[radiohead7]

 
I was wondering if it is worth it to amp a Cowan S9. I thought i heard in the past it might not be worth it. I have a pair of Fischer Audio Db-02 coming soon. I was looking at Ibasso or RSA......i like the dac on the ibasso better and the optical output.

 

[H22]

Well, no one has posted a reply yet, so here is my 2cents....
 
I have not heard the Cowon S9 (or any Cowon for that matter .. ) But I do have a sony X1061 and a Clip+, both roundly praised for SQ. In fact the Sony and S9 were both touted as the top contenders at one point. I waffled between the two for months, but a pricing snafu on sony's part sealed the deal for me ( got it for $100 off!) Any way I have been more and more keen to get a Cowon, rave reviews and better file support.
 
But back to the topic, I find that an amp hepls both players, but the degree to witch it does depends on the phones. I have a mini3 and a Cmoy, and I had an RSA P-51, the mini3 is by far my favorate, and truly shines when full sized cans are plugged in, or my RE0's.
I also have some UM3X's and TF10's, and the amp makes these sound better as well, just more subtle.
But the mini3 is kind of a little powerhouse, a 9v battery and a fairly stout op-amp (adz8397) so it can handle quite a bit of load.
The P-51 was a bit of a let down for me, It is verry highly touted, but it offered nothing or next to nothing when used with these two players (especially the clip). It was very nice on my touch using a LOD, but i just couldn't justify it for the cost, so i sold it after it was broken in.
 
So, my advice, if you want to get an amp, make sure its a powerfull one, or you may end up with an external amp that is possibly not as good as the S9's internal amp. I don't know if some of the cheaper (fiio) amps that are powered by a 3.7v battery will add enough to justify the purchace, however, they are cheep enough that its worth trying......

 

[radiohead7]

Thank you for the explaining that to me. I had a p-51 and sold it also. I was looking at the ibasso amps they seem more reasonable priced (do not get me wrong that rsa is definitely good).  Most ibasso at least has a dac on it too. The new toucan looks really nice.

 

[ghettocoolie]

I have a Cowon S9 and also had the impression that it does not require an amp. Of course I can not leave good enough alone so I had to get a portable amp to prove it to myself. My one excuse is that I own a pair of RE0 and these have been known to require an amp to draw out the bass from them.
 
I bought a PA2V2 which was a relatively inexpensive way to feed my curiosity. The result is that I do find the SQ better but I couldn't quantify it for you. It wasn't a drastic change but enough that I am willing to bring around another piece of equipment for the improvement.

 

[radiohead7]

I am also very curious about amping my s9 and i hear conflicting opinions.  I was considering ibasso because i also want a dac with my amp for my computer. The cobra or mamba was a consideration they are relatively inexpensive compared to RSA and have more bells and whisltes.

 

[HK_sends]

 
Quote:

 
I was wondering if it is worth it to amp a Cowan S9. I thought i heard in the past it might not be worth it. I have a pair of  coming soon. I was looking at Ibasso or RSA......i like the dac on the ibasso better and the optical output.

Hi radiohead7,
 
I just saw this thread.  I use a Cowon S9 as my main music source.  The short answer to your question is yes the S9 benefits from amping.  The key is not volume but sound quality.  I have used the iBasso D10, RSA P-51 Mustang (which I still use), as well as a Little Dot Tube amp (MK IV SA) and Schiit Asgard.  My cans have included a Markl Modded Denon D2000, Grado HF-2, RS-1, and a few others in the past.  I have found that amping significantly improves the sound quality (probably due to providing more power to the headphones).  I won't use the S9 unamped anymore.
 
I just googled the Fischers and saw that they are IEMs, but the amp makers even cater to IEMs (RSA Shadow) so I think amping is just as applicable.
 
I liked the iBasso D-10 and its DAC.  The chance to roll OpAmps makes it a little gem along with the optical input (my laptop has an optical output imbedded in the headphone out jack).  I also had a Practical Devices XM5 Amp/DAC that I rolled Opamps in but it was USB input only for the DAC.
 
I kept the P-51 Mustang for the size, power, and sound (which I swear is still improving with over 1000 hours on it).  So I guess my bottom line is that amping definitely helps the sound quality of the S9.  However, if all you want is volume, amping isn't necessary.  Please realize these are my experiences, and YMMV...
 
Hope this helps...
 
-HK sends
 
PS - I use flac exclusively for my music files...

 

[HK_sends]

 
Quote:

I am also very curious about amping my s9 and i hear conflicting opinions.  I was considering ibasso because i also want a dac with my amp for my computer. The cobra or mamba was a consideration they are relatively inexpensive compared to RSA and have more bells and whisltes.

I grant that RSA is considerably more expensive, but the Mustang (and my previous SR-71A) shows they are worth it...
Check out related threads in the forum and you'll find a lot of people agree.
 
Cheers!

-HK sends
 
PS - Bells and whistles are good too...  Depends on what you want.
 

 

[wangfeilsu]

How do you amp the S9?
The headphone jack is not a dedicated line out port, and the AV out can not be used as audio only.

 

[HK_sends]

Quote:

How do you amp the S9?
The headphone jack is not a dedicated line out port, and the AV out can not be used as audio only.

I use a mini-to mini interconnect from the headphone out to the amp in.  I have the S9's volume set at 40 and all the BBE+ settings turned off (EQ = Normal or Flat).  I will add some EQ if necessary, but lately my headphones haven't needed it.
I know that the headphone jack isn't a dedicated line-out, but with the exception of the Apple iP*d and some old iRiver players, most portable DAPs don't have dedicated line-outs...
Cheers!

-HK sends
 
PS - I will be looking at the DAPs from Hifiman and Little Dot (coming soon) as they are supposed to have line-outs.  But right now with gapless flac ability, the S9 is one of the best (except for the newer Cowon J3 which is an S9 with external storage on a micro SD card). 
 

 

[wangfeilsu]

It is surprising that you can really "amp"(I mean, improve the quality of the sound) the S9 using the headphone jack.
I will try it later.

 

[HK_sends]

It can't hurt to try...

 
...unless the volume is set to "eleven". 

 
Cheers!

-HK sends

 

[RockinCannoisseur]

excellent question
   i would like to try my predator with the j3
i would also like to compare the d4 to the predator cause if heard its dac might be better  have no idea
 
also im sure my cheap right angle cardas mini to mini would  work great with an s9
 

 

[ppmd]

Seriously considering getting an amp just out of curiosity, in particular Arrow because of crossfeed.
 
Has anyone tried the Arrow 12HE with an S9/J3, and although this may be very specific, S9/J3 with IE8s or SM3s?

 

[dizzyraider]

Quote:

It is surprising that you can really "amp"(I mean, improve the quality of the sound) the S9 using the headphone jack.
I will try it later.

Amping the headphone jack is fine if the sound being produced is clean (Cowon's headphone jack has a clean sound).
 
Quote:

Quote:
I use a mini-to mini interconnect from the headphone out to the amp in.  I have the S9's volume set at 40 and all the BBE+ settings turned off (EQ = Normal or Flat). 
 
 

I find that although 40 is okay without any EQ, 34 is the highest the my S9 could go without clipping if you have some of the stronger bass EQ turned on.
 
 
From my experience, the S9 powers IEM quite well. Although I do hear a difference when I have my Triple.Fi go though the Mini3, the difference isn't very much at all. The biggest difference maker is with the larger cans. Volume wise the S9 was loud enough in the 30s, but going though the Mini3 the sound is cleaner, bass has more weight, and the sound stage is a bit wider. Realistically, I think that if you are only going to use the S9 with IEM like Fischer Audio DBA-02, you would get almost the same sound with or without an amp.

 

[HK_sends]

Quote:

I find that although 40 is okay without any EQ, 34 is the highest the my S9 could go without clipping if you have some of the stronger bass EQ turned on.

That tracks with my experiences.  I try to keep the EQ and DSP set to a minimum and then have the volume set at 36.  Lately though, I leave it all off.
 
Cheers!

-HK sends