There's no comparison, the Cowon J3 wins by a country mile.

No Archos sounds as good as a Cowon player,...and that's it.

You are not going to get many valid answers. Most of the people that will tell you cowon all the way have never listened to any of the archos's you've mentioned. I still will never figure out why people comment on gear they have never listened to, but that's just the way it is. Most people now days have to include in their title "if you've listened to both". I will say based on past archos products, their sound quality have been lacking greatly. But their new tablets are suppose to be something entirely different. And they are also taking a different approach than in the past. Will these new products be a huge leap in sound quality. I don't know; haven't listened to one yet. They may be or they may be more of the same. But it's best to wait for "real" impressions. Not recommendations based of past history.

I happen to be using an Archos 43 IT to type this very post and have owned pretty much every Cowon player under the sun.

I will say it again, the Cowon J3 wins by a country mile in the SQ department compared to the Archos 43 IT.

@anadin: Thank you!!! And I'll be most likely getting an Archos 43 shortly - for some video and gameplay.

Now, for music it's pretty much unanimous across the board - Archos SQ for audio SUX!!! They never claimed to have improved SQ, only to be using Android. Load another media player app onboard (powerAMP for Android perhaps) and it might help, but Archos is no Cowon, Sony, Samsung, etc. Their SQ is majorly lacking.
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by anadin 

I happen to be using an Archos 43 IT to type this very post and have owned pretty much every Cowon player under the sun.

 

I will say it again, the Cowon J3 wins by a country mile in the SQ department compared to the Archos 43 IT.

Honestly their former devices sucked at SQ. I kind of could not resist buying an Archos 32. Should be next week in my hands. Will compare it to the rest of my gear.

I'm hoping to get a nice Archos 70 soon,...I'm passing on the Cowon D3 myself,...way too buggy. Besides, I have other DAP's for music, I want the Archos 70 for video & some Android gameplay. Tunes will not be a real consideration for me with this tank. Still, PowerAMP should make everything better.

Quote:

Originally Posted by nywytboy68 

I'm hoping to get a nice Archos 70 soon,...I'm passing on the Cowon D3 myself,...way too buggy. Besides, I have other DAP's for music, I want the Archos 70 for video & some Android gameplay. Tunes will not be a real consideration for me with this tank. Still, PowerAMP should make everything better.

I tried the Archos 70 in a store, it is not bad. Yeah yeah, the D3. Archos 32 processor is little faster, but the SQ is not the best. a good thing is, that it is possible to plug in a 1,8" hd, so the fact that it has no sd card slot is not sooo bad. Also there is still a possibility (hope) to drive my D10 with it. I found some stuff through google, but nothing seriou yet. If it is possible on the IPad, why should not it be possible on a Android device with usb host mode.
Best fact is the price point: new over Ebay for 99€

EDIT: PowerAMP looks nice

I thought these were supposed to have an sd card slot. Did archos change their mind at the last minute?

Quote:

Originally Posted by moodyrn 

I thought these were supposed to have an sd card slot. Did archos change their mind at the last minute?

The 43 has one, the 32 and 28 do not.

I knew that about the two smaller models, but rafa reported that the 70 didn't have it. If it's the 250gb version, well...it doesn't need one. But originally the flash version of the 70 was suppose to have it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by moodyrn 

I knew that about the two smaller models, but rafa reported that the 70 didn't have it. If it's the 250gb version, well...it doesn't need one. But originally the flash version of the 70 was suppose to have it.

If you're talking about this post http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/523449/cowon-j3-vs-archos-32-43-internet-tablet#post_7233310

I read that as Rafa saying the 32 didn't have a slot.....maybe he could clarify for us?

Hello all. First time poster here. Hope to be around a while!

I've looked into the SD/ No SD topic and here's how it goes. The 28 and 32 from Archos have no micro SD slot, 43 does and so does the 8GB 70. The 70 with the 250GB hard drive does not. Archos probably assumed it wouldn't be needed (come on) and cut it out to save money.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Achmedisdead 

Quote:

Originally Posted by moodyrn 

I knew that about the two smaller models, but rafa reported that the 70 didn't have it. If it's the 250gb version, well...it doesn't need one. But originally the flash version of the 70 was suppose to have it.

If you're talking about this post http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/523449/cowon-j3-vs-archos-32-43-internet-tablet#post_7233310

I read that as Rafa saying the 32 didn't have a slot.....maybe he could clarify for us?

Got the Archos 32 today and it has definitely no sd card slot. Personally I would cut the camera and put in the sd card slot... however at the moment I am filling it with music, wonder how it sounds.