A comprehensive review of the Open Pandora's audio capabilities


"You do not have permission to view this product review"

Hmmm. Are they preventing non-signed users to access content ? Seriously ?
 
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Interesting review, thanks.  I'm a little confused by your comparison with the Audioquest Dragonfly.  You say you'd only used lossless files on the Pandora, wheras with the Dragonfly you'd tried lossy and lossless, and it wasn't until you tried lossy on the Pandora that you heard a difference.  Do you perhaps mean you'd only tried lossy files on the Pandora?  Because otherwise it would suggest the Dragonfly has broken audio codecs.
 
Article has been reposted on Pandoralive.info (thanks takato14 for allowing us to do so) and is available now:

http://www.pandoralive.info/?p=148

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nice review, any solution to the "crackly" sound the volume wheel produces when turning at low volumes? have tried contact cleaner on volume wheel contacts but no effect.
 
If you know you're going to need low volumes you can reduce the software volume in the mixer.  Granted that will reduce the resolution of the output along with the volume, but 50% volume only loses you one bit.  I dunno how wide the Pandora's DAC is, but even if it's only 16-bit, 15-bit audio still sounds pretty good to me.

It's not ideal, because it reduces your maximum volume, but if you're not using it while travelling you probably won't need it that loud.
 
nice review, any solution to the "crackly" sound the volume wheel produces when turning at low volumes? have tried contact cleaner on volume wheel contacts but no effect.
Have you tried a post in the support section, this is not a common problem from my understanding?

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That rather excellent review & my own ears really make me think that ED should consider submitting a Pandora for Review to What HIFI magazine or similar.

Some audiophiles are willing to pay £500 for speaker wire, so perhaps one or two of them would be willing to shell out for the best sounding portable Audio Player currently available to mankind?

Just make sure the review model has a pre configured SD card.
 
I'm not sure why anyone would want to add a USB dongle onto the Pandora to listen through headphones - that part doesn't make sense to me.

The Pandora has everything it needs for seriously great audio already on-board.
 
Some people may have found a USB DAC that brings out the best in their music collection.

The primary goal is to keep the recording as intact as possible, but since all hardware will distort sound a little (or a lot), which you prefer is a matter of choice...

...or so I have heard.
 
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I'm not sure why anyone would want to add a USB dongle onto the Pandora to listen through headphones - that part doesn't make sense to me.

The Pandora has everything it needs for seriously great audio already on-board.
While the Pandora's sound is great, there are a few things that are better, and some headphones the Pandora cannot power. 

Interesting review, thanks.  I'm a little confused by your comparison with the Audioquest Dragonfly.  You say you'd only used lossless files on the Pandora, wheras with the Dragonfly you'd tried lossy and lossless, and it wasn't until you tried lossy on the Pandora that you heard a difference.  Do you perhaps mean you'd only tried lossy files on the Pandora?  Because otherwise it would suggest the Dragonfly has broken audio codecs.

I only used lossless with the Pandora initially, and the best way to tell a difference between a good DAC and a bad one is to use lossy files with revealing headphones. The Dragonfly tasted lossy first, and that's what led to me thinking the Dragonfly was better for a while.

That is, until I actually compared them  :p
 
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I only used lossless with the Pandora initially, and the best way to tell a difference between a good DAC and a bad one is to use lossy files with revealing headphones.
I call bullshit. Why would inferior quality audio, (resampled into the frequency domain, missing low amplitude frequencies), be more revealing of a good/bad DAC?
 
I only used lossless with the Pandora initially, and the best way to tell a difference between a good DAC and a bad one is to use lossy files with revealing headphones.
I call bullshit. Why would inferior quality audio, (resampled into the frequency domain, missing low amplitude frequencies), be more revealing of a good/bad DAC?
In general, it's easier to hear mistakes than it is to hear details. Poor encoding is often much more obvious than that extra note you weren't hearing before. Lower-quality DACs smooth over the encoding artifacts and make them more difficult to hear. A good DAC will bring those forward and allow you to hear exactly what's in the recording. 
 
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Hello takato14, I thought to come by and say thanks for the article, the examination of headsets is really great! thanks again.
 
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