[CML86]

Hi, I bought an iaudio7 two weeks ago. So far, I'm not very satisfy w/ its sound quality. It has a digitalized sound which sounded unnatural. Also the soundstage is narrow. So here's my question; will an external amp improve the SQ of the iaudio7 to make it more natural, and wider soundstage? If not i guess i will have to sell it... Thanks for any help and comment!

 

[TheMarchingMule]

Cliff note answer is no, simply because basically you are just amping what you hear from the headphone out, and you have already stated you don't like it.

 

[faichiu]

You can set BBE to 1 and it will has less digitalized sound but I found BBE is not natural. Most iaudio products had digitalized sound(I try U3, D2, X5). Digitalized sound is kind of annoying when I listening to it for long period of time. This is the reason why I switch to T39. But people in this forum doesn't seems to notice this problem. Regular piano sound become Electronic piano. Human vocal become robot vocal.

External amp does not fix this problem. Also I don't like to carry amp around all the time.

 

[warrior05]

Let's start with the basics - what are you listening to? If mp3s - what are they encoded at? I ask this because it is my opinion that Cowon's DAPs are amongst the best sounding unamped. I have an F2 and my friend has an iAudio 7 16gb. I always have my DAPs set with no processing at all and listening to my friend's 7, I thought it sounded great. His mp3s are all at least 192 which I find to be the lowest bitrate that is still listenable. Also, if you are using high-end head or earphones, you are going to hear the limitations of lossy encoding.

I recommend you try making sure that any any all sound processing is off and you try some lossless or 320 lossy music before you make your final decision. Personally, the beauty of something like the F2 and the 7 is their small size. Adding an amp would just be adding bulk to what are great sounding - IMO - players.

Of course - after all is said - you just may not like how the Cowon sounds and is not your cup of tea.

 

[shigzeo]

however, you could just not like the sound of the cowon. i was a person who did whatever possible to enjoy the sound of the d2 and never liked it. i will not say it sounded harshe, but just not like what i had been listening to for the longest time on hifi or other portables. then i found out that part of the problem (from my observations) was that it was not driving my headphones well enough. the bass congealed in the centre with my denon c700 for trance almost to unlistenable blurr.

some people like this but i found that cowon never presented a favourable sound unless i listened to all the effects. but then it was just too processed to enjoy. the amp would do two things however, first, it would alleviate imp problems for low imp phones that the cowon cannot drive. second, it would eliminate even the low low hiss generated by cowon daps.

for low imp, it may be the only way to enjoy cowon dap for a person like me, but... bother it, too much to deal with for too little returns. cowon make good dap, but their sound is not for everyone.

 

[chesterqw]

the iaudio7 sounds bad!?!?

wow...

just remove every settings you modify with and make sure your mp3s are encoded at least 192kbps.

 

[faichiu]

iaudio does not sound bad. They are great player overall.
The only problem is the digitalized sound.
For you info, all my files are lossness.
When I test U3, X5, D2, all the setting are flat.

Quote:

Originally Posted by chesterqw /img/forum/go_quote.gif the iaudio7 sounds bad!?!? wow... just remove every settings you modify with and make sure your mp3s are encoded at least 192kbps.

 

[shigzeo]

the encoded file is not the problem if it sounds good from a good soundcard, burned cd from hifi or other dap. there just happen to be people out there who do not like the sound of the cowon dap universe.

i have never heard the x5 though - that may be a better thing as it has more the usual defects rather than trying to give a great spec'd amp that is underperforming compared to the adverts

 

[CML86]

Quote:

Originally Posted by faichiu /img/forum/go_quote.gif You can set BBE to 1 and it will has less digitalized sound but I found BBE is not natural. Most iaudio products had digitalized sound(I try U3, D2, X5). Digitalized sound is kind of annoying when I listening to it for long period of time. This is the reason why I switch to T39. But people in this forum doesn't seems to notice this problem. Regular piano sound become Electronic piano. Human vocal become robot vocal. External amp does not fix this problem. Also I don't like to carry amp around all the time.

Ya, totally agree! wut brand is the T39? Hows its SQ?

 

[CML86]

Quote:

Originally Posted by warrior05 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Let's start with the basics - what are you listening to? If mp3s - what are they encoded at? I ask this because it is my opinion that Cowon's DAPs are amongst the best sounding unamped. I have an F2 and my friend has an iAudio 7 16gb. I always have my DAPs set with no processing at all and listening to my friend's 7, I thought it sounded great. His mp3s are all at least 192 which I find to be the lowest bitrate that is still listenable. Also, if you are using high-end head or earphones, you are going to hear the limitations of lossy encoding. I recommend you try making sure that any any all sound processing is off and you try some lossless or 320 lossy music before you make your final decision. Personally, the beauty of something like the F2 and the 7 is their small size. Adding an amp would just be adding bulk to what are great sounding - IMO - players. Of course - after all is said - you just may not like how the Cowon sounds and is not your cup of tea.

My iaduio7 is set to flat EQ, and I listen to FLAC. Well, I guess its sound is not bad, but not great either. Just barely acceptable. But i rather listen to my pcdp which sounds way better. The only pros of the iaudio7 to me is the size, and its battery life.

 

[shigzeo]

in the end, it is a person's own choice as to what sounds good. on paper, cowon present as good a dap as anyone else, but it depends on if you like their sound. the pcdp of all portables now probably has the most simple of all circuitry and so less to get in the way of the signal, but also probably has one of the least powered head-outs and i imagine not able to stand up to much test in terms of bass performance proper. but

then, again, it is all up to a person's personal taste. cheers. what cowon do well is support free codecs like ogg and flac reasonably well. i don't like that they do not support the same codecs on all their products. for instance, why the a3 gets support for aac, but the d2 removes it and then brings it halfass back... makes little sense for me.

they do support lossless quite well - kudos. as well battery life is quite good, though rarely as good as manufacture states. i had the d2 and shared the same frustration that many have had: less than 50 hours, less than 40 hours even playback. i got it for that reason.

my d2 was much better for large high imp low sensitivity phones than any other player i have heard: my dt880 were wonderful from the head out of the d2. i could not believe that it was an unamped portable. sounded so good. i will have to try my ipod touch with them when next they are in my hands. cannot wait.

 

[evilpanda]

What is going on? I was about to buy an iAudio 7 because every single review on the web says that the strong point is the sound quality. Now I'm seeing more and more posts about how not that great it is. What? I have a dying iPod 4th gen and was really into that iAudio 7 because I wanted to have great SQ compared to my iPod but now it seems that the sound is "digitalized" which I'm not even sure what it means.

 

[faichiu]

Sorry, I don't own iaudio 7 so I cannot compare.

For me, I like the SQ of T39 much more than iaudio D2, X5, U3.
The feeling of listening to T39 is like listening to discman.
Sometimes, I can't even stop myself from listening to it.(Crazy right?)

T39's firmware is quite bad but it is ok for me, I do not use special function alot. I just listening flac ascendingly.

I got the T39(4gb) for $88 from ebay during year end sale.
But now the price went up.

Here is the link:
T39 mp3 items on eBay.com

Sony A818 is also a good choice if you don't like china product.
A818 does not have digitalized sound and bass is very good.
But I found A818 has less power output and it does not support flac.
(I have tons of CD rip to flac already since I got U3)


Quote:

Originally Posted by CML86 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Ya, totally agree! wut brand is the T39? Does it sound better than iaudio7 in ur opinion?

 

[shigzeo]

it is a great sounding player if you like the sound. some people out there even liked the sound of the ipod 4g! haha, the iaudio should sound better than the ipod 4g as there is better circuitry at the headphone out but it is not a wonder machine better than all others.

what people mainly rave about for cowon is the implementation of digital effects. if you like distortion free eq and other super duper effects, cowon are probably the best. however, all those effects are majorly processed and make the music sound quite differently than would normally. there have been few tests to see how much difference is introduced into the signal with the eq and bbe and mach super bass effects on as that is not encouraged here.

cowon players have good battery life and good support for free codecs (makes sense eh? don't have to pay anything for it) but i think get too much praise from the masses and too little critical input. it could be that cowon are riding on the tails of their excellent x5 which is a great stay for the rockbox community as well as a tempered hardware for portable relaxation.

the d2 and iaudio 7 are in some ways polar opposites: they introduce high sn ratio players with better headphone outputs than the x5 but at the same time, with less distortion, they introduce what many people are not used to: a compressed sound. they have a fast pace but they are not relaxing players.

the sony players now not only sound more relaxed but have proper headphone outs that can drive even low imp phones. however, the bass of them make some people think they are not detailed. in reality, while they hiss more, they have probably the best head outs of any dap commercially available today. they may even surpass the shuffle 1g.

iaudio 7 is a great player: so are many players out there. if it fits your desired bill: file type, batttery life, look and weight, then why not get it.

i sold my iaudio product as i did not like it much in the end. my main gripe was that it was too sibilant unless i used eq or mach bb, but then the low end was garbled from not too good a start with my denon c700. right now i am using the lowly ipod nano 3g with gapless playback! nice. it actually sounds more like my d2 than any other playback device i have heard except poor hardware support for eq and it is not nearly as piercing in the very high regions (probably as it is not straining to produce treble as much as is the d2)

 

[thekid22]

I have an Iaudio 7 and love it. I have the 16gb, and I find the combination of sound, size, and battery life to be awesome. the only downside for me is that the interface feels a few years outdated...
I use the sound with a few of the enhancements. BBE at 2, Mach3Base at 3, and I'm a big fan.