[Ableza]

That's what I feared. So this is basically a "clinical" sounding DAC from Ayre. I really wish they would add EQ functionality in a future firmware update, or this may be very well going on eBay.

I also am hoping for EQ in the future.  It really needs help with some IEMs.

 

[jallen89]

 

 


I finally received my LE Elton John Pono. I really like it. The free Neil Young song from Harvest sounds great and so do the 2 Elton John albums (GBYBR and The Diving Board) that i received. I hate the fact that when using the Pono program that the Pono internal memory and SD card have to be loaded with music separately. Anyone know if it is possible to merge them somehow? Also the transfer is so slow, 2.2mbps is ridiculous. I'm surprised it isn't USB 3.0 compatible. I really wish that Australia let them be sent in the proper bamboo box. instead i get a cheap cardboard box.

 

[flatmap]

 
 
[...]

I finally received my LE Elton John Pono. I really like it. The free Neil Young song from Harvest sounds great and so do the 2 Elton John albums (GBYBR and The Diving Board) that i received. I hate the fact that when using the Pono program that the Pono internal memory and SD card have to be loaded with music separately. Anyone know if it is possible to merge them somehow? Also the transfer is so slow, 2.2mbps is ridiculous. I'm surprised it isn't USB 3.0 compatible. I really wish that Australia let them be sent in the proper bamboo box. instead i get a cheap cardboard box.

Thanks for the photos, jallen89.  Just curious.... is bamboo considered an endangered species in Australia?
Do you know why it is banned?

 

[flatmap]

Apologies if this has already been covered, but any particular recommendations for burning in? I received my player last week and find it bright, even with music that is 24/88 and above and doesn't sound bright with other DACs. Should pink or white noise be used, or just whatever music I have? Should the player be given a chance to rest or run straight through on shuffle for a few days?

Given my experience, I would give it at least a few weeks of normal use and perhaps longer.
I've never tried pink noise, but philosophically am in favor of using exactly the 
same sources as you use for actual listening.
 
May I ask what headphones are you using?  I never found it bright with my HD 650s,
although "bright" is about the last thing you'd expect with those headphones.  With
those I liked the player A LOT from day one.  For whatever reason, I did not like the sound
the first time I paired it with my more revealing AKG K-702 headphones.  But a few weeks
down the road I tried them again and now think they are very nice.
 
I use my player between 3-6 hours every day, just to give an idea for amount of 
usage.  Of course, YMMV.

 

[oneway23]

Also the transfer is so slow, 2.2mbps is ridiculous. I'm surprised it isn't USB 3.0 compatible. I really wish that Australia let them be sent in the proper bamboo box. instead i get a cheap cardboard box.

 
Sideload the player from your OS's file manger...drop the software for the time being; hassle-free and much faster.

 

[jallen89]

Thanks for the photos, jallen89.  Just curious.... is bamboo considered an endangered species in Australia?
Do you know why it is banned?

I actually have no idea sorry. It's just annoying. The Pono deserves a nicer box than a cheap card board box.

 

[jallen89]

Sideload the player from your OS's file manger...drop the software for the time being; hassle-free and much faster.

Yeah I have done it that way now. It's a bit quicker but no where near as quick as USB 3.0. It's very disappointing.

 

[audionuta]

  I also am hoping for EQ in the future.  It really needs help with some IEMs.

 
Totally agree with maclenltd and Ableza
+1 in hoping for EQ in a firmware update soon.
We need to be able to adjust for our cans / tastes. Seems a glaring and very annoying omission 

 

[Musickiks]

The whole balanced thing is kind of scaring me a bit, can anyone give me the run down of exactly what I need to make my HD 600's (single-ended) balanced? and where do I get it/the cables? I know someone said something about Moon Audio, but is there not something at Guitar Center or something I can purchase?

In other news...I honestly can't get over how good this sounds through monitors (KRK Rokit 5's). (Still sounds bad through my headphones, need to try the balanced option and get the cables for it)

Everything is so much more rich and intimate/real/immediate/analog'ish. I almost can't explain it. It does sound more like the studio, it's very strange. Is anyone else listening through monitors and getting the same experience?

I had to stop listening normally and start A'Bing again to make sure I wasn't over-thinking it and imagining the differences. Because it sounded so good.

I'll say it again, I honestly sometimes get creeped out about how real the drums sound. I'm not crazy. Most of what I do is sit and critique my band's mixes compared to bands I love, and that's for years now and I understand a good sound and good drum sound in particular and this player is blowing me away.

It's just more real man, like the studio. I can't explain it. If that's what Young set out to do then he's done it. To me it's not "clinical" sounding at all, quite the opposite. Though this is through monitors. Which is interesting to me, as in Young's little spiel that comes with the player he almost seems to recommend speakers over headphones. And it's a night and day difference for me when using monitors compared to headphones (HD 600's single ended).
 

Man...Day 4 and I am so damn pleased with this player. Are all other DAC/DAP's just like this?

 

[flatmap]

  The whole balanced thing is kind of scaring me a bit, can anyone give me the run down of exactly what I need to make my HD 600's (single-ended) balanced? and where do I get it/the cables? I know someone said something about Moon Audio, but is there not something at Guitar Center or something I can purchase?

Unfortunately, there is no way to make use of your current HD 600 cable.  It's intrinsically singled ended and, alas, there is no adapter 
that can change this.
 
So if you decide to go balanced you need a new cable entirely.  I believe that FastAndBulbous is checking on whether he can repost the spec for the balanced
wiring.  You can get it directly from the Pono Community forum in the "knowledge" subforum.
 
Another thought.  Take the audio line out from the pono into your airhead amp.  If the airhead has high vs. low gain, select high
and then plug your singled ended HD 600s into the airhead.  Then test out the pono->amp->HD600 combination and see if you like what you hear. 

 

[BRCMRGN]

I purchased a balanced XLR to PONO adapter cable from Moon Audio and have been trying out various full-size headphones with the PONO in balanced mode. HD700 drives very easily with the PONO. The Alpha Dog need the volume turned up a bit, but not much. Haven't heard any hint of the PONO struggling to provide enough power. Tomorrow, I'll have to try the HD800.

 

[Headmusic]

I just thought I'd chip in here with my impressions. First up and am completely satisfied with the sound quality on this thing. I always went for the best sounding DAP, and about 8 years ago when I had the opportunity to get an ipod, I chose a Zen Vision:M over it..I have used the Zune, the Zune software on my Nokia 925 phone and recently the Kogan 8 gig mp4 player, the Pono absolutely smashes them out of the park!
 
My observations are thus:
 
1. The sound is amazing. Spacious, clear and 'natural', no need for EQ'ing although some mixes sound better than other.
2. The interface/Gui is clunky, it gets tricky when you have to scroll through many albums as the touch screen struggles with finger response due to it's size.
3. The Pono sounds FANTASTIC with my Sennheiser MX460 buds, never realise those cheap $30 buds could sound so amazing! LOL!
4. The Pono sound lovely with my AKG Q701's although it needs an amp to power them properly, I use a Fiio E12, and it improves the all-round sound.
5. It sounds FANTASTIC in my car stereo, way better than both the CD player AND mp3/USB player, in fact I never thought my car stereo could sound so
magnificent. The sound stage just opens right out, it's incredible, I don't know how the hell it does it!
6. Via my Yamaha RX-V777 surround amp, I have to go in via analog RCA, the sound floor is diminshed and it almost needs a pre-amp...
7. The battery life seems flaky, not sure if the Pono came fully charged
8. It gets warm..that could be a drawback down the line, it really warms up, Ayre seem to have packed in a fair amount of electronic for a little device..
 
All up I must say Neil Young has created a winner, I see the unit becoming a boutique device, hopefully the next iteration has a better build quality ala the Fiio X5,,I look forward to
the Pono Headphones to arrive on the market, at thins point it may be the best under$500 DAP on the market (I don't have the ibass, Fiio X5 or the new Sony Walkman, so cant really compare,
but as an avid rock music fan and listener, this thing just sound remarkable to these ears, all sound seem to be 'in place'!)

 

[Sam Edwards]

I just broke in my Pono for about 18 hours and I have to say after a quick listen it's pretty great. I also compared briefly to the Hugo, and AK120 using UERM's. In this case quality does scale with expense. But it would be a mistake to make too much of it. I would say that the Hugo is not twice as good, and cost about five times more (I got the Patti Smith LE model). The AK120 is somewhere in between, both in price and performance. 
Now, as an amateur musician, there are insights to be had from spending more. It's easier to hear what two singers are each singing when listening to two part harmonies, like on the Inside Llewyn Davis Soundtrack. But I also think Neil Young would have been crazy to try to introduce the world to high quality playback with a device that cost over $2k.
I consider the Pono a great success. Yes you can spend more and get more details coming out of the noise floor. But spending more is certainly only for the committed. Could I personally live with the Pono as my only high res music player? Probably not. But as an introduction it's great. 
A minor complaint is that the metal finish on the LE players is really easy to scratch. It's not a problem that I expect will be widespread unless they bring back those models. 

 

[Ableza]

FOLLOW UP:
 
As promised, here's a follow up to my initial impression of the Pono after using it fairly extensively for a few weeks.  My Pono SE arrived on November 7 and I've been using it ever since as my portable music player while traveling.  First a disclaimer:  I travel a lot for my job, so I spend a lot of time in airports and on airplanes and that is the only reason I want a good portable music player.  When I'm at home I have no reason to use it.  For this reason, I also only used it with IEMs as they are my preferred headphone for traveling.  I listen to every type of music under the sun, and I prefer to run the DAP in random or shuffle mode to enjoy the widest possible variety of experience.  And of course, my opinions are my own, your mileage may vary and to each his own.
 
Over the past month and a half I've tried three different mid-level IEMs.  I crave isolation but I hate active noise cancellation systems.  The IEMs I used were Etymotic HF5, Sennheiser IE80 and Denon AH-C400.  The Denons ended up being my favorites by the way, for the best balance of sound quality with exterior noise isolation.
 
The result: I am going back to my iPhone/Beyer A200p combo.  The Pono sounds great with SOME material.  But not with all.  It lacks bass punch and LF extension (it really NEEDS EQ!) and it sometimes sounds muddy with dense or complicated content @ 16/44.1.  With higher res material it is good, but since the majority of my 100K track library are 16/44 CD rips that I am not about to replace, this doesn't really matter to me.  The shuffle mode on the Pono sucks.  It is really bad.  It does what it wants to do, it repeats tracks and artists over and over, and this is unacceptable to me.  With all three IEMs the iPhone/Beyer combo was just better sounding and a better experience - for me.  Random play works really well and if I want to punch the bass I can turn on EQ and punch it.  Plus since I need to travel with my phone anyway, it means one less piece of kit in my pocket and one fewer charger in my bag, which are also important considerations.
 
I am very happy I was a Pono Kickstarter supporter, and I hope they release a firmware update with EQ and better shuffle mode which will make me go back and try it again. And you know what, it might just be the perfect DAP for some of you, so go for it and see!

 

[doctorjazz]

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.