Returned My D2+

I had a new D2+ for a few days, but about an hour ago, I returned it to Amazon. The unit, plus a 32GB SD card was just about $190. Over the last few days, I did a lot of objective testing between it and my 64 GB iPod Touch. I would set them both to the same song. (Lossless in both cases - FLAC on the D2 and ALAC on the Touch) I would put on either my Yuin PK1's or my Ety ER-4P's and go back and forth with the jack between the two. (Note that the Touch has a recent firmware upgrade that now includes an EQ, but I played both flat) Was the D2+ much better than the Touch? I didn't think the difference was very perceptible at all. Yeah, the battery on the D2 is incredible, but the Touch's interface is king! And with good phones, the Touch sounds wonderful. I love my Ety's, but the Yuins sounded even better with the Touch, and when/if I add a HP amp, it will be great. In a blind test, I think Apple haters would be hard pressed to tell which is which on an even playing field.

Add to this, the fact that I just discovered iRealBook for the Touch (www.irealbook.net) and it was goodbye Cowon. I was looking for reasons to keep both, but just couldn't. The only things I thought the D2 had over the Touch were the battery life, drag and drop loading, (albeit slooow), and the fact that it played FLACS. I really, really thought the sound would be so far above the Touch that I would be selling my Touch. I'm not. I returned the D2+.

I had a new D2+ for a few days, but about an hour ago, I returned it to Amazon. The unit, plus a 32GB SD card was just about $190. Over the last few days, I did a lot of objective testing between it and my 64 GB iPod Touch. I would set them both to the same song. (Lossless in both cases - FLAC on the D2 and ALAC on the Touch) I would put on either my Yuin PK1's or my Ety ER-4P's and go back and forth with the jack between the two. (Note that the Touch has a recent firmware upgrade that now includes an EQ, but I played both flat) Was the D2+ much better than the Touch? I didn't think the difference was very perceptible at all. Yeah, the battery on the D2 is incredible, but the Touch's interface is king! And with good phones, the Touch sounds wonderful. I love my Ety's, but the Yuins sounded even better with the Touch, and when/if I add a HP amp, it will be great. In a blind test, I think Apple haters would be hard pressed to tell which is which on an even playing field.

Add to this, the fact that I just discovered iRealBook for the Touch (www.irealbook.net) and it was goodbye Cowon. I was looking for reasons to keep both, but just couldn't. The only things I thought the D2 had over the Touch were the battery life, drag and drop loading, (albeit slooow), and the fact that it played FLACS. I really, really thought the sound would be so far above the Touch that I would be selling my Touch. I'm not. I returned the D2+.

Quote:

Originally Posted by FlatNine 

I had a new D2+ for a few days, but about an hour ago, I returned it to Amazon. The unit, plus a 32GB SD card was just about $190. Over the last few days, I did a lot of objective testing between it and my 64 GB iPod Touch. I would set them both to the same song. (Lossless in both cases - FLAC on the D2 and ALAC on the Touch) I would put on either my Yuin PK1's or my Ety ER-4P's and go back and forth with the jack between the two. (Note that the Touch has a recent firmware upgrade that now includes an EQ, but I played both flat) Was the D2+ much better than the Touch? I didn't think the difference was very perceptible at all. Yeah, the battery on the D2 is incredible, but the Touch's interface is king! And with good phones, the Touch sounds wonderful. I love my Ety's, but the Yuins sounded even better with the Touch, and when/if I add a HP amp, it will be great. In a blind test, I think Apple haters would be hard pressed to tell which is which on an even playing field.

 

Add to this, the fact that I just discovered iRealBook for the Touch (www.irealbook.net) and it was goodbye Cowon. I was looking for reasons to keep both, but just couldn't. The only things I thought the D2 had over the Touch were the battery life, drag and drop loading, (albeit slooow), and the fact that it played FLACS. I really, really thought the sound would be so far above the Touch that I would be selling my Touch. I'm not. I returned the D2+.

I think it is fair to say that most Cowon owners do not use them flat....they use the EQ and other enhancements. But if you don't use them, then the Touch would certainly be a nicer user experience.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Achmedisdead 

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by FlatNine 

I had a new D2+ for a few days, but about an hour ago, I returned it to Amazon. The unit, plus a 32GB SD card was just about $190. Over the last few days, I did a lot of objective testing between it and my 64 GB iPod Touch. I would set them both to the same song. (Lossless in both cases - FLAC on the D2 and ALAC on the Touch) I would put on either my Yuin PK1's or my Ety ER-4P's and go back and forth with the jack between the two. (Note that the Touch has a recent firmware upgrade that now includes an EQ, but I played both flat) Was the D2+ much better than the Touch? I didn't think the difference was very perceptible at all. Yeah, the battery on the D2 is incredible, but the Touch's interface is king! And with good phones, the Touch sounds wonderful. I love my Ety's, but the Yuins sounded even better with the Touch, and when/if I add a HP amp, it will be great. In a blind test, I think Apple haters would be hard pressed to tell which is which on an even playing field.

 

Add to this, the fact that I just discovered iRealBook for the Touch (www.irealbook.net) and it was goodbye Cowon. I was looking for reasons to keep both, but just couldn't. The only things I thought the D2 had over the Touch were the battery life, drag and drop loading, (albeit slooow), and the fact that it played FLACS. I really, really thought the sound would be so far above the Touch that I would be selling my Touch. I'm not. I returned the D2+.

I think it is fair to say that most Cowon owners do not use them flat....they use the EQ and other enhancements. But if you don't use them, then the Touch would certainly be a nicer user experience.

This is it. Basically if you call the audio clown shoes that are the BBE/Jeteffects 'better quality' then Cowon is certainly king. While you could say that the far more controllable EQ allows for better tuning of the sound with non-optimal phones, the problem is that the Cowon EQ degrades the sound to start with.

With a couple of notable exceptions, the iPods have always had at the very least respectable flat SQ, while Cowons have always been wildly overrated in theirs. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by bangraman 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Achmedisdead 

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by FlatNine 

I had a new D2+ for a few days, but about an hour ago, I returned it to Amazon. The unit, plus a 32GB SD card was just about $190. Over the last few days, I did a lot of objective testing between it and my 64 GB iPod Touch. I would set them both to the same song. (Lossless in both cases - FLAC on the D2 and ALAC on the Touch) I would put on either my Yuin PK1's or my Ety ER-4P's and go back and forth with the jack between the two. (Note that the Touch has a recent firmware upgrade that now includes an EQ, but I played both flat) Was the D2+ much better than the Touch? I didn't think the difference was very perceptible at all. Yeah, the battery on the D2 is incredible, but the Touch's interface is king! And with good phones, the Touch sounds wonderful. I love my Ety's, but the Yuins sounded even better with the Touch, and when/if I add a HP amp, it will be great. In a blind test, I think Apple haters would be hard pressed to tell which is which on an even playing field.

 

Add to this, the fact that I just discovered iRealBook for the Touch (www.irealbook.net) and it was goodbye Cowon. I was looking for reasons to keep both, but just couldn't. The only things I thought the D2 had over the Touch were the battery life, drag and drop loading, (albeit slooow), and the fact that it played FLACS. I really, really thought the sound would be so far above the Touch that I would be selling my Touch. I'm not. I returned the D2+.

I think it is fair to say that most Cowon owners do not use them flat....they use the EQ and other enhancements. But if you don't use them, then the Touch would certainly be a nicer user experience.

This is it. Basically if you call the audio clown shoes that are the BBE/Jeteffects 'better quality' then Cowon is certainly king. While you could say that the far more controllable EQ allows for better tuning of the sound with non-optimal phones, the problem is that the Cowon EQ degrades the sound to start with.

 

 

With a couple of notable exceptions, the iPods have always had at the very least respectable flat SQ, while Cowons have always been wildly overrated in theirs. 

Well, I am an EQ guy, and when I got my Touch 4G recently, it didn't sound as good as my Rockboxed Sansas that I EQ'd at first....due to its lack of a customizable EQ. With the advent of the EQu and Equalizer apps, now it sounds just as good as they do, and if I had any power-hungry cans it might well work better than them.

I now have a Cowon i9 on the way, so for the first time, I'll be able to try out the Cowon EQ and BBE/Jeteffects for myself.....it shall be interesting to compare!
 

I have both Equalizer and EQu and vastly prefer the latter as it is easy to use, easier to set up and has me scratching my head less. But, Equalizer is better as it can be used on older devices and you can be more accurate with it. I sold my D2 in 2008 because I could not stand a lot of things about it and had real issues to do some sound problems from it. I borrow one on occassion now, but have no reason to covet a non-iPod anymore. I've a good EQ, gapless, easy to play interface, great third-party support, and finally, I am no longer a hater. I passed that ugly hump in 2008 and haven't looked back though I'll admit to being attracted to other players if only because, despite some smarts, I am stilll human and susceptible to marketing.