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cowon s9 vs. sony x1000 in sq only

post #1 of 24
6/2/09 at 4:38am
Thread Starter 
I'm torn between getting an s9 or a sony x1000.

If any have heard these two then please comment on the sq of both and which one you prefer and why? If one has only heard the x1000 then comment on how the sq compares to the 730, 610, 830, 630, 820, or 720 series.

I have shure se530, HFI780, and DT770 80ohm headphones with corda 2move amp. I listen to R&B, some Hip Hop, Techno, Pop, some Rock, and some Soul/Jazz.

My interest are SQ only as I don't care one ounce for video, battery life, and price, etc. If possible please comment on midrange and bass quality and also clarity and detail.

Thanks!
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post #2 of 24
6/2/09 at 6:33am
I was in the boat as you a few weeks ago trying to decide replacement for Ipod Touch 1st gen and i'm glad i made the right decision for the 'X'.

I don't what's the SQ like from S9 but i heard S9 without BBE sound enhancement sounds a bit flat, i don't know that's what i heard. But i can tell that 'X' SQ is really good.

Here, just a bit of my impressions

Hope that helps
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post #3 of 24
6/2/09 at 10:58am
Quote:
Originally Posted by h1a8 View Post
I'm torn between getting an s9 or a sony x1000.

If any have heard these two then please comment on the sq of both and which one you prefer and why? If one has only heard the x1000 then comment on how the sq compares to the 730, 610, 830, 630, 820, or 720 series.

I have shure se530, HFI780, and DT770 80ohm headphones with corda 2move amp. I listen to R&B, some Hip Hop, Techno, Pop, some Rock, and some Soul/Jazz.

My interest are SQ only as I don't care one ounce for video, battery life, and price, etc. If possible please comment on midrange and bass quality and also clarity and detail.

Thanks!
I prefer the X series, the cowon S9 sounds congested -thin and has a small soundstage. The X has more detail and dynamics. This is with all effects and eq off.
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post #4 of 24
6/3/09 at 1:26am
Dont know what device you listened to, but the sounstage on my S9 (using Sennhaiser IE8) is amazing,
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post #5 of 24
6/3/09 at 1:48am
Of course, you are using the IE8. I wonder what kind of DAP can make that beast's soundstage small.

@OP: Get a Sony S630, turn off Clearbass and set the 2 first column of the EQ to -3. There you have the S9 with everything off.
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post #6 of 24
6/3/09 at 1:52am
Aevum-
You should hear the soundstage with the IE8's on the Sony X1000. Really something else.
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post #7 of 24
6/3/09 at 1:58am
Quote:
Originally Posted by ilney View Post
Of course, you are using the IE8. I wonder what kind of DAP can make that beast's soundstage small.
Hahahaha, nothing can make that soundstage small unless one of the drivers breaks

Quote:
@OP: Get a Sony S630, turn off Clearbass and set the 2 first column of the EQ to -3.
There you have the S9 with everything off.
That doesn't sound like fun
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post #8 of 24
6/3/09 at 11:06am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Aevum View Post
Dont know what device you listened to, but the sounstage on my S9 (using Sennhaiser IE8) is amazing,

lOL, Well if you turn on the bbe viva it helps. But compared to the touch , clip, and sony s639 and X without the effects stuff doesn't really "stretch" out like it does with the others. Like instruments that were supposed to be out to the right were way too close and sounded funny. The d2 does this too, unless you use the bbe sereo widening effect. It's just a cowon thing along with the bass roll off, but yes it does sound really good with bbe.

I did really like the sound with bbe viva and would have kept it, but the top play/pause button got extremely loose very quick, so I returned it. I'm weird about buttons being loose
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post #9 of 24
6/3/09 at 1:53pm
You'll probably be happy with the sq of either player, however the Sony is so easy to set up for great sq even an idiot like me can do it. From what I've read and seen on youtube the cowon seems quite complicated to use but a really nice player though...

The choice is yours......























Go for the sony.
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post #10 of 24
6/3/09 at 2:37pm
You'll probably be able to count on a few fingers the people on here that currently own an X and the S9. Or have heard both :s
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post #11 of 24
6/4/09 at 5:46am
@ Mors ... that's true
let's say that cowon s9 with bbe effects sounds the same like the sony x but did you take into account that s9 can play flac and videos and also has a customizable flash interface?
on the other hand s9 is a little bigger and has a flimsy button but all in all they are pretty similar
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post #12 of 24
6/4/09 at 6:10am
of course, the japanese version of the x plays lossless and gapless tracks... playlists, the whole thing. cowon make very clean headphone outs but unless you are into acoustic or rock music, are a bit too congested. i love the multitude of sfx options though!
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post #13 of 24
6/5/09 at 2:48am
Thread Starter 
This is a hard choice indeed. I had both a d2 and sony 739 and I like the sony sq a touch better. And this is with bbe and mach3bass enabled on the d2. But I hear that both the s9 and x1000 sounds better than their predecessors.

1. Well, does the sony x1000 sound significantly better or just a touch better than its predecessor (739)?

2. Lastly, forget the official specs, but how is the screen quality of videos between the two? Are they similar or is the s9 video significantly superior to the x1000?
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post #14 of 24
6/6/09 at 5:39am
becareful for hype
i dont think sony x1000 has better sound than S63x/73x
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post #15 of 24
6/7/09 at 12:59am
I can say that the X1000 has better SQ than the A829. I have both. It's not hype. The X1000 is a little less bright, more mellow, yet more detailed in the upper treble at the same time. Bass reaches a hair lower and soundstage is a touch wider too. When you go back to the A829 something just seems a little more 'digital' about its sound. It's still a great DAP for SQ, don't get me wrong, but they've upped the bar with the X.
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