cowon d2, sony nw-a808 or clix2

[Vulpix]

I need a bit more encouragement to get the A808, anybody wants to do that for me?

 

[daveyostrow]

sonicstage used to be hell, got better but still a pain when using many songs.

 

[Aevum]

i love my drag and drop, and if i move to linux, i dont have to toss out the player,

 

[MiG(TM)]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aevum /img/forum/go_quote.gif actually, it does wrapp them in a OpenMG wrapper, if you go in to MSC mode on the player, you will notice the files arent MP3, and if you try to play them with a normal media player, it dosnt recognize them, learned that the hardway with my NW-HD5, so much for mp3 support by sony,

nope, it just renames the file.... its still an mp3/watever file. Windows Media Player plays all mp3 music on my NW-A3000.

It will say the format is different from the file extension but will play it anyway. This is what file headers are for.

 

[Vulpix]

I'll be joining you in TEAM Sony soon! I'm really close to buying the A808... The only reason I am hesitating is just my bad experience with their NetMDs...

 

[reynman]

I recently purchased a black a808 along with the crystal case from eBay. Great sounding player, easy navigation, a great screen, and a customizable eq. I'm an admitted Sony guy when it comes to my DAPs, but I have owned an iPod, ZVM, and currently own a Zune.

I've been using it with my Sensas 2Xs for my daily commute and I have found a replacement for my dearly departed HD1. I actually watched DaVinci Code during the week. The screen is not bad for 15-20 minute viewing periods. I can use the Zune or PSP if I want a bigger "screen".

IMHO Sony got it right with the a800 series, too bad they probably won't release it in the US. Even though there is a volume hack on the European models, try getting an Asian version. The volume will go to 30 instead of 20.

FWIW - I have never had an issue with SS. I am currently using SS 4.3. My library is ~2500 songs ripped @256 from my CDs. Probably not as big as others on Head-fi, but it works for me. A 12 track CD might take 5 minutes. That might be long for some people, but I definitely have 5 minutes to step away from the PC and do something else.

If you need more information (reviews/software updates) on the a808 go to Atraclife Colloquium http://www.atraclife.com/forums/index.php?showforum=8

Regards - reynman

 

[bangraman]

Quote:

Originally Posted by michaelJ /img/forum/go_quote.gif I've decided to complement my beloved cowon U3 with a new player (keeping the u3 for exercise). My priorities are good SQ and good video. Radio, recording and such is not anything that I'll ever use. After looking around for quite some time reading reviews, following forums I've down to one of these three. I would very much appreciate if there is anyone who has listened to more than one of these so they could give their opinion on which one they think is best? Other input is also welcome. cheers /michael

Well... my suggestion is to get them all

The 808 is the best-feeling and IMO looking (machine and UI) machine out of the three. The fit & finish is near perfect, and the UI is functional yet understatedly stylish. But it's not the best-sounding (although this is not a big deal), and it is fatally (compared to the other two) crippled by ChronicS***age. Unless you have like ten J-Pop albums to your name, forget it. I'm dedicating an entire bang-up-to-date PC to Chronic with a cut-down ~10,000 track library and it's still slow as heck. It's also not as full featured... but this is a really nice player all the same. I just can't recommend it outright.


The Clix2 is the best balance of usability, features and style. It does virtually everything you could want and does them all quite well. The only issue where it has some notable tradeoffs compared with the other two is in battery life. It isn't as well finished as the Sony and neither does it feel as high-class, but the UI is definitely a lot more arresting. And it is truly fun to use, with very little in the way of annoyances. If you're dithering between the neatness of the Sony and the features of the D2, then this is a good halfway house with added usability and coolness thrown in.


The D2 is the heavyweight, both in terms of the machine's mass and also in terms of what it offers. I think it's pretty ugly (UI & unit) in comparison to the others but it does feature the best sound quality out of the three by a hair (not a big deal to be honest), best battery life, most format support, most options to murder said sound quality via the JetEffects. It also is the most usable in 'pure UMS mode' if you want to divorce yourself from MTP/DRM and has expandable storage, and this is before the touchscreen (which has plusses and minuses).


Control-while-portable-wise, the Sony is the only truly one-hand-usable player here. The others require two hands for proper use. Navigation, the Cowon is the slowest but not intolerably so. Generally speaking, the Sony offers the best general control over the player and what it's doing, the Clix does slightly worse, while the Cowon could definitely use some work on the touchscreen layout.


Videowise Sony is on top here despite the smaller screen if you watch a lot of Podcasting / web-available formats because it supports iPod/PSP video formats, meaning a lot more of the content out there can be loaded into it without time-consuming transcoding. For DVD transcodes... well, all are about the same.


The Sony is the most svelte player here, and also has better connectivity options than the iRiver or the Cowon, provided you don't mind being ripped off by Sony for accessories.


See what I mean?

If you had to tie me down to one player, I'd say the D2 if regular Video Podcast watching is not on the agenda. Although it's visually the least appealing and the touchscreen can be annoying at times, I'd say it's the most useful in the end. Next up is the Clix2 because it's a cool piece of equipment, certainly the coolest iRiver has ever managed. It could well be the coolest player out there right now, but it has more chance of being overtaken in the FOTM stakes than the Cowon. The Sony A808 + Sonicstage 'system' is like giving a top of the range Mercedes wheels from a Trabant, and soundwise while I said it's inferiority in terms of SQ in this company was not a big deal, it doesn't help that it's probably the hissiest of the three with a range of IEM's. MTP of the Cowon/iRiver gives you loading options as well as usage options that the Sony lacks, and unlike the iPod the Sony software adds zero value to the syncing / library management procedure... it's actually a serious liability. All that and more means the Sony would be my last pick although I do like the player itself.


In short: Cowon for longer-term use, iRiver for fun + style, Sony for committed masochists.

 

[michaelJ]

First of all, thank's for all feedback. Much appreciated.

Anyway after much reading and comparing I finally went for the Sony and here is my thoughts after a using it for awhile. (All tested with ATH-CK7 and AKG K81DJ)

As I said in my former post, to my ears these three players are approx the same SQ wise. Approx, not exactly, and to my ears the sony sounded best. Both flat and with EQ.

There have been some discussions regarding how strong the amplifier in the sony was. Some people have argued that it was too weak and I can honestly say that I can't understand that. I have compared it to my other player, cowon U3 and with my phones they are about the same in pure output power. With the CK7's I have both players at half power. After that it is getting too loud.

Build quality is really nice and it is a pleasure to handle it.

One big deciding factor for me was the software (on the player) where I liked the sony *way* more than the others. It's nice to look at and very versatile. You can search on many different criteria. It's lightning quick to navigate, you have bookmarks (like on the go lists) which you can edit on the player. You can save these bookmark playlists back to sonicstage.

Sonicstage. The (in)famous. After using it for awhile (I installed it to test it before I decided to buy the sony) I'm almost ashamed to say that I like it. It has some quirks but which software hasn't? Rule no one (like in iTunes) turn off everything automatic so you have full control and you'll soon comfortable with how it works. I have no problems with speed. I've timed certain operations against iTunes and iTunes *is* faster but not by much.

Sofar I'm very satisfied with my choice.

 

[bangraman]

SOME quirks?!?


All I can say is... enjoy your ten albums

 

[michaelJ]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bangraman /img/forum/go_quote.gif SOME quirks?!? All I can say is... enjoy your ten albums

I have 7869 tracks in sonicstage. Not that big if you compare to many others. I have the same folder tree in iTunes so my comparison is as fair as it gets.

 

[bangraman]

Well... all I can say is that it takes me nearly 80 seconds to transfer a 12-track album from start to finish (after I hit 'transfer' to when the software is responsive / I can take the player out) in Chronicstage at times, when the same is always done in closer to 40 seconds in iTunes or indeed the Cowon D2 via j.River Media Center. This discrepancy is repeated in almost everything I do in Chronicstage.


It also wasn't a fair test as I totally loaded the dice against one side. The difference being that Chronicstage is currently running on a dedicated PC (i.e. it does nothing but run Chronicstage) from a local HDD library with a 14,000 track subset of my main library, while the iTunes / D2 time is for loading the player from my main library over the LAN from a server which is streaming other stuff.


I'm wondering if you really did the iPod/iTunes comparison to be honest. Either that or something is seriously wrong with this PC.

 

[michaelJ]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bangraman /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'm wondering if you really did the iPod/iTunes comparison to be honest.

Why would I do such a thing? That's ridiculous.
I did a new small test. I loaded the sony and the nano with the same album. White stripes De Stijl. It took 47 sec with sonicstage and 42 sec itunes. In my eyes not a big deal.

Of course, given that my library is much smaller than yours I have no way of knowing how that affects performance.

Anyway my point is (and was) that sonicstage's bad reputation is nowdays grossly exaggerated. It is not as good program as iTunes but it is totally adequate for it's task.

I normally don't count seconds while loading the player so this is not an issue for me but YMMW.

cheers

 

[dura]

Quote:

IMHO Sony got it right with the a800 series, too bad they probably won't release it in the US. Even though there is a volume hack on the European models, try getting an Asian version. The volume will go to 30 instead of 20.

Huh? I bought mine in the Netherlands and it goes to 30.

Sonic Stage is horrible, it raped my cat then exploded in my face setting the house on fire!
Seriously, I do not see the software as a decisive factor; it's stable , DRM-free, understandable, manages my 40Gb library perfect and it is fast (but flash players like the A808 are slower to fill then HD-players, nothing to sdo with Sony), so who cares if f.i. itunes is more intuitive?
It gets the job done, I use it to fill the player, then I take the player out and listen to it, incidentally I listen to music on my PC, goes well too.

 

[bangraman]

I get the feeling you guys have missed the point... but thanks for that timing + library size, michaelj. I'm going to halve my library subset, re-import into Chronicstage and see what happens.

 

[tbonner1]

I have been a fan of Iriver's sound, but the new Sony's are better made and sound as good.