Cowon or Sony - Page 4

Okay here we go!Sony walkmam A-865 review

Interface A) It's extremely simple. very easy to navigate threw. especially with the fact that it has a play/pause rewind and fast forward button's on the side's. No more touchscreen hassle,Lol.

The home button is especially nice.

Perks B) Bluetooth, and the ability to stream/Receive file's from other bluetooth inabled device's. Voice recorder....Not much going on really :/.

Build C) It may look flimsy but it's not. It has a nice design and sit's comfortably in your hands. I don't think this is braking anytime soon.

D)battery Life. It say's 25 hour's but feel's MUCH longer than that to be honest.

Touch screen E) The touch screen is very responsive. And dosen't give me any problem's at all.

Lastly the sound. I do here a significant difference from my old mp3. Better bass,Gets louder at lower volume's(halejuva!!) and has an all around better sound spectrum. All though I for one cant really tell THAT much of a difference because i am using these  sony piiq mdr-pq2 headphones. Are they gonna match up to senhhesiers,No. But they are Very clear sounding  pair of headphone's. Good for a high low end under 100$. But i am going to be getting some Fanny wang 2001 bass boost headphones. So when i get those I might do a better sound check. But for now I hope you liked this review, See ya later.

I've had Cowons and I've had Sonys...and I prefer Sony.

The main drawback is a lack of mp3 gapless on Sony, which I do find a bit annoying but the interface wins it for me every time.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dreamnine 

I've had Cowons and I've had Sonys...and I prefer Sony.

 

The main drawback is a lack of mp3 gapless on Sony, which I do find a bit annoying but the interface wins it for me every time.

And the lack of flac support!

Quote:

Originally Posted by FlatNine 

 

And the lack of flac support!

Doesn't bother me in the least....lol.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Achmedisdead 

 

Those of us who want more than 16GB of space are a niche market, at least on the North American continent....lol

Yes but then I think a lot of people are unfortunately streaming low quality music using 3g internet (or whatever it is) on their phones or over wifi with their PMPs using some kinda streaming music setup round the house (I'm ignorant about this stuff).

I actually use my Cowon to study as it's marketed on their site and therefore have around 30gb of spoken word (audiobooks, university lectures, radio interviews with relevant experts, podcasts etc) on my PMP's micro sd. The music takes up the the internal space of the PMP and it mostly lossless too. I don't see the big deal in manufacturers maxing out the internal memory. The Wolfson DAC in the D3/(Z2?) only costs like $3. Surely 64gb emmc is also fairly affordable for manufacturers? People like Samsung manufacture their own emmc so I don't see why their Galaxy Players are crippled with only 8/16gb internal space.

Anyway, I'm glad that the A5 was released in a 64gb model. Apple have had 64gb ipods for ages and that's really mainstream (i.e. under 16gb required by the average ipod user?). Yet a 64gb model is still available year after year. Why have other companies like Cowon taken years to finally release a 64gb model and even then, left it out of their Z2 and only included it in the A5 which was released barely 6 months or so later. Or be like Sony, release an android PMP in 2012 with 64gb and then forget to include micro sd.

I could care less about a 64GB player not having a card slot....lol. 64GB is plenty of space, at least for those of us who wouldn't use lossless on a DAP.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Achmedisdead 

I could care less about a 64GB player not having a card slot....lol. 64GB is plenty of space, at least for those of us who wouldn't use lossless on a DAP.

I think it plenty even for those of us that do use lossless on DAPs. Even now, my 64 GB iPod is not maxed out. I think that is plenty of storage. I just have never had the need to carry all my music all the time! At an average of 3.5 CD's per GB, even a 32 GB player allows me to carry about 100 CD's in lossless format. Since I sit at a PC daily as a software developer anyway, swapping music is a non-issue.

Well to each his own. Just to reiterate, I use my PMP as much for studying as music. Hence the 32gb micro sd is maxed out with audiobooks/spoken word. Internal memory is music.

I don't have a deskjob where I'm allowed to listen to music, nor do I commute with my PMP. My PMP is now saved for after work/classes when it's either hooked up via SPDIF to my desktop setup (cans and sub/speakers). Why wouldn't I want the best possible quality (hence lossless) in that instance? Why should my digital rips sound any worse than my CDs? I also like to use my PMP when working on my bike, doing chores like DIY/Gardening and hiking. Whether being portable or used in the bedroom, I like to have a nice varied selection. 26-28gb isn't ideal. Even 120gb would be nowhere near my entire available music library (assuming I could be bothered to rip each and every CD in the house shared between my siblings/cousins). However 80gb of lossless music on my PMP would mean that I would rarely need to switch on my notebook which means it might last another 5 years :) I also prefer to use my PMP as my source when at home since it's a lot more energy efficient than my desktop replacement gaming notebook

Also, maybe I need to tweak my EAC settings however my albums seem to vary between 200-4XYgb. Double albums are obviously >500gb in many instances. Some of the >200gb is due to albums with bonus disks. I guess I could skip the bonus disk with some of them.

Lastly, my Cowon PMP seems to perform better with 4gb free internal. Also, even though specs say32gb internal, it's more like 30gb usable, leaving 26gb for actual music.

I still think that an android PMP in 2012 without micro sd just looks like sloppy design. (that or going to silly extents to maximise your profit margin, esp since they are already making A LOT of money off their devices and the micro sd inclusion would only add like $4 to the cost of making something retailing at 2-300 dollars.

Quote:

Originally Posted by analogue 3 

Well to each his own. Just to reiterate, I use my PMP as much for studying as music. Hence the 32gb micro sd is maxed out with audiobooks/spoken word. Internal memory is music.

 

The thing about PMP is that it's never intended for keeping storage.

They give enough storage for music and resized videos.

They probably believe that ppl who does their work on the go uses a laptop instead.

Hi guys..

I just got here since I am also looking for the same answer, cowon or sony?

I have owned Sony Walkman E, S series then Sansa Fuze (rockboxed) and lately a Cowon J3 which got stolen some weeks ago; so I am in need of a new pmp.

For me the sound of sony was always superior than any sandisk, even playing a flac file on a sandisk fuze would not beat a 320kb mp3 on my sony; as many my mayor concern is the lack of flac files in sony, mainly because i have an extensive collection in flac.   

My cowon J3 was very good I was very happy with the sound, I would say sony has a clearer sound and very good bass I tested with my Grado sr80i however I am not an expert, just my opinion.   

Well now I am considering in getting a Cowon iaudio 10 in replace of the Cowon J3, both apparently sound the same, and music is all I will be using from my pmp; however I just realized that a new Sony is about to be released at the end of August "Sony Walkman F series 16/32GB"  (store.sony.com)  which has native Flac support a decent battery and a smaller size than Z series, it is more expensive than Iaudio 10 for sure, but maybe the money is worth in the long term.  This is the link.

http://store.sony.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogld=10551&storeld=10151&langld=-1&productld=8198552921666471635#specifications

Since not many may have tried the new sony (but probably the Z, A or X series), the question is. would it be worth wait for this sony ($300 32GB) or go just for the Iaudio 10 ($207) or Am i missing any model in the market? considering that $300 is already the  top to spend.

Many thanks in advance for any opinion.

PS: reading the posts of Head-fi helped me to get two pair of Headphones, Grado SR80i and ATH M50 so I appreciate all the posts.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mauricio nz 

Hi guys..

I just got here since I am also looking for the same answer, cowon or sony?

I have owned Sony Walkman E, S series then Sansa Fuze (rockboxed) and lately a Cowon J3 which got stolen some weeks ago; so I am in need of a new pmp.

For me the sound of sony was always superior than any sandisk, even playing a flac file on a sandisk fuze would not beat a 320kb mp3 on my sony; as many my mayor concern is the lack of flac files in sony, mainly because i have an extensive collection in flac.   

My cowon J3 was very good I was very happy with the sound, I would say sony has a clearer sound and very good bass I tested with my Grado sr80i however I am not an expert, just my opinion.   

 

Well now I am considering in getting a Cowon iaudio 10 in replace of the Cowon J3, both apparently sound the same, and music is all I will be using from my pmp; however I just realized that a new Sony is about to be released at the end of August "Sony Walkman F series 16/32GB"  (store.sony.com)  which has native Flac support a decent battery and a smaller size than Z series, it is more expensive than Iaudio 10 for sure, but maybe the money is worth in the long term.  This is the link.

 

http://store.sony.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogld=10551&storeld=10151&langld=-1&productld=8198552921666471635#specifications

 

Since not many may have tried the new sony (but probably the Z, A or X series), the question is. would it be worth wait for this sony ($300 32GB) or go just for the Iaudio 10 ($207) or Am i missing any model in the market? considering that $300 is already the  top to spend.

 

Many thanks in advance for any opinion.

 

 

PS: reading the posts of Head-fi helped me to get two pair of Headphones, Grado SR80i and ATH M50 so I appreciate all the posts.

I love-love-love my Cowon C2. I may have gone with a Sony A865 but the lack of flac was a deal breaker for me. But you just *had* to go and show me the new F series! Just when I thought I was done for a while! I knew I shouldn't have signed on today! :-)

http://store.sony.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10551&storeId=10151&langId=-1&productId=8198552921666471635

I was about to get the F series 16gb, but i believe I could not longer wait more time without having a proper pmp, so I bought the Sony A865 it was cheaper and I like the buttons on the side, another reason since Sony does not support flac files in the A series I did not find much point in getting more capacity if I will be loading it with 320mp3.

I will try the A series to see how it sounds in comparison with my ex-Cowon J3 (just by memory I reckon haha). However I think I will be getting the F series in the near future, I still need to find a lower price in order to avoid taxes from new zealand (limit US$ 320 including shipping), hopefully the prices will drop as the time goes by. I hope.

BTW I have read many topics about 320 kbps mp3 and Flac files, many say the they both sound the same, or that is not possible to notice any difference even with top headphones, I would like to hear soon if this is still true after trying the new Sony F series, probably that would be the strongest reason to get the F series in the future.

Anyway, I found a better price for a Sony F series 32gb, from amazon if anyone is interested $270 for 32gb..

http://www.amazon.com/Sony-NWZ-F806BLK-Walkman-Digital-Player/dp/B008V99972/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1345183675&sr=1-1&keywords=Sony+NWZ-F806BLK+32+GB+Walkman+Digital+Media+Player

i'm about to change my ipod touch and i want to know which device to get

cowon z2 or sony walkman f, both will be 16gb, i guess both have great SQ the real difference will be the walkman comes with ICS while the z2 has gingerbread. and of course z2 has memory card expansion slot and the walkman does not.

i want something with good sound quality, decent video playback capabilities and running some games on it wouldn't hurt.

so what do you suggest ?

Quote:

Originally Posted by ages_devil 

i'm about to change my ipod touch and i want to know which device to get

cowon z2 or sony walkman f, both will be 16gb, i guess both have great SQ the real difference will be the walkman comes with ICS while the z2 has gingerbread. and of course z2 has memory card expansion slot and the walkman does not.

i want something with good sound quality, decent video playback capabilities and running some games on it wouldn't hurt.

so what do you suggest ?

Have a look at the amazon link (stated above), pretty much for the same money of  Sony F 16Gb you could get the Sony F 32Gb (US$270).

I would go for that sony, but I already bought the A version; If the money was not an issue I would get the F series.

I dont own the z2 but if you want the pmp for gaming movies etc... i think the sony has better processor, also better android version so that should be a better choice.