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Pono gets going


SteveFord

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Maybe they're uploading stuff to it?

I hope this turns out to be a good thing. It would be nice to have a little doohickey to take with me that I didn't hate. Turntables and motorcycles just aren't a very good combination, especially in the corners.

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I have been waiting for this! So this is based on FLAC which I already use daily! Looks like this will be good, lets hope we can try these soon!

 

BarryG

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What strikes me as odd is Pono purports to have all these rich and successful musicians behind it, along with all the major labels, some tech companies, influential engineers and producers, yet with all that they have to fund it through Kickstarter.

 

Let's think about it. You get to download FLAC files claimed to be produced in the highest possible format, essentially 192/24. You get to invest in the feasibility of the company. You get to buy a new digital player that won't comfortably fit in your pocket, but it will light up when it recognizes a Pono file. The record companies get to make a single copy of their files available and won't have to worry about distribution or packaging costs. And you get to pay $15-$25 per album for that privilege.

 

The marketing focus seems to rail against 'a typical mp3 of 192kbps.' You know what? For a crummy pair of earbuds or for playback over road noise in my car, that's OK.

 

Better quality digital music is an admirable goal. I just cannot get behind Pono at this point in time.

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Pono, is just a player, and its native format is FLAC which uses a free lossless codec. It is my understanding the Pono player can play these FLAC files no matter what the level of resolution. If you download higher resolution FLAC files you may NOT be able to burn them into audio cds as the sampling rate is not high enough, but you could still use them on your computer. I welcome the industry offering high resolution lossless digital files as an alternative to mp3. I already download as much as I can as FLAC and have been using it for years.

 

I think we are a long way from seeing Pono in the stores, its going to be a while. They are just starting the next round of prototypes. It was an interesting article.

 

BarryG

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Many players have plug ins to allow play of FLAC. I am presently using Winamp, but you can use Windows media player. On my iPhone, I have downloaded an app that plays FLAC. Some DAC units can also play FLAC, I think others are using OPPO players for this. I am planning on going that route soon, have a great day,

 

BarryG

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Their Kickstarter project had a goal of $800,000 and in three days is over $2,500,000.  Although it seems that Kickstarter is more a way to market/promote some projects these days than actually fund them.
 
I've said on another forum that this is starting off with decent momentum, but if/when that momentum is gone, I doubt all these musicians will continue to back a faltering product.
 
$400 for the unit and $15-$25 for each album...I think that's going to be a tough one for a lot of folks.
 
Plus, re-buying all that music... 
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I think that's going to be a tough one for a lot of folks.
Plus, re-buying all that music...

 

As I was trying to say before, a lot of music is available for download as mp3, or the apple version of mp3.

 

And that music is compressed with loss to signal. Some mp3 compressions are better than others, but still is lossy.

 

Whether or not Pono takes off, having the option to purchase the digital files in a lossless format is what I have been waiting for. IMHO cd's are ok but not as good as vinyl. If digital downloads are capable of the sound quality, I am for it. My excitement is about high quality digital audio files without loss to the original signal, not for the brand Pono.

 

There is a whole generation of kids out there who only know music in the mp3 format listened through ear buds. Fortunately I have kids who have taken the time to step back and listen to higher quality sources. My daughter was visiting a few months ago with one of her friends who never heard music through anything than a personal device or a car audio. My ALS's blew her away! Oh what fun it was to initiate someone. The look on her face was WOW, what the hell was that!

 

BarryG

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I think that's going to be a tough one for a lot of folks.
 
Plus, re-buying all that music... 
As I was trying to say before, a lot of music is available for download as mp3, or the apple version of mp3.And that music is compressed with loss to signal. Some mp3 compressions are better than others, but still is lossy. Whether or not Pono takes off, having the option to purchase the digital files in a lossless format is what I have been waiting for. IMHO cd's are ok but not as good as vinyl. If digital downloads are capable of the sound quality, I am for it. My excitement is about high quality digital audio files without loss to the original signal, not for the brand Pono. There is a whole generation of kids out there who only know music in the mp3 format listened through ear buds. Fortunately I have kids who have taken the time to step back and listen to higher quality sources. My daughter was visiting a few months ago with one of her friends who never heard music through anything than a personal device or a car audio. My ALS's blew her away! Oh what fun it was to initiate someone. The look on her face was WOW, what the hell was that!BarryG

 

That's a great story Barry these kids these days have NO clue whats up with our carver gear! I blew my neighbor kid away with my system now he loves the damn thing.
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I did read in their email to me (I put myself on their list quite some time back) that any format that you play on the player would sound as good if not better but definately 24/192 is mind boggling good. What I do take into consideration is the $15-25 per that will be charged. I talked trash about buying ANOTHER Pink Floyd DSOTM but I do own a copy of the MoFi and it is awesome and worth the $30 I paid so if they're that much better I would consider moving towards it but still..., $400 for the player on the front end....damn, but I did invest in an Oppo just for the SACD abilities. I'm not saying no yet.

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