[lostid]

I couldn't resist and won a bid for a MINT Cowon J3 16GB. Will post my impressions when I receive it. I especially want to compare it to my beloved three rockboxed iPod video's.
 
What I already like is the battery run time of the Cowon if it lives to its claim.
 
Can someone confirm for me this microSD Card is the right one for J3? Thanks
 

 

[dfkt]

Quote:

Can someone confirm for me this microSD Card is the right one for J3? Thanks  

Sure, this one will work nicely.

 

[bmiamihk]

The Cowon should be a lot better then your Ipods
 
Quote:

I couldn't resist and won a bid for a MINT Cowon J3 16GB. Will post my impressions when I receive it. I especially want to compare it to my beloved three rockboxed iPod video's.
 
What I already like is the battery run time of the Cowon if it lives to its claim.
 
Can someone confirm for me this microSD Card is the right one for J3? Thanks
 

 

 

[lostid]

Quote:

Sure, this one will work nicely.

Thanks.
 

 
Quote:

The Cowon should be a lot better then your Ipods
 


 

 
Well I hope so,  but I won't believe it until I hear the improvement myself. I read someone said these DAP's sound about the same when flat (no EQ's).
 
Now, have yourself tried rockboxed ipod video?
 
 

 

[bmiamihk]

From what you have experienced I guess you believe it sounds very good. If you attached an amp I bet it will is my belief. The nice thing with the Cowons is that it has a lot more power so you might not really need to attach a portable amp to make it sound correctly. Also the EQ can make what some believe is flat to not being flat. you can be the ones with the belief that a EQ will distort the sound or some call it color well that can be coming from the Ipod but I do not believe adjusting the EQ is distorting any of the sound and for me it sounds better.
 
Quote:

Thanks.
 

 
 
Well I hope so,  but I won't believe it until I hear the improvement myself. I read someone said these DAP's sound about the same when flat (no EQ's).
 
Now, have yourself tried rockboxed ipod video?
 
 

 

 

[lostid]

Quote:

From what you have experienced I guess you believe it sounds very good. If you attached an amp I bet it will is my belief. The nice thing with the Cowons is that it has a lot more power so you might not really need to attach a portable amp to make it sound correctly. Also the EQ can make what some believe is flat to not being flat. you can be the ones with the belief that a EQ will distort the sound or some call it color well that can be coming from the Ipod but I do not believe adjusting the EQ is distorting any of the sound and for me it sounds better.
 


 

 
No I am not a fan of digital manipulations aka software-based EQ's for my music. Hardware based EQ's are different. Also I want that portability  - meaning NO amp and NO pain in the ass to navigate to what I want to play my music.
 
The rockboxed ipod video is bloody portable in addition to the fine SQ. Anytime I plug in the phones the music is back on. With RB the music flows from folder to folder like a charm. The wheel adjustment for vol is a brilliant design by Apple.
 
I have now collected 3 rockboxed ipod videos at dirt cheap price (one for $20, one for $30 and one was my original). Eventually I will put in 120GB  HDD's for all of them (one already replaced) so they will be all portable DAP's and portable hard drives as well. 120GB HDD's can be bought online for as low as $65.
 
I am curious about the J3 that's why I bought one. I don't expect much but let's see when I hear it. I do like the battery run time and flash memory. If I am not mistaken, J3 has a built-in amp already?
 
 

 

[fallingreason]

All DAP's have amps built in, but the Cowon amps are known to be very very good.  On par or better than the Sony S-Master amps.  The J3 playing at max volume has absolutely no distortion to my ears.  I use it as a line-out in my car all the time, feeding a proper aux-in.  Sounds much better than CD's.
 
Why are you not expecting much? 
 
 

 

[lostid]

Quote:

Why are you not expecting much? 
 
 

 
Because the RB'd ipod video already sounds perfect to my ears, and I am afraid any deviations from that sound will be a "disappointment" to me.

 

[fallingreason]

I think it's great that you like the iPod, but you'll probably find the J3 Jet Effects much more rewarding to use.  The rockboxed iPod video only has 2 adjustments for the DAC/hardware EQ, bass and treble.  The graphical EQ and shelf-filters on the iPod is all software and prone to clipping if you do not use the gain correctly. 
 
The entire graphical EQ on the J3 is hardware based.

 

[lostid]

Quote:

I think it's great that you like the iPod, but you'll probably find the J3 Jet Effects much more rewarding to use.  The rockboxed iPod video only has 2 adjustments for the DAC/hardware EQ, bass and treble.  The graphical EQ and shelf-filters on the iPod is all software and prone to clipping if you do not use the gain correctly. 
 
The entire graphical EQ on the J3 is hardware based.

Yeah it's hard to believe I fall in love with the sound from the $20 RB'd ipod video. LOL.
 
With the RB'd ipod, I have everything turned off and prefer flat sounding. I look forward to trying the J3 for comparison.
 
 
 
 

 

[bmiamihk]

Cowons have 2 times the watts then any Ipod. You can be a fan of do nothing but turn on and listen. You might believe using the EQ will color the sound then Enjoy non colored music. For me if the song calls for bass and I do not hear the bass I will not raise the volume in order to hear it but a little adjustment on the EQ will provide it for me. Many can make listening to music as a job and many do enjoy thise job but my main goal is pleasure and a smile. if me using the EQ makes the music not clear then I will not use it but from my 28 years of buying music equipment I have not experienced this. iBasso now has the Dx100 which plays 24 bit/196 music with a built in amp. Ipod have like 12 to 20 MWatts while this iBasso Dx100 has 245MWatts. the Cowons have 74MWatts.
Quote:

 
No I am not a fan of digital manipulations aka software-based EQ's for my music. Hardware based EQ's are different. Also I want that portability  - meaning NO amp and NO pain in the ass to navigate to what I want to play my music.
 
The rockboxed ipod video is bloody portable in addition to the fine SQ. Anytime I plug in the phones the music is back on. With RB the music flows from folder to folder like a charm. The wheel adjustment for vol is a brilliant design by Apple.
 
I have now collected 3 rockboxed ipod videos at dirt cheap price (one for $20, one for $30 and one was my original). Eventually I will put in 120GB  HDD's for all of them (one already replaced) so they will be all portable DAP's and portable hard drives as well. 120GB HDD's can be bought online for as low as $65.
 
I am curious about the J3 that's why I bought one. I don't expect much but let's see when I hear it. I do like the battery run time and flash memory. If I am not mistaken, J3 has a built-in amp already?
 
 

 

 

[Typhoon859]

All DAP's have amps built in, but the Cowon amps are known to be very very good.  On par or better than the Sony S-Master amps.  The J3 playing at max volume has absolutely no distortion to my ears.  I use it as a line-out in my car all the time, feeding a proper aux-in.  Sounds much better than CD's.
 
Why are you not expecting much? 
 
 

Just for clarification, the J3 doesn't have a line-out which is my biggest problem with it - only has line-in. I have a feeling that I would prefer my FiiO E17 to do all the work. With anything but my Brainwavz M2 IEMs, the sound is rather thin and with good monitor headphones, it's very obvious that the EQ is compensation - not the same as good proper amplification. Granted, the EQ does in fact work better than anything I've tested before and/or know exists and it does have decent amplification. The problem is, for whatever reason, its sound in general is rather cold and probably what makes it sound not as full as even say an iPhone 4 with a FiiO E11 amp for example.

The even bigger problem with it is that it doesn't have the best DAC. It smushes the soundstage and the stereo enhancement just displaces it within that same amount of area.

The J3 has decent things about it and things which are different and unique to it in good ways, but overall it's disappointing. I didn't even take the basic things into consideration because I expected them to be flawless. That ended up being where all its biggest faults are. That being said, in combination with my M2's, there's nothing I would prefer listening to them more with.

 

[bmiamihk]

remeber nothing will ever be FLAWLESS.
 
Quote:

Just for clarification, the J3 doesn't have a line-out which is my biggest problem with it - only has line-in. I have a feeling that I would prefer my FiiO E17 to do all the work. With anything but my Brainwavz M2 IEMs, the sound is rather thin and with good monitor headphones, it's very obvious that the EQ is compensation - not the same as good proper amplification. Granted, the EQ does in fact work better than anything I've tested before and/or know exists and it does have decent amplification. The problem is, for whatever reason, its sound in general is rather cold and probably what makes it not sound as full as even say an iPhone 4 with a FiiO amp.
The even bigger problem with it is that it doesn't have the best DAC. It smushes the soundstage and the stereo enhancement just displaces it within that same amount of area.
The J3 has decent things about it and things which are different and unique to it in good ways, but overall it's disappointing. I didn't even take the basic things into consideration because I expected them to be flawless. That ended up being where all its biggest faults are. That being said, in combination with my M2's, there's nothing I would prefer listening to them more with.

 

 

[Typhoon859]

remeber nothing will ever be FLAWLESS.
 
Quote:

Just for clarification, the J3 doesn't have a line-out which is my biggest problem with it - only has line-in. I have a feeling that I would prefer my FiiO E17 to do all the work. With anything but my Brainwavz M2 IEMs, the sound is rather thin and with good monitor headphones, it's very obvious that the EQ is compensation - not the same as good proper amplification. Granted, the EQ does in fact work better than anything I've tested before and/or know exists and it does have decent amplification. The problem is, for whatever reason, its sound in general is rather cold and probably what makes it not sound as full as even say an iPhone 4 with a FiiO amp.
The even bigger problem with it is that it doesn't have the best DAC. It smushes the soundstage and the stereo enhancement just displaces it within that same amount of area.
The J3 has decent things about it and things which are different and unique to it in good ways, but overall it's disappointing. I didn't even take the basic things into consideration because I expected them to be flawless. That ended up being where all its biggest faults are. That being said, in combination with my M2's, there's nothing I would prefer listening to them more with.

 

Well, I was just talking about things like proper Digital to Analog conversion, line-out (for the type of player that it is), and having a decent analog tone. I mean, you can't blame me for thinking that it would have all factors at least as good as Apple portable players. I mean, as I said, limited soundstage due to the source is a very low-end issue and usually a problem when not taken into consideration. If you're not thinking about it when designing, you will likely miss it and that shouldn't be a flaw ANYTHING should have, yet alone a device specifically designed for music.

 

[bmiamihk]

I understand more now, I love Cowons but maybe you will enjoy the DX100 from iBasso. I have it and boy this DAP has it all.
 
Quote:

Well, I was just talking about things like proper Digital to Analog conversion, line-out (for the type of player that it is), and having a decent analog tone. I mean, you can't blame me for thinking that it would have all factors at least as good as Apple portable players. I mean, as I said, limited soundstage due to the source is a very low-end issue and usually a problem when not taken into consideration. If you're not thinking about it when designing, you will likely miss it and that shouldn't be a flaw ANYTHING should have, yet alone a device specifically designed for music.