[Dobrescu George]

it is useless to have an amplifier and cowon j3, if you do not have 250ohm or higher impedance headphones....

 

[monterto]

I read the opposite, that the 840s don't scale well with an amp and that the audible difference is very small. :x

 

[Mad Max]

 
Quote:

I read the opposite, that the 840s don't scale well with an amp and that the audible difference is very small. :x

 
Another guy told me SRH840 is bassier than M50.  He is an Audio-gd Roc and X-Can V8P user, lol.  Other users who say otherwise have cheaper amps, I've noticed.  I'm curious about those Shures, so I may go and find out for myself.

 

[Golden Monkey]

Quote:

it is useless to have an amplifier and cowon j3, if you do not have 250ohm or higher impedance headphones....

Depends on what you want the amp for...crossfeed? bass boost?  Want that without a software based solution?  Also, some phones (not IEMs), regardless of impedance and sensitivity ratings DO need the juice to shine.  Beyer t50p's being a case in point.

 

[macrocheesium]

 
Quote:

I read the opposite, that the 840s don't scale well with an amp and that the audible difference is very small. :x

Really? Huh. I read that the 440 and 840 were the same until amplification, then the 840 pulls ahead.

 

[macrocheesium]

double post

 

[skoog5600]

Question for all you Cowon fans ... I am looking to buy one of the following Cowon products based upon the following criteria. Quality sound to go with my custom JH13s and Rooth 8-drivers, using FLAC files as well as wanting to watch videos during my commute on the train to and from work.
 
Which of the following do you recommend?
 
J3 - Rave reviews from everywhere I read. How is the screen size for watching vids? (I used to have an Archos 5)
X7 - Like the capacity and screen size, resolution is so so from what I read and can tell.
D3 - Like the sound quality and screen size and resolution, horrible reviews when it comes to Android and price.
S9 - Maybe too old now, but anyone can weigh in on their thoughts.
 
Looking forward to hearing from you and thanks in advance.
 

 

[Griffinhart]

I haven't tried any of the others you've listed, but as for the J3 - I love it for music, but I don't watch videos on it (or any other portable device, really), and I wouldn't. Not enough screen real estate for detailed video-watching, IMO.
 
But then, I spoil myself with dual 1920x1080 monitors (and 720p/1080p videos to complement). Anything less is just... less, y'know?
 
-- Griffinhart

 

[skoog5600]

Quote:

I haven't tried any of the others you've listed, but as for the J3 - I love it for music, but I don't watch videos on it (or any other portable device, really), and I wouldn't. Not enough screen real estate for detailed video-watching, IMO.
 
But then, I spoil myself with dual 1920x1080 monitors (and 720p/1080p videos to complement). Anything less is just... less, y'know?
 
-- Griffinhart

Hi and thanks for your comments. Do you have a portable video player or are you just watching TV?
 
I am looking for one unit to provide great sound and enough real estate to watch Vid. (Archos 5 was good for the vid, but not so good for audio) Maybe other Archos players are better not sure. I do know they are taking FLAC now.

 

 

[dfkt]

Sound/playback quality: J3 ~= S9 > X7 > D3.
 
J3 hisses less than the S9 with difficult low-impedance multi-armature IEMs, and has better channel separation (not really audible anyways). X7 doesn't play gapless, D3 doesn't play gapless and crashes during playback (let's hope they fix that soon - and there's always Rockbox for Android). BBE sound enhancements and Wolfson hardware EQ are the same on all players.
 
Screen quality: D3 > J3 = S9 >>>>> X7.
 
First three are capacitive AMOLED screens, D3 is 800x480, J3 and S9 are 480x272. X7 is a completely outdated resistive TFT with too low pixel density for the huge screen (exact same as the old O2).
 
Tactile buttons: J3 = D3 > S9 >>> X7.
 
J3 and D3 get the tactile buttons just right, also have power buttons instead of sliders. S9 has them in a bit of an awkward place on top, next to the power slider. X7 doesn't have enough tactile buttons to be useful on the go.

 

[caracara08]

awesome explanation.

 

[skoog5600]

DFKT > Thanks for the "awesome explanation" I am leaning towards the D3, but it needs to drop in price and they have to fix all of the bugs. I like the idea of potentially rockboxing it.
 
Will patiently wait to see what materializes with the D3.
 
Thanks again.

 

[debitsohn]

not considering the itouch? screen is much bigger than the j3.  even tho it looks big in pictures, the screen itself is smaller.  i know ipod, non-mod, arent very popular, but if youre looking for a mix of best SQ + best movie/tv watching, id look into that too.

 

[Varley]

Got a Cowon J3 32gb (White ofc), RE-ZERO's, 16gb Class 10 Micro SD and a White Ringke Case all coming next week! Wohoo!

 

[Dobrescu George]

happy for you varley!
 
as for other recomandations, cowon j3 - Zeus of music!
and i could recomend samsung galaxy s, it has the so lovley super amoled, and android with wich it works great!
 
attention - galaxy s does not perform the same well as j3 with music, but for movies, it has bigger screen and super amoled, with high resolution!....