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Pono Player -Worth the Money?

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styxx10:
Hi,
Interested to hear what people think of their Pono Players, is the quality and difference worth the extra dollars?.
Opinions as to the ease of use, quality etc appreciated.

MikeEvangelist:
I posted this little review back in January, via Twitter (hence the short sentences) -

The @pono player is a high quality player for all your audio files. Hooked up to your stereo or with good headphones, it sounds great.

The interface of the @pono player is rudimentary and jumpy, but it gets the job done. The desktop software, I find non-intuitive and frustrating.

Due to its excellent DAC and output section, lossless rips from CDs sound fantastic on the @pono player. Even lower bitrate files sing

I can -maybe- tell the difference between CD-quality and 24bit/96KHz on the @pono, on very good headphones, but it’s extremely minor.

Don’t waste your money on 192KHz versions for the @pono player; they won’t sound any different than 96KHz or 88KHz versions.

The pricing on the @pono store (and other hi-rez stores) is completely nuts. Just buy the CD and rip it to lossless format.

I don't mind the odd shape. But you can’t really put the @pono in a pocket without constantly pushing the buttons unintentionally.

For people with large collections, it's rather inconvenient that the @pono software doesn’t manage the internal memory and SD card in a unified way. It's all manual. (I realize this may be due to limitations of how the Pono handles multiple removable volumes, but there are ways to deal with this.)

I bought the @pono as a high quality player/decoder for my lossless music collection. It delivers that, so I’m happy.

The rest of the @pono 'hi-rez is better' pitch is largely marketing hype.

Happily, you don’t need the @pono overpriced-but-sound-the-same, hi-rez files to get fabulous sound. Get 16-bit/44KHz and be happy.

shieber:
I don't think you will find anything at even twice the price that sounds as good. Ayre did a terrific job with the audio circuitry.

channel-1:

--- Quote from: shieber on April 11, 2015, 09:41:33 am ---I don't think you will find anything at even twice the price that sounds as good. Ayre did a terrific job with the audio circuitry.

--- End quote ---
+1

Terrific piece of gear for the price.  For example, take a look at Tyll Hertsens review over at Inner Fidelity.  He gives it a thorough work-out in his evaluation.

Also it plays every format PCM and DSD that I have in my collection... and all resolutions, at least up to 192 KHz.  I also take appreciate the  external micro-SD card slot.  No nice-to-have extra features like wi-fi or bluetooth, however. Also no built in equalization.

I primarily use it in balanced operation with my Sennheiser HD 650s, but also makes my stereo sound much better compared to feeding it from my computer + Dragonfly USB DAC. 

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