As a customer of the Pono Player I can say that I am on a steep learning curve on how to use my player to its fullest potential and how to deal with my music library better but regardless of the time and effort I have had to put in and will continue to put in, overall I'm more than happy with the player! Music is my passion. I love learning about the music industry. Even the technical stuff which I normally only learn when I must, I like learning about file formats, etc. because it has to do with music.
The music to me sounds better from my Pono than it did from my iPhone. I won't even listen to m4a or MP3 quality anymore because it sounds like crap to me. I heard from I believe Jim here that Apple Lossless ALAC is the same as FLAC and to me as long as it is FLAC quality, I am happy because it sounds great out of the Pono player. I hear it has a great DAC (whatever that acronym means) I like it even more if it's 24 bit and 96 mHz or what I believe is the best 192 mHz. there are many settings in my PC and laptop and in J River's settings (like I have Itunes program also for my kids iPod but do not automatically use it when I rip CD's) and more to learn about playlists, etc BUT I can pretty easily pick a high quality CD (vs a cheap like CVS bought greatest hits cheap quality CD) and rip it into my computer in FLAC and then drag and drop it into my Pono Player so I can listen to a new album every day if I want and I have maybe 10 extra minutes. (This extra 10 minutes is always worth it to me!)
I can also go into HD Tracks or another store from JRiver's menu and buy an HD album and download it and then move it to my player. That is mostly what I wanted to be able to do when I decided to purchase the player. Now when I go out and walk each day or exercise at the gym, i have great music to listen to. I believe that the big difference in what they 'promised' and what they delivered and why a few people are annoyed is the store not reopening and the software.
Pono thought they could come out with a software that worked with all the different kinds of computers (IBM and MAC) and all the different operating systems (too many to list) and make it easier to use than JRiver is when JRiver has been in the business of selling and developing software for the music industry and more for a long long time.
But who cares, the player itself is worth the 300.00 I paid in the kickstarter program because it plays all formats even the highest Rez which is the best. Neil and all the peeps working with him ARE working on preserving the original masters and trying to make sure they are available for people to buy and most importantly, have a way to listen to them (which Pono provides) but when Apple iPhones owns the world it's such a big corporation that it is like a monopoly, and nobody said it was going to be easy but Pono does offer an alternative to iPhones, which is great.
I didn't know much at all and still don't but I trusted my favorite musicians like Elton John, Neil Young mainly, James Taylor, Jackson Browne, Tom Petty, so many more that vouched for the sound that the player puts out and the feeling that goes along with it too that it was a good product and without knowing crap, I bought it along with however many others did?
What did Pono make in the kickstarter program? 8 million? I don't remember it could have been more, but if it was 8 million that's over 25,000 pono players sold just in the kickstarter program not distributed in Frye's store, etc.
Pono may not be an ecosystem (package deal) because they are just offering the hardware (not the software) The Vault is in Beta and may never change out of Beta but I believe them that they are working on more important things like the future in streaming Hi Rez music too in addition to buying and keeping Hi rez in our own libraries. I already hear that Hi Rez music is now much more easy to purchase through for ex HD Tracks and other stores. I was told this by another customer. Availabilty is a big part. If somehow Apple can make a phone that plays Hi Rez in the near future and stream Hi Rez - although I don't want to deal with a phone call, text, tweet or anything else when I listen to my music, it would be great for some people (Like my daughter who doesn't even realise the difference in the sound because she never got to listen to favorite vinyl album like with me, once CD's took over, I never liked listened to music as much. But it is for the next generations to preserve the sound and make it available to everyone thru Apple iPhones is really what needs to be offered I believe. They could come out with a Sony deal phone or another brand but Apple would be so great. What Neil said about video has been getting better, audio has been getting worse is another point that is true! Now it is changing though I think for the better. For Ex - Apple iPhones came out with a better speaker (slightly .... ) nothing I would buy a new iPhone for but still slowly things are getting better audio wise. Plus space is not an issue anymore where it used to be a big problem. If they could come out with a phone which has a slot for memory cards, we would be set! I am saying that whatever Neil and all the people who are working with him in the industry on all the deals and contracts and all they have to do to get the industry moving quicker to bring better sound to all is exactly what I think he should be doing. There has to be choices for consumers and Pono is an alternative to an iPod for example. Good they are working on the future for music preservation and availability and like it always does, prices start high and come down. all that is more important than writing a software program. I tried the Vault and it never worked on my PC (kept spinning and spinning)- maybe it worked somewhat on a MAC/Apple laptop or desktop computer? Doesn't matter to me. I bought J River (vs wasting time with Beta software) with a 10.00 discount too.
no big deal (40.00/50.00) that's like buying 3-4 albums and the software will work forever with the license. The hardware never works forever though and After prob 30,000 players were sold probably much more - I have heard like 3 people person and moan that their player broke.
I like that Neil says he wants feedback even if it's negative! but personally, It annoys me. Between Twitter and facebook and now this community and others where I hardly read comments because face it, some people do not do like I TRY to do which is If you don't have something nice to say, then don't say anything at all. It is fine to ask a specific question and wait patiently for an answer because there are plenty of people who may not even work at JRiver or Pono or even in the music software biz, but they want to help anyhow and that is what can be great about forums. I am no expert again! I say, but the last time I made what I thought was a helpful comment on the Pono Community forum, some guy said to me "And where do you work?" something like that. I guess I sounded like a know it all plus I sounded positive not negative so maybe he thought i was a sales person for Pono LOL but truly I was trying to help but I probably confused the guy.
I will probably delete this soon though because I am writing this because I cannot sleep as I had some dental surgery which didn't work and then i had the tooth pulled yesterday and i am on a few meds right now too.
Mostly I am very happy with J River and Pono and I only hope that sooner than later, they make Hi rez more accessible to the masses and they should STOP dummying down artists music to MP3 because it sounds like crap. It might take some time for people to catch on and even that extra 5-10 minutes, most people won't take the time, so Hi Rez streaming is the way to go I believe! while still being able to have our own albums saved in hi quality digital along with my vinyl and cassettes
