Review of PonoPlayer – Portable Music Player for Your Ears
Summary
When you want to put your eras with the highest audio quality, you will not miss the portable music player, PonoPlayer. This page collects the latest review of PonoPlayer for you, so that you can decide whether you will take one by yourself.
2021 Review of PonoPlayer
With the interest in high-definition music growing, an increasing amount of the content is being re-released by the record labels at higher resolutions. PonoPlayer is the exact one portable music player designed to play the highest quality audio music.
In this post, we will discuss the PonoPlayer review and price for your reference. Also the replacements of PonoPlayer will be introduced for you to make the comparison to select the best music player.
Part 1. What is PonoPlayer?
PonoPlayer is the Neil Young's championed portable music player that plays high-resolution digital music files stored on its SSD memory and a removable microSD card.
As a new music player, PonoPlayer can be used as a personal portable hi resolution music player, and it can be connected to a home audio system, a car stereo system. You can share music with others, and there is a microSD card slot which supports all capacities of microSD cards, and a unique Balanced Mode feature which enables you to hear the fullest sound possible.
While designed for use with the FLAC format lossless audio, 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. 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.
Part 2. PonoPlayer review and price in 2021
PonoPlayer review
PonoPlayer review from CNET is 7.1 out of 10 stars while 3.9 out of 5 stars in Amazon. Whether you like Neil Young or not, PonoPlayer has already attracted your attention. See the concluded reviews on Pono music player as the following:
Pros:
- If you are a big fan of Neil Young, then you get a good reason to like PonoPlayer. PonoPlayer is an excellent portable music player that offers distinctive looks and better-than-CD sound experience.
- The interface of PonoPlayer is attractive and easy to use.
- It highly supports a wide number of file types like we mentioned above, including all manner of audiophile-friendly digital formats.
- If you have headphones capable of being driven in balanced mode, the sound quality improves significantly with no battery life penalty.
- Of course, it is a good option when you want to enjoy Rock & Roll music.
Cons:
- If your last music player is iPod or Sony Walkman, you will definitely not be satisfied with the battery life of PonoPlayer. The battery life is really terrible, and you can only use it for less than 8 hours.
- The lack of a workable key lock can lead to the battery running down or blasting you with full-volume sound, and the touchscreen can be finicky.
- Moreover, the triangular shape design makes it harder to stow than a phone.
- As a HIFI music player, PonoPlayer is only equipped with only 64GB of storage.
- What's worse, you can't find any Wi-Fi or Bluetooth feature in this Pono music player.
PonoPlayer is a good portable music player that provides high quality music experience. But you should know that, compared to some Hi-Fi brands, PonoPlayer still can't give you that kind of high-end sound. Consider its quirky design and lackluster battery life, you can wait for the second generation of PonoPlayer.
PonoPlayer price and sale
Currently, the price of PonoPlayer is $359.95 with the following descriptions:
- Ayre Acoustics DAC
- Supports FLAC, ALAC, WAV, AIFF, Unprotected AAC, DSD.
- Lossless playback up to 192/24 bit.
- 64GB internal memory.
- Playback of high-fidelity audio of up to 192kHz/24 bit resolution including DSD.
If you do not mind it, you could find the used PonoPlayer for sale on eBay, Amazon, etc.
Let's get a quick scan for the sale of PonoPlayer:
$299.99 for a used but very good condition from Amazon and $325 for a used but fully operational and functions from eBay.
Part 3. PonoPlayer alternatives in 2021 for your portable music player
FiiO X7 Hi-Res Lossless Portable Music Player
Price: $397.95
Internal Storage: 32GB
Android-based smart portable music player, mastering quality lossless FLAC playback and AAC, MP3, WMA and DSD audio playing with 4 Cortex-A9 cores running at 1.4GHz.
Acoustic Research AR-M20 Hi-Res compatible audio player
Price: $824.91
Internal Storage: 32GB
Commitment to sound system to accurately reproduce the sound of the raw was recorded, it supports various Hi-Res audio formats such as FLAC, ALAC, WAV, DXD, APE, AIFF and even DSD64/DSD128.
Sony NW-WM1A Walkman Digital Audio Player
Price: $1199.99
Price: 128GB
A tempting alternative to the iPhone to play music file. Not only music, it also lets you play games, receive FaceTime HD camera, take photos, and send iMessages with Wi-Fi support.
Astell&Kern AK Jr High Resolution Audio Playe
Price: $269
Price: 64GB
Simplifingcomplex features of Hi-Fi audio to a smartphone-like experience, this PonoPlayer app supports DSD, the digital audio format widely considered to be the next-generation in high resolution audio.
Cayin i5 Portable HiFi Audio Player
Price: $499
Price: 32GB
Based on Android OS, plus it also supports third party app installation, just like the Fiio X7, it uses USB Type-C connector, standard 3.5mm headphone out and 3.5mm line out, plus WiFi and Bluetooth connections.
Apart from those portable music player that can replace PonoPlayer, you could also find music player software on your computer or iPhone or Android phone to take it more conveniently. But You may miss the high quality for music listening. Check this post to find the music player app for your mobile phone and computer.
Bonus tips: How to listen to any hi-res music on PonoPlayer
As mentioned before, PonoPlayer can play the music from FLAC, ALAC, WAV, AIFF, AAC, MP3 and more. If you get a music file that is not in the supported list, how do you do?
Convert the audio to be compatible formats with PonoPlayer.
Do not miss Free Audio Converter to help you convert other audio formats to PonoPlayer supporting formats.
Learn the details from the video.
FAQs of PonoPlayer
1. How to reset PonoPlayer?
First you should disconnect all power, press and hold Reset button on the back of PonoPlayer. Then power on your device and keep holding Reset button until the Status light is blinking orange. After that, the PonoPlayer will be restore to factory status and boot.
2. How to load/transfer music on PonoPlayer?
Connect your PonoPlayer to computer with a micro USB cable. Select Yes to enter Music Transfer Mode. You can drag and drop the music directly to the internal drive of PonoPlayer.
3. What kind of music formats does PonoPlayer support?
PonoPlayer can play almost any kind of music track like MP3, FLAC, ALAC, WAV (up to 32-bit), AIFF, AAC and DSD (2 channel DSD64 and DSD128).
Conclusion
In this post, we mainly talk about PonoPlayer. We give you a simple introduction of PonoPlayer and PonoPlayer review. What's more, we list some great Pono music player alternatives for you to choose from.
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Rating: 4.8 / 5 (based on 192 ratings)