Pono wins "snakeoil of the year" award from linustechtips

That's like watching 10 minutes of someone scratching their nails on a chalkboard.

 

Pono sure deserves it. Trying to fix a problem that doesn't exist with an interface from ten years ago.

 

Why is Pono snake oil but the Q1PR isn't, or the A&K or Fiio DAPs? Why is Pono snake oil but HDTracks, Pro Studio Masters, Qobuz etc. aren't? And if they are all snake oil, why is Pono the one being singled out? I never see this sort of vehement response for any other company selling hi-res music or players. People seem to think Pono is the antichrist, but have no problem discussing DAPs that cost significantly more money.

 

If I buy a player or DAC and it has some crazy high sample-rate capabilities, I just think, well, yes... nobody is going to buy one that just does 16/44.1.

On the other hand, if I am sold something because hey, listening to lower sample rates is like listening to music underwater, I laugh hysterically, talk about snake oil, and move on. Porno machine: crazy rantings of its once-great promoter. Bullshit.

But as to having no problem with the purveyors of give-us-your-money-yet-again "high-res" music: I do, and so do many others.

And it's definitely not just Porno: look at ifi, with their quadro/octo/hex/ market-banter, not one, not two, not four, but we give you eight times the blah blah. Eight times the bullshit. Or... however many times it is; it is a long time since I abandoned that particular marketing thread on HF. I forget.

 

Okay, let's call out all those things you mentioned as well.

Happy now?

 

In my case it was those commercials/videos about 16bit/44100hz sounding like being "under water". Lying is a big word, but that's not far from it. I bet Rick Rubin & co know what's really wrong with sound quality these days.

 

First off, I realize my post probably came across as argumentative, but that wasn't my intention. I was genuinely curious why Pono receives so many extremely negative responses while other similar products don't.

I see the issue here is marketing, not the player itself. I can understand that. I think the underwater stuff was done to illustrate to the general public how hi-res could sound. Neil Young has been very vocal about his disdain for CD for many years, so I don't think he's lying, simply overzealous.

That being said, the UI on the Pono is absolutely awful. I was complaining about it yesterday on the Pono forums. Got shouted down by several people who feel it's just fine, but it's absolutely not just fine.

The sound on the Pono player, on the other hand, is terrific.

 

I for one feel the UI on Pono is very good. The major problem for me was the damn high output z.

 

It's a very good sounding player and offered at very good price. And balanced output!!

 

I think people should separate Pono, the device, and Neil Young's crazy-ass assertions about sampling rates. There is also the Pono store which is at least attempting to verify lineage of their masters, but it is again a separate matter.
I have not heard a Pono in person but they seem to be perfectly acceptable, especially at the price point. It costs the same as most of the entry-level Fiio stuff, right? Or a Leckerton?

 

You know, I've been thinking about this, and I realized that Pono's marketing around the sample rate thing really pissed me off. Well, it still pisses me off. I'm personally boycotting the Pono; I don't care if it is a good player. That marketing isn't just misinformation, it's an outright lie. Dishonest. Can't support.


EDIT: Well, I wouldn't have ever purchased one anyway, even if I wholeheartedly loved it. It's just not the gear I'm in the market for. I guess Pono isn't really going to feel much impact from my vigorous boycott.

 

I haven't heard it. Could sound fine, or no different than anything else. That doesn't make it snake oil, but it doesn't mean that it isn't either. Snake oil comes from the marketing claims, which are specious.

 

Or wrong.

There was always the chance it was going to be a decent portable player regardless of the bullshit. They say that any news is better than no news, but sometimes the thing itself can be lost in the issues. The heavy marketing might have been a mistake: what many of us remember is all that nonsense, rather than the device itself.

 

The worst part in my opinion is that Neil Young started a kickstarter when he did not even need the money.

He is not some low income entrepreneur making his way. He has deep pockets and can pay for a good prototype and test-marketing. Add his nonsense and his silence about mastering and dynamic range and you know enough.

He is his own worst salesman and he could have avoided it all by talking to his f'ing music fans. He did not...

 

I think what makes it sting even more is that the issues of provenance, mastering, devices that can even reproduce 16/44.1 well, headamp stages with proper impedance - all of these are near and dear to our hearts and need serious attention from the mainstream! But he turned it into some conspiracy-theorist nonsense that was gleefully "debunked" by all manner of huge press outlets. A damn shame.

 

So, maybe, not so much a snake oil device, as a device in a cloud of snake-oil vapour!

 

Exactly. And now the baby has been thrown out with the bathwater.

 

I am still curious for the Pono. Thing is 400 Dollars buys much good gear and I am not taking hipster gambles with my hard-earned cash.

 

Yeah, I always thought this is the main reason that the pono was so criticized by some people.

http://www.theguardian.com/music/20...sic-from-streaming-due-to-worst-sound-quality