1) I wouldn't go as far as to say pointless. If it does what they technically claim it does, it is a useful product in some regards -if- I stress the IF, it can play FLAC without little to no coloring. However, the way it's being marketed is a lie by omission. A perfect copy of a song is useless as dirt if A) you can't even hear the difference B) the amplifier isn't flat C) you don't already have the equipment to make A and B relevant in the form of linear headphones or with a response you like (which already defeats a sticking point of the device, so lolwhatever).
D) If a muse across the world sings to you in a perfect voice E) with a perfect microphone, F) the transmission must be perfect, G) and the instrument to reproduce must be perfect, and at the light of the tunnel, H) your ear must be perfect
if you listen through a walkie talkie, D, E, F and H are null. If you have poor transmission (terrible amp(s) 300$ product, I would be skeptical) then D, E, G, and H are null. If you don't have a "trained ear" D, E, F and G are null.
The distinct omission I'm talking about is, to paraphrase, "the pono will let you hear what we hear"
This kind of marketing leads many people to believe that this will somehow make their Beets, Bose, Skullcand'eh's, Apple eardicks, and I'd go as far as to say even most mainstream 'audiyafile' grade equipment, sound better when in fact it will be nothing more than a 300$ upgrade to your own imagination.
2) The FAQ is not really a bible for here. It is maintained by the one person that writes it, if that's what it states, that is their opinion.
this does not require a very high understanding of audio at all. This is intended for an extremely niche market; a large market (to whom this will be useless) that does not fit in that niche is being targeted.
Internalize this, because you didn't just make me throw away 15 minutes of study time for a test I'm woefully unprepared for.
Thanks Helping for an awesomely detailed response, that certainly cleared up a few things I was slightly confused about, and might just have saved me $300 . It's totally crazy that so many supposedly "great music personalities/celebrities etc" would recommend this however I am highly convinced by your response, which matches up with all of the other opinions here.
Laptopgamer got a reaction from PeggersXtreme in UltraWide Festival 2015
Laptopgamer got a reaction from helping in Pono
