[SoulSyde]

Awesome, maybe Head-Fi will bring bandoliers back into fashion.

 

[SoulSyde]

Quote:

Advantages for sure, but the small cowon music only players are ridiculously small. Where are the larger SS drives without the silly big screens?

I agree that the age of <8GB players has come and gone.  Memory is relatively cheap these days.
 
However, I like those "silly big screens."  It's just my thing I guess.

 

[rayk]

Well mine arrived today, very nice player - quite like the UI. Can't really comment on sound at this stage as I haven't listened to it enough.
 
MicroSDCH is quite handy, 32GB cards should become quite commonplace soon enough.

 

[FlatNine]

I'll take an 8 gb player that takes micro SD over a 64 gb player any day.

 

[iPoodz]

Quote:

I'll take an 8 gb player that takes micro SD over a 64 gb player any day.

Why?
 
(Honest question.)
 
I'm debating whether or not to go with a 32 GB player like the S9 / ZuneHD / X 1061, or go with the 16GB J3 when the price drops.

 

[FlatNine]

Quote:

Why?
 
(Honest question.)
 
I'm debating whether or not to go with a 32 GB player like the S9 / ZuneHD / X 1061, or go with the 16GB J3 when the price drops.

 
Because with micro SD I have virtually unlimited storage and therefore endless possibilities. I have way more music in FLAC then the highest capacity *non-expandable* players. (flash based players that is) That means I'd have to swap out music from the player whenever I wanted to listen to different parts of my collection. With micro SD, I can create many different SD cards organized however I want (genre, mood, etc) just one time and simply swap the SD card as necessary. For these portables, SQ is my #1 concern, but the fact that the J3 has a big screen and will take SD unlike the S9 means that I could have about 3 or 4 full length movies per 16 gb card if I so choose. And micro SD is so small that I could fit them in the case, or perhaps in the case that the SE530's come in. (that I plan to buy at weeks end!)
 

 

[SoulSyde]

But then you have the problem of breaking and/or losing your SD cards.  The other issue is the write speed of MicroSD which is not nearly as fast as on-board memory.
 
I think that a 32-64GB on-board PMP with MicroSD slot is the dogs dangles.  Why not make the on-board memory your favorite albums or a mix of great music and use the SD slot for other media?

 

[FlatNine]

You make a good argument SoulSyde. When I get my new player, also this week, I will get the max on-board memory. I agree on the speed, but I would think it is still faster than HDD players. I'm not so worried about breaking or losing sd cards - I'm kind of OCD with "stuff". My main point is that I doubt that I personally would buy a player that did not offer the option of SD expansion. That's why I was leaning so heavily toward the D2+ over the S9, but since the J3 will offer the SD slot, not to mention a design that is *not* curved in the back, I think I'm going to buy that instead.

 

[SoulSyde]

+1
 
I came to the same exact conclusion and landed on the J3.  Now is just have to wait for the 32GB version to hit the US and we're cooking with gas.

 

[Danneq]

Cowon seems to release the good stuff in Korea first and let the rest of the world wait. I had to wait for quite a while for the 32GB S9 to be released in Europe. If the same applies to the J3, the 32GB version might not be released until after the summer. But the prospect of a 64GB Cowon might be worth the wait...

 

[SoulSyde]

I wouldn't hold your breath for a 64GB version any time soon.  The only reason I'm waiting for the 32GB version is because it is listed on Cowon's Korean web site, however the 32GB is conveniently omitted from the US Cowon site.
 
Only time will tell.

 

[Danneq]

Sorry, I didn't mean a J3 with 64GB of internal memory. I meant 32GB internal memory + 32GB MicroSD card.
Myself I will not get the J3. I have got the S9 and now my quota of modern DAP:s are full. I prefer to look for older, more obscure DAP:s.
 
What I meant was that even though the 32GB S9 was released in Korea in early 2009, it took a few months before it was available in Europe. I suspect that a similar scenario might be the case with the J3. Cowon releases the good stuff in Korea first.

 

[SoulSyde]

Gotcha.
 
I think you're right by the way.

 

[OnlyWantToSearch]

fyi: A 32GB J3 has been already released in S.Korea two days ago, pricing at roughly 300-330 US$

 

[Danneq]

Quote:

fyi: A 32GB J3 has been already released in S.Korea two days ago, pricing at roughly 300-330 US$

Hope it doesn't take as long for it to be released in the rest of the world as was the case with the S9...