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Cowon i9 first impressions

post #1 of 11
11/26/09 at 4:43am
Thread Starter 
Sorry, no time for a full review yet, but I know some folks are waiting for info on this player. Got mine yesterday from AMP3.uk and so far I'm very impressed:
Form factor: a bit longer than the Fuze but thinner and incredibly light.
Screen: high quality, good layout of "now playing" incl. useful album art.
Touchpad: Adjustable sensitivity, one of the better touchpads out there.
Controls: On/Off/Hold switch, home button and volume rocker. You can configure the hold switch to lock the touchpad only and use the volume rocker plus the home button (for play/pause) while in hold-mode. Very useful!
Sound: Definitely a step up from my Fuze, detailed and refined. BBE Viva is excellent and very natural, the first useful sound enhancement I've come across.
Gapless: yes (with mp3)!

More to come (including pics) as I find the time. Feel free to ask if you have any questions.
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post #2 of 11
11/26/09 at 5:49am
Nice. I'm been thinking about i9 myself quite a time. Can you compare the SQ and ease of use to Cowon D2(+)?
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post #3 of 11
11/26/09 at 7:16am
Thread Starter 
I'm afraid I've no experience with the D2(+).
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post #4 of 11
11/26/09 at 4:18pm
im more interested in comparing it to the i7, i have a clip+ and it sounds awesome, but the battery life is killing me, so i was thinking about a I7 or a I9,
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post #5 of 11
11/26/09 at 4:44pm
So you have play/pause for blind control, but not volume prev/next track?
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post #6 of 11
11/26/09 at 5:02pm
Thread Starter 
^ In hold mode you can play/pause via the home button and the volume rocker can be configured to either Vol Up/Down or Prev/Next. I would have preferred Vol Up/Down for short press and Prev/Next for long press like on some Sony gear, but as it is you can only have one of these for blind control, not both.
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post #7 of 11
11/26/09 at 6:08pm
Does it have an "on-the-go" playlist function that let you edit playlist on the player? I really miss this feature after switching to Sony Walkman from the iaudio u2.

How's the GUI? The one on the u2 is terrible lol.
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post #8 of 11
11/27/09 at 1:08am
Thread Starter 
You can add up to 256 songs to a favorites list and play from that list. The GUI is quite intuitive for most parts. However there are some "hidden" functions on long key press or double tap that I would have never discovered without the manual.
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post #9 of 11
11/27/09 at 1:23am
finally! mp3 gapless... finally. I am not a big cowon fan, but my shuffle/nano is on the fritz, might think of this if aac playback comes out.
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post #10 of 11
11/27/09 at 9:44pm
what is the memory? and what is the price? very interesting. Thanks.
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post #11 of 11
3/25/12 at 12:22pm

I just realized that i9's headphone jack is not fully compatible with iems with the three ring plugs (the ones with control talk functions)

 

I plugged in my MMDTrupet, and the sound was so bad as if you are listening to echos. For  the IEM to work properly I have to pull the plug out a bit for it to sit a right depth.

 

However, the MMDTrumpet works fine on the Fuze when plugged all the way in. I guess that's some sort of design differences on the Cowon.

 

Not sure if the i10 has made improvements on this aspect.

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