[fleasbaby]

  I'm somewhere in the middle ground, with all this.
 
I'm skeptical about the player, in terms of what I see as very poor ergonomics (screen looks like something from a device from a decade ago, and the Toblerone shape is unfriendly to jean/trouser pockets, and also unfriendly to desktop usage, due to 60° screen angle. I suspect the shape was probably entirely dictated by Ayre's circuit designers, with an 'ergonomics-be-damned' attitude).
 
 
I do like the fact that it's reportedly a zero-feedback amp stage, and I expect it to sound respectable, but I hope Ayre reconsider and revise the 5 Ω OI (perhaps this is necessary to keep the zero-feedback design stable, but I'm no electronics expert, so I don't know).   I have an uneasy feeling that the 5 Ω OI might prove to be this players Achilles heel, and it appears to betray Ayre's background of building primarily fullsize, rather than portable, gear. The PONO DAP is unlikely to deliver a high mw output, so is unlikely to suit many audiophile fullsize cans, but, broadly-speaking, the high OI is not best suited to audiophile CIEMs based on balanced armatures. So that points towards a probability of the player being best-suited to driving small DD transducers;  something which may substantially narrow the appeal of the player (at least to audiophiles in-the-know). If Ayre/PONO expect punters to splash their cash on a PONO DAP but use it with crappy i-Buds, then that would be a 'questionable' strategy. After all, is this an audiophile venture, or not?
 
 
I don't see anything innovative about the music webstore, so I couldn't really care less whether that happens or not.
 
 
But, in spite of my above reservations, and my disapproval of some decidedly-misleading marketing claims, I do believe that Neil and his team have every intention of fulfilling their hardware orders & I don't believe they would let down their hardware customers.
 
 
.

 
I wonder if RWA will release a modded version once these start getting out there, like they did with the AK100, etc...
 
I think their only mistake here is going quiet outside of the Kickstarter participants' crowd. A lot of folks were (and still are) watching from the outside...the sudden silence is unnerving. That, and they aren't circulating review units or getting folks within the inner sanctum of the audiophile community to write any in-depth reviews yet, aren't building hype in the normal forums/channels, etc. They don't play the game the way we're used to seeing it played...

 

[Mython]

   
I think their only mistake here is going quiet outside of the Kickstarter participants' crowd. A lot of folks were (and still are) watching from the outside...the sudden silence is unnerving. That, and they aren't circulating review units or getting folks within the inner sanctum of the audiophile community to write any in-depth reviews yet, aren't building hype in the normal forums/channels, etc. They don't play the game the way we're used to seeing it played...

 
Yes, it rather makes one wonder if they are isolating themselves from potential critics, out of nervousness, or if there is, perhaps, some other reason.
 
It's their prerogative, of course, but I think communicating only with existing kickstarter customers is very shortsighted, unless they have no desire to ever sell subsequent units to non-kickstarter customers

        If they're waiting until Q1/Q2 2015 to re-engage with the outside world, then the grass may have grown under their feet by then. What is the point in generating momentum, through a concerted publicity effort, only to allow that momentum to come to a grinding halt, after passing first base?
 
 

   
I wonder if RWA will release a modded version once these start getting out there, like they did with the AK100, etc...
 

 
Maybe, if the circuit can function successfully with lower OI.  But Vinnie doesn't like to get his hands dirty for less than $250-300 bucks, minimum, and very few people would be willing to pay, say, $250, for a mod for a $399 player.

 

[roadrat]

Sure sounds like a lot of horse manure to me. Hope it works out for the fools who ponied up their money on a promise with no substance other than "hey, I'm famous, give me your money and maybe you might get something in return". Hope I'm proved wrong, but I don't think so. Just my opinion.

What difference does it make if you're proven wrong? The people that backed the kickstarter are already fools as you said

 

[L0SLobos]

Sure sounds like a lot of horse manure to me. Hope it works out for the fools who ponied up their money on a promise with no substance other than "hey, I'm famous, give me your money and maybe you might get something in return". Hope I'm proved wrong, but I don't think so. Just my opinion.

 
Right now everything about this ponoplayer seems sketchy. No preview reviews of prototypes by reputed audiophile sources, vague updates...yeah I'll pass.
 
Quote:

  Ableza, it might be no harm to be a little more accurate.
 
The web shop for pre-orders for the Ponoplayer is live now   "for delivery in Q1 (Jan-Mar) 2015", and only for delivery in the United States. "Note: Your credit card is charged for the full amount when you place the preorder." 
 
Ponomusic are still saying that they will launch the Music Store in October 2014. Unfortunately only in the United States. They say they expect to expand to Canada and the UK in Q1 2015, and expand to the rest of Europe after that and go from there. They are learning - no dates given for the latter envisaged expansions. So it's "live horse, you'll get grass".

 
Its bad business to charge customer's cc on a preorder for what (as of now) remains vaporware. Even if it turns out to not be vaporware it is good practice to only charge money once the product has been shipped. The news about their music store also doesn't sound very promising. Another US only service at release is not gonna fly.

 

[tinkertailor]

This thing, like beats headphones, whether it's actually amazing or not is only going to make people more conscious of digital audio in general and could lead to really cool things, like maybe Apple or Samsung will start making better sounding devices.

 

[Ableza]

Haters gotta hate.

 

[swannie007]

Haters gotta hate.

It's not about hate, it's about being a realist.

 

[Ableza]

Then let's be realistic. As I keep saying all this suspicion and negativity is meaningless since the product does not exist yet. Let's wait and see what it is before we slam it or the company. Otherwise it's just speculation with a negative set of assumptions. That's all that is real in this thread.

 

[swannie007]

Then let's be realistic. As I keep saying all this suspicion and negativity is meaningless since the product does not exist yet. Let's wait and see what it is before we slam it or the company. Otherwise it's just speculation with a negative set of assumptions. That's all that is real in this thread.

Keep telling yourself that Skippy. One day someone else might believe you too!

 

[oneway23]

Such unwarranted nonsense in this thread for a $400 PMP.  There's almost a pathological wish for failure of this device around this place.  
Why not see how the early adopters (who will most likely be dealing with the most bugs early on) take to their players before we smother the notion that buyers might enjoy it, regardless of the number of people that purchase one?
 
Every single person on this board is a member of a community that is a niche, within a niche, within a niche.  Does that somehow hamper your enjoyment of your hobby?  Of course not!
 
I don't think they're expecting to move iPhone numbers of this thing, so I'm not quite sure why this community seems to be judging this device on such an unreasonable scale.

 

[PalJoey]

Then let's be realistic. As I keep saying all this suspicion and negativity is meaningless since the product does not exist yet. Let's wait and see what it is before we slam it or the company. Otherwise it's just speculation with a negative set of assumptions. That's all that is real in this thread.

Quite. Is it so hard to just wait and see?

 

[JacobLee89]

Now it's a question between whether I should get the Toblerone DAP, or the Fiio X1/e11 sandwich.
 
Toblerone, or sandwich...
 

 
 
Much thought
Very trick
so choice
 
Wow..

 

[Ableza]

Unless you are an early adopter willing to take a chance on an unproven product, wait.

 

[Skylab]

Unless you are an early adopter willing to take a chance on an unproven product, wait.

And thank god there are early adopters, or no new ventures would ever take off, and we wouldn't have companies like Oppo or Audeze, just to name two.

I'm looking forward to the arrival of my Pono

 

[fiascogarcia]

And thank god there are early adopters, or no new ventures would ever take off, and we wouldn't have companies like Oppo or Audeze, just to name two.

I'm looking forward to the arrival of my Pono

Looking forward to your impressions, because like many here, I hope it is a great player at a reasonable price, regardless of whether or not it is new technology or cutting edge.