WHICH COWON PRODUCT HAS THE BEST SOUND QUALITY ? - Page 2

I can't speak on the J3 but I've read the claims. It's also firmware related too, they may have the same DAC but a lot of the sound will come down to the firmware version they're running and intended sound sig. I would love to know if the J3 does indeed sound the same, but I can't see it, even after reading the claims on iAudiophile. They even measure similar.

I can tell you now though, the S9 and C2 do not sound the same with the S9 being ahead in SQ.

Yeah mines hiss's, it can be pretty much got rid of by just tapping 'settings' and its gone, don't know why. The Cowons running android don't have a very good battery life. I havn't compared different Cowons for sound quality as far as I know the BBE chip is responsible for a lot of it probably more than the DAC.

Edited by fuzzy1969 - 11/10/12 at 4:49am

here, in korea, you can find used j3's for less than 60dollars, in excellent shape, almost unused (most people seem to buy these or get them as gifts, and never use them - they use their phones for music instead.).

used s9's are often less than 40dollara.

used d2's less than 30dollars.

d2+'s the same.

used d3's and z2's, pricier, but can be had for half a new one's cost.

 

i am so happy with the d2 with rockbox installed.

already have another one lined up for when this one finally dies, if ever (3+ years old now).

might jump on a used j3 for kicks someday, if the price is right.

 

anyways, ebay d2 batteries and so on, and the replacement costs are minimal, like maybe 20bux, and the repair is easy.

sd cards are so cheap they are almost free.

serious am power, too.

can't be beat with rockbox imo.

Edited by jinya - 11/25/12 at 3:39am

What about the X9?

I still favor the J3, though finding one now would be much harder, since production has ceased.  I have found that the better the headphones used, the less I use either the Jet Effects or the BBE.  With the cheaper headsets, those add-ons can be helpful in correcting deficiencies.  With the better IEM's, there is much less need for them.

 

A Sansa Clip+. Very noise and jitter, extremely low output impedance, add Rockbox to kick it into overdrive. I have a non-faulty J3 and my Clip+ is very bit as good and drives my HD25-1-ii headphones perfectly.

Blah! The Clip+ isn't all that, tbh. It's too damn small, and with some hardware variants (like mine), there is some "CPU noise". I like my Rockboxed Fuze+ a lot more, even though there is some hiss with my IEMs. SQ wise, my iPod Classic beats them both, despite the higher output impedance (it's dead silent, even with my IEMs). And yeah, the CPU noise and the hiss are definitely ABXable.
Edited by skamp - 3/2/13 at 11:44am

which model number classic do you have?

Latest model, bought last year: 160GB thin model.

If you're interested, the iPod Touch 5 is even better: all the same sonic qualities, but with an ouput impedance that's inferior to 1 ohm. I got some first hand experience with it, it sounds great.

good to hear about the classic. the touch is out of my price range :)

Wait for FiiO x1 ;)

 

It's also rather expensive if you are buying simply as an audio player - you pay almost $300 to match the sq of a $30 Clip, and the Clip will take a cheap 64GB card while the iPod is stuck with an unexpandable 32GB of memory... If this is a win for Apple, I'd hate to see what a loss would like - it would probably involve a nuclear mushroom cloud over Cupertino. 

To me,  i am also paying for the ui and the better screen together with that package.  I never liked the clip+ because of its tiny screen,  hell i never liked anything with tiny buttons as control

How does the X9 compare with S9 
i'm interested in buying one of those two :S