The Pono Player Impressions Thread

[doctorjazz]

Haven't had problems loading music with the Pono/JRIVER player.

 

[flatmap]

I didn't go through the whole thread, but I didn't know anything about Pono running balanced. Where can I read about it? I fall into the camp that really is enjoying the Pono. Have the DX90, but haven't had time to compare them head to head. Haven't felt the need to grab my DX90, though, even though I do really like it.

There are postings about this on the Pono forum and in the later announcements on the kickstarter thread.  And you can get the wiring specification from
the 'knowledge' subforum on that site.
 
I've had very good luck running full sized headphones with the pono player -- and having the balanced option certainly helps.
 
I listen to mine pretty much equally in single ended and balanced operation.  

 

[Stonemanty]

As originaly planned I've sold my Pono (at cost) and I hope the guy who's bought it enjoys it very much.  It's a great player, especially for the money and especially for the Kickstarter price.
 
After about 100 hours of run in the bass filled in nicely and it sounded much more balanced.  I finally got round to an extensive A/B between it and my AK240 (into custom FitEar MH334 using their stock single ended cable).
 
It was very interesting, the intial switch to the AK was rather underwhelming - scary in fact - since the AK sounded so dull in comparison!  Closer listening revealed the overall quality of the AK (phew), treble and shimmer more realistic and detailed (the Pono is relatively grainy). It also has a bit of a mid-top/treble lift to these ears. Bass is almost as comparable, which I'd never have believed when it was new (don't believe in burn in eh?).
 
The main sonic characteristic of the Pono for me is what used to be called Stereo W-I-D-E on cheap amps - it seems to have a exaggerated sound stage.  This, together with the treble lift makes for a terrifically exciting sound and hence makes the AK seem a bit dull when moving over.  I think it's been voiced deliberately like this - to provide a bit of Wow!
 
Nothing wrong with that at all AFAIC.
 
It's a fantastic value and great sounding player and deserves a lot of praise and success - great job
 
I am looking forward to NY002 with great interest...   

 

[audioguru1]

After a fair bit of time I find the Pono to have really excellent treble, natural and smooth with a great musicality combined with solid bass. It does not gloss over anything though, bad recordings are reproduced with total accuracy. Good recordings however are really stellar and shine. In particular the recently released Simon and Garfunkel Concert in Central Park (24/192) is really stellar and showcases the players abilities. In comparison to the x5, the x5 has more drive, but the treble is slightly warmish and a bit opaque in absolute terms in comparison to the Pono. On the very best recordings with the x5 minor coloration shows, however its also a benefit in that it tends to be kinder to less good recordings. 
 
X5> more mid focused and slightly warm, great drive, Like the UI, Love USB DAC mode, dual cards a huge bonus, and digital out very active development by FIIO (cannot wait for the x7). Also love the all metal feel of the x5.
 
Pono> the interface leaves a bit to be desired, the touch screen feels like a resistive unit and is not responsive, the color has a shift and low resolution in comparison to the X5 (TN vs IPS screen), the volume control when using more efficient headphones (Cardas) does not have enough graduations. The transfer speed to the internal flash drive feels like usb 1.0. I wish the unit had a regular SD card slot so I could put a 512 card in. Ironically, the shape is a real unexpected bonus, it sits very nice on my desk and I can see whats playing. The sound is really stellar, very musical and natural in the treble, with solid bass, and in my opinion worth all of the ergonomic issues. I have yet to try balanced mode, but am excited to try that out. All in all the Pono performs far above its class, and is a really stellar value considering you are getting a discrete output stage and balanced mode options, all along with the ess9018km which seems to be the chip everyone is using these days. For a first generation product (running firmware 1.0.4), this this is a stellar performer and value. 
 
Headphones I used in this evaluation, Westone W4, Cardas 8413, Beyer DT880. I have yet to test the line out, but I do have a couple of good headphone amps I plan to try out.  
 
As an aside, as a long time purchaser of HD audio, I feel it worth adding the value of checking the loudness war DB archive. One of the great benefits of high res is that the files often have less compression. It is these high quality files where the Pono shines the most; like most high quality gear it is transparent and does not mask flaws. 
 
I also wanted to point out these are really pretty small differences, the X5 really is a great sounding player, at the end of the day, I could own either and not miss the other. At least from a sonics standpoint.

 

[Ableza]

Without trying to start a flame war about "break in," I have over 200 hours on my Pono and it sounds exactly the same as it did on day one. 

 

[Headmusic]

Interesting comparison to the Fiio X5, look like I WON'T invest in one of those...
 
Whilst I initially got stoned on the lovely sound of the PONO, I quickly crashed back down into post-stone depression when I heard the ANSTELL & KERN AK100 through a Synthesis Flame
valve-amp, after hearing the Pono on the same amp....!!!
 
Oy-vey! Anstell and Kern here come my ears, my ears!!!

 

[Sam Edwards]

  After a fair bit of time I find the Pono to have really excellent treble, natural and smooth with a great musicality combined with solid bass. It does not gloss over anything though, bad recordings are reproduced with total accuracy. Good recordings however are really stellar and shine. In particular the recently released Simon and Garfunkel Concert in Central Park (24/192) is really stellar and showcases the players abilities. In comparison to the x5, the x5 has more drive, but the treble is slightly warmish and a bit opaque in absolute terms in comparison to the Pono. On the very best recordings with the x5 minor coloration shows, however its also a benefit in that it tends to be kinder to less good recordings. 
 
X5> more mid focused and slightly warm, great drive, Like the UI, Love USB DAC mode, dual cards a huge bonus, and digital out very active development by FIIO (cannot wait for the x7). Also love the all metal feel of the x5.
 
Pono> the interface leaves a bit to be desired, the touch screen feels like a resistive unit and is not responsive, the color has a shift and low resolution in comparison to the X5 (TN vs IPS screen), the volume control when using more efficient headphones (Cardas) does not have enough graduations. The transfer speed to the internal flash drive feels like usb 1.0. I wish the unit had a regular SD card slot so I could put a 512 card in. Ironically, the shape is a real unexpected bonus, it sits very nice on my desk and I can see whats playing. The sound is really stellar, very musical and natural in the treble, with solid bass, and in my opinion worth all of the ergonomic issues. I have yet to try balanced mode, but am excited to try that out. All in all the Pono performs far above its class, and is a really stellar value considering you are getting a discrete output stage and balanced mode options, all along with the ess9018km which seems to be the chip everyone is using these days. For a first generation product (running firmware 1.0.4), this this is a stellar performer and value. 
 
Headphones I used in this evaluation, Westone W4, Cardas 8413, Beyer DT880. I have yet to test the line out, but I do have a couple of good headphone amps I plan to try out.  
 
As an aside, as a long time purchaser of HD audio, I feel it worth adding the value of checking the loudness war DB archive. One of the great benefits of high res is that the files often have less compression. It is these high quality files where the Pono shines the most; like most high quality gear it is transparent and does not mask flaws. 
 
I also wanted to point out these are really pretty small differences, the X5 really is a great sounding player, at the end of the day, I could own either and not miss the other. At least from a sonics standpoint.

Thanks for giving it a thoughtful listen.

 

[Sam Edwards]

I will say that listening to the Pono with the Roxanne I really don't feel like I'm missing anything. Yeah, if I switch to the Hugo I can hear a difference. But at 5x the price against a LE player the Pono is great. If you got one of the original players for $200 you absolutely scored. Even an AK120, which is very well respected vis a vis the newer units, you really have to be A/B to come up with a preference. 
All this really means is that there are far greater differences to be had in the transducer end of the chain than in the device. I'd way rather listen to the Pono with great headphones than an AK240 or Hugo with mediocre cans. I have higher end devices but the law of diminishing returns is huge with DAP's. Headphones keep getting better by larger jumps with investment.

 

[BRCMRGN]

To get the best out of the Pono, try the balanced mode. Fortunately, the Sony XBA-Z5 YABC (yet another balanced connector) cable is the same as the Pono YABC. A few (3) adapter and IEM cables later (4-pin XLR, 2-pin, MMCX), I can listen to the Pono in balanced using a good portion of my collection.  

 

[doctorjazz]

Has anyone collected a list of balanced cables for Pono, which headphones work with them, and where they are available? Lots of work, I know, but would be really helpful (a link to this information would be just as good).

 

[olddude]

My older son gave me a Pono for Xmas out of the blue.  After my shock I tried it out.  It's easily better than my Fiio X1 (should be, at the price), but with my Fiio X5 I'm not so sure.  I've had the X5 for nearly a year, so whether or not you believe in burn-in it should be where it's gonna be, sound-wise.  I've only got a few hours on the Pono so far.  Nice wide soundstage, tons of detail, good bass, slightly harsh trebles.  Mids I'm still trying to figure out.  It's very lively with my Altone200s, smoother with the Fidue A83s.  The thing is not a joke.
 
As to the computer interface, not very intuitive.  Once I figured out to delete all the music it auto-installed from my Mac, I simply pulled out my X1 64gb mSD card and dragged and dropped the files to the desktop and then loaded them into the program.  Then synced them all to the device.  Everything works fine.
 
If anyone out there has a Mac, do you know where the files are being stored on the Mac once you load up the program?  I've done a search and so far haven't found them.  
 
Edit- Looks like wherever you keep the music files is where they are.  I have a folder called Pono Music on the desktop and that is where the transfers come from when I sync.  It seems that they aren't being sent elsewhere in the Library to be stored.  I did find, in Documents, the Pono backup docs, but those are tiny.  Was curious if I was ending up with double files, but seems not to be the case.

 

[doctorjazz]

Haven't gotten around to head to head comparisons, but, to my ears, sounds better than my DX90, which I really like. I have to do the head to head, sometimes it is easy to get fooled,, as I think the Pono is more pronounced in the highs, which can initially make one feel it is more "open". I got fooled this way with the Cayin C5 amp, which is a nice little inexpensive headphone amp. I already had the ALO National, and at first, it replaced it, listened to it a lot, and it is an enjoyable little gadget. Then, out of curiouslty, I listened closer, and I noted there was a "grain" in the Cayin that wasn't present in the ALO, and the ALO did the highs just as well, but they weren't as "out there" as on the Cayin. But, having said that, so far been listening to the Pono much more than the DX90. One of these days I'll come up with the time to do that head to head comparison. Haven't got experience with the Fiio X1, do have the X3, like both the DX90 and Pono better (but, again, no recent head to head listening). Just my take, of course...

 

[olddude]

"I think the Pono is more pronounced in the highs, which can initially make one feel it is more "open"
 
That's my take on it at this point, but the bass is also strong and the mids seem ok. There seems to be detail all over the place.

 

[rickhawk22]

A nice review of the Pono Player, comparing it side by side with the Sony NWZ-ZX1 and A&K120 II.
http://www.digitalaudioreview.net/2014/12/ponoplayer-is-a-wonderful-sounding-dap-for-the-money/

 

[olddude]

Nice review.  I'm using a Fiio X5 and an X1 and the Pono is certainly giving the X5 a run for its money (it's much better than the X1, but for the price it should be)
 
I just took some of my DSDs and ran them through Audirvana Plus and then XLD (I'm on a Mac) and made them into 24/176.4 FLACs so I could listen to them on the Pono.   They sound very good indeed.  This device seems to really like hi-res material even more than 16/44.  Especially well-mastered hi-res.  My Pet Sounds DSD is shining on the Pono.