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COWON i9/S9 - Sound Quality and the ULTIMATE EQ

post #1 of 53
1/13/10 at 12:07am
Thread Starter 
Hi,

I would like to ask to the COWON's experts if the sound quality of the i9 does improve with time (burn-in). I like the sound, pretty detailed on highs, but pretty hard to get rid of distortion (bass) in some songs (doing all the tweaks and EQ). Anyways, the main question is if this little "monster" needs some burn-in. I got a much better sound from my Sony A828, especially on bass department, stereo division and soundstage, with a lot of body and presence.

Thanks a tone.


EDIT: Ok, got a better soundstage with reverb 2. Not same quality as the A828 (Sony's built in reverb is better), but pretty decent. Also found that MP Enhance HAS TO be off in order to get rid of distortion, while keeping a strong bass.
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post #2 of 53
1/13/10 at 12:50am
Quote:
Originally Posted by miow View Post
Hi,

I would like to ask to the COWON's experts if the sound quality of the i9 does improve with the time (burn-in). I like the sound, pretty detailed on highs, but pretty hard to get rid of distortion (bass) in some songs (doing all the tweaks and EQ). Anyways, the main question if this little "monster" needs some burn-in. I got a much much better sound from my Sony A828, especially on bass department, stereo division and soundstage, with a lot of body and presence.

Thanks a tone.
Burn in can have a bit improvement, but don't expect there is overall changed. By the way, the wrong EQing may cause more distortion.
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post #3 of 53
1/13/10 at 1:00am
No Cowon I know is good for: bass, stereo division, distortion and body. They are very good for spitting out a clean signal to amps and sport great effects. If you plan on using earphones and headphones, the Cowon should be better, but Sony are pretty good in comparison. I have the 828 also - hate the hiss, but love everything else.
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post #4 of 53
1/13/10 at 1:10am
Thread Starter 
Yeah, hard to get used to anything but A828

EDIT: Well, I think I've just built the ULTIMATE EQ for the Cowon i9. Much stronger bass than the Rock preset, for example, and no distortion what so ever. Also highs are much better. Wanna try it? Now this sounds better than the Sony A828 with great warmth/depth. This stuff rocks!

EQ:

Level 5 - 105Hz - Wide
Level 6 - 220Hz - Wide
Level 1 - 650Hz - Wide
Level 8 - 3.0 kHz - Wide
Level 9 - 13kHz - Wide

BBE+: BBE 8/Mach3Bass 3/3D Surround off/MP Enhance off

Special Effect: Stereo Enhance 6/Reverb off

Hope you enjoy this EQ as much as I do (this is not for everyone - I'm calling bass-heads/treble-heads here). Couldn't sound any better to my ears! Once again, this EQ can sound too agressive to most of you. As a bass/treble-head I just love it, since I can hear all the details/layers with a huge punch and no distortion.
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post #5 of 53
1/13/10 at 6:19pm
That EQ looks off the Richter Scale.
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post #6 of 53
1/13/10 at 9:35pm
Thread Starter 
Are you talking about this?
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post #7 of 53
1/13/10 at 9:38pm
thats some crazy EQ there
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post #8 of 53
1/13/10 at 9:48pm
Thread Starter 
Have you tried it?

NOTE: This was made to push the bass to the limits, without distortion. Also highs are top notch with this EQ/effects. If you think this is too much treble for you, just put 7 or 6 (or less) at the right. I feel pretty comfortable with 9, but I'm suspect since I love huge ammounts of treble (and bass ).
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post #9 of 53
1/20/10 at 11:51pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by miow View Post
Hi,

I would like to ask to the COWON's experts if the sound quality of the i9 does improve with time (burn-in). I like the sound, pretty detailed on highs, but pretty hard to get rid of distortion (bass) in some songs (doing all the tweaks and EQ). Anyways, the main question is if this little "monster" needs some burn-in. I got a much better sound from my Sony A828, especially on bass department, stereo division and soundstage, with a lot of body and presence.

Thanks a tone.


EDIT: Ok, got a better soundstage with reverb 2. Not same quality as the A828 (Sony's built in reverb is better), but pretty decent. Also found that MP Enhance HAS TO be off in order to get rid of distortion, while keeping a strong bass.
are u talking about the i9 ? not the s9 i hope??
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post #10 of 53
1/21/10 at 2:57pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by miow View Post
Yeah, hard to get used to anything but A828

EDIT: Well, I think I've just built the ULTIMATE EQ for the Cowon. Much stronger bass than the Rock preset, for example, and no distortion what so ever. Also highs and soundstage are much better. Wanna try it? Now this sounds pretty close to Sony A828 with a great soundstage and warmth/depth. This stuff rocks!

JUST TRY THIS, EVERYONE, AND THANK ME LATER:

EQ: 7 3 0 9 11

BBE+: BBE5/Mach3Bass 3/3D Surround off/MP Enhance off

Special Effect: Stereo Enhance 6/Reverb 1 (this reverberation will make it sound close to Sony's sound signature, which is somehow rich in reverb)

Hope you enjoy this EQ as much as I am. Couldn't sound any better! I was thinking about returning the i9, now I have to think twice. lol.
Are you using iBuds?....
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post #11 of 53
1/22/10 at 10:25am
Cowon S9 is the best mp3 player ever made without a dout, but good lord it has massive volume needs. Seriously, the volume limit even with the mod is incredibly low, and the s9 cant run things the sansa fuze can and its half the size!

I sold my s9 to afford a more portable pmp in the fuze. Great player, but too big and not nearly loud enough
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post #12 of 53
1/22/10 at 10:39am
No MP3 player should need "burn in" unless you count psycological burn in.

The i9 and S9 have almost identical sound quality according to tests run by dfkt of ABI, and both have the same SE/EQ/sound preset features. This is a great move by Cowon, it means if you want the screen and features of an S9 you can get the premium product, but if you want the player in a more stripped down form you can get the much cheaper i9.

In terms of the perfect EQ/SE settings - for me this is simply ViVA.

I've spent many an hour tweaking SE and EQ on the D2, and many more on the S9. ViVA beats them all and is now never turned off with any headphones. I occassionally switch to the ViVA 2 setting (exaggerated upper and lower end version of the same [EDIT - did some more listening on this over the week end and this is incorrect - ViVA 2 is ViVA with a bass boost - the treble stays identical] to counteract over the top ambient noise, such as on the London Underground.

Each to their own but some of the above EQ suggestions are pretty extreme. When I did use EQ it was to bring a bar down one or two points, maybe up by one or two at the most (bringing down seems to bring better results than bringing up for me, IOW if you want to bring the balance of bass up, bringing the rest down a little and increasing volume seems more stable than the reverse). I don't think I'd recognise my music with that level of EQ mashing going on up there ^.

I find flat EQ with BBE at 3 and M3B at 5 to be pretty pleasing, but ViVA to be the superior setting to bring out the best from my music without altering the balance.

I can't agree with swbf about the volume. I have it set as USA region and the volume goes as high as anyone would need and much higher! The amps in Cowon players are more powerful than those found in some other brands, although I do use an external amp with mine as it increases definition and perceived separation over the Cowon stock amp.
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post #13 of 53
1/22/10 at 11:18am
Quote:
Originally Posted by swbf2cheater View Post
Cowon S9 is the best mp3 player ever made without a dout, but good lord it has massive volume needs. Seriously, the volume limit even with the mod is incredibly low, and the s9 cant run things the sansa fuze can and its half the size!

I sold my s9 to afford a more portable pmp in the fuze. Great player, but too big and not nearly loud enough
Maybe you have set the European volume limit, that reduces the maximum volume a lot. You need to reinstall the firmware or delete one of the .sol file (I can't remember which file, but I guess config.sol) in the sol folder and then select non-EU countries.
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post #14 of 53
1/22/10 at 11:23am
Quote:
Originally Posted by zantoz View Post
Maybe you have set the European volume limit, that reduces the maximum volume a lot. You need to reinstall the firmware or delete one of the .sol file (I can't remember which file, but I guess config.sol) in the sol folder and then select non-EU countries.
It is not European limit, it is France only that sets it; no other country in Europe does that.
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post #15 of 53
1/22/10 at 12:06pm
^ He means if you select "Europe" as your setting on the S9 it will limit the volume. There is no "France" setting.
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