[santacore]

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/music/posts/la-et-ms-neil-young-pono-music-20140310,0,328753.story#axzz2vbbrmn13

I didn't realize Ayre Acoustics was behind the Pono player. Pretty cool!

[ted_b]

Two good friends (one who is also my boss at computer audiophile) are going to interview Neil tomorrow.  We've loaded both Chris and Michael up with a bunch of questions, so stay tuned.

[apog]

Link to Kickstarter campaign:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1003614822/ponomusic-where-your-soul-rediscovers-music

[Russtafarian]

I think Young and company are doing the right thing by marketing Pono as a music + player system to music fans.  With hi-rez compatibility limited/inconsistent on phones and ipods, they needed to launch their own DAP to showcase their hi-rez music files.  If they can successfully leverage artist credibility/marketing to music fans, Pono can bring better sound to more people.  Good for them.

For audiophiles, Pono becomes another option.  The player becomes another option in the growing hi-rez DAP market.  The music store becomes a direct competitor to HDTracks and SuperHiRez.  Competition is good!

Go Pono!

Russ

[sts9fan]

That player looks like it's going to be pretty sweet.

[holzohr]

I like the design of the Pono but I miss DSD playback 

[pslate]

So I did the kickstarter donation for the player. I hesitated and did not get the $200 rate but at the $300 it's still $100 off. However I received a fairly criptic note from Pono, saying that October delivery could be pushed back to December. I could not tell if I got in under the wire, or if they set some sort of limit for phasing of delivery. Anyhow I am excited for Pono and hope it works well. Some may laugh, but it's important to me to have a user friendly system. I want my wife, son, nanny, guests, everyone to enjoy music. I love enjoying music together, so for me an accessible system is important. If Pono makes high rez easy for people I'm all for it. One thing that will work for me personally is that Pono looks to be a good authenticator of well recorded high rez music. Hopefully weeding faux-rez tracks. 

[mr_bill]

I'm looking at buying a Pono player just for the ease of having all my FLAC tracks available on a portable player for the car, whatever.
HiFiMan/Astell and Kern etc are all waaaayyy too expensive for this purpose and the Ayre designed Pono player looks like just the ticket with its headphone and line out.

If my iphone wasn't so Itunes and AAC AIFcc centric, I would just use that but it isn't!!

Anyone else thinking this?  It seems that the PONO player is being overlooked and all attention is on the files and what resolution etc.

[R_burke]

I signed up for email updates and am interested in the whole concept - BUT I have some concerns about what music will be available.  If it's only what I already have on disc then I'm not so sure this is for me.

[Scott F.]

I'm not sure if you guys are aware but I' thought I'd post this.

There are (or at least one) portable 24/192 players already available and for less money than the Pono.
Fiio X3
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=&sku=996716&gclid=CLz-nOfgob0CFcg7OgodKy4A7w&Q=&is=REG&A=details


Here is a clip from the tech specs;
 
Product Highlights

• Supports Five Lossless Audio Formats (APE, FLAC, ALAC, WMA and WAV)
• Supports Master Copy Music for HD Audio
• WOLFSON WM8740 192kHz/24-bit DAC Chip
• High Current AD8397 Amplifier Chip
• Internal 8GB Flash Memory

• MicroSD Memory Expansion up to 64GB
• Circuit Hardware Bass & Treble Adjusting
• Digital & Analog Audio Output Options
• 2.4" TFT Color Display
• Built-In Battery Lasts up to 10 Hours

  When my iClod finally gives out (which will be any day now), I'll likely give the Fiio a try.

Thought you might want to know.

[Russtafarian]

There are (or at least one) portable 24/192 players already available and for less money than the Pono.
Fiio X3

Yeah, but what does Fiio mean in Hawaiian?

[Scott F.]

Yeah, but what does Fiio mean in Hawaiian?

 

[holzohr]

I'm not sure if you guys are aware but I' thought I'd post this.

There are (or at least one) portable 24/192 players already available and for less money than the Pono.
Fiio X3

I think I will give the iBasso DX50 a try http://www.ibasso.com/en/products/show.asp?ID=81

[rjj]

Just to update the Fiio post above, DSD was added as part of firmware updates. It was included in the 3.0 release which was on the X3 I got this week. Now to get my SACDs onto my new portable player.

[JerryM]

The page clearly notes 'Beta', but it's alive: https://ponomusic.force.com/