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Old 11-14-2014, 11:15 PM   #1
Raskolnikov
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Default Anybody else spring for a Pono?

When the whole Neil Young PONO thing started brewing a few months back, I considered getting one. Then I saw that they tacked in the 'signed' limited edition ones, and I decided to go for a Pearl Jam one. Worst case scenario, I'd flip it on eBay and recoop my purchase price since PJ fans are pretty rabid about merch-y stuff.

Anyways, it showed up on Tuesday:

http://i57.tinypic.com/20tkkfa.jpg

Packaging is, yeah, pretty damn impressive. Other thoughts, in no particular order:

-The Pearl Jam edition came with two albums preloaded: Vs. and Lightning Bolt. Both are 44.1kHz/16 bit, meaning, that they're basically CD quality. I find this perplexing. Why not ship ONLY albums that can handle the maximum threshold of Pono's capabilities - which is, according to this chart, like at least 7x higher resolution:

http://www.daddyandthecity.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Pono-Music-Player-FLAC-Chart.png

-How does it sound, though? Ranges from "Great" to "Good" to "Whatever" from what little I've got to listen to. Louder songs like "Go" sound good, while the more acoustic-y stuff like "Elderly Woman..." sound great.

-That website over at ponomusic.com is a browsing nightmare. And it's expensive. Most of the albums available are only a 44.1kHz/16 Bit file... which brings me back to my overall thoughts on digital music in the first place: why not just buy a CD, if it's the same price?

Plans are to buy one album in 24 bit audio - MCIS appears to be one of the few for sale that is, which is convenient - the rest of the SP catalog is just 16 bit. The lack of ability to buy single tracks is a drag.

This all said:

-Anybody else go for one?

-Anybody have any good leads on HD music torrent sites, or does anybody have any SP stuff in 24 bit that they'd share? Seem to recall those being available once upon a time for like Gish and SD.

 
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Old 11-14-2014, 11:54 PM   #2
Shallowed
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This thing is ridiculous. High resolution audio does not need to be portable.

 
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Old 11-14-2014, 11:56 PM   #3
Shallowed
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But since you asked I have a lot of 24/96 vinyl rips, including pretty much anything SP, if you're interested.

 
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Old 11-15-2014, 12:09 AM   #4
null123
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no pono

 
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Old 11-15-2014, 02:33 AM   #5
Sonic Johnny
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Pffffft hahahahahaha of COURSE someone from this board bought one of these things oh my fucken god hahahaha

 
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Old 11-15-2014, 05:40 AM   #6
fuzzyroes
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What's so bad about it? It seems like a promising concept

 
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Old 11-15-2014, 09:07 AM   #7
Shallowed
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The concept is as promising as you getting anyone here excited about a dead 90's band

 
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Old 11-15-2014, 09:08 AM   #8
fuzzyroes
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Whatever man, you like Smashing Pumpkins. Pretty much the definition of a dead 90's band.

 
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Old 11-15-2014, 09:12 AM   #9
Shallowed
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Their newer stuff isn't as popular as their classic material but there's some gold in there, Zeitgeist is really underrated even though it has their original drummer on it. you should check this out


 
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Old 11-15-2014, 12:32 PM   #10
Mooney
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24bit audio is completely unnecessary. you might think digital audio recreates the analog waveform with steps, so add more bits you add more resolution, making it a smoother waveform. that's not how digital signal processing works, though. i'm not saying its pointless because your ears won't be able to tell a difference, after the digital to analog conversion you will end up with the exact same waveform.
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Old 11-15-2014, 02:05 PM   #11
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adding bit depth will do nothing but lower the noise floor. and to be able to hear the difference audibly between 16 and 24bit you would have to be listening so loud that you would instantly go deaf...or worse.

 
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Old 11-15-2014, 02:06 PM   #12
Raskolnikov
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Yeah, I'm wholly in need of some solid high resolution audio so I can do some A/B tests. Of course I think I'm hearing different stuff now, but there's naturally a monster of a placebo effect hanging out in that wooden box, laser engraved with Pearl Jam signatures on his back.

 
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Old 11-15-2014, 06:49 PM   #13
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i hope it is at least a serviceable DAP for you, because you were sold snake oil, my friend.
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