![]() There seems to be animosity aimed at Pono, as if Neil Young is muscling in on our safe little game. Time will tell whether the detractors are just the usual It appears to have been well received across the rest of Europe, where 24/192 is upheld as a digital goal worth aiming for. Whereas, in the UK, many of those who dismiss the idea do so because they feel high-resolution offers no tangible improvement over CD quality (possibly due to the continued availability of CD in the troubled HMV store chain), and a smartphone is good enough for portable use. In the US, its lack of DSD support has been criticised and Pono has been dismissed because those who want a high-resolution portable player already have a more up-market model. Pono’s detractors expose some of the differences in the state of high-resolution across the planet. ![]() ![]() But, curiously some of the most vociferous ‘anti’ arguments come from those most likely to welcome such a device – audiophiles themselves. And then there’s the similarity of the name to websites and literature that encourages, “vigorous relaxation in a gentleman’s way” (Pono actually means ‘righteousness’ in Hawaiian). There’s also the “it’s too expensive” argument (neatly forgetting that Apple’s first generation iPod and its latest 64GB iPod Touch also cost $399). Fairly predictably, there’s the cries of, “it all sounds the same” and, “it’s made for audiophools”. Naturally, this being the Internet, there are detractors too. But these are just minor bumps along the road (an interview with both Neil Young and John Hamm has been published on our sister site: Then Pono CEO John Hamm (no, not the ‘Mad Men’ star) was caught out by the words, “What’s your cut?” shouted from the audience during the SXSW presentation. ![]() Also, when it comes to the promo Kickstarter video, it’s hard to take Flea from the Red Hot Chili Peppers seriously when he praises Pono’s sound quality, given the band’s Californication album could be considered a war crime in the Loudness Wars… but maybe it’s not his fault. There was also the question of who would design the hardware despite a well-publicised visit to Meridian’s factory in Cambridge, UK, the actual design was kept under wraps. Then, Pono was slated to be a 2013 project, but suffered some slippage. In the audiophile world, the first was a swipe by Linn Products CEO Gilad Tiefenbrun, calling the device ‘misguided’ ( ), although in fairness, Gilad later retracted this comment and is now quite the Ponophile (now that’s a word that needs to be put out there, even if typos might prove problematic). There have been some slip-ups along the way. At one point earning $700 per minute, Pono has currently raised more than $2.65m at the time of writing. Whether a shrewd marketing scheme or a need to raise further capital remains unclear, but Young announced a Kickstarter campaign (complete with testimonials from a host of big name musos Young, young and old) to raise an additional $800,000 in order to bring the player to market in the third quarter of this year. We learned at SXSW about the Ayre connection, and that PonoPlayer will not be locked into PonoMusic content, but can play high-res material from other sources. More information springs up almost hourly. We guessed as much when Neil Young went to visit Meridian Audio last year, but it was fellow apodizing filter-supporting Ayre Acoustics that was involved in the design of the player proper. Specs confirmed at this time are that PonoPlayer will support files up to 24bit, 192kHz in FLAC format, it has a line and headphone output, the analogue stages are zero-feedback designs, it comes with 64GB of on-board memory and a further 64GB of microSD storage, uses an ESS 9018 ‘Sabre’ DAC and minimium-phase apodizing filter. PonoPlayer is a portable audio player, designed to bring high-resolution audio to a new audience (it’s intended to be $399 at launch). Pono is a system, comprising the device itself (PonoPlayer) and a music store (PonoMusic). In late 2012, Young appeared on Letterman clutching a five-inch long, bright yellow triangular device with a screen and a few keys last year. So, when less than 18 months ago, Young announced he was going to make a high-resolution audio system called Pono, perhaps we shouldn’t have been surprised.ĭetails were, at first, sketchy. All of which makes him in hindsight an obvious proponent of high-resolution audio. He has matured nicely into the music business’ finest curmudgeon, and he has become one of the most visible and outspoken champions of good sound quality at a time of poor sounding recordings.
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