[Shlonglor]

I apologize for the hit & run question, but I need a new player urgently and can't afford to wait.

My D2's screen is cracked and has lost touch sensitivity in too many places, meaning it's now pretty much limited to randomly playing songs.
I was very happy with it beforehand. I liked the sound quality and the fact that with my UE Super Fi 5 Pro, it didn't really need an amp since it was very powerful in itself.

I'm quite willing to just get a new one, but the audiophile in me can't do that without checking if something better exists yet. Is there an updated version or a new, superior player by any other company?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Shlonglor]

Here's the poor creature.
Is it possible to send it to Cowon for repair without warranty? Any idea how much something like that should cost?

 

[Punnisher]

I have stopped using my D2 in favor of my sansa clip.

 

[Shlonglor]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Punnisher /img/forum/go_quote.gif I have stopped using my D2 in favor of my sansa clip.

Isn't it old and .. inferior?

 

[karthur]

No. There is nothing better than the D2. I would say the Cowon S9 but it doesn't have a card slot.

 

[Punnisher]

The sound quality on the clip is great. For earphones it has plenty of power and doesn't suffer from the bass rolloff problem the d2 has, iirc.

If you want to stick with Cowon, look into the iaudio 7. I have not heard it myself but it looks to be a great player.

 

[Shlonglor]

Quote:

Originally Posted by karthur /img/forum/go_quote.gif No. There is nothing better than the D2. I would say the Cowon S9 but it doesn't have a card slot.

Specs say it only outputs 29mW as opposed to the D2's 37.
Does it have any advantage in sound quality what so ever?

 

[karthur]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shlonglor /img/forum/go_quote.gif Specs say it only outputs 29mW as opposed to the D2's 37. Does it have any advantage in sound quality what so ever?

It is really good and 29mw is still enough. I don't think it is much better (if any) than the D2 in the SQ dept. I still use and love my D2 and I purchased it around 5 years ago.

 

[Shlonglor]

Nice. A shame that mine dropped to the floor from my pants pocket and cracked after less than one year of use.

 

[karthur]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shlonglor /img/forum/go_quote.gif Nice. A shame that mine dropped to the floor from my pants pocket and cracked after less than one year of use.

Too bad...actually I think mine must only be 3 yrs old...I bought when it came out. Maybe check out the D2+, that apparently has even better SQ...not sure if it has the bass roll-off issue (not that I've really noticed that).

 

[Shlonglor]

Would it be possible to buy a cheap 2GB D2 and replace its flash memory with the one in mine or is that out of the question?

 

[penartur]

I believe that sansas are great. However, i cannot say anything about their ability to drive your headphones.

 

[shigzeo]

Since D2 came out in 2006 - I doubt anyone has it from 5 years ago but as an all-in-one player, it is pretty hard to beat its features at the pricepoint. If you want better sound, you can find it, but you don't find better SDHC integration or battery life for the price.

As a complete package, it is still a top notch player. For individual features, I think the D2 suffers in comparison to many players out there as it is a Jack of all Trades player.

 

[Shlonglor]

What offers better sound quality?

Where does the D2 suffer?

 

[shigzeo]

the d2 has these good traits:
1. a clean headphone out with little distortion -- it can power an amp very well
2. for a player that has SDHC support, good battery life
3. if you like open source codec (ogg and flac) good
4. relatively robust
5. effects are good (but eq is poor)

what is bettered by competitors (sound)
1. d2 has typical bass roll off but also has slightly elevated treble (less than 1db or about 1db)
2. has a smallish channel separation - in fact, is on par with really budget, cheap players
3. has no gapless support (big miss for many, for others, it makes no difference)
4. no support for AAC
5. records only in WMA

It is a great jack-of-all-trades player. Simply, nothing beats it but it is no shining example of best of anything. For the price, if you enjoy it now, don't waste money on something else that will only disappoint you: get another one.