,9999 % of the worlds population will do)
Looks like a new kickstarter record is going to be set though.
I like the fact that they put it on kickstarter because investors thought it was a bad idea (probably because everyone is supposed to be happy with their mobile phone and they are probably right...since that is what 99,9999 % of the worlds population will do)
Looks like a new kickstarter record is going to be set though.
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