Head-Fi.org › Forums › Equipment Forums › Portable Source Gear › Colorfly CK4 or Cowon Z2?
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

Colorfly CK4 or Cowon Z2?

post #1 of 9
1/22/13 at 8:53am
Thread Starter 

Hi guys, i'm looking for a good music player that can also play HD videos. I'd like the sound quality to be as good as possible. My music preferences are Asian pop and classical. The IEMS i will be using them with will be the GR07s, although i may upgrade to the V7007 or ASG-2s in the future.

I've narrowed it down to two choices:

Colorfly CK4 - If i buy this i will pair with an amp (C&C bh): Cost is 1421元 for both player and amp (Around 230 USD)

Cowon Z2 - Looks like a nice player but i'm not sure about the SQ (alot of people here say it's artificial) and the screen (pentile). Also, it's on gingerbread: Cost is 1570 元 (Around 255 USD)

Thanks for reading!

 

NOTE: i am open to other suggestions, nothing above $500 though.


Edited by rt310 - 1/22/13 at 8:58am
Reply

Head-Fi's Best Sellers

post #2 of 9
1/22/13 at 12:01pm
Thread Starter 

Anyone?

Also, i forgot to mention that my old DAP was the Sony Walkman Z series, but i'm discarding it as there were too many problems with the hardware.

Reply
post #3 of 9
1/22/13 at 3:59pm
The Colorfly CK4+ C&C BH combo will outperform any Cowon player,. completely different level sound. You'll get about 8 hours from CK4 and 80 hours out of the amp per charge. I would also recommend you look into a decent 3.5 mini to mini interconnect for that pairing to get the best experience possible.
Edited by H20Fidelity - 1/22/13 at 4:08pm
Reply
post #4 of 9
1/22/13 at 7:15pm

I have no experience with Colorfly or any other audiophile players - in Australia it's difficult to secure them, and most of them have a short battery life. I've read that they sound amazing though, so if you want the best possible sound on the go, it might be worth buying the CK4 and C&C stack.

 

I do own a Cowon Z2, and I'm happy with it - I don't think it sounds artificial or cold in a noticeable way, and while its screen is no Retina display, it plays HD videos of just about any format very nicely. No messy conversions required as it supports a plethora of formats. Battery life with videos is about 9 hours, though, so I'm not sure if that's enough.

 

Also, about the Gingerbread - the Z2 has access to lots of apps via the Google Play store, albeit not out of the box - just Google how to get it working from other forums, it is very simple. Gingerbread may not be as smooth as ICS or the new Android, but it's nice and responsive, and I'm not worried about it being outdated. The Z2 is not a smartphone, just an mp3 player with convenient access to wifi, email and simple apps. It is a very nice-sounding player to my ears, and I am happy with it as my portable audio solution, and its EQ suite is pretty good if you like that sort of thing (I kinda like the innately analytical Cowon sound, as all my headphones are warm-sounding).

 

All in all, both of your choices seem like good options, though I like my Z2 for my particular uses.

 

If you prioritise videos, the iPod Touch 5 has an incredible screen and strong battery life - if you could adapt its lightning connector to a LOD and use an amp, it would probably sound way better than my humble Z2 by itself. Not sure if you want to go Apple, though; I decided to keep away, even though I use a Mac.


Edited by StyleElements - 1/22/13 at 7:16pm
Reply
post #5 of 9
1/23/13 at 3:10am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by H20Fidelity View Post

The Colorfly CK4+ C&C BH combo will outperform any Cowon player,. completely different level sound. You'll get about 8 hours from CK4 and 80 hours out of the amp per charge. I would also recommend you look into a decent 3.5 mini to mini interconnect for that pairing to get the best experience possible.


What interconnect would you recommend?

 

Quote:
Originally Posted by StyleElements View Post

I have no experience with Colorfly or any other audiophile players - in Australia it's difficult to secure them, and most of them have a short battery life. I've read that they sound amazing though, so if you want the best possible sound on the go, it might be worth buying the CK4 and C&C stack.

 

I do own a Cowon Z2, and I'm happy with it - I don't think it sounds artificial or cold in a noticeable way, and while its screen is no Retina display, it plays HD videos of just about any format very nicely. No messy conversions required as it supports a plethora of formats. Battery life with videos is about 9 hours, though, so I'm not sure if that's enough.

 

Also, about the Gingerbread - the Z2 has access to lots of apps via the Google Play store, albeit not out of the box - just Google how to get it working from other forums, it is very simple. Gingerbread may not be as smooth as ICS or the new Android, but it's nice and responsive, and I'm not worried about it being outdated. The Z2 is not a smartphone, just an mp3 player with convenient access to wifi, email and simple apps. It is a very nice-sounding player to my ears, and I am happy with it as my portable audio solution, and its EQ suite is pretty good if you like that sort of thing (I kinda like the innately analytical Cowon sound, as all my headphones are warm-sounding).

 

All in all, both of your choices seem like good options, though I like my Z2 for my particular uses.

 

If you prioritise videos, the iPod Touch 5 has an incredible screen and strong battery life - if you could adapt its lightning connector to a LOD and use an amp, it would probably sound way better than my humble Z2 by itself. Not sure if you want to go Apple, though; I decided to keep away, even though I use a Mac.

Thanks for your input! I'll have to look into Z2 a little more, it seems. Also, i'm buying from China, since i'm visiting relatives there, so Colorfly and other China based products become much cheaper here.

Reply
post #6 of 9
1/23/13 at 3:18am
Quote:
Originally Posted by rt310 View Post


What interconnect would you recommend?

The best I've found for price/performance ratio is this one. It's silver plated copper.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/200851488533?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649
Reply
post #7 of 9
1/23/13 at 3:27am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by H20Fidelity View Post


The best I've found for price/performance ratio is this one. It's silver plated copper.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/200851488533?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649

Ok thanks, looks like a relatively cheap item.

Are there any better quality ones? i'd prefer to use taobao as it's more convenient for me :p

What about this one? http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?spm=a1z0d.1.1000638.4.YBgmrd&id=14446896896

Reply
post #8 of 9
1/23/13 at 3:29am
Quote:
Originally Posted by rt310 View Post

Ok thanks, looks like a relatively cheap item.
Are there any better quality ones? i'd prefer to use taobao as it's more convenient for me tongue.gif
What about this one? http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?spm=a1z0d.1.1000638.4.YBgmrd&id=14446896896

Yep, that'll do it. wink.gif
Reply
post #9 of 9
1/23/13 at 3:36am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by H20Fidelity View Post


Yep, that'll do it. wink.gif


Okay, thanks!

Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: Portable Source Gear

Head-Fi's Best Sellers

Head-Fi.org › Forums › Equipment Forums › Portable Source Gear › Colorfly CK4 or Cowon Z2?