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Cowon Q5: Is it worth it?

post #1 of 11
2/10/08 at 4:35pm
Thread Starter 
I've been reading up on the Cowon Q5 and related reviews but still wondering how it's stacking up against other DAPs. I really like the large screen and optional features, but have some unanswered questions...
  • How does the sound quality relate, say to an iPod?
  • Does it have digital out or just analog?
  • How well does the WiFi and Blue Tooth work?
  • Does the Q5 run any standard WinCE applications?
  • How do you upgrade to include the Office Viewer?
Not much info on the Cowon America site other than the Office Viewer being an "option". This unit seems to have quite a few attractive features, at least for me. I'd love to have a great DAP that I can also read my ebooks and surf the net for info when I'm out and about. I've been carrying a PocketPC for years and finally got one with an integrated cell phone, but I'd prefer my pleasures (music and reading) be together and leave the phone at home. The GPS dock is also attractive for when I travel and if the player is top quality, can read at least some ebook formats, it would be a slam-dunk purchase for me. So anyone have any more details on the Q5? Is it worth it?
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post #2 of 11
2/11/08 at 2:33pm
Thread Starter 
Doesn't anoyone have one of these yet? Bueller?
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post #3 of 11
2/11/08 at 4:53pm
If you can't find enough opinions in this forum, try this site : iAudiophile.net Forums - Powered by vBulletin
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post #4 of 11
2/11/08 at 8:08pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by DocHamm View Post
  • How does the sound quality relate, say to an iPod?
  • Does it have digital out or just analog?
  • How well does the WiFi and Blue Tooth work?
  • Does the Q5 run any standard WinCE applications?
  • How do you upgrade to include the Office Viewer?
  1. I think that it definatly sounds better than an iPod. I have not used an iPod in a while but i use my 1st gen shuffle daily and it sounds much fuller
  2. It has SPDIF out so can use it with a DAC that accepts SPDIF
  3. The wi-fi has been fairly poor for me. I can connect to a network just fine but when browsing the net i seem to constantly be disconnected/web pages decide not to load. I'm affraid i have yet to try the bluetooth as i do not own any bluetooth headphones (this is all that the bluetooth on the Q5W is currently capable of, rumour has it that a futute firmware will enable it to work with any bluetooth device in the future but not a gurantee)
  4. If you take a look at iaudiophile.net forums you can check out a list of compatible apps. There are quite a few that work, plus you can even get emulators running on it.
  5. If you take a look at iaudiophile.net forums then you can find out more information on the viewer. I have it on mine at the moment and it works just fine.

I have not used my device an awful lot recently as i'm waiting for a case but after the latest price drop plus the fact you get the GPS adapter with it for free (from the jetmall website, a value of $200) i would say that it is very good for the money. Excellent audio and video (TV out is very good as well). However the windows side of it is a bit hit or miss at the moment, hopefully Cowon may refine it a little.
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post #5 of 11
2/12/08 at 12:05am
The sound quality is good, but the headphone out does not sound superior to a Cowon A3, to me. That being said, the "line out" on the Q5 sounds better to me and as stated above, it does have coax SPDIF out, which puts it in another league altogether than most other (current) DAP's. If you want it for a lot of WIFI/browsing use, then you will be disappointed. As stated above, the current bluetooth is limited to headsets and it works about as well as bluetooth mobile phones (i.e. frustrating at best).

However, I am not giving mine up as it is the only current "mainstream" player that natively supports FLAC and has a digital output. If you are not going to use lossless compression and the SPDIF out into an outboard DAC then I personally would go with something else.
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post #6 of 11
2/12/08 at 7:09am
Damn, this thing looks really good. Now I know what I'm getting when my X5L dies.
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post #7 of 11
2/12/08 at 12:50pm
Hmm. I was definitely thinking of getting one later this year but the reports of lackluster wi-fi has me reconsidering. Does anyone know if the wi-fi on the Archos is any better?
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post #8 of 11
2/12/08 at 2:12pm
I have heard that the WiFi on the Archos 605is great, it has been implemented fully and uses a custom Opera browser which users are very happy with. As said by morphsci, the strong points of the Q5W are its good codec support and digital out. The audio and video is also very good, but that is not to say the Archos is not. If you want to use it as more of a gadget i.e. bluetooth and web browsing then i would go for the Archos.
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post #9 of 11
2/26/08 at 8:56pm
Don't forget that Q5W has full-sized USB port. I'd give my right arm to hear the Q5W>USB>Pico DAC>Pico amp>Westone 3 rig...but Q5W is just too big for me.
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post #10 of 11
4/16/10 at 12:26am
Sorry to resurrect this dead thread, but I recently got a used Q5W and measured a dc offset of 700mV at turn-on, which is also a loooud pop which is why I decided to measure it. It slowly goes down to 200mV after 30 seconds, and 30 seconds more it goes to 20mV and stays around there. Turning it off it jumps to 500mV and goes down over the next 15 seconds to ~15mV and stays there for a long while.

Is this normal? Maybe the person who sold it to me did some modding?
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post #11 of 11
4/17/10 at 2:53am
Go to Anythingbutipod.com and check out the forums, as the Cowon V5 section should be up and running in a few days.
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