Has anyone got a PONO and hooked it up to the ELS system?

My TL 2012 has an "AUX" input which I would be perfect to hearing the output of a PONO's DAC's?

Any experience? I'd like to get a PONO for use in the car as well as a airplane travel player, but want to make sure it's a step up from things like Iphones etc. I hate MP3 encoded music, so if a product delivers better performance, I am on it!

 

well, cmon you car music lovers!!! Bump!

 

Had to Google what a Pono is. Here you go:

Pono Player review: A tall, refreshing drink of snake oil | Ars Technica

Sounds like a waste of $400 to me.

 

Considering the ELS isn't anything too amazing, I would say it would only boost the quality a little. But the processing on the PONO is really good, so I could be wrong.

You friend have no idea what you are talking about.

 

The system is only going to be as good as the weakest component. You could have $2 speakers from Walmart playing FLAC and it's still going to sound like $2 speakers.

Likewise, the Acura sound system is still going to be the Acura sound system. If you're playing stuff through the same amplifier, speakers, subwoofer, headunit, etc do you really think there's going to be any detectible difference in sound quality?

Panasonic ELS Surround Premium Car Audio - PASA

 

Oh really? Did you read the article I posted? I know plenty enough about the world of high fidelity audio equipment. Here are a couple quotes that really stuck out to me:

"The few blind tests we conducted, as predicted, were inconclusive."

"No amount of testing made 192kHz/24-bit FLAC audio sound noticeably better than high-quality MP3s."

A bunch of audiophiles could barely discern the difference between the audio output on the Pono vs the MP3's off a MacBook Pro. What makes you think plugging this thing into the auxiliary port on a quasi-luxury sedan's sound system is going to produce a different result. The article basically said the difference in sound quality is hardly audible to human ears. Sure, you could hook up a bunch of sound meters and gadgets and let a computer show you that the quality is better but, in the end, if your own ears can't tell the difference, who cares?

 

That article you posted is a joke. The guy clearly has an agenda against PONO. Second and most important the test had a couple of flaws. First is running the signals through a Radio Shack switcher. Anyone with an ounce of music gear knowledge knows how badly made their stuff is.

Second, the test did not seem to insure that the sources were volume leveled matched. People prefer louder music and MP3 are mastered to be loud as possible.

I suggest that you widen your search reviews of PONO owners. You might be surprised.

 

Well so far no one has used a PONO with the ELS system

I did get a post that says the PONO is a waste of money, one that intimates the the ELS system sucks and one that says that the PONO is a good sounding device.

My guess at this point is that it will sound as good as DVD-A's with the ELS

 

This is one of those heavily two sided arguments. The Pono is like Beats. While they are obviously marketed at opposite types of consumers, one thing they have in common is their rabid fans and adamant opposition.

You won't be able to convince a Pono owner that they wasted their money on a FLAC player and they'll never convince a naysayer that there really is a difference between a lossless audio file and a 320KBS source.

This argument has been around for years, and will likely continue for more.

However, a car is probably one of the worst environments in which to actually *appreciate* a high quality source so there's probably negligible difference between a Pono and an iPhono.

But the Pono-philes will disagree and claim it's the best.

And the bit-rate-heads will call them out.

And it'll repeat next week, month, and year.

If you're in the market for a Pono, enjoy! Play it in the car, play it on a plane... Enjoy it!

 

I admittedly know very little about high end audio. I'm willing to admit that there are those with much more refined ears than mine, who can appreciate subtle differences in music. I'm also fairly certain that there are many with ears like mine, but who claim to fall in the other group. But one never knows.

So given my admitted ignorance, perhaps this is a silly comment, but aren't we talking about apples and oranges? Isn't the strength of the ELS system its surround sound capability, while the PONO's claim to fame is the lossless (or "high def", if you will) signal it puts out? Unless I'm missing something, a comment like "it should sound like DVD-A" seems like a bit of a guess. Put another way, isn't the idea of the PONO to turn out really good stereo signal (depending on who you ask, better than a standard phone/ipod/music player), while DVD-A in the ELS system is meant to put out a really good multi-channel signal?

 

Say what?

No, I'm pointing out that the Acura ELS system was probably not designed with 192kHz/24-bit FLAC tracks in mind and as a result will only sound as good as the Acura ELS system is designed for. Hence my example with $2 Walmart speakers.

 

Thanks for all the input folks.

I'd say I have to agree that the car is probably not the place to truly appreciate how good the PONO can sound. That being said, i bet it would sound better than the same songs coming out of a iPhone at MP3 320.

I don't like MP3's so I mostly use DVDs-A's and cd discs in my TL, but discs are bulky and fill up the door and center console storage areas quickly. I guess my prime use of the PONO would be on flights with nice headphones (I travel a lot) and in the car.

 

IMO, the difference b/w full sound and 320 kbps mp3 in the TL won't sound any different really. The speakers and HU cannot take advantage of the extra data in the audio streams unless it's in DTS 5.1 audio which the HU can read.

As you increase the amount of data in an audio stream, you end up with dimishing returns on quality.

Would I put the PONO in my 760, maybe, but still 320 kpbs music sounds fantastic in there and I love home theater setups and audio.

IMO, spend the money on better speakers and a sound processor before you spend it on PONO.

 

I was the OP and I know this thread is a little old, but I thought I would revive it.

After owning the PONO for awhile, I have come to realize that it's most important quality is in the D to A converter and the analog output amp. Put simply, the unit makes all resolutions of digital music sound great.

I have ripped CDs to FLAC, and have hi res downloaded music in FLAC that I have uploaded to it. All things being equal, it is near impossible to hear the difference between cd files and hi res.

However, and this is a big however, if the mastering for either the cd or hi res file is crappy (most often mastered for loudness) the music sounds like crap. I have found that more often, but not always, remasters for hi res releases are carefully done with as much dynamic range as possible.

Now MP3, by their very nature are compressed, and the masters done for MP3's tend to only target loudness as a top priority. No one is going to convince me that they are equal to cd in sound quality.

Last, the ELS system performs very well, and really shines with well recorded and mastered dvd-a's. When I give it the analog outs from my PONO it sounds great, and maybe a smidge better than using a cd in the ELS player. I ascribe this to the previously mentioned out quality of the PONO's analog stage.