PonoPlayer

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

PonoPlayer
Pono Player from first release of Kickstarter Back Up
DeveloperPonoMusic, Ayre Acoustics[1]
TypeDigital media, Portable media player
Release dateOctober 2014 (2014-10) (Kickstarter backers), February 2015 (2015-02) (everyone)
Introductory priceUS$399
Operating systemAndroid 2.3 (API level 10)[2]
System on a chipTI OMAP3630
CPUARM Cortex-A8 (ARMv7)
Memory256 MB
Storage64 GB internal
Removable storagemicroSD slot (64GB SDXC card included) accepts SD, SDHC, and SDXC cards up to 128 GB
Display2.5in color
GraphicsPowerVR SGX530
SoundESS Sabre32 ES9018K2M DAC, TI OPA4376 amplifier, Two 3.5 mm jacks[3]
Inputtouchscreen, physical buttons
ConnectivityUSB 2.0
Power2900 mAh Li-Ion battery (replaceable)
Online servicesPonoMusic online store
Dimensions13×5×2.5 cm (5×2×1 in)[4]
Mass130 g (4.6 oz)
Websiteponomusic.com

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 could 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 could 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 provided 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 was not required. Any operating system that supported USB mass-storage and the exFAT filesystem, could add or remove music from PonoPlayer. A micro USB 2.0 port provided the only connectivity.

The device was based around the Texas Instruments OMAP3630 SoC,[3] which included an ARM Cortex-A8, 256 MB of RAM, and ran a modified version of Android 2.3 (API level 10).[2] PonoPlayer featured a 2.5-inch touchscreen display, with graphics accelerated by the integrated PowerVR SGX530 GPU. It had 64 GB of internal storage, and a microSD card slot that supported SDHC and SDXC cards up to 128 GB. A 64 GB SDXC card was included with the player.[4] A replaceable 2900 mAh Li-Ion battery powered 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 featured an ESS Sabre32 ES9018K2M digital-to-analog converter (DAC). The DAC accepted stereo PCM input up to 384 kHz with samples of up to 32 bits per channel.[8] The device had 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 measured 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 weighed 130g.

Reception

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]

Stereophile awarded the PonoPlayer "Digital component of the year" in 2015. [10]

The PonoPlayer was otherwise largely panned as "snake oil" by audio and technology enthusiasts like Linus Sebastian who were critical of the player's design, components, and performance (especially battery life) for its price point compared to similarly priced smartphone devices already capable of high resolution FLAC playback.[11]

Demise

In April 2017 Young announced the end of the PonoPlayer,[12] blaming record companies for charging too much for high resolution formats.[13] The PonoMusic store that sold downloadable music had already been in an "under construction" mode since July 2016 following acquisition by Apple of the store provider Omnifone.[14]

See also

References
  1. "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. "Pono Player Firmware Dump". xda-developers.com. Retrieved 16 January 2015.
  3. "Pono Player Teardown". Retrieved 16 January 2015.
  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. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 August 2015. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
  9. "Pono Player Review". twit.tv. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
  10. "Stereophile's Products of 2015 Digital Component of the Year". Stereophile.com. 19 November 2015. Retrieved 5 February 2019.
  11. "Pono Player - Is This the Future of Mobile Music?". Linustechtips.com. YouTube. 25 January 2015. Retrieved 10 October 2018.
  12. "Neil Young Admits the Pono Is Dead; Developing Hi-Res Streaming Alternative". Vintagevinylnews.com. April 22, 2017. Retrieved October 11, 2018.
  13. "Neil Young Claims His Pono Player Was Killed by the Labels". Vintagevinylnews.com. February 15, 2017. Retrieved October 11, 2018.
  14. Schneider, Marc (July 22, 2016). "Pono contracts with 7digital following Omnifone's sale to a mystery buyer". Billboard. Retrieved October 11, 2018.
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