[Retrias]

as for the sound feature, you are supposed to adjust it to your own liking instead of choosing a preset, this is a must since most if not all preset EQ suck
there is a guide on how to EQ to neutral here iirc . But if you are looking for a neutral souding DAP, you bought the wrong player
 
ps: I don't think audiophile means always neutral anyway

 

[H20Fidelity]

If you're going to use the EQ's on Cowon players try and make small adjustments as possible, you can really mess up the sound using the 5 band EQ to generously. In the end after living with an S9 for several months tinkering around, I found it sounds better flat, with just a fraction of BBE added and a slight lift in Mach3bass. I think I went with +2 BBE and +2 Mach3bass. Overall the Cowons do sound rather artificial, but some people like that coloured sound. if you want something that sounds more natural, take a look at Colorfly C3 or something like Hisounds Rocco BA.

 

[Achmedisdead]

Quote:

because cowon never have a neutral sound signature, the thing is a bit closer to warm rather than neutral especially with all of the enhancement

That all depends on how you set it up.....with everything turned off, it's a little on the cold side. 
Quote:

I don't dislike a warm/lush tube-like sound but the equalizer ruins the sound IMO.
 

Then you haven't found the right mix of options yet. It takes some time to really tinker with the options available. I only adjust a couple of the 5 EQ sliders, and not very much at that. Then you experiment with the other stuff....Mach3Bass level, BBE level, Stereo Enhance level, MP Enhance level.......none of them should be boosted much, or you'll end up with an unnatural sound (the highest I have ever turned any of them up to is 5/10, but normally none is higher than 3). With a delicate touch, you can account for totally different headphones' sound signatures with this player, and still get your preferred sound. 
 
 (Reverb and 3Dsurround are best left completely disabled, IMO....use them and this will be your face....

)
 
Is it "audiophile"? Well, I imagine most members here would say no, it isn't....and you know what? I am totally fine with that (note the quote in my sig). I get the sound I want, my battery never runs out of juice on me, the player understands my ID3 tags and displays my album art (on the albums that have it) without my having to revise everything.....really, the only thing i could wish for on it is a capacitive screen instead of the resistive one. Oh, and I have saved sound settings for four different headphones on this player....a nice option to have. 
 
The  other common complaint with the "audiophile" players, that people can't use their playlists.....well, I can't speak to that with this player, because I don't use them.

 

 

[Jolida302]

Quote:

If you're going to use the EQ's on Cowon players try and make small adjustments as possible, you can really mess up the sound using the 5 band EQ to generously. In the end after living with an S9 for several months tinkering around, I found it sounds better flat, with just a fraction of BBE added and a slight lift in Mach3bass. I think I went with +2 BBE and +2 Mach3bass. Overall the Cowons do sound rather artificial, but some people like that coloured sound. if you want something that sounds more natural, take a look at Colorfly C3 or something like Hisounds Rocco BA.

 
 
Thank you. I'll try your settings. Yes, i think it's better flat with a higher volume;
 
Thank you for the advices about the others DAP. Maybe i could to try to exchange mine with one of these.

 

[Jolida302]

Quote:

That all depends on how you set it up.....with everything turned off, it's a little on the cold side. 
Then you haven't found the right mix of options yet. It takes some time to really tinker with the options available. I only adjust a couple of the 5 EQ sliders, and not very much at that. Then you experiment with the other stuff....Mach3Bass level, BBE level, Stereo Enhance level, MP Enhance level.......none of them should be boosted much, or you'll end up with an unnatural sound (the highest I have ever turned any of them up to is 5/10, but normally none is higher than 3). With a delicate touch, you can account for totally different headphones' sound signatures with this player, and still get your preferred sound. 
 
 (Reverb and 3Dsurround are best left completely disabled, IMO....use them and this will be your face....

)
 
Is it "audiophile"? Well, I imagine most members here would say no, it isn't....and you know what? I am totally fine with that (note the quote in my sig). I get the sound I want, my battery never runs out of juice on me, the player understands my ID3 tags and displays my album art (on the albums that have it) without my having to revise everything.....really, the only thing i could wish for on it is a capacitive screen instead of the resistive one. Oh, and I have saved sound settings for four different headphones on this player....a nice option to have. 
 
The  other common complaint with the "audiophile" players, that people can't use their playlists.....well, I can't speak to that with this player, because I don't use them.

 
 
Thanks again. I experimented with all settings yesterday, i managed to get something better than "rock" mode, but i find it more ear-fatiguing than a neutral DAP or a top level discman, such as a D25. Of course, reverb and bas boosters are to forget!
 
Do you have a HD25?
 
Do you watch videos on your X9? I could keep it just for that.
 
 

 

[Jolida302]

Does the last Ipods have an equalizer as well?

 

[Jolida302]

The X9 is deafinitely a crappy sounding player IMO.

 

[Achmedisdead]

Quote:

The X9 is deafinitely a crappy sounding player IMO.

In that case, you won't like any Cowon player.....so you might as well return it if you still can, otherwise sell it and move on.

 

[Jolida302]

Indeed, but i'd like to test it in video and maybe will keep it for that.

 

[Jolida302]

I currently use the X9 and at one moment i had my music files displayed like yellow windows files-style, i found it very convenient, but i can't find
again how to get that typ eof display. Does someone knows how to get that display mode? thank you

 

[festerklok]

hey guys, anyone know how to restore the x9 to factory settings?

 

[festerklok]

okay, I need to restore this bad boy to factory. I just compared my new x9 to my s9 playing the exact same file and the x9 is softer and not nearly as good sounding. Something is not right. restore to factory help anyone?

 

[red71rum]

Originally Posted by festerklok /img/forum/go_quote.gif

okay, I need to restore this bad boy to factory. I just compared my new x9 to my s9 playing the exact same file and the x9 is softer and not nearly as good sounding. Something is not right. restore to factory help anyone?
 
 
 
I see this is an old thread but you need to connect your player to your pc and then navigate to system-->Flash UI-->SOL and delete everything in the SOL folder, the player will automatically rebuild the files.