[bernardperu]

Has anyone tested the Focal Utopias with the PONO Player? Will it sound noticeable better than the Elears? (I have pono + Elear in balanced mode)
 
I know it is not the best set-up, but I only listen to headphones when I am not at home and portability is a must.
 
I often sit and listen consciously while I am outside my home.
 
Thanks!

 

[FFBookman]

I miss my pono store and community.
Pono player still playing well although i worry about that minijack.  I've been burning through cheap minijack cables. i have to get a balanced rig... need new employment...

 

[doctorjazz]

Have not tested Pono and Utopia, but I do think Pono and Elears is a really good combo (used it single ended).

 

[ganzosrevenge]

I just wanted to give a little update on my HD700 Balanced / PONO "ecosystem."  Before anyone says that I'm polluting my "ecosystem" by using HD700s (as HD700s seem to have a notorious 7k treble spike), there's something to be said for why I wound up being someone who is still enamored with this combo long after the PONO fanfare has waned a bit and the HD700 has become the Grado-cum-posterchild for "burning headphones at the stake".  I've found that because the PONO is dead neutral (ie: not dark / bassy nor particularly bright), it melds well with the HD700 and a balanced Black Dragon cable.  The Balanced cable, combined with PONO's balanced mode, helps to send more firepower up to the headphones; single-ended the HD700s are a bit hard for the PONO to power at anything less than 45 to 50% volume.  The copper (and much thicker copper AWG at that) helps tame the treble a bit; the stock SPC cable is a bit too strident for long-term listening.  Would I say it's a "reference" setup end to end (ie: if I had HD800 instead)? No.  It's still got a bit of a bass-oriented mindset, and it still has its "SennHammer" tonality, but being able to get a fully immersive experience at 25 to 30% instead of 45 to 55% (and a fuller, fatter, richer, yet not flubby or bassy experience) is something that I'm truly enjoying.  
 
2-plus years with the PONO and the only way I would replace my PONO is with another PONO, or with a PONO2 (if one ever comes out, and assuming it's as good as this PONO)

 

[barondla]

@ganzosrevenge, one of my headphones is the Sennheiser HD600. Would love to hear the HD700. The pono has a very smooth high frequency response. Adding the Ayre anti ringing filter doesn't hurt either.

I have heard many components demonstrate a synergy together, that is greater than anyone would have guessed. It is always fun to find these combinations. It can also buy us a lot more performance than one would expect.

I have 2 Pono Players. If something happened to one, another Pono would be on the way. Nothing close sonically.

 

[drew911d]

GR8Desire, you really should spend some time listening. God, I hate this typing mech.... anyway, you have posted **** that some great ole dudes said so long ago. Who really gives a **** what they did 80 years ago? You spout it as if it's bible... I spent much thousands developing car sound finding that real sound is made from the source. Not from an eq. Anytime an eq was needed it was a shortcoming of the source. Never overcoming the shorctomings of the source. It just muddied the original true sound. I know the best sound is achieavable only when the source is not hampered. Christ, why does any eclipse car head deck of high caliber have no eq? That's what finally did it for me and finally found sound perfection. You can say a lot, but you have nothing to make it real. Pono sound is real. I compared to sony zx2 and there is where you want or need your eq. It doesn't sound like real life, like the cheap ass pono player does. That's what I want. F'n real life sound. I'll take pono sound any day. You don't know what you're talking about.

 

[drew911d]

I've heard the HD 700 with my pono. This is se, not balanced. I really liked the 700. Lots of crisp detail. But, it lacked extension, both low and especially high freq. Another source might have a different result. With the same source I've heard better...

 

[drew911d]

HD needs more power i've heard. Another possibility is the audeze lx2 or better. I'dlove to try those.

 

[drew911d]

But, I have to say. I use Noble Audio K10 as my primary iem. I know I have a lot to try as different sources. But damn! These Mofos are Badass!

 

[drew911d]

If'n you guys are in AZ and wanna do a meet.?

 

[drew911d]

I'm reviewing posts and I find the talk of Pure sound. That's what I mean. Pono output is pure. Just like in the days of my car audio contest days. Any time I needed any processing of any kind it just didn't sound real. My reference is eclipse 8200 mkii. Nothing sounds better. I've tried many,and many more. That's what I use in my car now. A pure source, no eq. This is the analogy of pono. Real sound, no eq..

 

[thefitz]

I deleted everything on my Pono and started re-uploading stuff to it. For some reason, my uploads keep "dying" when I'm uploading to the internal storage - it uploads at a slow speed, like 355kbs, and eventually just stops. When I continue where it left off, it's fine, and then stops again. Thoughts?

 

[doctorjazz]

I had the same problem with the internal memory. Wound up getting another one when Fry's had one at a very good discount price. I think it's better now, though I mostly use the newer one.

 

[barondla]

Could be a problem with your player. Have seen others with the slow memory ailment. In those cases I thought it would finish loading eventually. Do the memory cards still work properly? If so just buy a 200 or 250GB card and forget the small 64GB memory. It may be too late now but many people put favorite albums on internal and never change them out. If Pono needs repair you will have to contact them for instructions. Hope this helps

 

[drew911d]

I had a similar problem when trying to load near full capacity. Actually I did have near full capacity loaded once, then I cleaned up my list and tried reloading the same amount. Couldn't get it to load as much the second time. Had to keep about 5 GB free for it to load...

I also had a problem with one file the pono player didn't like. It was fine in windows though. Try load half the files at a time, then half of the remaining files and so on.