[taffy2207]

I haven't posted here for over 14 months

I still have mine (2 years old last week) and I still love it. I hook mine up to a Music Fidelity V90 BHA & MF200B headphones combo at home (I'm a Music Fidelity GEEK! ). It shouldn't work but IMHO it's bloody glorious, it elevates the Plenue D up several notches, seriously blissful.

I'm definitely going to get a better DAP for home use and keep the Plenue D for travelling, not that I do much nowadays as I'm pretty much retired but I can't bare to get rid of it.

Here's the compulsory nerd pic of the home set up :-

 

[dragulievic]

Hi headfiers,

I am a very fresh owner of a new Plenue D, the player arrived today.
So far I have listened to a few tracks, approximately 2h of listening, everything in .flac and 320kb/s. I've read that the player requires some burn-in time, around 24h at least. I like the size of it, the battery life, etc. coming from a Colorfly C3 I like even the somewhat laggy UI as well, my overall impressions are very positive.
However, I am not extremely impressed with the sound. It is definitely not bad, on the contrary, I find it rather good. However, I had the impression that the Colorfly C3 which is 3x cheaper gives actually a slightly clearer sound and more separation maybe? But it is definitely at least as good as the PD. To be honest I would have bought the Colorfly again if it did not have such a crappy screen and miserable UI. My old one has a broken screen and the jack does not work properly. But maybe the PD just requires more listening sessions. Which EQ did you find to be the best overall for various genres?

Also another thing and maybe this is pure nonsense in my head, but I have the impression that the sound is not 100% balanced, meaning that the music is leaning very slightly toward the right channel of the headphones. This is most noticeable on the vocals, they are not right in the middle. If I had to express it with numbers, it would be a 49-51 or 48-52 ratio. Very tiny difference but noticeable if I am listening closely.
I am using my Beoplay H6s which are awesome with the Colorfly C3. Is there anybody who came across with a similar issue or had the same impression? Is it possible that the right channel plays slightly stronger (or left weaker)? This can mean three things, either the tracks have been recorded that way or there is a slight imbalance in the player or this is how it interacts with the B6s.
The power is the same in both channels though.
Needless to say now I am listening to the music super carefully and I hear this almost all the time. The EQ is set to normal and the vol. is set to 50-55 approximately. On Maestro it needs less, around 40. This drives me nuts.... Maybe my ears just need some rest and the problem will disappear. Any ideas?
Thanks for your responses in advance!

 

[BigNewsII]

I love my PD and have no issue with balance. The EQ on the thing is just great. For years I was a no EQ kind of person. But playing with the JetEffect on the PD made me realize how much it changes the sound of this player. As far as the pre-sets, Maestro is the only one I use and only on occasion. The user-settable EQ is what really makes the PD shine, imo. I have 4 set to match different headphones I use. Right now I'm really only using 1 over ear and one IEM so #2 & 3 are set for the IEM with 3 being just a bit more bass heavy for when the mood strikes me. Rather than trying to list my settings I suggest Googling "JetEffect 5 user presets" as a jumping off point and then tweek to your liking.

 

[jhog]

Quick question: I know there’s been all sorts of back and forth on this, but can the PD take a 200gb card, or is it still stuck at the 128gb originally advertised? Thanks v much in advance!

 

[El Gringo]

Hi headfiers,

I am a very fresh owner of a new Plenue D, the player arrived today.
........
Thanks for your responses in advance!

I have no issue with balance. Have you checked the settings? or tried to reset the player?

I use most of time iem shure se535, and occasionnaly Sennheiser momentum on ear. I owned a cowon D2 for years and used to play with jet effects a lot. Since my PD, I use only EQ. A bit more bass, a bit more treble, and that's it. All the pre-select effects sounds awful on 90% of files.
PD is for me the ultimate nomad player.

 

[technobear]

Quick question: I know there’s been all sorts of back and forth on this, but can the PD take a 200gb card, or is it still stuck at the 128gb originally advertised? Thanks v much in advance!

It's still stuck at 128GB.

 

[jhog]

It's still stuck at 128GB.

Bummer, but thanks!

 

[dragulievic]

I love my PD and have no issue with balance. The EQ on the thing is just great. For years I was a no EQ kind of person
.......
Rather than trying to list my settings I suggest Googling "JetEffect 5 user presets" as a jumping off point and then tweek to your liking.

I will play with it at home and try to set up the PD according to my preferences, thanks. I do not hear the imbalance anymore luckily, I found here in the forum the settings of a member and the sound improvement was pretty good! However, I still find the Colorfly better funnily...
In spite of the C3´s super annoying primitive UI and its limitations I find the sound simply better. I bought the Plenue because of its features, more user friendly interface and extremely long battery life (hoping that the sound will be great out of the box). If the sound quality will not be on the level of the Colorfly, I will sell the PD and buy a new C3 for the friction of the cowon´s price..
To be honest I think it is simply ridiculous that the PD for its price does not have the desired sound quality out of the box without having to fool around with the EQ.

 

[motorbit]

well. i guess that depends on what you desire in sound qualitly. right out of the box the pd will have a very liniar frequency output. tbh i would think it rediculous if it was any different. especially at that price.

 

[dragulievic]

well. i guess that depends on what you desire in sound qualitly. right out of the box the pd will have a very liniar frequency output. tbh i would think it rediculous if it was any different. especially at that price.

sure, I know what you mean. what I meant was that if you don't set up the EQ and keep it on normal for example, then the sound is pretty flat and average, nothing special IMO, at least compared to the C3 which is my only reference...
and I am not looking for any exaggerated basses or anything artificially boosted, I want to have a well separated, detailed clear sound, a good lively but natural sound reproduction out of the box.
an example - I am using the C3 set on vol 28-30 on the neutral "Normal" EQ, it has 3-4 other modes I believe those are worth nothing. With these settings I get a very enjoyable sound with the B&O H6 without having to amp it or fool around with the EQ. With the PD I had to use the custom EQ and only then became the sound somewhat comparable to the C3. I will not give up and try to find the best setting for me.
What I have noticed - with the C3 set to 28-30 out of 40 and the sound is very detailed, with good basses (not exaggerated), maybe "analytical" as some would call it? To achieve these details the PD has to be set to levels which already slightly hurt my ears - around 45-50 from 100 approximately. Simply to get all the details and volume level of the C3 I have to set the PD to a vol. level which is already uncomfortable on a longer listening session.
This probably has to do something with power output, I don't know, maybe the C3 simply drives better the Beoplay H6, is that possible?
Anyway, these are my first impressions only after 4-5h of listening, after a while my ears got tired as well so I will keep on trying, I ain't no quitter, haha.
I am curious whether there are people here who own both players and how would they compare them to each other?

 

[motorbit]

if you don't set up the EQ and keep it on normal for example, then the sound is pretty flat and average, nothing special IMO

yeah well. anything else would mean it was a crappy player. its not the job of any amplifier to change the sound, but to produce a clear and unalterated signal. if you want it different, use an eq.

 

[dragulievic]

yeah well. anything else would mean it was a crappy player. its not the job of any amplifier to change the sound, but to produce a clear and unalterated signal. if you want it different, use an eq.

have you every had the opportunity to compare the PD with the C3?

 

[taffy2207]

I upgraded from the Colorfly C3 to the Plenue D. To my ears the Plenue D is better but only marginally so, soundwise. The Plenue D is better bass wise and in soundtage, separation wise, the Colorfly may just edge the Plenue D but not by much.

The main benefits of the D over the C3 was that I don't need to amp it for my tastes. I added a Fiio A3 to the C3 to give it a bass boost as I listen primarily to Metal genres. I find that I don't need the A3 with the Plenue D. The secondary benefit of using the D over the C3 is of course the UI, the UI on the C3 just didn't cut it for me, it just got to really annoy my user experience.

Initially I preferred the C3 but after about a month I really loved the Plenue D and still do, I just had to give my ears a chance to adjust to the sound (head burn in, if you will). In no way am I damning the C3, I still love it and I still own it, I just don't use it anymore. If Colorfly had supported it with regular Firmware updates I'd probably still be using it, many users feel that way.

My advice is to persevere with the Plenue D for about a month, if you still don't like it, get a C3.

There's no best, no right or wrong in Audio, just personal preference. You may want to try some different headphones as well, maybe yours just don't pair that well with the Plenue D (synergy). The C3 was a special little player (for me) but it had just had it's day in the sun.

Just one mans opinion, as ever. YMMV.

 

[dragulievic]

I upgraded from the Colorfly C3 to the Plenue D. To my ears the Plenue D is better but only marginally so, soundwise. The Plenue D is better bass wise and in soundtage, separation wise, the Colorfly may just edge the Plenue D but not by much.
........
Just one man's opinion, as ever. YMMV.

Hey man, thanks for the response. I was thinking about doing exactly the same. It is very probable that I just simply have to adapt to the way how the Plenue D sounds and after a certain period of time I won't even look back to he C3, hell knows.
It is a pity indeed, to be honest I think the worst bugs of the C3 are when the screen freezes and goes crazy out of a sudden or when the volume starts getting higher and goes way up to 40. I used to carry a paperclip under the player in the silicone case for such events. Plus there is a 1-2 sec glitch/lag in some tracks with higher resolution which kills the whole experience.
I just bought the B&O B6 and I don't want to spend more money right now so I will see. But yeah, I think 4-5h of burn-in time is not enough, whether it is an actual thing or placebo (ehm, dangerous to question such phenomena here, right?).
Anyway, I am glad to read your initial impressions and the later development of your appreciation of the PD, thanks

 

[taffy2207]

Hey, No problem.

The other option you could have is adding an amp. I don't need it personally but there's plenty of Plenue D users that pair it with an amp and love using it that way.

I'm sure someone could help you out with that, if needed, eventually.