[audionewbi]

Pono uses cap if I remember correctly, they need to be broken into.

I should have gotten the Norah Jones edition.

 

[Sound Eq]

   
I completely agree. As great as I think it is I would not recommend this player to any mainstream users because you need different mindset and be willing to do some work (convert files to wav and be organized with how you store them on you Tera ready SD cards, etc). But for those of us who want the best SQ possible in smallest possible form factor with incredible battery life Tera is as good as it gets. Certainly the most incredible device I have purchased during my 30 or so years of playing around with various advanced tech gadgets. And best money I have ever spent on any hobby so far.

i can believe the tera player is that great is better than the ak240 and, how do u navigate the albums

 

[zorntel]

  One thing I should have said is that this was simply connecting the pono to the mac via a usb cable.  I bet if you take the microsd out, put it in a reader you could probably drop files directly onto it.  I'll test that later tonight when I have the appropriate adapter.  I was hoping to set up a couple of 128gb microSD's this way for separate "playlists".  In the end I guess I could set up the playlists in jriver and then have them sync to the various cards.  syncing is very configurable in the jriver app.

Ok...scratch that...good news...the pono and untitled extra MicroSD card just showed up in the finder...don't know how easily this will work on a windoz machine however.
 
I believe you need to be running JRiver and be in music transfer mode on the pono for this to happen.  Otherwise my mac is not recognizing the device.
 
I was able to manually transfer files from the pono to the finder and more importantly put files from the computer onto the pono.  When I excited music transfer mode on the pono these transferred files showed up on the pono and play great. This is great...much more practical than a jriver transfer workflow...unless you already use jriver as your main music management software.
 
Also of note I transferred the Herbie Hancock  albums that came with my signature pono to my computer (they were 24/96 files) and they play fine from the hard drive using Audirvana.
 
Even weirder...while in music transfer mode...so the pono and untitled microSD card show up in the finder...I can drag files from the pono to the Audirvana playlist and play them through my computer.  Thus the pono will work just like an external hard drive.

 

[tgdinamo]

 
i can believe the tera player is that great is better than the ak240 and, how do u navigate the albums

Combination of middle button pressed together with other buttons allows you to navigate artists (ie on top level) and albums (within artists).
And of course single button presses navigate songs within current album or volume up/down. It's very easy to use.
However, let's move further conversation to the Tera thread, or you can PM me so we don't further distract focus from Pono player.

 

[roadrat]

  Ok...scratch that...good news...the pono and untitled extra MicroSD card just showed up in the finder...don't know how easily this will work on a windoz machine however.
 
I believe you need to be running JRiver and be in music transfer mode on the pono for this to happen.  Otherwise my mac is not recognizing the device.
 
I was able to manually transfer files from the pono to the finder and more importantly put files from the computer onto the pono.  When I excited music transfer mode on the pono these transferred files showed up on the pono and play great. This is great...much more practical than a jriver transfer workflow...unless you already use jriver as your main music management software.
 
Also of note I transferred the Herbie Hancock  albums that came with my signature pono to my computer (they were 24/96 files) and they play fine from the hard drive using Audirvana.
 
Even weirder...while in music transfer mode...so the pono and untitled microSD card show up in the finder...I can drag files from the pono to the Audirvana playlist and play them through my computer.  Thus the pono will work just like an external hard drive.

 
Thanks!!  Mine is stuck in Louisville, KY in customs

 

[PalJoey]

Looking forward to a Windows user's experience with the player too.

 

[musicday]

People are funny:
Why do I need DSD or Flac if WAV on Tera sounds perfect for me?
And don't forget that i been listening to Tera Player for nearly two years,without selling it..All other gadgets I had over years i sold as they were not great or got bored with.

 

[zorntel]

  Great quickie review.  Keep your thoughts coming!
 

Ok...last but not least onto mobile rig testing of the pono.  This is a real world test...I'm in a coffee shop.
 
Up until now my mobile rig consisted of a macbook pro with Audirvana 1.5 driving a Audioquest Dragonfly 24/96 DAC and a Ray Samuels Hornet amp driving Shure SE535's all connected with Moon Audio Silver Dragon cables (both custom for the Shure's and also a short run to go between the DAC and amp).  The Dragonfly was cheap and convenient (small) but does not give the sound performance of the Meridian Explorer I use on my home computer.  Note my earlier post about comparing the pono/ayre to the meridian using a little dot MK9 with Audeze LCD-2s
 
So the comparison in this case is between:
 
1. macbook pro/Audirvana 1.5 with a Audioquest Dragonfly 24/96 DAC and a Ray Samuels Hornet amp driving Shure SE535's all connected with Moon Audio Silver Dragon cables.
2. pono/ayre with a Ray Samuels Hornet amp driving Shure SE535's all connected with Moon Audio Silver Dragon cables.
3. pono-ayre  driving Shure SE535's all connected with Moon Audio Silver Dragon cables.
 
I'm going to use three audio files for testing.  
 
1. Walk Across the Rooftops from The Blue Nile...24/96 rip of original UK vinyl made with my Lynx Hilo AD/DA from my Rega RP6 processed through my Cary SLP98 tube preamp.
2. Herbie Hancock "Chameleon" from Headhunter...this was a 24/96 file provided with my HH Signature pono.
3. Dick Hyman Motet Swing from Reference recordings (24/176)
 
I did my best to adjust volume to equivalent levels.
 
Blue Nile
-compared to the audioquest the pono/ayre has a much broader sound stage.  the bass is much more detailed.
-the hornet amp really helps the bass in my  opinion...its fuller directly from the pono/ayre, but its better detailed and has better space around the drums going through the hornet amp.
-I would choose the pono/ayre in a second over the dragonfly with or without the hornet.
 
HH Chameleon
-no contest between the pono/ayre and the dragonfly...drums are real through the pono/ayre...not as phat...real...detailed...tight...the drum/bass solo is outstandingly groovy...damn...the 70's!...I grew up with this tune performed by Maynard Ferguson...but herbie takes the day.
-once again the hornet does a better job than the pono/ayre amp...more detail...the pono/ayre just has more thud...I suppose the hip hop crowd will probably like that sound...but I know what drums and bass actually sound like...and the pono/ayre / hornet gets it best...but it should for an extra $400...the pono/ayre by itself is completely listenable however...much better than the dragonfly.
 
Dick Hyman
-this is a light atmospheric piano centered track...with an acoustic small big band...recorded at 24/176 by Dr. Johnson...recording quality doesn't get any better
-the pono/ayre with hornet is really ectasy on this track...I feel like I'm playing my playing my trombone in the gig...completely natural sound stage...the piano is real...I can tell the type of mute on the trumpet.  The decay on the snare rattles is right on the pono/ayre compared to the dragonfly.
-note on this file Audirvana has to downsample because the track is 24/176 and the DAC is only 24/96.
 
Thus, I'd say the pono is a big improvement over my dragonfly...I also like having a stand alone music rig that is independent of my laptop.

 

[zorntel]

  I believe you need to be running JRiver and be in music transfer mode on the pono for this to happen.  Otherwise my mac is not recognizing the device.
 

One last correction.  You do not need to be in JRIver to access the pono and microSD card on the mac...you just need to be in music transfer mode on the pono.  Thus connect the mac to the pono, when it asks put it in music transfer mode and the pono and microSD show up in the finder.  Drag drop do not work...but you can copy files to and from the pono media with no problem.  You can even play files on the pono on the computer through a 3rd party app like Audirvana.  No Jriver necessary.

 

[zorntel]

  zorntel, there should be a Micro SD in the case with your music. 
 
I was pleasantly surprised by the packaging of the Signature editions (mines a Pearl Jam). Really nice. The UI isn't as ropey as I expected either. The Ponomusic software seems really comprehensive too. 
 
Plugged mine into my Mac and dropped some high res FLACs of my favourite music over for a listen with B&W P7.
 
First impression was that it sounds good. Transparent, detailed and dynamic with a lot of air around instruments. I expected it to sound warmer for some reason.
 
I then, perhaps unfairly, spent half an hour comparing Pono to my twice-the-price Sony ZX1. This revealed Pono's shortcomings. The air around instruments I mentioned is perhaps a little too much, everything sounds more defined on the Sony. Pono sounds looser, most noticeably in the bass department. Pono is less subtle and more unforgiving for it. The ZX1 is more focused, more musical and gets the best out of my P7s.
 
Not a revolution in sound then, but a decent enough $300-400 DAP.

 
I'm guessing you connected your p7's directly to the Pono and the ZX1?  My experience so far is that the biggest limitation in the pono may be the amp...at least for realism.  Can you bypass the amp on ZX1 and put it through an outboard amp?  My earlier comments were using an external tube amp...thus my meridian to pono/ayre comparison was really about the ayre DAC vs the meridian DAC...probably not the way a lot of people will use it...but the way I will likely use it 95% of the time either on the road or at home.

 

[PalJoey]

  One last correction.  You do not need to be in JRIver to access the pono and microSD card on the mac...you just need to be in music transfer mode on the pono.  Thus connect the mac to the pono, when it asks put it in music transfer mode and the pono and microSD show up in the finder.  Drag drop do not work...but you can copy files to and from the pono media with no problem.  You can even play files on the pono on the computer through a 3rd party app like Audirvana.  No Jriver necessary.

That is worth knowing. I assume the same applies to Windows Explorer. I don't really want to install JRiver unless I need to.
 
Now to wait 'til the store starts offering downloads. I saw an album of rarities ('Quest') on the Pono site by The Nits that hasn't been available on sale in decades, as it was only available as part of a box set, and was never sold as a separate item. That may be my first purchase! 

 

[zorntel]

  That is worth knowing. I assume the same applies to Windows Explorer. I don't really want to install JRiver unless I need to.
 

Hard to say...windoz is much more driver dependent than the mac.  If the pono driver is supplied for windoz through Jriver...then you will likely have to install it.  You may not have to run it however. Trial and error.  

 

[Bones13]

   
Thanks!!  Mine is stuck in Louisville, KY in customs

Mine too 

 

[PalJoey]

  Hard to say...windoz is much more driver dependent than the mac.  If the pono driver is supplied for windoz through Jriver...then you will likely have to install it.  You may not have to run it however. Trial and error.  

What I meant was that, once any necessary drivers were installed, you could load the Pono player via Windows Explorer instead of installing yet another media player.

 

[Super Pang]

I'm sure you'll be able to drag and drop in windows as well if Pono is in transfer mode.