Anyone actually planning to buy a Pono??

[busb]

It is supposed to be a portable music player.

As Kodak found out to their cost, most people only have room for one device in their pocket, and the device they have is already a portable music player.

Been wrong before, but I just dont see the market for it.

I can remember being laughed at (not here) when I suggested that phones would become ideal portable music players as well as usable cameras. All this nonsense about hi res is deflecting people's attention away from the real issue - decent recordings to start with. However, the demand for decent recordings seems to be from a minority. Just maybe Pono will increase that demand but I ain't going to hold my breath. In the meantime, I'll carry on enjoying the LSO/Gergiev version of Mahler's 2nd - it has some dynamic range!

 

[steve_1979]

Am sure apple will just jump on the bandwagon soon anyways

Nah, if they made the iPhone hires, they would have to sell hires music through itunes.

Their 'mastered for iTunes' sound better than many other versions of the same albums but it's only available in ACC. They should sell lossless ALAC through iTunes too IMO.

 

[daveh75]

Am sure apple will just jump on the bandwagon soon anyways

Nah, if they made the iPhone hires, they would have to sell hires music through itunes.

Their 'mastered for iTunes' sound better than many other versions of the same albums but it's only available in ACC

Do they?

I know MfiT is en vogue elsewhere atm, at least talk of it is, but has anyone actually tried it yet, or null tested against regular iTunes?

Or merely taking Apple at their word...

 

[steve_1979]

Am sure apple will just jump on the bandwagon soon anyways

Nah, if they made the iPhone hires, they would have to sell hires music through itunes.

Their 'mastered for iTunes' sound better than many other versions of the same albums but it's only available in ACC

Do they?

I know MfiT is en vogue elsewhere atm, at least talk of it is, but has anyone actually tried it yet, or null tested against regular iTunes?

Or merely taking Apple at their word...

Good point. :?

My comment was made based on a purely subjective and very limited experience at someone elses house.

 

[Feral]

I've been watching this with interest. I can see that the limited edition pods will have a cache for your particular fave artist. Will this device play better than other advices? I don't know a great deal but assuming that for the wider public the benefit will be in better quality audio regardless of device.

i also agree with other posts that hi res isn't the answer as I have heard mp3 with incredible clarity but if pono drives better quality mastering of tracks then I would see that as a success. In that vein the hardware love it or loathe it would be secondary in their business model with revenue driven from track sales. Even if pono were to fail as a result of other providers competing by providing quality audio then the consumer wins.

 

[Feral]

Double post

 

[Feral]

Triple post, what the heck!

 

[steve_1979]

I've been watching this with interest. I can see that the limited edition pods will have a cache for your particular fave artist. Will this device play better than other advices? I don't know a great deal but assuming that for the wider public the benefit will be in better quality audio regardless of device.

i also agree with other posts that hi res isn't the answer as I have heard mp3 with incredible clarity but if pono drives better quality mastering of tracks then I would see that as a success. In that vein the hardware love it or loathe it would be secondary in their business model with revenue driven from track sales. Even if pono were to fail as a result of other providers competing by providing quality audio then the consumer wins.

The right thing for the wrong reason. If it gives us better mastered music it could be worth it.

 

[tino]

Not for me ... I think a mobile phone will do for me when I'm on the move. I think it will sell reasonably well though.

However ... if they scaled up the unit by a factor of 2, threw in an SSD of say 500GB and added streaming capability, then I can see it being an excellent replacement for a Squeezebox Touch :rockout:

 

[Al ears]

Am sure apple will just jump on the bandwagon soon anyways

Nah, if they made the iPhone hires, they would have to sell hires music through itunes.

..... and give it a much bigger battery and increase it's storage capacity etc, etc, thus making it uneconomic.

 

[ID.]

Am sure apple will just jump on the bandwagon soon anyways

Nah, if they made the iPhone hires, they would have to sell hires music through itunes.

Their 'mastered for iTunes' sound better than many other versions of the same albums but it's only available in ACC

Do they?

I know MfiT is en vogue elsewhere atm, at least talk of it is, but has anyone actually tried it yet, or null tested against regular iTunes?

Or merely taking Apple at their word...

Reminded me of this discussion I cam across

http://www.computeraudiophile.com/f13-audiophile-downloads/daft-punk-random-access-memories-hdtracks-16161/

with people claiming the dynamic range of the mastered for iTunes version of Random Access Memories is better than the CD and hi resolution versions. Didn't look into it deeply enough to see if it is true though...

 

[daveh75]

I had a vague recollection of some discussion when MfiT first launched that some of the music suffered from the same DR compression as the CD/regular iTunes versions. I can't recall if it was actually tested, or if it was just speculation though.

Which is why I wondered if anyone had actually either ABXd or null tested MfiT against regular iTunes/CD versions.

 

[Al ears]

Da*n thread hijackers.

Says he off to buy his new A&K in-ear phones to go with his AK 240

 

[basshound]

As has been mentioned before, I think the best thing to come out of this may be the Pono Store assuming the downloads are DRM free. Interesting interview with Neil Young here http://www.computeraudiophile.com/content/572-pono-or-oh-no-interview-neil-young/ where he seems to be saying the downloads will be the best they can be, even going as far as having them remastered.

Oh, and to answer the OP, no I wont be buying a Pono but will be keeping a close eye on the Pono Store content.

 

[davedotco]

Bit of a diversion, but with all these mobile experts on here I thought I would ask.

I am a Spotify Premium user and listen to a lot of stuff in offline mode on Mrs DDC's iPad. I would like to listen to Spotify offline in the gym (and maybe elsewhere).

An iPod Touch is the obvious choice but are there any alternatives? The Touch is a bit big and expensive so is there anything smaller that will do the job? It has to be wi-fi capable, run a decent Spotify app and sound good.

Any ideas?

 

[steve_1979]

Bit of a diversion, but with all these mobile experts on here I thought I would ask.

I am a Spotify Premium user and listen to a lot of stuff in offline mode on Mrs DDC's iPad. I would like to listen to Spotify offline in the gym (and maybe elsewhere).

An iPod Touch is the obvious choice but are there any alternatives? The Touch is a bit big and expensive so is there anything smaller that will do the job? It has to be wi-fi capable, run a decent Spotify app and sound good.

Any ideas?

An Android phone?

If it's just for the gym you could pick up a second hand one for peanuts too.

 

[davedotco]

Bit of a diversion, but with all these mobile experts on here I thought I would ask.

I am a Spotify Premium user and listen to a lot of stuff in offline mode on Mrs DDC's iPad. I would like to listen to Spotify offline in the gym (and maybe elsewhere).

An iPod Touch is the obvious choice but are there any alternatives? The Touch is a bit big and expensive so is there anything smaller that will do the job? It has to be wi-fi capable, run a decent Spotify app and sound good.

Any ideas?

An Android phone?

If it's just for the gym you could pick up a second hand one for peanuts too.

Sort of what I was thinking but I have no experience of these things and anything Android is a complete mystery to me.

What Spotify App do I use, does it support offline listening, what about sound quality? I tried two or three of my local Phone stores a few months back, but really, they did not have a clue.

 

[tino]

A Nokia Lumia 620 ... small, chuckable, expandable memory and replaceable battery. Speaker is the loudest I have heard on any phone. Headphone jack is built into the cover, so no big deal if you break it during workouts at the gym ... just replace the cover. Also has access to loads of free Nokia Music mixes and a handy offline GPS as well

PS It's very fast and fluid for a cheap phone ... prabably a much better experiece than some of the cheaper Androids ... although the Moto G might be another option for you.

 

[steve_1979]

What Spotify App do I use, does it support offline listening, what about sound quality? I tried two or three of my local Phone stores a few months back, but really, they did not have a clue.

Spotify have their own app in the Google Play Store. It's straight forward to use and has an offline mode if you're using Spotify Unlimited. The sound quality from the Nexus 7 headphone output is good but I can't comment on how other phones will sound.

 

[unsleepable]

If it's just for the gymn, maybe something like the Samsung Galaxy Pocket? It's small and cheap. If you are going to be using it more often, maybe it's time to upgrade your own phone!

The app is the one made by Spotify for Android. I believe there are no choices here. And I am afraid I don't know about sound quality—but again, you'll be doing sports!