Neil Young's Pono Music Player

1066familyman · Apr 23, 2014

Apologies if fixtures.

Plenty of music fans on here, and a fair amount of 'audiophiles' too no doubt.

So who's heard about Neil Young's Pono Music Player Project?, and what do you make of it?

In a nutshell, it's a kick against the quality of compressed music (mp3's) that it seems most people listen to nowadays (vinyl resurgence aside) and a bid to bring original studio quality recording to portable devices. Personally I can't tell the difference between 24 bit (studio quality) & 16 bit (cd quality) FLAC files that I've downloaded from a music service I subscribe to (played back on reasonable quality hi-fi separates), but I can usually tell the difference when it comes to comparing with mp3's.

I'm intrigued by this Pono Player idea.

Plenty of articles out there, but these two are quite good at dealing with the nuts & bolts:

http://www.digitaltrends.com/music/neil-youngs-pono-hi-def-mp3-player/#!FGdMD

http://techland.time.com/2012/10/03/who-cares-about-neil-youngs-ultra-high-quality-music-standard/

Superphil · Apr 23, 2014

I've kind of given up chasing audiophile nirvana. Apart from the fact I'm getting older, and therefore my ears will not hear as well, I find the improvement in the quality of music playing devices like the B&W Zeppelin, combined with MP3s ripped at 320kbps rather negates the need to spend £1000s on high end gear. It was great when I was younger, I had some lovely gear, but convenience and good modern kit will do for me, a decent set of headphones also works well.

That said, I do like to stick on a record now and then, still got a very passable pair of MS speakers, a top Creek amp and a nice turntable, but I'm not really inclined to buy new vinyl, just pleased I always looked after my old records.

Super Steve Earle · Apr 23, 2014

Have been following the Toblerone's progress with interest and reading 'Waging Heavy Peace'. Look forward to hearing it sometime.

1066familyman · Apr 23, 2014

Superphil said:
I've kind of given up chasing audiophile nirvana...

Me too. Having kids put paid to my regular record buying days and hi-fi set up upgrades. Happy to still have a half decent set up, albeit very old now, and all my record and cd collection intact.

As I've got older I've come to accept it's the music itself that really matters rather than the quality of reproduction anyway. Mind you, if money was no object I could have great fun wandering down the high end hi-fi market road, and sod the law of diminishing returns! :thumbsup:

tinycowboy · Apr 24, 2014

I've kind of given up too, but I still love my (now very old) separates - especially my B&W speakers and my Ariston Q deck.

W.C. · Apr 24, 2014

Are you supposed to use this PONO to listen to stuff at home?

Notters · Apr 24, 2014

This is why I still buy CDs, despite some people telling me you can't tell the difference. Pretty sure I can.

Mellotron · Apr 24, 2014

Good idea, shit looking player, is my brief and ignorant opinion.

Prince Monolulu · Apr 24, 2014

Has taken me an age to get almost all of my collection in FLAC format (combination of both 24/16 bit) and am happy to float them all on network drive. Soundbars play them through the TV no problem, only pain is Sonos do not as of yet (in pipeline I believe). It will happen, but MANY people would benefit should Apple embrace this common format.
As stated in the review, depends about this ownership question, are the majority 1) Concerned about 192kbps mp3 v lossless and 2) Are they happy to stream on demand from providers such as Spotify or own hard copies of the music?

Cian · Apr 24, 2014

Plenty of existing players can use FLAC or other lossless formats.

Separately, Neil Young is nearly deaf.

This is clearly just an attempt to make cash off the gullible, buying something that will at best match existing, cheaper units.

Superphil · Apr 24, 2014

Cian said:
Plenty of existing players can use FLAC or other lossless formats.

Separately, Neil Young is nearly deaf.

This is clearly just an attempt to make cash off the gullible, buying something that will at best match existing, cheaper units.

Your hearing is at it peak when you are about 12 years old, too young to give a toss about music quality, and starts to deteriorate in your thirties, which is around the time some can afford to pay decent money for a nice set up. By the time you're in your fifties your audio listening range is reduced to the point a Woolworths trannie and a cassette player is as much as you'll ever need.

W.C. · Apr 24, 2014

Superphil said:
Your hearing is at it peak when you are about 12 years old, too young to give a toss about music quality, and starts to deteriorate in your thirties, which is around the time some can afford to pay decent money for a nice set up. By the time you're in your fifties your audio listening range is reduced to the point a Woolworths trannie and a cassette player is as much as you'll ever need.

What I don't really get with this thing is, as it's 'portable' surely it's aimed at people who are moving around? I listen to music a lot as I move around the city I live in. I'm also a bit nerdy with my music quality so everything I have on my iphone is wasv/aiff/320kbps mp3. I sometimes allow a 192kbps through the net.

However. I'm outside listening to music. Surrounded by traffic, people, shops etc. I'd really prefer not to get run over by a truck so I listen on standard iphone earbuds. The quality is fine. What do people on this Pono do with their PORTABLE device. Do they have some decent noise cancelling headphones so they can't hear all that pesky outside world?

Seems a bit of an odd market to me. Surely a more robust HQ home audio player would be better?

jackanada · Apr 24, 2014

There is plenty of debate about what the level is at which increased bitrate bit'depth' make no difference. The Pono does exceed where anyone draws this line.
That said unless you have spent several hundred on your headphones or substantially more on your amp and speakers it's completely pointless, except maybe as a pointless tool for impressing high end eastern European prostitutes with your wealth.

Brighton TID · Apr 24, 2014

1066familyman said:
Apologies if fixtures.

Plenty of music fans on here, and a fair amount of 'audiophiles' too no doubt.

So who's heard about Neil Young's Pono Music Player Project?, and what do you make of it?

In a nutshell, it's a kick against the quality of compressed music (mp3's) that it seems most people listen to nowadays (vinyl resurgence aside) and a bid to bring original studio quality recording to portable devices. Personally I can't tell the difference between 24 bit (studio quality) & 16 bit (cd quality) FLAC files that I've downloaded from a music service I subscribe to (played back on reasonable quality hi-fi separates), but I can usually tell the difference when it comes to comparing with mp3's.

I'm intrigued by this Pono Player idea.

Plenty of articles out there, but these two are quite good at dealing with the nuts & bolts:

http://www.digitaltrends.com/music/neil-youngs-pono-hi-def-mp3-player/#!FGdMD

http://techland.time.com/2012/10/03/who-cares-about-neil-youngs-ultra-high-quality-music-standard/

The problem with any thing that is digital is that it is in effect just a load of, for want of a better word, dots. Look at a digital photo close up and it is just a load of coloured dots. Look at an old fashioned photo and it is a real translation of an image. The thing is is that the pixels get so compressed that the brain sees the millions of dots as one thing. However, the fact remains that the image is not 'real'. Exactly the same thing applies to music. Digital music is broken down into loads of bytes. An old fashioned record is pure and real.
Therefore, nothing is REAL nowadays, just a load of compressed micro components that constitute a whole and tricks the brain into believing things are real.

1066familyman · Apr 24, 2014

Brighton TID said:
The problem with any thing that is digital is that it is in effect just a load of, for want of a better word, dots. Look at a digital photo close up and it is just a load of coloured dots. Look at an old fashioned photo and it is a real translation of an image. The thing is is that the pixels get so compressed that the brain sees the millions of dots as one thing. However, the fact remains that the image is not 'real'. Exactly the same thing applies to music. Digital music is broken down into loads of bytes. An old fashioned record is pure and real.
Therefore, nothing is REAL nowadays, just a load of compressed micro components that constitute a whole and tricks the brain into believing things are real.

You are Jean-Paul Sartre and I claim my £5 :thumbsup:

Cian · Apr 24, 2014

The chances that something released on vinyl today wasn't fully recorded and mastered digitally is close to nil, though. Analogue is dead everywhere except the point of delivery in two cases - radio or vinyl.

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