Is the Cowon j3 really worth it? - Page 3

I have the S9 as my portable, which is pretty much the same as the J3 (with no memory slot). I have to say, I'm pretty happy with it. Can't comment on sound quality or comparisons because I've never heard the 4th gen iPod touch.

But from my experiences of having a iPhone 3GS (company gave it to me) + S9, I pretty much used the S9 all the time just because I don't play games/use apps. As many have mentioned previously, the EQ adjustments you can make on the Cowon players are very good and the drop and drag library is simply the best for people like me.

But if you find apps useful and play games often, I'd go for the iPod touch just purely on your needs.

Good luck~

I use my Cowon J3 connected to the 13-speaker Logic 7 system in my BMW, and it sounds awesome.  While listening to Queen tonight on the way home from dinner, my daughter said that she felt like Freddie Mercury was right there in the car with us.  I have the 32GB with a 32GB Class 4 SD card in it, and I can honestly say that it is my favorite audio player ever.

J3 is unmathced, if you include eq apps as bbe..... i never tired without, because is so awesome with.... and for fiio, they are the worst investition to make at least by now.... fiio e7 is no mighty enought for a really good pair of cans.... 

Fiio;s are nothing like more expensive amps..... but... as i sayed fiio e11 is coming soon, and looking at it's specifications, is much better, is about 10X od what fiio e7 is able to do....

and for anyone, J3 is the best sounding player by now, it can beat touch, with equalizer, and j3 does not have wifi or anything internet.... is just a music player... a very great one!....

but as someone sayd eariler, i am looking to do the same thing,,, i have j3 for music, and i am searching for another device for gaming.... is not the same thing....

a device cannot have everything for a resonable price.... anyway, has anyone looked over nintendo 3ds for gaming?....

as i could have recomended eariler, i would still recomend j3 only for music... because if anyone is not going to use apple apps is not worth having one touch....

is like having a 23 inch monitor, but your are wieving only movies at 320*240 quality ....

Once again - please answer the question - have you actually used the Fiio E7?  If not, please stop bagging it OK.  You have no idea of what you are talking about.  Yes it is not a very expensive DAC/amp - but have already read of people using it with cans like the HD650 (300 ohm) - and they were suitably impressed.  There are a heap of people listed on head-fi (some of who own some absolutely great gear) who currently own the E7.

Just because it doesn't cost $300+ does not mean it's a good piece of gear - especially when you see the value for money.  Plus it uses the Wolfson WM8740 which other amps like the Ibasso D3 & D4 use.  Finally - if you haven't tried it - at least read some of the reviews from people who have.  Try the reviews on head-fi, or there are others around - just use google (for example).  They don't paint the E7 as the greatest - but they do acknowledge that it is a good investment & it will power some good cans.  Pair it with the E9, and it will power anything out there.

Quote:

Originally Posted by skerry2006aj 

and for fiio, they are the worst investition to make at least by now.... fiio e7 is no mighty enought for a really good pair of cans.... 

Quote:

Originally Posted by skerry2006aj 

J3 is unmathced, if you include eq apps as bbe..... i never tired without, because is so awesome with.... and for fiio, they are the worst investition to make at least by now.... fiio e7 is no mighty enought for a really good pair of cans.... 

How do you know? Do you have one?

Fiio;s are nothing like more expensive amps..... but... as i sayed fiio e11 is coming soon, and looking at it's specifications, is much better, is about 10X od what fiio e7 is able to do....

 

and for anyone, J3 is the best sounding player by now, it can beat touch, with equalizer, and j3 does not have wifi or anything internet.... is just a music player... a very great one!....

That is BS....the Touch 4G with the EQ apps sound just as good as the new Cowons

but as someone sayd eariler, i am looking to do the same thing,,, i have j3 for music, and i am searching for another device for gaming.... is not the same thing....

a device cannot have everything for a resonable price.... anyway, has anyone looked over nintendo 3ds for gaming?....

I have great games and great sound on the Touch 4G. You really sound like an uninformed fanboy of Cowon....they are very nice players, and I do really like mine, but they're not the greatest thing since sliced bread like you make them out to be.

Quote:

Originally Posted by skerry2006aj 

J3 is unmathced, if you include eq apps as bbe..... i never tired without, because is so awesome with.... and for fiio, they are the worst investition to make at least by now.... fiio e7 is no mighty enought for a really good pair of cans.... 

How do you know? Do you have one?

Fiio;s are nothing like more expensive amps..... but... as i sayed fiio e11 is coming soon, and looking at it's specifications, is much better, is about 10X od what fiio e7 is able to do....

 

and for anyone, J3 is the best sounding player by now, it can beat touch, with equalizer, and j3 does not have wifi or anything internet.... is just a music player... a very great one!....

That is BS....the Touch 4G with the EQ apps sound just as good as the new Cowons

but as someone sayd eariler, i am looking to do the same thing,,, i have j3 for music, and i am searching for another device for gaming.... is not the same thing....

a device cannot have everything for a resonable price.... anyway, has anyone looked over nintendo 3ds for gaming?....

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Achmedisdead 

 

I have great games and great sound on the Touch 4G. You really sound like an uninformed fanboy of Cowon....they are very nice players, and I do really like mine, but they're not the greatest thing since sliced bread like you make them out to be.

I agree,...Cowon is not the end-all & be-all you claim. The touch has come a long way, deal with it. The SQ is now excellent AND customizable - EQu & Equalizer, it does games fantastically well, the videos look great, and it's an all-around sweet performer. Battery life IS better on the J3, but it still lasts a full day of usage - my iPhone lasts a day+ w/my $33 battery case.

I love my D2, I owned the O2/S9/J3, I see no reason to say the iPod touch 4G is inferior. Only a blind fanboi will see only what they want to see,...are you that blind skerry2006aj ? I used to be, I'll admit it. I no longer put down other devices just for loyalty,...please open your eyes and do the same.

Quote:

Originally Posted by nywytboy68 

 

 

I agree,...Cowon is not the end-all & be-all you claim. The touch has come a long way, deal with it. The SQ is now excellent AND customizable - EQu & Equalizer, it does games fantastically well, the videos look great, and it's an all-around sweet performer. Battery life IS better on the J3, but it still lasts a full day of usage - my iPhone lasts a day+ w/my $33 battery case.

 

I love my D2, I owned the O2/S9/J3, I see no reason to say the iPod touch 4G is inferior. Only a blind fanboi will see only what they want to see,...are you that blind skerry2006aj ? I used to be, I'll admit it. I no longer put down other devices just for loyalty,...please open your eyes and do the same.

The Ipod has not changed THAT much as you claim either. Jesus people. The Cowon's EQ and BBE are still far superior no matter how the Ipod's EQ improves. I honestly can't live without my Iphone and I can live without my J3. I enjoy music fine out of the Iphone but the Cowon simply gives better audio options.

I'm also not a fan of portable amplifiers. They're basically clunky metal bricks that give you minimal benefit. I only used my Ibasso D10 as a DAC/amp until I got something better.

You all know that freq response isn't everything, right? It seems like many of you leave out detail retrieval in your analysis. Yes, most players sound the same flat, when you're just looking at frequency response. But the amount of detail I hear with my J3 has bested everything I've tried.

Achmedisdead- The J3 and Touch may sound the same to you, but if your profile is up to date you don't exactly have the best of headphones... I'm just saying that people with better headphones will be able to hear the differences better. I have to agree with wind016 here: the Touch has come a long way but it still has yet to match BBE.

Quote:

Originally Posted by macrocheesium 

 

 

Achmedisdead- The J3 and Touch may sound the same to you, but if your profile is up to date you don't exactly have the best of headphones... I'm just saying that people with better headphones will be able to hear the differences better. I have to agree with wind016 here: the Touch has come a long way but it still has yet to match BBE.

Fair point on the headphones. With my Grados, with all EQ's/effects off, I found the Touch 4G to sound a little better.....my Cowon sounds a bit thin that way. With the other 'phones, they're equal, and I can make either one work with any headphone I've tried when using the effects.

I have to ask though, have you tried the Touch 4G with these apps, Equalizer and/or EQu? They really are amazingly effective. The Equalizer one is every bit as adjustable as the Rockbox EQ, with 7 bands as opposed to RB's 5 bands. Some of the Cowon effects can be very artificial sounding.....used judiciously though, they work very well.

Quote:

Originally Posted by macrocheesium 

You all know that freq response isn't everything, right? It seems like many of you leave out detail retrieval in your analysis. Yes, most players sound the same flat, when you're just looking at frequency response. But the amount of detail I hear with my J3 has bested everything I've tried.

 

This exactly, on flat the J3 had the most natural detail for me, while the ipod touch was bassier, at times bordering on muddy. Different strokes for different folks

Quote:

Originally Posted by Achmedisdead 

Fair point on the headphones. With my Grados, with all EQ's/effects off, I found the Touch 4G to sound a little better.....my Cowon sounds a bit thin that way. With the other 'phones, they're equal, and I can make either one work with any headphone I've tried when using the effects.

 

I have to ask though, have you tried the Touch 4G with these apps, Equalizer and/or EQu? They really are amazingly effective. The Equalizer one is every bit as adjustable as the Rockbox EQ, with 7 bands as opposed to RB's 5 bands. Some of the Cowon effects can be very artificial sounding.....used judiciously though, they work very well.

 

On the 3G, yes. Is the 4G considerably better?

Quote:

Originally Posted by wind016 

1) I might try it but I doubt the EQu will be more impressive than the professional BBE. The EQu doesn't appear to be linear phase but even if it is, it doesn't include BBE enhancements which I use almost all the time. I use Monster Turbine Pro Golds with my Cowon on the go btw. Very fun combo XD 

 

I think if you're like me, you'd want to good solid EQ since like you said you are an EQ-maniac. XD You can play around with the EQ for a whole month which I did. After the first week, I thought I understood everything about the EQ, but then I messed with the Enhancements some more and "holy crap!" I had a revelation. Then the same thing happens with each headphone I use it with.   Also, even though the Cowon equalizer shows 5 bars, it actually has much more adjustibility tthan that. You can change a different frequency on each bar and change the range that your adjustments affect. You can go surgical.The great thing about the BBE enhancements is that you can boost the MachBass setting like crazy and give you some major bass headaches but you won't be hearing much distortion considering the amount of bass you increase. Also, with the BBE enhancement, the mids and highs don't suffer much even if treble detail and bass impact is increased. I'm not sure how it works, but I think it's very impressive.

 

2) The Cowon S9 and the J3 sound almost identical to me. I'm not sure about the lower models like the I9, but I've read that the EQ enhancement settings are similar.

Would appriciate it if you could try out EQu, it's linear phase according to this video presentation at least http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GomY7Wrn0Iw - It's only $3 and since you also use your iPhone it would be a very worthy $3 investment anyway for an EQ (the default one doesn't count cuz it's pretty useless).

Yes I usually keep adjusting the EQ for my new headphones for MONTHS to find that optimal setting for that headphone in particular and we're talking 0.1 accuracy here as that's the increment the EQ I use allows. I mean it takes maybe an hr or so max to find roughly the curve that works best for that headphone in particular but the fine adjustments I can keep doing for months just because I'm like a perfectionist when it comes to tweaking stuff for the best possible result, same goes for other things too such as tweaking TV settings. I usually use 2 different EQ settings for my headphones on my computer even, 1 that's balancing it out and another that boosts the whole range a lot and depending how much "forward" sounding which is more to my prefers and how much bass it has for starters so more laid-back sounding headphones gets usually a bit more of an boost to the frequencies than very forward sounding ones. I kept finetuning the EQ settings for XB500 for probably 7-8 months or so and now I'm pretty convinced it sounds the best possible.

If I get a new portable player it's very likely I'd get a cheaper Cowon if the settings you can adjust are the same, I really wouldn't want to spend more than $150 on a mp3 player I wouldn't use that often anyways as I mostly use my comp but iPhone is interesting as it's an mp3 player + phone at the same time and my phone I ofc always carry with me so it would seem like a great bonus to always have an mp3 player with me as well (I'm not sure I'd be bothered to bring a separate mp3 player with me all the time). Just for the laughs I can say my current mp3 player is still an OLD Creative Zen Plus 1GB but I have barely used it for years anyway. :p For me 16GB would probably already feel plenty.

Read through this thread: http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/528724/quality-custom-eq-apps-for-ipod-touch-and-iphone-they-exist

The Cowon's aren't all that,...and I love Cown's SQ. I personally HATE BBE - but I guess that's just me.

Quote:

Originally Posted by nywytboy68 

Read through this thread: http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/528724/quality-custom-eq-apps-for-ipod-touch-and-iphone-they-exist

 

The Cowon's aren't all that,...and I love Cown's SQ. I personally HATE BBE - but I guess that's just me.

Yes but I was looking for Cowon EQ vs iPod/iPhone EQu comparision preferable by no fanboy of either brand so wind016 looks like the best candidate since he also likes to use EQ like I do.