Just stumbled on this kickstarter. Thought it would interest the music heads out there. I hope it sounds as good as it sounds. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1003614822/ponomusic-where-your-soul-rediscovers-music
Unless you have an equally hi-end output device that's also portable, I don't really see a point to this particular "digital eco system" (nice euphemism for tech junk). Not to mention that despite all the claims that everythings sounds so much better with PONO, they were cautious enough to hide a reminder "that your audio experience may vary depending on the capability of the audio system you use" in the FAQs. I also stumbled upon this (the article says furthermore the reason for the perceived difference between a record and a CD is harmonic distortion that occurs due to the mechanical playback of a needle scraping on vinyl, which actually sounds pleasant to the human ear and is perceived as "warmness"; the more you know!): I would assume the same goes for the comparison between CD and high quality mp3s to some extent - at least I've been told by a buddy who backed up his entire collection as FLACs that he couldn't hear a notable difference between these and HQ mp3s...
I just wish someone would make a player that can hold 25,000 + songs and be durable enough to go xtreme sporting in without it breaking, like my ipod did during a skate fall Who cares how your music library sounds, when you can only fit 10% of it onto your player. I'm usually using the cheapest earbuds as possible anyways, as to not tear them up on my adventures. It is ill-advised to leave the house with the type of headphones required for this quality of sound. its a neat idea, just not too logical. I feel like most people aren't going for this kind of quality for a portable player... Then again I am sure there is a crowd of clueless people that can't wait to plug their beats headphones into this thing.
there are two spots for memory on the pono. one is hardware, the second is a micro sd slot which they say is super easy to swap out. I kinda like that old school idea. reminds me of my bags of mini-disks. kinda fun.
My phone already plays FLAC files & the JET Audio app has all the EQ I will ever need to get the most out of my music. My phone also has Beats by Dre audio drivers, and my car has a factory Beats by Dre 7 speaker set up. I got audio ecosystem covered, I am gonna have to pass on the PONO.
