[234537]

Hi everyone,
 
I am considering to buy either a Cowon D3 or J3.
 
At the moment the D3 seems to have more potentials in terms of setting up a detailed equalization.
 
Indeed I could use Android app Astro Player, which offers a 12-band graphic equalizer.
 
Has anybody tested the SQ of this or other 3rd party players?
 
Thanks.
 
 

 

[wind016]

Cowon J3 doesn't use 12 bands. It's 5, but it is incredibly adjustable. Each band can be changed to a different frequency and the range the adjustments occur can also be adjusted. Its BBE and enhancements makes it a better EQ than almost any other mp3 player's EQ I've heard.

 

[RPGWiZaRD]

Quote:

Cowon J3 doesn't use 12 bands. It's 5, but it is incredibly adjustable. Each band can be changed to a different frequency and the range the adjustments occur can also be adjusted. Its BBE and enhancements makes it a better EQ than almost any other mp3 player's EQ I've heard.

Question, I see that you can choose between 3 different frequencies for each band. Can you change one of the frequencies and then change to another frequency in the same "band" and the setting will be in use for every frequency, not only the one you currently have "picked" in that particular band. In that case it would be more like a 15-band EQ rather than 5, if you can make adjustment to 3 different frequencies in each band at the same time.
 

 

[234537]

Thanks wind016,
 
Do you think that with a J3 I could reach this equalization?
 

 
Image source: http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/492611/ath-w1000x-initial-impressions-vs-denon-d2000
 

 

[wind016]

 
Quote:

Question, I see that you can choose between 3 different frequencies for each band. Can you change one of the frequencies and then change to another frequency in the same "band" and the setting will be in use for every frequency, not only the one you currently have "picked" in that particular band. In that case it would be more like a 15-band EQ rather than 5, if you can make adjustment to 3 different frequencies in each band at the same time.
 

Actually, you can pick from 4 different frequencies in each band, but unfortunately you can't pick multiple frequencies in a band. However, things get interesting when you add BBE to the mix because BBE changes the frequency response too so you need to find a balance. IE: Using BBE to the max will probably require you to boost the midrange frequencies on the regular equalizer but the treble and bass doesn't result in much if any phasing issues nor distortion. If there was, it's too little for me to notice and care even after owning a S9 or J3 for several years. The EQ sounds much better than the Ipod EQu to me.
 


Quote:

Thanks wind016,
 
Do you think that with a J3 I could reach this equalization?
 

 
Image source: http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/492611/ath-w1000x-initial-impressions-vs-denon-d2000
 

I'll list 3 relevant bands and the frequencies you can adjust. You can't do them all. You can do adjustments at the 220, 300, 385, or 500 Hz in one band. You can do 1.8k, 2.4k, 3Khz, 4.1k  in one band. You can do 6.9k, 9k, 11.7, 13k in another band.
 
The Cowon's lack of phasing and distortion while EQing should be taken into account. If whomever is trying to neutralize a headphone with those adjustments, that may be too much to sound clean. For any non-hardware EQ, I would only reduce frequencies. The Cowon is hardware-based.

 

[RPGWiZaRD]

A shame that you can only use 5 bands, IMO that doesn't offer accurate enough EQing capabilities. I'd want at least 10-band if it's not a curve like EQu.

 

[wind016]

Quote:

A shame that you can only use 5 bands, IMO that doesn't offer accurate enough EQing capabilities. I'd want at least 10-band if it's not a curve like EQu.

Yea, 5 bands is limiting but I've learned to work with it. EQu has worse phasing problems when you aren't doing pin-point adjustments and it just gets to me. I can work a very wide range with the Cowon.
 

 

[kyuuketsuki]

EQu is software based... Which means that it doesn't have direct access to the internal chip. Cowon on the other hand has BBE which was designed with the chip and it is completely hardware based. If you know how to tweak it, the Cowon EQ will more than satisfy your needs, especially if you use all of the BBE enhancements. It is really fantastically designed.