Neil Young's $400 Pono hi-def music player loses to Apple's iPhone in blind audio test

[Victorious Secret]

 

Though it has the backing of legendary rocker Neil Young, the new Pono music player for audiophiles doesn't actually sound much better, or better at all, than high-quality MP3s played from an Apple iPhone.

 

I'm not entirely surprised, to be honest. Even with the BEST set of headphones and DACs and amps, you hit a limit to which human hearing can figure ANYTHING out, so when I heard of the Pono players claims I couldn't help but claim "LOL BULLSHIT". 

HD audio? I understand that there actually is high definition audio that professional audio engineers use when doing their thing, but not because the human ear is that good, but rather to retain as much detail as possible for post processing work. Same with digital editing companies who work in colour spaces so accurate and advanced, we can't see those colours but they are there for the nitty detail work. 

I'm not surprised that the iPhone did well either. Apple sorta did become huge with MP3 players that were pretty damn good and well known for the quality they put out. Apple still knows at least one or two things about good audio implementations on their devices. I just enjoy seeing a snake oil salesmans product get dragged through the ground and repeatedly beaten up and exposed. 
 

But tests conducted by Yahoo Tech's David Pogue, who used to be a professional musician, found that there was essentially no difference between the sound quality of the PonoPlayer and Apple's iPhone. Not only could Pogue not tell the difference, but the journalist also found that tests with others did not bode well for the high-end portable media player.

 

In a blind trial using identical songs on identical headphones, Pogue found that listeners actually preferred the iPhone playback with high-quality MP3s. The iPhone won out over the PonoPlayer when using both earbuds and headphones.

 

 

"Pono's statement that 'Everyone who's ever heard PonoMusic will tell you that the difference is surprising and dramatic' is baloney," Pogue wrote. "When conducting the test with today's modern music files, I couldn't find even one person who heard a dramatic difference."

Another review at ArsTechnica had a slightly less negative spin on the PonoPlayer, but even there reviewer Sam Machkovech had to admit that 192kHz/24-bit FLAC audio files played on the Pono did not sound noticeably better than high-quality MP3 files.

 

Switching to Pono also requires users to re-purchase their music library, at a cost of $2.50 per song. The device also has a sluggish touchscreen, an awkward triangular design, and offers eight hours of battery life, performing worse than Apple's discontinued iPod classic.

 

http://appleinsider.com/articles/15/02/02/neil-youngs-400-pono-hi-def-music-player-loses-to-apples-iphone-in-blind-audio-test

[cesrai]

Guess @LinusTech was right this product is shitty.

[paprikman]

iPhone is also more comfortable to carry in pockets, so...

[Trik'Stari]

Whoever funded that device is a moron.

[SuperPug]

Well ain't that something...

[Tedster]

This just goes to show how amazing Apple is. /s

[flibberdipper]

That thing is a hunk of shit anyways.

[ComradeHX]

I know you are not supposed to put mp3 player or phones in backpocket(in worst case like Apple, it bends) but Pono looks like someone watched a bit too much Japanese AV(wooden horse plays).

[Nizkus]

I really don't think that qualifies as losing, since enough people chose pono player for it to be just as likely random guess.

That said I really think it's a stupid device that no one should pay for.

[SImoHayha]

It could've been something however it became a dead triangle....jesus you know this think is bad when my 1st gen Ipod nano can last up to three days.

[NateGSR117]

Lol

[KamiKatze]

I can't be the only one who read Porno.

[TheMidnightNarwhal]

Guess @LinusTech was right this product is shitty.

 

@LinusTech is always right, praise Linus!

[cesrai]

@LinusTech is always right, praise Linus!

Not always NN techquicke.

[Palfi]

iPhone is also more comfortable to carry in pockets, so...

iPhone is also smartphone, and can do much more than mp3 player.

[FakezZ]

iPhone is also more comfortable to carry in pockets, so...

But what if it bends? /s

[pk-man]

I can't be the only one who read Porno.

 

who doesn't want to be seen around carrying a pr0no player? Plus you'll need a firm grip to hold that weird thing

[totjup5]

Not surprising to me. IPhones have great sound. I'm on my 3rd android phone now and I still haven't had an android phone that puts out sound quite as clean as my iPhone 4 did.

[Guest Kloaked]

Rekt

[Bojamijams]

Whoever funded that device is a moron.

 

So the users who actually believed Neil Young on his presentation and promise and pledged towards it believing it would be better are morons because HE failed to deliver a product that is actually better?

 

Man... you're an ass. 

[Trik'Stari]

So the users who actually believed Neil Young on his presentation and promise and pledged towards it believing it would be better are morons because HE failed to deliver a product that is actually better?

 

Man... you're an ass. 

No, the product itself was stupid. Who want's a triangular music played that can't fit in your pocket? Let alone one with such a high price, and limited capabilities?

[Master Disaster]

One of the funniest things I've seen in age was when @LinusTech described the Pono indicator on this device as a 'snake oil' indicator.

If you haven't seen it watch Linus's video on the Pono, its about as accurate as you can get.

[yoshimitsu666]

It's a good idea, just obviously not too well executed. 

 

I love the idea of a standalone mp3 player, I still have 2 ipod classics (160gb and a 120gb slim) that i recently refurbished with new lcd's, batteries, drives etc and the sound quality, storage capacity and battery life completely fists any phone. I use the S4 for music sometimes too, but nothing beats the ipod interface. Sad they let it die! 

[ForsakenLive]

Whoever funded that device is a moron.

You mean Audiophiles? haha

[Thony]

iPhone is also more comfortable to carry in pockets, so...

But pono doesnt bend /j