PONO?
Snapping
995 Posts
http://www.ponomusic.com/#home
What say you strut? Anyone gonna go get a Pono?
If I want a good quality audio experience I usually just listen to my records. I can accept inferior audio quality when I'm walking the dog....
Interesting to see some of the reactions: accusing Neil Young of audio elitism, and the Pono format as overhyped and unscientific
http://thequietus.com/articles/14724-neil-young-pono-player-review
http://gizmodo.com/what-is-high-resolution-audio-1252637824/1541582373/+marioaguilar
What say you strut? Anyone gonna go get a Pono?
If I want a good quality audio experience I usually just listen to my records. I can accept inferior audio quality when I'm walking the dog....
Interesting to see some of the reactions: accusing Neil Young of audio elitism, and the Pono format as overhyped and unscientific
http://thequietus.com/articles/14724-neil-young-pono-player-review
http://gizmodo.com/what-is-high-resolution-audio-1252637824/1541582373/+marioaguilar
Comments
A lot of material has been recorded at 44.1/16, I don't believe higher sample rates are the key, converters and clocks make the difference.
http://www.maximumpc.com/article/do_higher_mp3_bit_rates_pay_off?page=0,0
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Codec_listening_test
The conclusion seems to be that most people can't really tell the difference between low bitrate MP3s and 320 mp3s, let alone lossless formats. Even with VBR 320, if you look at how much of the audio the encoding process deems necessary to convert to 320, the amount will be minimal. So the majority of the sound you're hearing won't be at 320, but you won't ever be able the hear the difference.
That said. If I listen to something over and over in Ableton then bounce it down to wav or apple lossless and convert that to mp3 to listen to on my iPod I can hear a difference, especially with certain sounds like big reverb become squished. I think the decision on quality needs to be made on a case by case basis, but the majority of music doesn't suffer audibly at a lower bitrate. I certainly won't be shelling out 400 bucks for some ugly triangular defvice that looks like the MP3 players from a decade and a half ago.
this thing is lol
The Quietus reviewer has some serious digital vs vinyl issues going on. Not so much a review as a geriatric cloud shouting demo.
Bolo says No No to Pono. Yolo.
DUDES ARE MAKING BEATS FROM YOUTUBE AND IM GONNA BUY A 400 LOSSLESS PLAYER?!?
Nah. Plus... What's the release/distribution method? Digital downloads obviously, but I mean you're gonna have to make sure the source material was converted and encoded properly. This added headache hardly seems worth it for labels/artists, especially factoring in the small audiophile market that this is aiming for.
I have to deal them quite a lot and it is a struggle.
Serious. I can't look at that word and not hear a 3 year old or a dude with a speech impediment saying porno.
And the web address: ponomusic.
But I heard NY on the radio a few months ago, Terry Gross, and he was talking about the music service he was involved in that would launch soon. Talking about how superior it was to everything available now and how it would change the music landscape. But when asked what this service/thing was it got real vague.
Marketing will determine if this is successful. They are going up against Apple, so they better have their act together.
The one advantage I can see them leveraging is brick and mortar audio stores. They could be the Riga turntable of mp3 players.
Neil Young isn't 'endorsing' this - the whole thing was his idea, he's been working on it for years.
I actually know some of the people involved and cash is definitely not the motive.
This is not really intended to compete with Apple or Ipods either, they are well aware of the differences in the market for both. Basically they are hoping this will be a viable way for people to have 'analog' quality without a physical media. Whether it accomplishes this or not I have no idea, but I am a little perplexed by the backlash, especially because it's coming from people who have never heard it or don't understand the science behind it - the Quietus article being a perfect example.
If you guys missed it, this part does sound legit and possible to improve the sound. Ipod, phones, mp3 players ect generally arn't boasting or even mentioning these aspects.
Does anyone know a human being that would buy a $400 dedicated player and begin re-purchasing all their music on lossless pono-releases?
Maybe I'm wrong, and there are more audiophiles out there than I think. But I just don't see anyone adopting this. That person would already have a whole listening room with vintage gear at home for their music collection. They are already experiencing high fidelity music, or they wouldn't care about Pono at all to begin with.
Although... They probably also have $$$ to burn on new toys.
Maybe the player just isn't sexy enough?
I don't know... but I am willing to bet that this will not become ubiquitous or even popular.
Maybe they really wanted to push the function over form aspect? There is a reason for the status quo with the form factor though, it works for portable devices.
Sound-wise... no idea, but i'm sure there is a market with some disposable income ready to give it a try.
I wonder how much you would need to spend on headphones to make it even remotely worth it?
It's ugly, it's expensive, and the marginal upgrade on fidelity won't be enough to sway the largely ambient-deaf critical mass.
I'm stunned that there were enough people that deemed it a good idea worth investing in to bring it to market.
b/w
Where VYNLST at?
remember we kept asking that osandi character what his project was all about and he kept giving these really convoluted, buzz word laden, explanations? turns out they are merely selling extremely tacky, overpriced record tchotckes.
http://www.vnylst.com/collectibles/
No shit. The 37 very old people who are into Neil Young I guess? Neil Young's friends? (Are those the same people?)
It's most definitely competing with iPod, and is therefore dead in the water.
It's competing with the ipod only in the same way that Lamborghini is in competition with Hyundai. It's also portable for those people who don't always carry an audiophile record deck with them.
- I don't own an ipod or an MP3 device other than my phone so have no issues with starting again or transferring a library.
- I really hate the tyranny of Apple's retail and DRM systems and I can't imagine this would be any worse
- I like the idea of a really high quality player that will do justice to some of the vinyl rips I have
- I'm not totally offended by goofy shape.
- It only costs marginally more than an ipod classic ($330 vs $400) if you live in the UK
- I'm enjoying watching Neil Young trying to disguise his usual chaotic, misanthropic self when he's promoting this piece of tat
That said:
- I am not paying $20-$40 for an album even if Neil Young personally delivers it to my house
- I don't have any triangular pockets
- I don't have ears, let alone headphones, that would do justice to the level of audio quality he's promising
- I'd probably plug it into my amp. Right next to my deck. And then put a record on instead.
But I'm not hating...