[miceblue]

So between the C2 and the J3, which one is your guys' favorite?
 
I'm trying to decide between the two as a music player alternative to my iPod Touch, so any opinions/impressions are welcome. I've read a lot of praise for the J3 and less so for the C2 due to its resistive/not as responsive UI.
 
I was originally considering the D3 as well but I've read a lot about its *meh* UI performance so I took it off of my list.
 
As usual, thank you for any opinions/impressions.

 

[dbdynsty25]

The J3 is the best of the best from Cowon right now.  The C2 is underwhelming from a technical aspect, but if it's an "alternative" to your Touch, then why not?  It still is an outstanding media player, just doesn't have the customizable skins, nor the size and price tag of the J3.  So it's all about what's most important to you.  If you just want it to sound good to listen to music, then the C2 is great.  But if you want to watch videos at all, customize the skins and just have the all around best music/video player around, then go with the J3.

 

[roebeet]

I actually have a D3 (and used to have a D2 and an S9 - never had a J3).   The D3 was definitely "meh" with the original firmware, but the upcoming Gingerbread firmware has a lot to offer, now.  I'm running the 1.5.3 Korean released firmware, right now.
 
- 24/96 support (no gapless yet).  This is with the vanilla player.
- Rockbox seems to work pretty well, now.  This is an android app alpha, so it doesn't replace the entire UI.
- Great sound.  I heard that it sounds similar to the J3, but I have no J3 to compare.  But I had A/B tested it with my S9 before I sold it, and I thought the D3 sounded better.
- OLED screen with decent video codec support. I haven't really tested it thoroughly but I'm going on reviews more. 
 
The main problems with the D3 are 1) price and 2) overall speed for Android apps.  It's OK for basic apps and web browsing, but it won't replace an iPod Touch when it comes to gaming, for example.   Also, the battery life is lacking versus some of the other players - 10 hours for audio is my guess. 

 

[dbdynsty25]

Why are you bringing up the d3? The OP is asking about J3 and C2 specifically. Already ruled out the D3.

 

[plonter]

j3!  best cowon player up to date !  lstening right now with my grado rs1 with flats and viva preset and i am totally overwhelmed..totaly!

 

[miceblue]

Ah, thanks for the insight everyone! I'm definitely leaning towards the J3 right now.
 
Does anyone know where I can buy a 16GB or 32GB J3 in the silver color (I live in the US)? I was hoping to avoid eBay/Craigslist and I've only been able to find the 8GB models in silver. I know the J3 has expandable memory, but I was hoping to avoid buying one (for the time being).
 
EDIT: I found this website through a YouTube video, does anyone know if this is a legitimate vendor?
http://www.exportprive.com/pack-promo-cowon-sleek-white-32gb-cowon-white-leather-case-cowon-screen-protection-p-12808.html
Also, does anyone have experience with the J3 (or any Cowon device) while using a Mac? I have read a lot of complaints while using OSX with Cowon devices since OSX creates hidden files that Cowon devices dislike.
 

@roebeet I think I saw you post in the iaudiophile forums talking about the D3's Gingerbread update. I was actually reading about the new update and it sounds like a good update in terms of its performance. How responsive is the device as whole for the Gingerbread D3 compared to the that of the J3 (I'm assuming the J3 has a responsiveness similar to that of the S9's)?
 
Thanks again for all of your help, I really appreciate it.

 

[JimBob85]

I have the j3 and am very happy with it

 

[dbdynsty25]

The J3 comes in White (8gb) or Black (16gb & 32gb) in the States, so to get White outside, you're going to have to use something like eBay.

 

[miceblue]

Quote:

The J3 comes in White (8gb) or Black (16gb & 32gb) in the States, so to get White outside, you're going to have to use something like eBay.

Ah I see, so the white model only comes in the 8GB version in the States.
 
Does anyone know if Export Prive is a reliable vendor?
 
 

 

[cowsled]

I currently use a white J3 (8gb) and I would recommend the model for its all around quality. However, you should know that the silver border looks really cheap (at least in my opinion) and that the use of a microSD card noticeably lengthens the boot time of the device (though, seemingly, has no impact on performance after boot). I'd recommend getting a larger version in black but that's really up to you. As for Export Prive, I've only used them once (screen protector for my J3) but everything shipped and arrived within expected time frames. They don't use paypal though, but rather an alternative which I found to be quite annoying.

 

[miceblue]

Quote:

I currently use a white J3 (8gb) and I would recommend the model for its all around quality. However, you should know that the silver border looks really cheap (at least in my opinion) and that the use of a microSD card noticeably lengthens the boot time of the device (though, seemingly, has no impact on performance after boot). I'd recommend getting a larger version in black but that's really up to you. As for Export Prive, I've only used them once (screen protector for my J3) but everything shipped and arrived within expected time frames. They don't use paypal though, but rather an alternative which I found to be quite annoying.

Doesn't the silver border show in both the white and black models? I thought it was just the top aluminum face and back plastic that were different colors.
 
What class is your microSD card? I heard that using a class 8 or 10 is recommended for the best results.
 

 

[strannik]

 
 
 

Quote:

the use of a microSD card noticeably lengthens the boot time of the device (though, seemingly, has no impact on performance after boot).

 
This really isn't a big issue if you set the J3's "Sleep Mode" to on. That way you'll only go through the slow boot screen after recharge/file transfer.
 
On the topic of C2, didn't even know it existed, looks quite nice. If given a choice right now between the J3 and C2, I'd probably get the C2, it's much cheaper and looks to have the same key features and sound quality of the J3. Too bad the C2 it's a little thicker though. I wouldn't be too worried about C2s UI, the UI on the J3 isn't exactly amazing either.
 
If you use a Mac, always safely eject the device. I've got a whole bunch of hidden files on the J3 and it's doing just fine. Though I did find that storing m3u files appears to make the J3's internal file index to blow up... perhaps they fixed that with the latest firmware, though I'm not too eager to try.
 
 

 

[miceblue]

Quote:

This really isn't a big issue if you set the J3's "Sleep Mode" to on. That way you'll only go through the slow boot screen after recharge/file transfer.
 
On the topic of C2, didn't even know it existed, looks quite nice. If given a choice right now between the J3 and C2, I'd probably get the C2, it's much cheaper and looks to have the same key features and sound quality of the J3. Too bad the C2 it's a little thicker though. I wouldn't be too worried about C2s UI, the UI on the J3 isn't exactly amazing either.
 
If you use a Mac, always safely eject the device. I've got a whole bunch of hidden files on the J3 and it's doing just fine. Though I did find that storing m3u files appears to make the J3's internal file index to blow up... perhaps they fixed that with the latest firmware, though I'm not too eager to try.
 

Yeah the price is why I was eyeing the C2. The only thing keeping me from buying the C2 is the lack of dedicated prev/next track, vol. up/down, and play/pause buttons. The main reason why I have a jailbroken iPod Touch is for the Activator app which allows you to configure various button/touch screen gestures to activate certain things (prev/next track when you hold the vol. up/down buttons for example). I've read that you can change the vol. up/down buttons to prev/next track buttons, but then it removes the ability to change the volume while you have the device in your pocket.
 
Thanks for the tip about safely ejecting the J3 from a Mac; I'll keep that in mind if I end up buying the J3.
 

 

[my2crazy]

I live here in Japan and I just visited a Yodobashi store today. (amazing selection of audio equipment) I tried out the C2 and J3 with my Grado SR80s. The store was a bit busy. My headphones have about zero isolation. They both seemed to have nice sound quality(better than my ipod touch 2nd gen or 3rd gen nano) although the J3 hissed slightly and some of the highs were piercing, this could have been the music loaded to it though. The biggest downfall of the C2 to me was the lack of next/prev track controls on the side. They both have external volume that goes up/down 1 step with each push. Lots of steps, so fine control is doable. The C2 is thicker, but waaay smaller. After using my ipods, they both felt really light and I would be a bit worried about breaking them....but its hard to tell how well something is made until you drop it a bunch. The C2 seemed to be a bit more heavy duty, but not by a lot. The smaller screen and metallic back should help.
 
These players seem really similar.
Sound quality is about the same...assuming the issues I heard at the store was the music loaded(which probably was due to other reviews I have read here)
Touch controls to me were about equal, didn't really like either one that much, better than the touch, worse than the nano
external controls, both have volume, J3 has a bit more.
J3 has much better video support, watching videos on the C2 would be silly I think, but it looked like it has the capability
The C2 seems more portable, I could see my self running with the C2, but probably not the J3. 
The J3 seems really light and breakable, but then its hard to tell without some fun destructive testing that I bet yodobashi wouldn't let me do...
C2 is cheaper.
 
Personally I am torn, if the C2 had the external controls that the J3  has I would go that route....I think both are a good choice.
 
 
Oh I let my wife listen to the C2 and even she was surprised at how nice they sounded....and she has really no interest in head-fi. Sorry for the messy post, can't think straight been chasing 3 kids through Machida(a japanese city) today.
 

 

[my2crazy]

Oh and the C2 has volume controls! See the picture. Sorry for the extra post. The +- is for Volume, the M is for menu. The other one is well...obvious(unless they went way non-standard with the symbols)