rajeevsid
New Head-Fier
- Joined
- Apr 21, 2009
- Posts
- 9
- Likes
- 10
So I have had some of these devices for quite some time now and I thought its time to return to the community which has helped me so much in my purchases. In addition to the list of devices I mentioned I own a rockboxed 5.5GB ipod (Yes !! I did not mod it yet 
!!). I did not include the ipod in the comparisons because I am essentially going to primarily discuss just the sound quality of these devices , and not the features battery life or anything else and the ipod's SQ has been "beaten to death" in this forum. Moving on..
Cowon Q5W is a PMP and probably does not have a place in this review but it provides good perspective so I have it in the mix for better measure. I will review everything without EQ on and I realize the Cowon's take a whole new life with EQ . Nevertheless I thought buyers would want to know how the un'EQ'd sound of these devices are.
I used a W3 and IE8 in comparing these sources. I alternately used both the iems on each player before assigning scores.
D2+
Soundstage - 10/10
Bass - 7/10
Highs - 9/10
Mids - 8.5/10
Eq ability - 10/10
Noise floor - 8/10
The D2 to me is a everyday use travel player. I probably may be beaten up for this in the forum, but its sound is definitely thin. The instrument separation and timber(if I can use that word) is wonderful even without EQ. Violins, flute, Sax sound very true to life. . Its like listening to music in a open air theatre with wonderful separation. Classical music sounds lovely , very neutral and balanced. It is when voice gets involved in mix that you feel that the sound is thin. For listening to predominantly vocal music one has to use the EQ,imo. Also to me the D2 lacks a little bit of detail being smoother than the other daps. However the D2 can power almost any headphone, so thats an advantage. Bass sounds a little laid back as compared to the other DAP's.
However as you guys know the EQ and jet effects more than make up for these shortcomings. You can tweak the settings to your liking until you have atleast a 9.5 on 10 on all departments. Nevertheless as a guy who listens to a variety of genres of music, I find it impractical and quite frankly a pain to change the settings every time to suit the kind of music I am playing.
Cowon Q5W
Soundstage - 10/10
Bass- 9/10
Highs - 9/10
Mids - 8.5/10
EQ ability - 10/10
Noise floor - 8/10
The Q5W has remarkable sound quality, and also an SPDIF out ( which is important to me coz I can connect it to my system at home. It makes for an excellent 80GB source when I am home)
The Q5W is primarily for people who want to listen to music, travel in airplanes and want to catch up on the episodes of House on the move). The video playback is great and Windows CE is irksome but moving on to Sound Quality.
This player is an audiophile's dream. Even without EQ this player comes very close to near perfect music playback. The mids,highs and bass is present to just the right amount, and the player handles both voice and instruments amicably well. If you have a great quality of the source files, lossless or 320kbps encoded mp3 this player does not disappoint. The soundstage is very similar to D2. There is enough power on the Headphone out to power most of the headphones or iems. The smoothness of the D2 is absent, the Q5 gives a detailed warm sound without being bright or analytical. It is very neutral and may be preferred for any kind of music without EQing. You might just require a higher volume level than with EQing.
With the EQ you can make sure that you are listening to the best quality souce there is. I know audiophiles may criticize me for Eq'ing , but it does sound much better with jeteffects and EQ. So I dont mind.. My gripe with changing the EQ with each album or song continues with this player.
Zune 30 GB upgraded to 120 GB
Soundstage - 6/10
Bass- 10/10
Highs - 9/10
Mids - 10/10
EQ ability - 3/10
Noise floor - 10/10
The zune has been quite a popular player in the forum and rightly so. It mids , highs and bass are stunning in almost any kind of music you throw at it. The sound is very natural and forward but there is a certain compromise on soundstage. The effect is of listening to music in a small hall rather than an open air theatre. The instrument separation and timber is stellar. The bass is well rounded and tight, the mids warm and forward and highs are crisp without a shrillness to it. However this might just be the synergy with the W3's. The noise floor on this player is amazing. When you are playing music and there is silence in the track, that is exactly what you hear, silence, no hiss or anything, absolutely black. The zune is, of the other players, slight forgiving of low quality files. That is because detail level is slightly lesser than the Q5W. Just slightly not by a huge margin. It is a fun source.
Now to the comparisions.......................
A good quality source file will be heard best in a Q5W >Zune>D2!!!
I prefer the small hall effect to the open air theater and the portability of the Zune compared to Q5W. For music on the go I prefer the Zune, not necessarily because it has the best HP out in terms of SQ, but because it handles any track thrown at it at a 9/10 level, and that is really convenient. However in terms of pure SQ , the Q5 beats all the players I have heard till date.
Just in case , someone decides to ask, the 5.5G ipod ranks almost as much as D2 overall. What you prefer between the two is purely your preference.
These are just my opinions. Feel free to disagree!!
Forgive any mistakes in grammar , syntax or spellings.
regards
!!). I did not include the ipod in the comparisons because I am essentially going to primarily discuss just the sound quality of these devices , and not the features battery life or anything else and the ipod's SQ has been "beaten to death" in this forum. Moving on..Cowon Q5W is a PMP and probably does not have a place in this review but it provides good perspective so I have it in the mix for better measure. I will review everything without EQ on and I realize the Cowon's take a whole new life with EQ . Nevertheless I thought buyers would want to know how the un'EQ'd sound of these devices are.
I used a W3 and IE8 in comparing these sources. I alternately used both the iems on each player before assigning scores.
D2+
Soundstage - 10/10
Bass - 7/10
Highs - 9/10
Mids - 8.5/10
Eq ability - 10/10
Noise floor - 8/10
The D2 to me is a everyday use travel player. I probably may be beaten up for this in the forum, but its sound is definitely thin. The instrument separation and timber(if I can use that word) is wonderful even without EQ. Violins, flute, Sax sound very true to life. . Its like listening to music in a open air theatre with wonderful separation. Classical music sounds lovely , very neutral and balanced. It is when voice gets involved in mix that you feel that the sound is thin. For listening to predominantly vocal music one has to use the EQ,imo. Also to me the D2 lacks a little bit of detail being smoother than the other daps. However the D2 can power almost any headphone, so thats an advantage. Bass sounds a little laid back as compared to the other DAP's.
However as you guys know the EQ and jet effects more than make up for these shortcomings. You can tweak the settings to your liking until you have atleast a 9.5 on 10 on all departments. Nevertheless as a guy who listens to a variety of genres of music, I find it impractical and quite frankly a pain to change the settings every time to suit the kind of music I am playing.
Cowon Q5W
Soundstage - 10/10
Bass- 9/10
Highs - 9/10
Mids - 8.5/10
EQ ability - 10/10
Noise floor - 8/10
The Q5W has remarkable sound quality, and also an SPDIF out ( which is important to me coz I can connect it to my system at home. It makes for an excellent 80GB source when I am home)
The Q5W is primarily for people who want to listen to music, travel in airplanes and want to catch up on the episodes of House on the move). The video playback is great and Windows CE is irksome but moving on to Sound Quality.
This player is an audiophile's dream. Even without EQ this player comes very close to near perfect music playback. The mids,highs and bass is present to just the right amount, and the player handles both voice and instruments amicably well. If you have a great quality of the source files, lossless or 320kbps encoded mp3 this player does not disappoint. The soundstage is very similar to D2. There is enough power on the Headphone out to power most of the headphones or iems. The smoothness of the D2 is absent, the Q5 gives a detailed warm sound without being bright or analytical. It is very neutral and may be preferred for any kind of music without EQing. You might just require a higher volume level than with EQing.
With the EQ you can make sure that you are listening to the best quality souce there is. I know audiophiles may criticize me for Eq'ing , but it does sound much better with jeteffects and EQ. So I dont mind.. My gripe with changing the EQ with each album or song continues with this player.
Zune 30 GB upgraded to 120 GB
Soundstage - 6/10
Bass- 10/10
Highs - 9/10
Mids - 10/10
EQ ability - 3/10
Noise floor - 10/10
The zune has been quite a popular player in the forum and rightly so. It mids , highs and bass are stunning in almost any kind of music you throw at it. The sound is very natural and forward but there is a certain compromise on soundstage. The effect is of listening to music in a small hall rather than an open air theatre. The instrument separation and timber is stellar. The bass is well rounded and tight, the mids warm and forward and highs are crisp without a shrillness to it. However this might just be the synergy with the W3's. The noise floor on this player is amazing. When you are playing music and there is silence in the track, that is exactly what you hear, silence, no hiss or anything, absolutely black. The zune is, of the other players, slight forgiving of low quality files. That is because detail level is slightly lesser than the Q5W. Just slightly not by a huge margin. It is a fun source.
Now to the comparisions.......................
A good quality source file will be heard best in a Q5W >Zune>D2!!!
I prefer the small hall effect to the open air theater and the portability of the Zune compared to Q5W. For music on the go I prefer the Zune, not necessarily because it has the best HP out in terms of SQ, but because it handles any track thrown at it at a 9/10 level, and that is really convenient. However in terms of pure SQ , the Q5 beats all the players I have heard till date.
Just in case , someone decides to ask, the 5.5G ipod ranks almost as much as D2 overall. What you prefer between the two is purely your preference.
These are just my opinions. Feel free to disagree
!!Forgive any mistakes in grammar , syntax or spellings.
regards
