Pono Music 和 Pono Player

mylam

I have received my Norah Jones version on Nov 10.  Just for sound performance, I rank it above my iMod+Stepdance and ZX1.  Other comments below is extracted from my suggestions to Pono (I did email to Pono):

"1.  The UI (user interface) is not up to standard.  Suggest the Pono team to try an iPod classic.  Please allow the user to sort/select from this sequence: Genre > Album Artist > Album > Song

2.  For compilation album, the library may sometime not be able to group the album (I don't encounter such a problem with iPod or Sony ZX1).

3.  Album art on library should not be adjusted to a square size.  That would distort the album art.

4.  The player comes with a substandard screen.  It is not necessary to show the album art on full screen.  It becomes a blur image.  Again, suggest the team to try an iPod classic.  Simply just show a small icon and the song/album name aside.

I believe all the above can be solved by a firmware update."

And Pono simply replied to thank for my feedback.  It did not confirm that it will get the above improved via firmware upgrade.

mylam

I forgot to tell Pono that its so call leather case is useless.

Andykong

mylam 發表於 2014-11-21 17:08
I have received my Norah Jones version on Nov 10.  Just for sound performance, I rank it above my iM ...

So the control and interface is a big question mark.

How about battery life? That is always my major concern.  The player is reliable?  Any freeze or auto-reboot ? I remember the impression at Kickstarter used HD650 to pair with it, really can drive/control a 300ohm headphone satisfactory?

mylam

Andykong 發表於 2014-11-21 18:09
So the control and interface is a big question mark.

How about battery life? That is always my ma ...

I would say the UI is acceptable but I am sure it can be improved simply by firmware update.  I have to add a missing comment.  Currently, the player does not support gapless playback.  Pono has confirmed to fix it in future firmware update.  See if it will improve the UI in one-go.

I have never paired it up with high demand headphone.  That's not the job for a portable player.  It does a better job than ZX1 (even after enabling the hidden function) in driving my Amperior and DT770 pro ltd 32 ohm.  Fair enough.

For battery life, I used it around 1 to 1.5 hours per day and it can last for a continuing 5 days.  Did not really check the remaining percentage though (it only shows a battery reading in bar form on top).  Never encounter a reboot.

If you can accept its outlook, to be improved UI and long delivery time, I would say it is a fair enough player given its competitive price and sound performance.

Andykong

mylam 發表於 2014-11-21 18:38
I would say the UI is acceptable but I am sure it can be improved simply by firmware update.  I ha ...

Well, it is not that I want to  focus on how Pono handling full-size can, but at that time, the only audio description I can find was HD650 and a lot of press footage was using Neil Young's Hi-Res Audio demo car instead of headphone, so I was hesitated at that point.  

Anyway, for US$399, really can't fault it with a big foot, after all options are limited at that price range: DX90, X5, QA360 to name a few that are popular in Post76, and Pono Player indeed looks competitive so far.

Let hope the more important part of the project, Pono music does take off very soon, that is indeed a game changer if played right.

vicchow

小的放上了Pono劣評，請各位大哥指教。

Andykong

vicchow 發表於 2014-11-22 13:57
小的放上了Pono劣評，請各位大哥指教。

睇完師兄既評語，覺得和半年前我的擔心有點不謀而合，這是 Niel Young 的 Pono Music project 第一件交出來的實物，如果唔過關的話，咁 Pono Music 個 on-line store 就更加擔心了。

http://post76.hk/forum.php?mod=v ... p;page=3#pid3001637

http://post76.hk/forum.php?mod=v ... p;page=5#pid3002130