PonoMusic: Official Thread

Anteater · 03-12-2014, 08:08 PM

For those of you who don't know what this is (basically a portable music player that can play high fidelity formats like FLAC), I'll refer you to Neil Young's Kickstarter page which raised over 2 million bucks in one day. xD

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects...iscovers-music

In any case, pretty fascinating stuff: I've always thought it would be pretty baddass to have an entire back-to-back solution for playing and collecting more hi-fi albums in the car, on the go, etc.

Might take a few generations of this before I put down the dough for one of these, but I think its worth some discussion at least. What do you guys think about it?

Trollheart · 03-12-2014, 09:40 PM

Sorry but I think it's just a way to squeeze more money out of us. I for one will not be ever paying 15/20 dollars for an album when I can download it for one. I'm not that worried about music quality, as long as I can hear it and it sounds ok it does me. I'm not rich and I can;'t afford "the best music listening experience", and I'll be damned if I'm gonna repurchase my entire music collection, including digital.

Sorry Neil: you're on a loser with this one I feel, May appeal to a niche market of music snobs but most of us will go with players that run mp3, flac and so on and will remain happy with what we have.

That's my take on it anyway.

Ninetales · 03-12-2014, 11:36 PM

Boy I can't wait to re-buy all of my music and play them on my inexplicably shaped player that can't fit in my pocket.

djchameleon · 03-12-2014, 11:47 PM

Wow why are people supporting this? A large majority of people wouldn't be able to tell the difference in quality. This is purely for audiophiles. Also for those people that love throwing their money at the best of the best even if they can't tell the difference. All they have to be told is that it is better and they will get it.

Trollheart · 03-13-2014, 07:21 AM

Pretty much how I feel. Taking music snobbery to the nth level, where people will doggedly say "But listen! You can HEAR the difference!" even though they know in their heart they can't. Definitely for people with more money than sense.

I had hoped the ad would be on YT but it ain't so let me tell you a story...

Back in the seventies there were radio ads for Pioneer here in Ireland. They'd go like this:

Voice 1: "What do you think of that? Great sound eh?"
Voice 2: "Low-fi."
Voice 1: "What?"
Voice 2: "Low-Fi."
Voice 1: "What are you talking about man? That's the greatest sound system ever!"
Voice 2: "That guy on violin doesn't know the piece by heart."
Voice 1: "Huh?"
Voice 2: "On my Pioneer stereo, you can hear him turning the pages! Low-Fi!"

Funny, but I rest my case...

**Janszoon** · 03-13-2014, 07:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ninetales

Boy I can't wait to re-buy all of my music and play them on my inexplicably shaped player that can't fit in my pocket.

That is a pretty accurate description of my feelings too.

duga · 03-13-2014, 08:15 AM

I think if Neil Young had thought about it a little more and made this a lossless STREAMING music player, he might have a real chance in the market. Even if there are those of us who like collecting digital (or physical) music, the majority of people are moving towards streaming. Even I can't justify re-buying music when I can hear the album on Spotify (not to mention in 320 kbps...if you can tell the difference between that and something higher you are probably lying).

This thing is going to crash and burn.

Anteater · 03-13-2014, 08:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by duga

I think if Neil Young had thought about it a little more and made this a lossless STREAMING music player, he might have a real chance in the market. Even if there are those of us who like collecting digital (or physical) music, the majority of people are moving towards streaming. Even I can't justify re-buying music when I can hear the album on Spotify (not to mention in 320 kbps...if you can tell the difference between that and something higher you are probably lying).

This thing is going to crash and burn.

I think PonoMusic has a streaming service too, but they're not pushing that aspect of it too much compared to the "lets beat ITunes at their own game" kitsch. :P

duga · 03-13-2014, 08:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anteater

I think PonoMusic has a streaming service too, but they're not pushing that aspect of it too much compared to the "lets beat ITunes at their own game" kitsch. :P

Ah, see...I didn't even know that. If they had been pushing that as their main appeal, I might be on board. A streaming service for audiophiles? Hell yeah.

As it is, even Apple is starting to see the death of the digital purchase...they have their own streaming service and I wouldn't be surprised if they try to push it more and more.

duga · 03-13-2014, 08:40 AM

The thing is, Neil actually conceived of this when streaming wasn't really a thing yet. It just took him forever to get this off the ground, and now it's too late.

03-12-2014, 09:40 PM	#2 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,992	Sorry but I think it's just a way to squeeze more money out of us. I for one will not be ever paying 15/20 dollars for an album when I can download it for one. I'm not that worried about music quality, as long as I can hear it and it sounds ok it does me. I'm not rich and I can;'t afford "the best music listening experience", and I'll be damned if I'm gonna repurchase my entire music collection, including digital. Sorry Neil: you're on a loser with this one I feel, May appeal to a niche market of music snobs but most of us will go with players that run mp3, flac and so on and will remain happy with what we have. That's my take on it anyway. __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

03-13-2014, 07:21 AM	#5 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,992	Pretty much how I feel. Taking music snobbery to the nth level, where people will doggedly say "But listen! You can HEAR the difference!" even though they know in their heart they can't. Definitely for people with more money than sense. I had hoped the ad would be on YT but it ain't so let me tell you a story... Back in the seventies there were radio ads for Pioneer here in Ireland. They'd go like this: Voice 1: "What do you think of that? Great sound eh?" Voice 2: "Low-fi." Voice 1: "What?" Voice 2: "Low-Fi." Voice 1: "What are you talking about man? That's the greatest sound system ever!" Voice 2: "That guy on violin doesn't know the piece by heart." Voice 1: "Huh?" Voice 2: "On my Pioneer stereo, you can hear him turning the pages! Low-Fi!" Funny, but I rest my case... __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

03-13-2014, 08:15 AM	#7 (permalink)
duga MB quadrant's JM Vincent Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Washington, DC Posts: 3,762	I think if Neil Young had thought about it a little more and made this a lossless STREAMING music player, he might have a real chance in the market. Even if there are those of us who like collecting digital (or physical) music, the majority of people are moving towards streaming. Even I can't justify re-buying music when I can hear the album on Spotify (not to mention in 320 kbps...if you can tell the difference between that and something higher you are probably lying). This thing is going to crash and burn. __________________ Confusion will be my epitaph...

03-13-2014, 08:40 AM	#10 (permalink)
duga MB quadrant's JM Vincent Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Washington, DC Posts: 3,762	The thing is, Neil actually conceived of this when streaming wasn't really a thing yet. It just took him forever to get this off the ground, and now it's too late. __________________ Confusion will be my epitaph...

03-12-2014, 11:36 PM	#3 (permalink)
Ninetales Music Addict Join Date: Jun 2013 Location: livin wild Posts: 2,179	Boy I can't wait to re-buy all of my music and play them on my inexplicably shaped player that can't fit in my pocket.