After a few days since I got this device, I'm really happy with it. Everything sounds great, but I definitely recommend Jazz EQ setting.
Still, I can't understand how someone can hate on this UI. For me it's perfect. Simple and all you need without fancy-extra-useless-features. Well, I have music nicely organized in folders/albums and drag and drop works great.
Maybe single complain could be that it doesn't memo what you are playing when shut down. Otherwise...great!
after a couple of weeks of having C3 here are a few observations i make.
C3 sounds best at neutral settings, is nice and detailed. bass lacking can be solved by adding external portable amp. i use Digizoid for bass boost only.
in a few words, C3 sounds very detailed and smooth, still it misses a bit in mid range texture, not as rich or smooth as i wish it to be. top end is very refined, bass is thin without amp but detailed enough. adding amp boosts bass to appropriate levels but still mid bass is lacking body a tiny bit. sound stage is very good and instrument separation is very good too. all in all C3 is audiophile machine for those who want very refined and detailed sound. IMO best sound comes with neutral setting, for me EQ presets on C3 do only distortion and i see no gain from using them when you have good amp.
at the same time i find my trustworthy Cowon S9 good enough when paired with with Digizoid and make a few EQ twists inside Cowon. also i use SHURE earbuds which are famous for midrange. Shure sounds good with S9 but is a bit dull and muffed with C3. i sometimes find midrange on S9 with amp being more richly textured compared to C3. where S9 lacks a bit is detail level. instrument separation is good enough and bass is punchy albeit less detailed than on C3. i use C3 with Musical Fidelity EB50 earbuds which helps to uncover sound level of refinement.
i find both players giving me a joy of listening experience. C3 is more relaxed and refined sounding player uncovering subtle music details more easily. on the other hand S9 gives me more in your face sound stage and boosts presence effect by adding richer mid-range bass texture although that comes less detailed than on C3.
in the end C3 is very worth every penny it costs and simplicity is the name of the game. HOWEVER C3 also has some minor UI and operating glitches especially when using FLAC with CUE. i also find it ridiculous that C3 does not play WAV files and does not support 24bit files. at least my C3 refuses to do so. perhaps a good firmware upgrade is still needed for this player to make it really worth for every audiophile.
however C3 is no replacement for high-end sound and i do not know any MP3 player that could come close to high-end setup especially in what concerns depth and richness of the sound especially in mid range area which is lacking on a portable setup.
in my opinion both Colorfly and Cowon are very well sounding players with C3 targeting music purists and S9 targeting music loving enthusiasts. whichever you pick will be fine. just remember finding the right earphones and earbuds is very important as my experience with Shure and MF EB50 revealed. to each his own.
I snagged one too. I don't have an original to compare too though so hopefully someone else does. At that price I figured I'd risk it, says he even takes returns... haha.
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