[shakeyGW]

I think it all depends on what kind of sound you're used to....I bought an ipod touch thinking that the sound quality would be passable...but being used to my Cowon X5 before that, I am so.....uninspired by the touch's sound quality. If thats a big deal to you, you might want to try it out before you buy it. It beats the Cowon (and most others, for that matter) in everything else, but I can't help but be constantly let down with how BORING the sound quality of the ipod touch is. Not to mention that you can't touch the EQ without hearing some painful distortion (at least to my ears).

I just wish Cowon would put out another high capacity player. I've heard good things about the Samsung P3 too, as far as sound quality goes. Custom EQ, all that. Again, this is pretty much just a rant from me against my frustrations with my damn iTouch. hahaha.

Cheers

 

[shigzeo]

Would be great if people stopped talking about a signature and 'quality' as analogues of each other. SQ doesn't mean rich or boring. It means reproducing the original sound wave perfectly. As long as that wave is distorted, you lose SQ. The X5 does NOT reproduce that Sound wave as well as a lot of other players. It is warmer and richer, but that is sound signature, not sound quality.

 

[maverickronin]

I've had my D2+ for a day and a half now, so on with some initial impressions.

Pros

The amp is very quiet, almost no noise. I didn't even notice it until plugged in my 'phones after putting them on. Important factor if you have sensitive 'phones.
The stereo expander effect. Improves the soundstage of my SE530s. I'm still working on dialing in the perfect amount.
The EQ. 10 customizable EQ and BBE effect save slots. You can have a setting for everything you're likely to to play it through.

Cons

The 'dynamic playlist' is cumbersome to compared to the Karma.
The EQ. While it has more adjustable presets, it isn't as featureful. The Karma had almost a full parametric EQ with many more selectable frequencies, and width adjustment from .2 to 4 octaves. (I may be a little off, this is just off the top of my head.)
The UI. It could be easier to get use, but since it doesn't take to long to get used to it's only a small con. A bigger problem is using it one-handed. Most of the touch-screen 'buttons' are too small to reliably hit with my thumbs (I have average size hands for a guy) so I need to hold it in one hand and use my index finger or the stylus.

I don't have much other equipment to compare it to but it does sound great to my ears. I haven't tried any themes or skins yet either, so it may get even better.

 

[robb01]

Thanks for the review

 

[Hero Kid]

My suggestion with the D2+ is to change the settings of the tactile controls to allow you to change the volume when on hold as well as hold down menu to skip songs whilst a short hit on menu will pause the song.
This way my D2+ can live happily in it's case and I can do basic things without looking at or touching the screen.

 

[EraserXIV]

among my friends i'm known as the anti-apple, pro-PC guy, but honestly i really think there's no shame in getting an ipod. IMO they've come a long way in terms of SQ and the UI is pretty unbeatable. only other player out there that i know that can match the UI is the zune but i've never A/B'd them before so i can't say much about SQ comparisons.

by september a new ipod should come out and a new zune hd will likely follow suit, if you're not urgently in need it's possible to wait a few months and see how those are.

 

[fordgtlover]

Quote:

Originally Posted by maverickronin /img/forum/go_quote.gif I just downloaded some recordings of the Clip+'s and Cowon S9's output from this thread at abi. Clip v1 vs. Clip+ - RMAA and Spectrum Analysis - Sansa Clip / Clip+ - abi>>forums I ABX'ed them with foobar and got 15 out of 15 right. That's absolutely pathetic performance on the part of the Clip+. I'm not a musician, I've never played an instrument, I don't have any sense of pitch, tone, or rhythm, and I still got it right 100% of the time! If you're considering the Clip+ then you need to test this yourself before you buy.

The reason you got 15/15 is the same reason that I could; the recordings of the the clip and cowon sound different; that's it. It's not the fault of the clip or the cowon.

 

[shigzeo]

^^ that is true. The cowon is a colder sounding player, but good, and if you have low Ω headphones, it has quite a goodly amount of bass roll off which will account for audible differences in bass, though not huge. If you were hearing the difference between clips or RB and clip firmware, that would be something, however.

 

[maverickronin]

@fordgtlover & shigzeo

Unfortunately no one has uploaded a comparison of a RB'd clip+ vs the the OF so I couldn't test that unless I actually bought one and a better recording sound card to go with it. I might not be able to tell the difference, but there is enough uncertainty that I don't want to have to buy one to find out. I also don't want to buy a product from a company that knows about the problem and refuses to fix it because a 3% reduction in battery life will mean the marketroids won't have a nice round "15 HOURS OF BATTERY LIFE!!1!" to put on the package. I'll admit that it isn't the easiest principle to stick to these days, but it's not exactly enticing me to buy it when the best that can be said about it is that it doesn't suck quite as hard as the competition.

As far as I can tell the D2+ is currently the least terrible player on the market. To be fair it really isn't bad at all, but those are the bitter and cynical lenses I'm seeing everything through these days. If it was an inch wider with a D-pad on the side, along with a few other features, it would be within spitting distance of the Rio Karma. (Touch screens still suck most of the time, no matter what Apple tells you.) At least the D2+ has the decency to have a resistive screen instead of a capacitive one so you can actually use it while you're wearing gloves. I could go on and on for pages about the decline of quality in consumer electronics, but I'll restrain myself and stop here.