PonoPlayer

PonoPlayer
Developer PonoMusic, Ayre Acoustics[1]
Type Digital media, Portable media player
Release date October 2014 (2014-10) (Kickstarter backers), February 2015 (2015-02) (everyone)
Introductory price US$399
Operating system Android 2.3 (API level 10)[2]
System-on-chip used TI OMAP3630
CPU ARM Cortex-A8 (ARMv7)
Memory 256 MB
Storage 64 GB internal
Removable storage microSD slot (64GB SDXC card included) accepts SD, SDHC, and SDXC cards up to 128 GB
Display 2.5in color
Graphics PowerVR SGX530
Sound ESS Sabre32 ES9018K2M DAC, TI OPA4376 amplifier, Two 3.5 mm jacks[3]
Input touchscreen, physical buttons
Connectivity USB 2.0
Power 2900 mAh Li-Ion battery (replaceable)
Online services PonoMusic online store
Dimensions 13×5×2.5 cm (5×2×1 in)[4]
Weight 130 g (4.6 oz)
Website ponomusic.com

PonoPlayer is a portable music player created by Neil Young's company, PonoMusic, as the result of a successful Kickstarter campaign.[5]

Development and release

In September 2012, Neil Young appeared on the Late Show with David Letterman with a prototype PonoPlayer announcing his plans for the PonoMusic ecosystem. Early announcements named Meridian Audio as the development partner, but that changed in 2014 when Meridian was replaced by Ayre Acoustics.[6] In April 2014, a successful crowdfunding campaign raised US$6.2M via preorders for the player using the Kickstarter platform.[7] Kickstarter backers received devices starting in October 2014. The PonoMusic store opened pre-orders for PonoPlayer at the start of 2015, expecting them to ship within the month.

Hardware and capabilities

While designed for use with the FLAC format lossless audio sold by the PonoMusic online store, the device can play other common formats including Apple Lossless (ALAC), uncompressed PCM (WAV, AIFF), DSD (DSD64) and DSD2 (DSD128), and the lossy formats AAC and MP3.[4] PonoPlayer will play DRM-free audio in these formats from any source, including FLAC from HDtracks, AAC from iTunes, and lossless audio files copied or “ripped” from audio compact discs. PonoMusic provides the PonoMusic World cross–platform (Mac/Win) application software, based on JRiver Media Center, to manage audio files on the device and on a host computer, but it is not required. Any operating system that supports USB mass-storage and the exFAT filesystem, can add or remove music from PonoPlayer. A micro USB 2.0 port provides the only connectivity.

The device is based around the Texas Instruments OMAP3630 SoC,[3] which includes an ARM Cortex-A8, 256 MB of RAM, and runs a modified version of Android 2.3 (API level 10).[2] PonoPlayer features a 2.5-inch touchscreen display, with graphics accelerated by the integrated PowerVR SGX530 GPU. It has 64 GB of internal storage, and a microSD card slot that supports SDHC and SDXC cards up to 128 GB. A 64 GB SDXC card is included with the player.[4] A replaceable 2900 mAh Li-Ion battery powers the device for up to eight hours of playback on a full charge.[4]

The audio output circuitry was designed by engineers at Ayre Acoustics,[1] and features an ESS Sabre32 ES9018K2M Digital-to-analog converter (DAC). The DAC accepts stereo PCM input up to 384 kHz with samples of up to 32 bits per channel.[8] The device has two 3.5 mm audio outputs: an amplified headphone output, and a line-level output for connecting to other amplified equipment, such as a home or car stereo system.

The PonoPlayer measures 13×5×2.5 cm in a shallow triangle shape designed to fit in a pocket but also keep the display visible whilst sitting on a desktop or stereo. The device weighs 130g.

Reviews

Leo Laporte gave the PonoPlayer a "buy" recommendation. He praised the sound quality, but noted that "..synchronization is fairly slow, this is a USB 2.0 device and these are really big files."[9]

In a review published by Headfonia, the author concludes that the PonoPlayer may sound better than a SanDisk Sansa Clip running the Rockbox firmware while playing lossless audio, but not enough to justify the difference in price ($400 vs $40).[10]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Ayre and the Pono player". ayre.com. 12 March 2014. Retrieved 17 January 2015. This week Neil Young announced the kickstarter program for his soon to be released PonoPlayer proudly acknowledging that the circuit design was done by the R&D team at Ayre Acoustics!
  2. 1 2 "Pono Player Firmware Dump". xda-developers.com. Retrieved 16 January 2015.
  3. 1 2 "Pono Player Teardown". Retrieved 16 January 2015.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "Pono Player specs". Retrieved 16 January 2015.
  5. ↑ "Pono Music - Where Your Soul Rediscovers Music - Kickstarter". kickstarter.com. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
  6. ↑ "Neil Young wants to take high-resolution FLAC audio recordings mainstream with Pono". gigaom.com. Retrieved 17 January 2015. Last year, Pono announced that it had teamed up with high-end audio company Meridian to produce the player ... in recent months, Pono shifted its focus and actually switched hardware partners, replacing Meridian with Ayre, another high-end audio equipment maker.
  7. ↑ Kory Grow (2014-04-15). "Neil Young's Pono Kickstarter Raises Over 6 Million | Music News". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2014-04-30.
  8. ↑ "ES9018-2M DAC Product Brief" (PDF). esstech.com. ESS Technology. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
  9. ↑ "Pono Player Review". twit.tv. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
  10. ↑ "The PONO Player: Worth The Hype?". hadfonia.com. Headfonia. 17 January 2015. Retrieved 18 January 2015. If you want an affordable player for day-to-day usage, take the Sansa and rockbox it. The difference with the Pono is so small, it’s hard to justify the extra $$$.
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