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Recently I was in the market for a new portable music player, and I already know the general consensus of people: "dude, get an iPod / iPod Touch".
Sure, you can get an iPod. If you want to have shitty sound properties, and even shittier build quality; the price justifies what you receive.
However, there are a select-few of us who deem ourselves as audiophiles, and deeply care about our sound and build quality of portable devices.
With that said, I want to show you guys what I recently bought, and give you a quick synopsis of why I personally think the COWON J3 is the best mp3 player in the world.
Lets go ahead and dig right into why I personally believe this is the best mp3 player money can buy. First, the technical specifications:
Specifications - Hardware
General - Size: 2.2 x 4.19 x 0.39 in ( 56.0 x 106.5 x 9.9 mm )
- Color: Black / White
- Weight: 2.68 oz ( 76g )
Video - Display: 3.3" 16;9 Wide AMOLED, 480 x 272 (16million colors)
Audio - Channel: Stereo
- Max Output: 16 Ohm earphones : 29mW + 29mW
- S/N ratio: 95dB
FM Radio - Frequency Range: 87.5~108 MHz (KR,US,EU), 76~108 Mhz (JP)
AV OUT - Video: Composite
- Video Format: NTSC / PAL
- Audio: Stereo
Power - Builtin Battery: Builtin Rechargeable Lithium Polymer Battery
- Battery Charging: Charge from Mobile Charger (4.2V, 750mA) 3 Hours, By USB port 3.5 Hours
Capacity - Flash Memory: 4GB / 8GB / 16GB / 32GB, FAT32 file system *
- External Memory: Standard microSD Card Slot
Input Method - Touch Interface: Capacitive Touch Screen Interface
Display UI USB Interface - USB Device USB 2.0 High Speed
Button - 6 Buttons: POWER/HOLD, FF, REW, VOL+, VOL, PLAY/PAUSE
Recording - Microphone / Linein / FM Radio
Movie Player - File Format: AVI, WMV, ASF
- Video Codec: Xvid SP/ASP, WMV 7/8/9, DivX 3/4/5
- Video Resolution: 480x272, 30 fps recommened
- Audio Codec: MPEG1 Layer 1/2/3, WMA
- Subtitle: SMI
- Playback time: Max 11 hours **
Music Player - File Format: MP3/2, WMA, FLAC, OGG, APE, WAV
- Audio Codec: MP3 : MPEG 1/2/2.5 Layer 3, ~320kbps, ~48kHz, mono/stereo WMA : ~320kbps, ~48kHz, mono/stereo
OGG : ~Q10, ~44.1kHz, mono/stereo
FLAC : Compression Level 0 ~ 8, ~44.1kHz, mono/stereo
WAV : ~48kHz, 16bit, mono/stereo
APE : Fast, Normal, High, 16bit, v3.97 ~ 3.99
- ID3 Tag: ID3 V1, ID3 V2.2/V2.3/V2.4,Vorbis Comment
- Lyrics: LDB 1.0, 2.0
- JetEffect 3.0: 39 Presets (35 Presets + 4 User Presets)
BBE+: BBE, Mach3Bass, 3D Surround, MP Enhance
Special Effect: Stereo Enhance, Reverb
EQ: 5 Band Equalizer (EQ Filter)
- Playback time: Max 64 hours **
Photo Viewer - File Format: JPG
- Resolution: No limit. (Progressive format: LT 1M pixel)
Document Viewer Bluetooth - Bluetooth 2.0 Stereo Headset (A2DP, AVRCP Profile)
External Connector - Supports 20pin USB Connector
Etc - GSensor Supports auto pivot by Gsensor
- Builtin Speaker
Alrighty then. Technical data out of the way; time for the fun to begin! I will break down the next components into three sections: Sound Signal, Display and Interface, and finally, Features. These three categories will have three products going head-to-head, the COWON J3, the Zune HD, and the iPod Touch. (All three players are 32GB-sized players).
Sound Signal
So, what does this exactly all mean for the average person who doesn't deem themselves as an audiophile? Allow me to break it down for you:
In the music world, SnR (Signal-noise-Ratio) is a ratio which explains distortion and general noise which is not pure signal, or, in layman's terms, just noise. To measure SnR, one plays a silent audio clip at maximum volume and measuring the noise heard. An example of an audiophile sound card is the Asus Xonar Essence STX, which features an industry-leading 124dB SnR. The average motherboard sound chipset will provide the listener with an 86SnR - a fair amount, but once again, "average".
So, to summarize, higher SnR = clearer audio. If we take a look at the competition, the Zune HD does not have any official release from Zune or any other credible source with sound specifications. All SnR results have been derived from end-user testing, and the general consensus results at an 85dB SnR, which is worse than even an on board chipset for a computer.
Moving on to the iPod Touch, we once again find no official release from Apple, or any credible website. The only statistic we can find is from a website which claims a test to result 93.01dB SnR, which is far superior to the Zune HD.
Okay. So SnR is out of the way, leading to the COWON J3 winning this competition with a 95dB SnR (officially released on the website, which is also very pleasing to the audiophile). Now, on to compatibility!
Display and Interface
Display and Interface. Probably one of the hardest sections to tackle, since there is a strong bias towards what one considers nice, compared to somebody else. For this section, I will have to stay a bit more textbook with my opinions.
The COWON J3 features an AMOLED display, which is what Samsung and Nintendo are implementing into their handheld devices. AMOLED displays feature extremely rich and crisp color quality, which truly is remarkable.
AMOLED technology is able to deliver pixels 1,000x faster than LCD screens, is able to be viewed from any angle without sacrificing display to the slightest bit, and uses technology which boasts over a 10,000:1 contrast ratio.
As seen above, the screen size of the J3 is 3.3". As compared to the iPod Touch, which features Apple's award-winning Retina display, the 3.5" screen is slightly larger. However, the Retina display featured on the iPod touch is no small competitor; it truly does offer one of the most beautiful displays of any portable device on the market. Boasting a 960x640 display, the Apple iPod Touch has one of the most gorgeous screens on the market. Now, not to leave the Zune HD out alone, however the Zune HD is a baby compared to these two beasts; it has a 3.3" OLED screen, which also features 480x272 px, the same amount of pixels that the COWON J3 features. However, the OLED display is nowhere near as good as the AMOLED display, which is just pure fact.
The best way to tackle this issue is to provide pictures of the individual screens themselves (I cannot find a side-by-side comparison of the exact same image; if anyone can, please PM me and I will upload those images).
As you can see, it is a close competitor. In my unbiased opinion, the iPhone display looks better, due to its way, way higher resolution. Since the COWON J3 has a lesser resolution, I will have to succumb to the iPhone 4 for taking this round. It was close, though; by no means a blowout.
Now, on to the last round.
Features
The biggest feature (and in my honest opinion, the reason why the COWON J3 will win this round) is the upgradable memory. The COWON J3 allows for a 32GB microSD card to be inserted into the MP3 player, which can instantly allow you to double your MP3 players size without having to buy a completely brand new MP3 player.
Now, although it is true that there is a 64GB iPod Touch, I think the pricing on it is absurd, and not worth it. The ability to upgrade memory at your own will is a feature I truly value.
The Zune HD does not officially announce on their website if you can upgrade memory, however some posts on forums say there is a possibility to do so, but I find a majority of posts saying that you cannot. So with that said, I will say that you cannot upgrade the memory, since I don't see any way to do it.
Both the Zune HD and the iPod Touch have WiFi ability, and the COWON J3 does not. This, I find to be a huge drawback for the COWON J3, however in practical terms, I don't personally put a lot of value on WiFi for an MP3 player, because I have a Blackberry which has Internet Access, and have no need for WiFi on an MP3 player. So with that said, I will have to give this round to the COWON J3 once again. However, depending on who you are and what your priorities are on features, one may find either desirable.
***
Of these three beasts in the MP3 industry, I must crown the COWON J3 as the king of MP3's, for it's superior sound properties, gorgeous AMOLED display, and upgradable memory feature. It truly shines as a high-end audio device. This MP3 player is perfectly suited with a Sennheiser HD 5xx series headphone, and I would recommend this product to anyone who is serious about their music, and wants to venture into the world of audiophiles.
![[image loading]](http://www.exportprive.com/images/Image/Cowon_J3_Template_Top.jpg) The King of MP3 Players.
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pretty nice write-up. although people reading this should know that generally, sound quality is bottlenecked by the headphones you're using. for most people, upgrading their headphones will improve sound quality much much more than changing the mp3 player. That said, if people are looking to buy a new mp3 player, this review will help them out 
i personally use the sansa clip+. small, cheap, good, expandable memory, good battery life, good features, and has an equalizer. probably the best value all around.
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By sheer specs alone, I would say J3 qualifies as the best player in the world. But the thing I enjoy most about it is the open-source nature of its software. No itunes or zune software (the latter is especially heinous) bullshit. Drag and drop if you want and so much flexibility and customizability. I get the feeling that Cowon doesn't treat its users as dumbasses.
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Now the question is, will the D3 be better or worse than the J3?
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On January 07 2011 19:14 ieatkids5 wrote:pretty nice write-up. although people reading this should know that generally, sound quality is bottlenecked by the headphones you're using. for most people, upgrading their headphones will improve sound quality much much more than changing the mp3 player. That said, if people are looking to buy a new mp3 player, this review will help them out i personally use the sansa clip+. small, cheap, good, expandable memory, good battery life, good features, and has an equalizer. probably the best value all around.
Yeah, not long ago (~6 months ago?) I went into the TL mp3 thread because I needed a new mp3. The choice came down to Cowon and Sansa. I decided to get Sansa because it's smaller, cheaper, had good battery life and if needed can have it's memory expanded like you said. I'm very satisfied with my sansa, but if price wasn't a problem, I prolly would have gotten a Cowon.
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I think D3, with caveats, should be THE ultimate player once it's released. These caveats, however, are possibly: its battery life (it's reported to less than J3) and its UI (there's some reports that it is slow). But both are primary reports and UI speed can (and has been) be improved by firmware upgrades. Other specs are positively tantalizing.
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I'm not a huge fan of ipods, in fact ipods are pretty clear in how much money apple makes off everybody. Even big retail chains have to basically sell ipods at cost because you can't sell any other mp3 players with any sort of consistency, but I'd buy an ipod over the J3 on display stats alone after this writeup.
I don't see what makes it that much better, it's not like itunes is horrible to use or ipods sound awful. The main reason people hate them is because they dominate the market so much so apple just charges whatever the hell they want to.
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On January 07 2011 18:58 gulati wrote:
Both the Zune HD and the iPod Touch have WiFi ability, and the COWON J3 does not. This, I find to be a huge drawback for the COWON J3, however in practical terms, I don't personally put a lot of value on WiFi for an MP3 player, because I have a Blackberry which has Internet Access, and have no need for WiFi on an MP3 player. So with that said, I will have to give this round to the COWON J3 once again. However, depending on who you are and what your priorities are on features, one may find either desirable.
Can you explain to me why it wins the WiFi category when it... doesn't have... WiFi...
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looks good i guess but i don't think many people buy these portable music players to listen to music in good quality it's just for convenience
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I like the Flac/Ogg support, I wish I could utilize that with my itouch.
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Oh nice, it has flac/wave, but what it only goes to 1411 but no 2116.8
any stores that have it in North Amerika?
the sony portable players don't have flac except this korean one in the OP
and the only way for apple to get it is via some format specifically made for it...
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I hate how they have to put a super expensive led display on all mp3 players nowadays. If you buy something with an 8 gig capacity, and it has a led display, to listen to music with, your priorities are screwed up.
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I have a cowon iAudio E2 and I think its even better. Its cheaper and MUCH smaller and still has the same great sound as the J3. I dont need a display or anything fancy, I expect good sound from an mp3 player and thats what the E2 offers. Couple that with Westone in-ear phones and you got one hell of a sound that is as portable as it gets.
Here is a pic so u can make yourself a picture (ignore the crappy plugs this guy has):
![[image loading]](http://shopper.cnet.com/i/bto/20091110/e2keychain.JPG)
This is for REAL audiophiles, shiny displays and movie playback is for noobs imho.
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How does Cowon J3 compare to other cowon players such as S9 and D2+?
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J3 is a better S9, with improvements in UI, battery life, external speaker, and SD slot (and arguably design). S9 is already a fantastic player.
D2+. Well, they are completely beasts. Different form factor. Much more features. Much superior screen.
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Hong Kong20321 Posts
On January 07 2011 20:13 diehilde wrote:I have a cowon iAudio E2 and I think its even better. Its cheaper and MUCH smaller and still has the same great sound as the J3. I dont need a display or anything fancy, I expect good sound from an mp3 player and thats what the E2 offers. Couple that with Westone in-ear phones and you got one hell of a sound that is as portable as it gets. Here is a pic so u can make yourself a picture (ignore the crappy plugs this guy has): This is for REAL audiophiles, shiny displays and movie playback is for noobs imho.
WOW wtf thats real damn small?? wtf theres no screen even? so its kinda like ipod shuffle or something? O _o
how much does this cowon j3 cost?
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On January 07 2011 20:30 alffla wrote:Show nested quote +On January 07 2011 20:13 diehilde wrote:I have a cowon iAudio E2 and I think its even better. Its cheaper and MUCH smaller and still has the same great sound as the J3. I dont need a display or anything fancy, I expect good sound from an mp3 player and thats what the E2 offers. Couple that with Westone in-ear phones and you got one hell of a sound that is as portable as it gets. Here is a pic so u can make yourself a picture (ignore the crappy plugs this guy has): This is for REAL audiophiles, shiny displays and movie playback is for noobs imho. WOW wtf thats real damn small?? wtf theres no screen even? so its kinda like ipod shuffle or something? O _o how much does this cowon j3 cost?
Are you in the mong cock district? ( not sure if the romanization is correct )
where to get?
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I was thinking about getting one of those Cowon mp3 players but my ipod nano is still serving me well after 6 yrs. When this nano dies/breaks/gets lost, I'll probably just buy an iPhone, iTouch, or a Nexus S. I really like the ability to play games. I don't really mind having really good audio cus I'm either doing working out or going to class or connecting it to my car radio. I do see how the Cowon is superior in audio compared to other mp3s though.
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On January 07 2011 20:30 alffla wrote:Show nested quote +On January 07 2011 20:13 diehilde wrote:+ Show Spoiler +I have a cowon iAudio E2 and I think its even better. Its cheaper and MUCH smaller and still has the same great sound as the J3. I dont need a display or anything fancy, I expect good sound from an mp3 player and thats what the E2 offers. Couple that with Westone in-ear phones and you got one hell of a sound that is as portable as it gets. Here is a pic so u can make yourself a picture (ignore the crappy plugs this guy has): This is for REAL audiophiles, shiny displays and movie playback is for noobs imho. WOW wtf thats real damn small?? wtf theres no screen even? so its kinda like ipod shuffle or something? O _o how much does this cowon j3 cost?
yep its kinda like an ipod shuffle, except it has the same sound as the other cowons, aka MUCH better than apple sound. The J3 costs ~200$ while the e2 costs ~50$. Spend the money you save on better earphones and you will always have a better sound with an e2. Id recommend Westone 2 or a good Shure model. If you really got the dough get Westone ES3 (~1.5k$).
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Win 7 phone is really nice only the mp3 ui could do with more features.
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there are so many apps you can get for ipod/iphone, like instant messaging etc. those would swing me pretty hard towards apple, even though i dont really like them that much. I guess if all youre interested in is audio quality then maybe it makes sense
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it's not just sound quality...
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On January 07 2011 19:51 GWBushJr wrote:
Oh nice, it has flac/wave, but what it only goes to 1411 but no 2116.8
any stores that have it in North Amerika?
the sony portable players don't have flac except this korean one in the OP
and the only way for apple to get it is via some format specifically made for it... There are certainly places in North America that you can get it online from for example NCIX, I'm not too sure about actual in-stores though.
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On January 07 2011 19:56 metzGRR wrote:
I hate how they have to put a super expensive led display on all mp3 players nowadays. If you buy something with an 8 gig capacity, and it has a led display, to listen to music with, your priorities are screwed up.
I completely agree. If I buy an MP3 player it is solely to listen to music. As long as there is a display to easily select which artist or album is in play it is sufficient. What I really care about is memory so I can carry my huge collection of music around with me wherever I go. I wish I didn't have to use an Ipod, but nothing on the market really compares with the 160gb ipod (this cowon J3 32 gig is the same price as a 160gb ipod), so my money is on the ipod.
Also, I hate itunes, its so clunky; there are plenty of programs that let you use an ipod without using Itunes.
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if you care about storage, go for cowon X7. Should handily beat ipod classic at its own game.
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On January 07 2011 19:36 HuggyBear wrote:
The D3 is the pinnacle of true tech junkies. It has every single thing possible from both the Apple world, and the COWON world. The display is just as high resolution as the Retina display, it has crystal-clear HDMI out, it runs Android OS 2.1, it has WiFi... I can go on and on and on. It is perfect
However, these perfections come at a detrimental loss in battery life. The battery life is slashed over 300% from the J3 for these new features. That is a loss that I personally don't want to take for an MP3 player, but that's just me.
If you truly love high-end displays and neat features such as Android OS, HDMI-out, WiFi, etc., then go with the D3. However, if we are speaking strictly on terms of audiophile MP3 players, you can be indifferent, since they both should use the same exact sound properties that the S9 and J3 used (there is no official release of the sound properties yet). However, going by history, it is safe to say they will use the Wolfson chipset once again.
On January 07 2011 19:41 ZERG_RUSSIAN wrote:Show nested quote +On January 07 2011 18:58 gulati wrote:
Both the Zune HD and the iPod Touch have WiFi ability, and the COWON J3 does not. This, I find to be a huge drawback for the COWON J3, however in practical terms, I don't personally put a lot of value on WiFi for an MP3 player, because I have a Blackberry which has Internet Access, and have no need for WiFi on an MP3 player. So with that said, I will have to give this round to the COWON J3 once again. However, depending on who you are and what your priorities are on features, one may find either desirable. Can you explain to me why it wins the WiFi category when it... doesn't have... WiFi...
Sorry for the confusion. This was judged in the category of Features, and I personally put more weight onto expandable memory for an MP3 player over WiFi for an MP3 player, but that's just my opinion.
On January 07 2011 19:51 GWBushJr wrote:Show nested quote +
Oh nice, it has flac/wave, but what it only goes to 1411 but no 2116.8
any stores that have it in North Amerika?
the sony portable players don't have flac except this korean one in the OP
and the only way for apple to get it is via some format specifically made for it...
I love the fact that you seek that high of a bitrate for your music
I don't think COWON can go to that high of a rate. Maybe, but... that's just overkill to the max. But I still love it
And yes, you can buy these in select high-end audio stores, but your best bet is Amazon (cheapest and fastest).
On January 07 2011 20:13 writer22816 wrote:
Compared to the S9 (I own it), they share:
- Gorilla Glass
- Sound chipset
- AMOLED 16M display
They differ in:
- Interface
- UI
- microSD expansion
- Battery Life
- Design
So, they are pretty darn similar. The S9 dominated the market when it was popular years ago. I still love my S9.
As for the D2+, I think he summed it up
On January 07 2011 20:30 alffla wrote:Show nested quote +On January 07 2011 20:13 diehilde wrote:I have a cowon iAudio E2 and I think its even better. Its cheaper and MUCH smaller and still has the same great sound as the J3. I dont need a display or anything fancy, I expect good sound from an mp3 player and thats what the E2 offers. Couple that with Westone in-ear phones and you got one hell of a sound that is as portable as it gets. Here is a pic so u can make yourself a picture (ignore the crappy plugs this guy has): This is for REAL audiophiles, shiny displays and movie playback is for noobs imho. WOW wtf thats real damn small?? wtf theres no screen even? so its kinda like ipod shuffle or something? O _o how much does this cowon j3 cost?
The COWON J3 costs:
- 8GB: $185
- 16GB: $225
- 32GB: $269
All prices are from Amazon, and are pretty much as low as you will get.
On January 07 2011 22:25 Treeship wrote:Show nested quote +On January 07 2011 19:56 metzGRR wrote:
I hate how they have to put a super expensive led display on all mp3 players nowadays. If you buy something with an 8 gig capacity, and it has a led display, to listen to music with, your priorities are screwed up. I completely agree. If I buy an MP3 player it is solely to listen to music. As long as there is a display to easily select which artist or album is in play it is sufficient. What I really care about is memory so I can carry my huge collection of music around with me wherever I go. I wish I didn't have to use an Ipod, but nothing on the market really compares with the 160gb ipod (this cowon J3 32 gig is the same price as a 160gb ipod), so my money is on the ipod. Also, I hate itunes, its so clunky; there are plenty of programs that let you use an ipod without using Itunes.
The COWON X7 is your solution my friend
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I'm glad there's good info here. I love my S9 and was looking if what else is good now.
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I never understood why mp3 players need fancy screens. What would battery life be like if all it had was a small display showing only artist, song, album, playlist, genre, category names and then a menu for device settings. Seems like you could get more bang for your buck if you weren't throwing 150+ dollars at a fancy touch screen to play angry birds on or to watch youtube on wifi.
I really want that COWON X7 but I dunno, the screen...ahhh. =\
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On January 07 2011 23:43 couches wrote:
I never understood why mp3 players need fancy screens. What would battery life be like if all it had was a small display showing only artist, song, album, playlist, genre, category names and then a menu for device settings. Seems like you could get more bang for your buck if you weren't throwing 150+ dollars at a fancy touch screen to play angry birds on or to watch youtube on wifi.
I really want that COWON X7 but I dunno, the screen...ahhh. =\
You are absolutely right. An MP3 player does not require any fancy gimmicks, cameras, WiFi, etc. It requires high-quality sound properties. The iPod G3 was my favorite iPod to-date, and is the only one I would ever use again. However, COWON and other overseas companies alike have truly seized on the competition and realized that MP3 players need to return to their roots, however they must also be competitive in the global market today. I believe that the S9 and J3 are very elegant blends between high-end simple MP3 devices, and the new-age fancy touch screen displays. It isn't overkill, but by no means is it a dime-a-dozen player; it satisfies both extremes.
Also, the fact that COWON is a Korean company makes me even happier
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On January 07 2011 23:43 couches wrote:
I never understood why mp3 players need fancy screens. What would battery life be like if all it had was a small display showing only artist, song, album, playlist, genre, category names and then a menu for device settings. Seems like you could get more bang for your buck if you weren't throwing 150+ dollars at a fancy touch screen to play angry birds on or to watch youtube on wifi.
I really want that COWON X7 but I dunno, the screen...ahhh. =\
What's wrong with it? It isn't cutting-edge and instead "compromised" compared to S9 or J3. It features I think around 100 hours of battery per charge, huge HD space, and same great sound quality. I don't think you would ever need more battery life than that.
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On January 07 2011 19:14 ieatkids5 wrote:pretty nice write-up. although people reading this should know that generally, sound quality is bottlenecked by the headphones you're using. for most people, upgrading their headphones will improve sound quality much much more than changing the mp3 player. That said, if people are looking to buy a new mp3 player, this review will help them out i personally use the sansa clip+. small, cheap, good, expandable memory, good battery life, good features, and has an equalizer. probably the best value all around.
This was basically what I was going to post. 
The Clip+ is a beast stock, but once you rockbox it - its on a whole new level.
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United States22883 Posts
On January 08 2011 05:14 phosphorylation wrote:Show nested quote +On January 07 2011 23:43 couches wrote:
I never understood why mp3 players need fancy screens. What would battery life be like if all it had was a small display showing only artist, song, album, playlist, genre, category names and then a menu for device settings. Seems like you could get more bang for your buck if you weren't throwing 150+ dollars at a fancy touch screen to play angry birds on or to watch youtube on wifi.
I really want that COWON X7 but I dunno, the screen...ahhh. =\ What's wrong with it? It isn't cutting-edge and instead "compromised" compared to S9 or J3. It features I think around 100 hours of battery per charge, huge HD space, and same great sound quality. I don't think you would ever need more battery life than that.
Because it's too big, the same reason I prefer a Droid over an EVO or Incredible.
I got my J3 from B&H in New York and I'm pretty satisfied with it. I kind of wish it had the large HDD of the X7, but my experience with physical drives in mp3 players hasn't been great so I'm willing to make due with 64gb instead of 160. I love that it's relatively small and very light, and the flash interface is somewhat customizable.
It certainly doesn't have the features of a Touch, but I have a smart phone for that so I really don't care about internet access.
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On January 08 2011 05:36 Jibba wrote:Show nested quote +On January 08 2011 05:14 phosphorylation wrote:On January 07 2011 23:43 couches wrote:
I never understood why mp3 players need fancy screens. What would battery life be like if all it had was a small display showing only artist, song, album, playlist, genre, category names and then a menu for device settings. Seems like you could get more bang for your buck if you weren't throwing 150+ dollars at a fancy touch screen to play angry birds on or to watch youtube on wifi.
I really want that COWON X7 but I dunno, the screen...ahhh. =\ What's wrong with it? It isn't cutting-edge and instead "compromised" compared to S9 or J3. It features I think around 100 hours of battery per charge, huge HD space, and same great sound quality. I don't think you would ever need more battery life than that. Because it's too big, the same reason I prefer a Droid over an EVO or Incredible. I got my J3 from B&H in New York and I'm pretty satisfied with it. I kind of wish it had the large HDD of the X7, but my experience with physical drives in mp3 players hasn't been great so I'm willing to make due with 64gb instead of 160. I love that it's relatively small and very light, and the flash interface is somewhat customizable. It certainly doesn't have the features of a Touch, but I have a smart phone for that so I really don't care about internet access.
I got my S9 from J&R downtown. I've known B&H, but I never knew they had a store in New York. How much did you pay for your J3, and what color did you get?
Btw, herro neighbor!
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United States22883 Posts
Black 32GB for $300. I think the price has come down a bit since then.
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no wifi is the deal breaker for me. i probably spend equal or more time with wifi on my ipod touch than listening to music.
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Best DAP i've ever used is the iRiver iHP-140. Nothing I've used since has come close to it. It had FLAC playback via rockbox firmware 5 years ago. The DAC it used was pretty good too. I still have mine to this very day.
![[image loading]](http://www.comparestoreprices.co.uk/images/ir/iriver-ihp-140-40gb.jpg)
Mine is a bit more battered than that of course
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On January 08 2011 05:14 phosphorylation wrote:Show nested quote +On January 07 2011 23:43 couches wrote:
I never understood why mp3 players need fancy screens. What would battery life be like if all it had was a small display showing only artist, song, album, playlist, genre, category names and then a menu for device settings. Seems like you could get more bang for your buck if you weren't throwing 150+ dollars at a fancy touch screen to play angry birds on or to watch youtube on wifi.
I really want that COWON X7 but I dunno, the screen...ahhh. =\ What's wrong with it? It isn't cutting-edge and instead "compromised" compared to S9 or J3. It features I think around 100 hours of battery per charge, huge HD space, and same great sound quality. I don't think you would ever need more battery life than that. I don't think there's anything actually wrong with it. Just, there is a lot of overlap between touch screen mp3 players like an itouch and smartphones. One has huge storage capacity the other has texting/calling. Everything else they can share, basically. Would be sweet to see the two devices merge with both of those perks. But as long as there's good money to be made in keeping them separate it may not happen for a while. However, my phone does have a 16g microSD so it's getting there it seems like.
What I would really really like is a smaller device like the shuffle or the iaudio e2 but with large capacity. That will probably take some time to develop. Just hate feeling like I'm tethered to a computer with a smaller capacity mp3 device. I unno, when most ppl are already carrying phones around it sucks to have to pay for and carry yet another similar sized device for music too.
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for those who care (audiophiles alike) my set up is the cowon j3 and westone um3x. those two combined have really made my ears climax, though i'm looking for a portable amp for it soon...
Back to the J3, i was really hesitant on getting it as my 4th gen ipod nano hasn't broken yet (i felt that was a waste). but since i had a bonus from work i decided to go for it, (i also justified my purchase by the fact that 8gb on a nano isn't enough). Upon realizing that the 16gb J3 had a slot for expandable SD memory, i pulled the trigger and purchased it.
fast forward...the j3 came in the mail i quickly loaded up a few songs on it and had a listened. the sound was very transparent, and since i listen to some electronica (hardstyle, skrillex, house, trance) i played around with the EQs. The EQs has room for 5 user-defined presets! How awesome is that, I have one made for pink floyd, general heavy metal and classical. There are also the presets which come with, such as BBE MP, Mach3Bass (please try this setting on transparent IEMs its so thick-sounding).
And to add to the deal, you aren't bound to any software! This baby functions like a usb where you just drag and drop music files, no questions asked. So. Very. Very. Simple. And. Clean.
My days with itunes are over, i can merrily uninstall it from my computer, no more lag, no more "SYNCING IPOD" messages, no more "hanging-on-the-screen-because-i-clicked-a button" problems.
I don't have anything negative to say about this mp3 player, i mean it even supports flac, though i find flac a waste of space and uncessary on a portable source, so i just rip from flac to v0 (mp3 format). I agree with how the mp3 should return to its original roots, emphasizing its build on Sound to noise ratio (snr), support for a multitude of formats (ogg, aac, flac, wav, mp3, alac) and EQ settings. And not on how many "extra features" it has. for some people like me, i prefer browsing the internet and using wi fi on my laptop so i dont have to squint at my browser that's on my mp3 player. nor do i need a camera/video...(face-to-face with me while i listen to music....seriously?).
It's a shame cowon's mp3 players hardly make it on the north american market where everyone is blinded by apple/sony mp3 players. If it weren't for this TL thread:
http://www.teamliquid.net/blogs/viewblog.php?topic_id=147218 i wouldn't have known about the existence of cowon.
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I tried to write a decent post in here earlier, but then deleted it. I'm going to try again now.
I think that having pride in one's possessions is fine (I suppose), but this is too much. On 'audiophile' forums you will see threads for a pair of headphones, or a particular mp3 player that go on for dozens of pages. What exactly are you guys talking about? Everyone just says 'I like this!' or tries to feel elitist about something they purchased. I think there is something that makes you want your mp3 player to be more than it really is. You paid $300 for a device. It plays audio. It plays videos. That's what you paid for. Yes, it does it better than a cheap knockoff player, but the majority of the players on the market are very competent. There is really nothing to say about them, except "it does what it does." Possibly to the dismay of audiophiles, Cowon's claim to fame is its equalizers. Clip+'s claim to fame is that it is well RockBox supported (ie RockBox equalizers). If you don't use equalizers, they really don't have an advantage over the rest of the market (except perhaps in looks/snob appeal), and most audiophiles think of equalizers as a sin (which although I don't often use equalizers, I still find it hilarious).
I use a Cowon S9. I wanted a Samsung player but unfortunately they don't sell those in Canada. I wanted to give some hope against Apple completely monopolizing the market in Canada, so I bought a Cowon (I thought about Archos, but those apparently have infamously unreliable firmware, even compared to the numerous complaints people make about Cowon players). This I think is mildly sane. Writing a 2000 word essay on a topic that is really very simple, on the other-hand... seems unhealthy. If you were an engineer who builds mp3 players you might have something to say... But as a layman, all we can say is 'I like this player' and point to arbitrary specs of the player to try and back up the claim even if we don't really understand them.
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On January 08 2011 06:29 Chef wrote:
I tried to write a decent post in here earlier, but then deleted it. I'm going to try again now.
I think that having pride in one's possessions is fine (I suppose), but this is too much. On 'audiophile' forums you will see threads for a pair of headphones, or a particular mp3 player that go on for dozens of pages. What exactly are you guys talking about? Everyone just says 'I like this!' or tries to feel elitist about something they purchased. I think there is something that makes you want your mp3 player to be more than it really is. You paid $300 for a device. It plays audio. It plays videos. That's what you paid for. Yes, it does it better than a cheap knockoff player, but the majority of the players on the market are very competent. There is really nothing to say about them, except "it does what it does." Possibly to the dismay of audiophiles, Cowon's claim to fame is its equalizers. Clip+'s claim to fame is that it is well RockBox supported (ie RockBox equalizers). If you don't use equalizers, they really don't have an advantage over the rest of the market (except perhaps in looks/snob appeal), and most audiophiles think of equalizers as a sin (which although I don't often use equalizers, I still find it hilarious).
I use a Cowon S9. I wanted a Samsung player but unfortunately they don't sell those in Canada. I wanted to give some hope against Apple completely monopolizing the market in Canada, so I bought a Cowon (I thought about Archos, but those apparently have infamously unreliable firmware, even compared to the numerous complaints people make about Cowon players). This I think is mildly sane. Writing a 2000 word essay on a topic that is really very simple, on the other-hand... seems unhealthy. If you were an engineer who builds mp3 players you might have something to say... But as a layman, all we can say is 'I like this player' and point to arbitrary specs of the player to try and back up the claim even if we don't really understand them.
Although I do respect your opinion, I think you are being ignorant. There is no reason to shoot down people because I do not have a Masters degree in Musical Engineering. I deem myself to be an audiophile for the hardware and quality of samples I listen to, and for the over-attention to detail I take in regards to audio. You do not have the right to tell TeamLiquid, or any other forum for that matter, to be unenthusiastic and just blindly purchase hardware. That is what Apple hopes for the rest of the world to do, which is why there are people like us, anythingbutipod.com, head-fi.org, etc., which attempt to shine light upon those who are not as understanding about high-end audio.
As you can read above, I defined what SnR and some other technical terms are. I'm trying to help people out here and give insight to a world that is far more beautiful than Apple. If you don't appreciate it, that's perfectly fine. But don't call me unhealthy for writing a 2,000 page essay on a "simple" topic. I love hearing feedback and support from other people around the world who share the same ideals as mine, and it's evidence enough to show that there are a lot of people here who know what they are talking about. If you want to be cynical and claim that we just arbitrarily find a specification and try to correlate that with another reason that we like the product at hand, you can do that. But you are incorrect with your statement, because you do not know to what degree anyone's musical knowledge extends to. To claim that we don't understand what we are really talking about is BM.
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This op is just advertising. And he has flawed arguments. He claims Signal to noise ratio to be of utmost importance, yet his device has 95 compared to 93 of the ipod. The rest is just cosmetics (wtf does an audiophile care about the display?)
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On January 08 2011 07:43 Navane wrote:
This op is just advertising. And he has flawed arguments. He claims Signal to noise ratio to be of utmost importance, yet his device has 95 compared to 93 of the ipod. The rest is just cosmetics (wtf does an audiophile care about the display?)
SnR is the most important factor for me. So yes, that is why the COWON wins. And if you closely read, Apple does not release it's SnR. That is what end-users have tested. It could very well be even lower, we have no clue. So, with that said, I don't understand what you are trying to critique. (And by the way, 86dB SnR being the "standard" on motherboards, versus 124dB SnR on my Asus Xonar Essence STX yields a 64x clearer signal. You are trying to make a linear comparison out of sound properties that you do not understand. 95dB vs 93dB is gigantic for an audiophile).
Anyway, no. I do not work for COWON, and I don't care who makes the product. I am telling you that from my experience this is the best MP3 player money can buy. That is it.
P.S. This is an expensive purchase. Audiophiles don't mind having a beautiful looking device also. So kudos to COWON for making a nice product. If you want an ugly product that has as good sound specifications as this, then feel free to win over the audiophile world. You will have a tough time finding a product that satisfies those variables, and will cause an audiophile to empty their pockets for it (unless it is WAY better in terms of audio).
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AMP3/Studio and HiFiMan beg to differ. And by that I mean they're ugly, poorly constructed, worse sounding devices that cost more, yet 'audiophiles' eat it up just cause people are willing to write 5000 words about why it's amazing when they don't have a clue what they're talking about. The difference between that and what you're doing is only different in that Cowon is a legitimate company with competent engineering. However, you still don't know what you're talking about.
To use anythingbutipod and head-fi.org in the same sentence is also laughable. They're totally different communities. AnythingButIpod actually has some competent users... namely DFKT. At hydrogenaudio.org every is basically DFKT x2 (in terms of audio understanding). Head-fi is just a cesspool of consumerism, shills, and people who don't know what they're talking about but feel the need to write huge essays none the less.
Cowon isn't more or less expensive than any other player on the market, really. So I don't know where that point comes from. Clip+ is the cheapest solid device you can get, but of course it has no video support.
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On January 08 2011 07:43 Navane wrote:
This op is just advertising. And he has flawed arguments. He claims Signal to noise ratio to be of utmost importance, yet his device has 95 compared to 93 of the ipod. The rest is just cosmetics (wtf does an audiophile care about the display?)
Uhh maybe this wasn't clear in his post, but battery life and expandable memory are also two massive advantages over the ipod. I would take those over wifi and some cute touchscreen games any day.
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On January 08 2011 07:53 gulati wrote:Show nested quote +On January 08 2011 07:43 Navane wrote:
This op is just advertising. And he has flawed arguments. He claims Signal to noise ratio to be of utmost importance, yet his device has 95 compared to 93 of the ipod. The rest is just cosmetics (wtf does an audiophile care about the display?) SnR is the most important factor for me. So yes, that is why the COWON wins. And if you closely read, Apple does not release it's SnR. That is what end-users have tested. It could very well be even lower, we have no clue. So, with that said, I don't understand what you are trying to critique. (And by the way, 86dB SnR being the "standard" on motherboards, versus 124dB SnR on my Asus Xonar Essence STX yields a 64x clearer signal. You are trying to make a linear comparison out of sound properties that you do not understand. 95dB vs 93dB is gigantic for an audiophile). Anyway, no. I do not work for COWON, and I don't care who makes the product. I am telling you that from my experience this is the best MP3 player money can buy. That is it. P.S. This is an expensive purchase. Audiophiles don't mind having a beautiful looking device also. So kudos to COWON for making a nice product. If you want an ugly product that has as good sound specifications as this, then feel free to win over the audiophile world. You will have a tough time finding a product that satisfies those variables, and will cause an audiophile to empty their pockets for it (unless it is WAY better in terms of audio).
124 dB vs. 86 dB is a 38 dB difference, which would be a ratio of 10^(38/10) = 6310. Where does 64x come from?
In any case, just comparing SNR between two devices gives you a very incomplete picture of the audio performance difference, especially when the SNR is sufficiently high. If you're listening at a signal level that peaks at 90 dB SPL (fairly loud) and the baseline noise level is 100 dB under that, the noise would be literally below the threshold of human detectability: 0 dB SPL. Having a noise level 110 dB under the 90 dB SPL would also give you another value below 0 dB SPL, so who cares?
RMAA isn't a perfect audio benchmarking suite by any means, but at least it will give you real-world measurements including more parameters such as the frequency response, harmonic and intermodulation distortion, etc.
See some results for the J3 vs. other players here:
Cowon J3, Sansa Clip+, Sony A845, Samsung YP-R0 with 16 ohm load
iPhone, Sansa Clip, Cowon D2, iRiver H340 with 16 ohm load
http://rmaa.elektrokrishna.com/
[edit: My link got blown up lol, visit the site for real and see the comparisons. It deserves the real traffic.]
Frequency Response with 16 ohm load -- see link for other statistics
16 ohms is a very common earbud/earphones/IEM impedance. I'm sure some audiophiles would use an external amp and not drive those directly with the internal headphone amplifier, but these results are what they are. They're measuring the whole DAC -> amp signal chain. The J3 actually has a bit of a bass rolloff with low-impedance loads, probably because of having a small DC blocking capacitor on the output. That produces the highpass effect you see. As for the SNR, distortion, etc. go see for yourself.
The J3 does pretty well. But actually, so does the $25-50 Sansa Clip+. Who would've thunk.
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Not to crap on the OP but recommending any Sennheiser 5xx and the cowon as audiophile level is silly. The 5xx lineup is crap (imo, compared to the other stuff on the market at that price) and you should really be running any of the top of the line sennies through an amp cos they arent the easiest headphones to drive.
Actually saying anything is audiophile quality is silly. You could feel all elite with a pair of 500 dollar headphones and a xonar but go to any audiophile meet and there will be setups that just shit over anything you could imagine (or afford).
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Holy shit it seems like audiophiles are on a whole other level of elitism. I wouldnt recommend a sennheiser 5xx or buy an expensive product for touchscreen/video features either but still I think there is no need to be so hard on the op. Obviously a TON of ppl just get an ipod with the stock earphones and are fine and dandy with it, compared to those everybody in this thread would probably qualify as an audiophile. Of cus there will always be ppl more hardcore about smth than you are, no matter how hardcore you are. Still, arguing about what is audiophile and what not is ultimately arguing semantics, which is the only silly thing in this topic. If you want high end expert discussions about certain topics, TL is NOT the place to do it (except for SC/SC2). There are other homepages for other topics. I wouldnt expect scientific level discussions when I created a topic about philosophy on TL either. So chill out ppl.
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Fenrax
United States5018 Posts
I want to buy an MP3 player for my mom for easter.
- she is a complete tech noob so it has to function as easy as possible, the easier the better
- no Video function, it would only confuse her 
- high quality, a long battery duration and many Gigabytes memory are more important than the price
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I am buying J3 32GB hopefully as soon as possible, now I am just browsing different shops allover eu that can deliver to finland. Any good and cheap suggestions? ^^ Thanks
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On January 31 2012 16:53 PeZuY wrote:
I am buying J3 32GB hopefully as soon as possible, now I am just browsing different shops allover eu that can deliver to finland. Any good and cheap suggestions? ^^ Thanks
Have you considered using Amazon?
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I have a sony Xseries player and it was pretty awesome, even got a build in noise cancelling (through it can only be used with the default earphones)
Since I just bought a new earphone, theJVC HA-FXT90 limited gold edition, do you think it is worth getting this mp3 player or should I get a portable amp instead?
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If you want REALLY good value for money sound, the Sansa Clip+ deserves a lot of praise.
http://nwavguy.blogspot.com.au/2011/02/sansa-clip-measured.html
If you want a REALLY excellent mp3 player, then I agree that the Cowon J3 is a really good player unless you have a habit of drunk bashing your devices.
Cowon makes a lot of good sounding players. The reason the J3 becomes the best of the bunch is they didn't botch up the GUI compared to all their other PMPs
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afaik no-one else has made a 120gig+ mp3 player, so i have an iPod.
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On January 31 2012 16:56 Azera wrote:Show nested quote +On January 31 2012 16:53 PeZuY wrote:
I am buying J3 32GB hopefully as soon as possible, now I am just browsing different shops allover eu that can deliver to finland. Any good and cheap suggestions? ^^ Thanks Have you considered using Amazon?
What I've seen amazon are not cheapest. If I could order one player and delivered from US it would be fine but unfortunately it feels impossible to buy anything from states since either they cannot deliver it or shipping costs are way too ridiculous.
My best prize so far is white version of the player 199 pounds+18,99 delivery from U.K. which is roughly 250,06 € at the current state.
http://www.advancedmp3players.co.uk/shop/MP3_Players.1/Cowon_iAudio.15/COWONJ3-32GB-/Cowon_J3_32GB_MP3_Player.4380.html
but I just want to see if I can squeeze few more pennies out of it : )
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So far this is my portable setup
Ipod Video 5th gen (rockboxed) > Lineout > Dedicated Amp > headphones/IEM
Works like a gem.
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*can it play music
*is the quality good enough
*cheaper = better
there you go, 3 step to best purchase.
I use the sansaclip mentioned above. it's great. small as hell too, and very convenient for jogging.
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Above all, i enjoy these two aspects about cowon products over the others:
1)battery life.. Let me tell you a simple story to illustrate this. I went on a camping trip, with the mp3 blasting on the entire 4-hr drive. I foolishly forgot to turn the thing off and hiked 15 miles into the wild to camp. I came back two nights later expecting my player to be out of batteries but it was still going.. In fact, I even got to enjoy music on the drive back.
2) Ease of file transfer, lack of bs software. I've owned ipods and zune in the past, but I absolutely loathed their proprietary software programs which were very fiddly (esp. the zune) and these were required to upload music to the player. It also fucked with the file directory; the only way I could access the music was through the playlists/albums that they reorganized for me.
With the cowon, all you do is drag and drop (no middling software) and it preserves the file directory. You can still browse playlists but I can just as well choose to browse the player like a pc. What's more, it plays basically every audio format (even apple lossless) so there's no hassle of converting audio files.
Well the good audio quality and beautiful screen are also nice to have, I guess.
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On January 31 2012 18:03 phosphorylation wrote:
Above all, i enjoy these two aspects about cowon products over the others:
1)battery life.. Let me tell you a simple story to illustrate this. I went on a camping trip, with the mp3 blasting on the entire 4-hr drive. I foolishly forgot to turn the thing off and hiked 15 miles into the wild to camp. I came back two nights later expecting my player to be out of batteries but it was still going.. In fact, I even got to enjoy music on the drive back.
2) Ease of file transfer, lack of bs software. I've owned ipods and zune in the past, but I absolutely loathed their proprietary software programs which were very fiddly (esp. the zune) and these were required to upload music to the player. It also fucked with the file directory; the only way I could access the music was through the playlists/albums that they reorganized for me.
With the cowon, all you do is drag and drop (no middling software) and it preserves the file directory. You can still browse playlists but I can just as well choose to browse the player like a pc. What's more, it plays basically every audio format (even apple lossless) so there's no hassle of converting audio files.
Well the good audio quality and beautiful screen are also nice to have, I guess.
I agree, but I find it hard to pay the asking price of $200 for a dedicated audio player. I'd rather have a single device i.e. smartphone.
edit: reading my post a year ago it's astonishing how much my opinions have changed over one year....-_-
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Different strokes for different folks.
I don't own a smartphone so having a nice multimedia player + normal phone really makes sense.
(I also tend to drop my phone a lot so having a sturdy, oldschool flip phone is not actually a terrible thing)
I do miss not having wifi/3G sometimes, but I can live without it.
Oh and you can grab them for sub-200 used.
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well, I am a happy user of the J3. The sound quality is great and the EQ is something to talk about too. And you guys might already know about the battery life, it actually depends on what file you are trying to play using the J3 but overall the battery life is really impressive.
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Wow, I was looking at these just now as my 2006 mp3 finally gave out ): (Creative Vision Zen: M). I hate the iPod and I can't stand iTunes and this looks like a very good alternative, thanks!
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On January 08 2011 06:09 Neoto wrote:Best DAP i've ever used is the iRiver iHP-140. Nothing I've used since has come close to it. It had FLAC playback via rockbox firmware 5 years ago. The DAC it used was pretty good too. I still have mine to this very day. Mine is a bit more battered than that of course
THAT is the best player ever! I used an iHP-120 and it rocked!
For sports i now use the Iaudio7 16GB - it last over 60 hours (!).....i just wish cowon would build android phones....
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/GBWo0.jpg)
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Nice device... I really like the WAV support! I guess I'll look into this more once my Zune HD craps out. Why all the zune hate btw? Sound quality is quite good (for non-audiophiles I guess) and the software isn't bad at all - to me it's much much better than itunes.
So how do you make playlists for the J3? I assume you'll have to install some kind of software for that, right?
And can you edit playlists on the device itself (no PC)?
I never heard of this SnR before (ya I'm noob)... does the SnR of the MP3-player even matter if you get an amp (with a dac) like the fiiO E17 Alpen? (SNR: ≥109dB (A weight) [AMP]; ≥104dB (A weight) [DAC])
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does this thing make phone calls? if it does i might give it due consideration, but with all the smartphones on the market today, i dont see a point for buying a MP3 player when you can just buy a smartphone.
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I doubt that any smartphone can beat in the quality, which I am looking for when listening music, of Cowon J3. Do tell me if I am wrong : )
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I still use iPod classic, its perfect for me. 160gb, decent menu structure & ui, and physical buttons I can press so I can control without actually looking at it (as opposed to touchscreen). Only disadvantages for me are iTunes and the fact that it can't play flac.
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Why the Zune hate? Its the best media player around, imo - I mean the software, btw, not the mp3 player. Though that is pretty decent, just not as flexible as the iPod or with particularly good sound quality.
Btw, who doesn't just use their phone as their mp3 player?
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On January 31 2012 22:09 althaz wrote:
Why the Zune hate? Its the best media player around, imo - I mean the software, btw, not the mp3 player. Though that is pretty decent, just not as flexible as the iPod or with particularly good sound quality.
Btw, who doesn't just use their phone as their mp3 player?
People who listen to music so much their phone will run out of battery if they used it as their mp3 player
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On February 01 2012 01:51 uriel- wrote:Show nested quote +On January 31 2012 22:09 althaz wrote:
Why the Zune hate? Its the best media player around, imo - I mean the software, btw, not the mp3 player. Though that is pretty decent, just not as flexible as the iPod or with particularly good sound quality.
Btw, who doesn't just use their phone as their mp3 player? People who listen to music so much their phone will run out of battery if they used it as their mp3 player
This, exactly. That's also the reason why a player like the one in the first post doesn't appeal to me at all, it's waaay too big, I don't have any room in my pockets for 2 devices that size... :/
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Question 1: if you are using this for MP3s why would you consider yourself an audiophile?
If you aren't working with a less lossy format then you aren't really experiencing the music at its fullest.
It seems like new headphones and using better audio files is a better move than buying a new music player, especially if you are having problems with audio quality, which can sometimes just be from bad mp3s that have been converted a few times. Having a nice music player with regular headphones and lossy audio files won't be a good experience, whereas using raw data and good cans out of pretty much any decent music player will enhance the experience greatly.
Question 2: do people still use MP3 players?
It seems like at home I listen to music on my computer, and on the go I use my smartphone (droid bionic, battery lasts ~8 hours active). I figured only people with flip phones would use a separate music player.
EDIT: also, smartphones have the benefit of using Spotify/Pandora/Grooveshark to get high quality audio, so potential library of smartphones are infinite whereas for music players it's limited.
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cowon makes some quality mp3 players. i still have my D2 that i bought 2-3 or so years ago and it still works, just don't really have a chance to use it nowadays with a smartphone.
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I bought a cowon j3 not too long ago. Good stuff. Best part is you can get a 8/16/32 GB model and then expand it further with a microSD card.
Top quality merchandise.
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I've got a Cowon S9 I bought over a year ago, the craftsmanship on these things is very impressive. Scratch-proof screen and insane battery life. I charge my player only once every 3 weeks to a month.
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Bought a J3 in 2010, still going great. Hands down the best MP3 player I've ever owned.
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On February 01 2012 02:25 attwell wrote:
Question 1: if you are using this for MP3s why would you consider yourself an audiophile?
If you aren't working with a less lossy format then you aren't really experiencing the music at its fullest.
It seems like new headphones and using better audio files is a better move than buying a new music player, especially if you are having problems with audio quality, which can sometimes just be from bad mp3s that have been converted a few times. Having a nice music player with regular headphones and lossy audio files won't be a good experience, whereas using raw data and good cans out of pretty much any decent music player will enhance the experience greatly.
Question 2: do people still use MP3 players?
It seems like at home I listen to music on my computer, and on the go I use my smartphone (droid bionic, battery lasts ~8 hours active). I figured only people with flip phones would use a separate music player.
EDIT: also, smartphones have the benefit of using Spotify/Pandora/Grooveshark to get high quality audio, so potential library of smartphones are infinite whereas for music players it's limited.
For Question 1: there are many people that use lossless formats on players like the J3. Still, even a lot of people that call themselves audiophile can't really make up the difference between a 320kbps mp3 and a lossless codec, and those who can will use lossless.
For Question 2: there is a great difference between the soundchip in a smartphone and the chip in a player like the J3. While the thing that matters most are probably the earphones you use, the player does have an impact, and many audio lovers wouldn't want to use a smartphone for listening. (plus, as some people mentioned, the battery thingy). As for the library, that's not much of an issue, you can always swap out your music for what you like, and mostly it doesn't change that much anyways
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On February 01 2012 19:57 snpnx wrote:For Question 2: there is a great difference between the soundchip in a smartphone and the chip in a player like the J3. While the thing that matters most are probably the earphones you use, the player does have an impact, and many audio lovers wouldn't want to use a smartphone for listening. (plus, as some people mentioned, the battery thingy). As for the library, that's not much of an issue, you can always swap out your music for what you like, and mostly it doesn't change that much anyways
A Sound to Noise ratio of 95 is not achieved by any smartphone that I'm aware of, but the iPhone 4S is 92 and the Galaxy S2 is the same. A lot of other phones hover around the 88-90 mark.
As for the battery issue, there's no possible way for that to be an issue if you are used to having a smartphone OR an MP3 player like the iPod touch. The iPhone 3GS can play music all day through the headphones along with normal use with a little web browsing and some games played with no problems - I know because I used to have this phone. If it lasts all day, then that's just fine - because you should be used to charging your phone every day by now.
I now have an LG Optimus 7 (was meant to be a temp phone, but WP7 is frickin' awesome, phone is kinda ugly though) and the battery is sitting at 55% right now and has been unplugged for over 15 hours - and I have used my phone quite a lot today. If it had've spent the whole time since I last charged it playing music through headphones, I'd be getting low on battery - but it wouldn't be flat yet .
Playing music through headphones uses sweet frick all battery power on modern smartphones. Even the three year old 3GS lasted ages (longer when it was new of course).
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On February 01 2012 21:20 althaz wrote:Show nested quote +On February 01 2012 19:57 snpnx wrote:For Question 2: there is a great difference between the soundchip in a smartphone and the chip in a player like the J3. While the thing that matters most are probably the earphones you use, the player does have an impact, and many audio lovers wouldn't want to use a smartphone for listening. (plus, as some people mentioned, the battery thingy). As for the library, that's not much of an issue, you can always swap out your music for what you like, and mostly it doesn't change that much anyways A Sound to Noise ratio of 95 is not achieved by any smartphone that I'm aware of, but the iPhone 4S is 92 and the Galaxy S2 is the same. A lot of other phones hover around the 88-90 mark. As for the battery issue, there's no possible way for that to be an issue if you are used to having a smartphone OR an MP3 player like the iPod touch. The iPhone 3GS can play music all day through the headphones along with normal use with a little web browsing and some games played with no problems - I know because I used to have this phone. If it lasts all day, then that's just fine - because you should be used to charging your phone every day by now. I now have an LG Optimus 7 (was meant to be a temp phone, but WP7 is frickin' awesome, phone is kinda ugly though) and the battery is sitting at 55% right now and has been unplugged for over 15 hours - and I have used my phone quite a lot today. If it had've spent the whole time since I last charged it playing music through headphones, I'd be getting low on battery - but it wouldn't be flat yet . Playing music through headphones uses sweet frick all battery power on modern smartphones. Even the three year old 3GS lasted ages (longer when it was new of course).
It's not only about the sound to noise, but generally about how the music is processed. That said, I'm aware that for example the iPhone does have a very good soundchip, which is better than a lot mp3-players actually.
And for the battery, I'm still not used to charge my stuff every day. I charge my mp3-player every few days if I listen a lot, much less if I don't, and my phone I have to charge around once every 4 days I guess (sometimes it holds, longer).
Of course you could say that it's ok if you your technical devices last for a day, but I actually don't like that trend.
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I highly doubt you can decipher any significant difference in the sound quality of these two devices. Any perceived difference is most likely placebic. Of course I know relatively nothing, but I cannot see this being a factor at all. I would wager that the speaker itself, if upgraded, would yield a more significant difference than this device. I've tried apple headphones vs some other crappy headphones I had lying around and did notice a difference. I say this not to say that apple is good, but that there is actually a perceivable difference in headphone quality.
I don't quite understand, unless you were a dog, or blind(better hearing capability), why exactly you would need a 2 dnb difference.
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On March 01 2012 22:25 SuperPro wrote:
I highly doubt you can decipher any significant difference in the sound quality of these two devices. Any perceived difference is most likely placebic. Of course I know relatively nothing, but I cannot see this being a factor at all. I would wager that the speaker itself, if upgraded, would yield a more significant difference than this device. I've tried apple headphones vs some other crappy headphones I had lying around and did notice a difference. I say this not to say that apple is good, but that there is actually a perceivable difference in headphone quality.
I don't quite understand, unless you were a dog, or blind(better hearing capability), why exactly you would need a 2 dnb difference.
I know for a fact that differences in headphones can be heard, as I can hear them. But all that aside, I still like to have 2 different devices, 1 for music and 1 to use as telephone. I like to have a good EQ for my music and at least my phone lacks horribly in that department, amongst other reasons.
I am very sure that it doesn't matter to a majority of people, but you can compare it a bit with cameras (even though there, the differences in quality are way easier to tell).
People love to use their camera phones, but someone who really likes to photograph will have a different device for it, a standalone camera. That doesn't take away the fact that having a camera in a phone nowadays is pretty awesome, as you can use it far more conveniently, and oftentime the results are good enough.
Same goes for listening music. There are enough people that do hear differences (might be that in my case it's placebic, but as I said, I also love to have a standalone player for other reasons) and would not want to use their phone to listen to music. And most phones still have worse soundchips than dedicated players, a few exceptions exist, i.e. the iPhone which surpasses a lot of mp3-players in quality.
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Same as me.
I've gone through so many mp3 players before I landed a S9/J3. It's my favourite media player on the market in terms of value.
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lol at op
audiophiles don't listen to mp3
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On March 02 2012 02:03 freelander wrote:
lol at op
audiophiles don't listen to mp3
You know that just because it's called an mp3 player it doesn't mean it only plays mp3s, try thinking before you try to be a smartass. Unless you have a portable vynil player that fits in your pocket, which I highly doubt.
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I love my J3. Coupled with my westone UM3x, i get eargasms all the time.
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I've bumped this dead topic.
As someone who never wants to buy an Apple product, I just got my new MP3 since my last of 2006 is starting to literally break in half (literally - rest in peace: Creative Zen Vision: M [still runs perfectly with 4-5 hours of battery life rofl]!
I just picked up the Cowon X9 and it came with a small dead pixel that I'm ignore.
Anyone else have a COWON, any advice or suggestions? I cant seem to find any protective cases or screen protectors for it specifically ): I also hate the many pointless functions it has: wish I could just remove them
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EPT![[image loading]](http://www.hotmediaplayer.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/red-dot-design-award-Cowon-J3.JPG)
![[image loading]](http://imgur.com/QmoaI.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://imgur.com/d3wpp.jpg)
