[TheTrace]

  The transfer speed of the Pono is empirically slow, regardless of whether one uses the software or sideloads...I love my Pono to tears, but there's just no getting around that fact...
 
That said, it certainly shouldn't be THAT slow, however, I have my doubts that it is the Pono in this case.
I fear that you'll be constantly disappointed should you continue to RMA and replace.
 
I'd look a bit closer at the PC you are using...Are your drivers up to date?  Have you tried another cable?  Is your PC limiting your ports as some sort of "power-saving" feature?

I've tried multiple cables, antivirus scan, ccleaner, defragmenting my computer, using the windows repair drive option (not useful, once again, desperate), updating drivers.. nothing.
 
An interesting experiment was also trying to go into the device manager options in windows, right click the Pono drive, go to the tab that says Policies and opting for "Better performance". The transfer rate would skyrocket really high, like I'm talking 20 MB/s type of speed and higher. It honestly seemed as if that was the fastest my Pono had ever had music loaded to it.. until it would drop to 0. In this case it sometimes comes back up to maybe 1 or 2 MB/s for a few seconds then drops back down to 0 and repeats this process as the projected wait time grows. With this I can maybe transfer an album after a few going on 10 minutes. Large downloads are not going to happen, when it gets stuck at 0 kb/s it can terminate the transfer and say the drive is no longer connected, the files are no longer there, windows excuses etc. 
 
For those of you who have operational players and maybe would like to experiment with that, that may be a way to speed up transfers for you unless I'm overlooking any unknown repercussions from this.

 

[oneway23]

  I've tried multiple cables, antivirus scan, ccleaner, defragmenting my computer, using the windows repair drive option (not useful, once again, desperate), updating drivers.. nothing.

 
Damn...I'm sorry...that's really frustrating.

 

[H20Fidelity]

After a couple of weeks without my Pono I finally got it back from repairs today. It still has the same issue I sent it in for, extremely slow transfer rate. It's projecting over 2 days of syncing for 51 gb..

Anyone else have a similar issue in the past or know of a fix for this?

My guess is its simply not been repaired properly, if at all. I would become a little verbal asking for replacement. Especially considering you've tried another computer. Providing you have tried different cables. (sorry, just had to mention that on the off chance)

 

[rickhawk22]

I assume you've shut down all antimalware and antivirus programs on the computers?  The way it varies, just points to some software throttling the transfer speeds for some reason.

 

[doctorjazz]

The cable may be an issue, I just sent my CEntrance M8 back for misbehaving, turned out the problem was the cable they supplied (just got back to me, haven't actually tested it out myself, but that's what they told me).

 

[TheTrace]

@richhawk22 I didn't try that actually. I gave it a try after your suggestion though, it doesn't seem to make a difference. The transfer just constantly seems to stall.

I just got off the phone with a representative, and I was vocal about a replacement, apparently they don't do those. They only repair the units and offered another repair which he referred to as "swapping the board out." I found it most interesting when I'm explaining how one FLAC album takes 20 minutes he tried to convince me that's normal, or any other rate I was giving him.

So my only option is to take another repair offer which is supposed to be more thorough this time, after just getting it back.

At this point if I knew of anything that matched Pono's sound quality around equal price point I'd be investing towards that.

 

[doctorjazz]

I know it's upsetting to do all these returns (believe, me, I KNOW), but swapping out the board sounds to me like basically getting a new Pono (with the old case), not so bad...

 

[flatmap]

I just got off the phone with a representative, and I was vocal about a replacement, apparently they don't do those. They only repair the units and offered another repair which he referred to as "swapping the board out." I found it most interesting when I'm explaining how one FLAC album takes 20 minutes he tried to convince me that's normal, or any other rate I was giving him.

Revolting.  Suggest sending this account to Neil Young with subject line: "Pono Customer Service says 20 minutes is normal time required to load one album to Pono Player"  

 

[rickhawk22]

@richhawk22 I didn't try that actually. I gave it a try after your suggestion though, it doesn't seem to make a difference. The transfer just constantly seems to stall.

I just got off the phone with a representative, and I was vocal about a replacement, apparently they don't do those. They only repair the units and offered another repair which he referred to as "swapping the board out." I found it most interesting when I'm explaining how one FLAC album takes 20 minutes he tried to convince me that's normal, or any other rate I was giving him.

So my only option is to take another repair offer which is supposed to be more thorough this time, after just getting it back.

At this point if I knew of anything that matched Pono's sound quality around equal price point I'd be investing towards that.

I'd like to try one more thing for me.  go to start, run.  Type in msconfig and hit enter.  Once the msconfig menu pops up, choose diagnostic startup, and hit ok.  It will take a minute, but it should tell you to reboot your computer.  Once your back up, try and transfer files via windows explorer.  I get about 3.6-4.2MB copy speeds myself.  See what you get.  This will rule out any application causing this issue. 
Once your finished testing, to get back to normal, run msconfig again, and choose normal startup and reboot once again.

 

[rickhawk22]

I know it's upsetting to do all these returns (believe, me, I KNOW), but swapping out the board sounds to me like basically getting a new Pono (with the old case), not so bad...

I agree, especially if yours is a kickstarter special edition, replacing the board is basically replacing the whole thing minus the enclosure. 

 

[doctorjazz]

Is it different with later versions?

 

[rickhawk22]

Is it different with later versions?

No, sorry, I didn't explain that as well as hoped.  Meaning its especially important if you have a special edition, as they probably don't have extra enclosures, like the Special Editions, that are numbered on the case, let alone make one offs....it would be easier to just replace the boards in those.  If you have a yellow kickstarter pono, then they would probably be more willing to replace the whole item.

 

[TheTrace]

I'd like to try one more thing for me.  go to start, run.  Type in msconfig and hit enter.  Once the msconfig menu pops up, choose diagnostic startup, and hit ok.  It will take a minute, but it should tell you to reboot your computer.  Once your back up, try and transfer files via windows explorer.  I get about 3.6-4.2MB copy speeds myself.  See what you get.  This will rule out any application causing this issue. 
Once your finished testing, to get back to normal, run msconfig again, and choose normal startup and reboot once again.

I actually did end up trying your method and no dice. If it was an application conflict I have a feeling that method would have worked, it was definitely something with the Pono's board, drive, etc. I ended up sending the unit back for the internals swap.

Has anyone tried the "Better performance" option under drive policies in windows?

 

[sfoclt]

No, but Fidelizer seems to be a popular choice:
http://www.fidelizer-audio.com/

 

[AcidCitrus]

Hi,
 
I really like my Pono (Herbie Hanckock (248/398). I use it with a Sennheiser HD600. I was excited about the Revealer and just tried it out with Heart of Gold. I couldn't hear a difference! Startled, I created a Revealer sampling of Misery/Dave's True Story (HDTracks) that is in 96/24 format, and I also could NOT hear a difference. Shocked! Edit: upon extensive non-blind listening I have convinced myself that there is a subtle difference in the bass; not dramatic, but noticeable, between mp3 and 96.
 
I DO hear a difference when I use balanced cables. In my opinion not necessarily better, but definitely different.
I DO hear a difference between my Schiit Lyr2/BitFrost and the Pono, and the Pono holds up well, but they are different.
 
I am curious to hear others' impressions. I am wondering if the Revealer is working correctly on my Pono? I wonder if my ears are shot...
 
Thanks.