[Graviton]

I

Hello everybody and sorry for the gravedigging, but google keep sending me to this topic and I see that there is a nice base of Cowon Z2 owners.
I have a question, the specs on the website say that there is NO s/pdif, while the owner manual says that s/pdif is present. 
Can somebody with a Z2 confirm or deny the presence of s/pdif output that would allow me to connect the player to an hi-fi amp? I am interesting mainly at this type of usage, so this info would really make my day.

Thanks a lot everybody, great review and great forum (I lurk often for info on players and headphones, it's a beautiful community).

I think spdif can be taken from HDMI output. So seems to be true

 

[KElyas]

hey, how is your battery life now? I seem to lose about 10% an hour from my Z2 just playing music from the standard app so that just gives me 10 hours per charge.
 

 

[BattleBrat]

Big thanks to evilhippie for this, prolly already posted in this thread, but for those who missed it;
Installing the Google Play market on the z2 is actually relatively simple, and doesn't require you to be rooted.  You can download the files you need from this link, there will be 3 .apk files that you simply place in the /apk folder on the internal memory.  More on it here:
 
http://anythingbutipod.com/forum/showthread.php?t=69228

 

[Zukaka]

Guys, if you want the gapless playback without Rockbox, I will recommend you Jetaudio Player. It sounds strange but Cowon Z2 native player is different form JetAudio Player which is made by the same company. If you install RockBox I guess you cannot use Jeteffects anymore. But by using JetAudio Player you are still able to use all those Jeteffects and play music gaplessly. It even asks you in settings if you want gapless playback or not. The player also has 20 band equalizer and extra bass setting. User Interface is great. The only thing I notice is that the music does not play that loud compared to the native player.

 

[Ultranomalous]

I've noticed a few comments comparing the z2 to other DAPs on the market, but im wondering how the SQ compares to players like the c2. I get that the c2 doesnt have all the extra features, but primarily im wondering about how my music will sound. battery life and size/weight matter a little too, but not as much.
I'm struggling to find comparisons with other DAPs manufacturers like hisound or colorfly. does anyone have any experience here?
btw, im pretty new here - i've lurked a bit but there is much i need to learn, so please slap me if i'm being dumb.

 

[Tom Yum Goong]

The Z2 is not able to drive IEMs with an impendance of 120 Ohm right, isn't it?

 

[StyleElements]

Quote:

I've noticed a few comments comparing the z2 to other DAPs on the market, but im wondering how the SQ compares to players like the c2. I get that the c2 doesnt have all the extra features, but primarily im wondering about how my music will sound. battery life and size/weight matter a little too, but not as much.
I'm struggling to find comparisons with other DAPs manufacturers like hisound or colorfly. does anyone have any experience here?
btw, im pretty new here - i've lurked a bit but there is much i need to learn, so please slap me if i'm being dumb.

 
What I've read seems to indicate that the classic Cowon sound has been retained by the Z2. Thus, it would probably sound close to the J3, C2 or other Cowon products.
 
Sadly I can't verify this myself, as the Z2 is my first Cowon product. It's a little on the big side, and its battery life is adequate about 20+ hours for music (I listen on low brightness with all the features turned off, like bluetooth and wifi), but the SQ is excellent to my ears.
 
Your music should sound great through a Z2 - I really like the sound of this DAP, a definite upgrade from my past mp3s from Samsung and Sony. It's detailed, and it does good recordings justice. I haven't heard any Hisound or Colorfly DAPs, so I can't help you there, but I can say that I like my Cowon Z2 very much. The features are just icing on the cake.

 

[ehead]

Hi, I'm hoping somebody can help out a noob here. After reading through this thread I'm under the impression...
 
The 'stock' player on this device does not support gapless playback or playlists.
 
It is possible to install your android music app of choice to remedy this situation.
 
My questions is... is the superior sound quality of this device due to it's 'stock' player? If so, if you end up using poweramp or playerpro or some other android player, is the SQ basically no better than what you're getting on your regular android phone using this same player?
 
Thanks for any info. Cheers.

 

[StyleElements]

Quote:

Hi, I'm hoping somebody can help out a noob here. After reading through this thread I'm under the impression...
 
The 'stock' player on this device does not support gapless playback or playlists.
 
It is possible to install your android music app of choice to remedy this situation.
 
My questions is... is the superior sound quality of this device due to it's 'stock' player? If so, if you end up using poweramp or playerpro or some other android player, is the SQ basically no better than what you're getting on your regular android phone using this same player?
 
Thanks for any info. Cheers.

 
Hello ehead, I don't actually understand gapless playback (a lot of my lossless albums are just one long track, and even if it's split up I typically just listen to an album straight through and don't really mind any pauses), but I actually think the Z2 might support it. In this forum thread, older models such as the S9, J3 and C2 are cited to have it with the latest firmware, so I reckon if they've got it the (newer) Z2 will too. Someone reviewing the Z2 at the bottom of this page also said it supports "gap-less playback". 
 
It's true that the stock player has no built-in playlist function (only a 'bookmarks' section on the far right of the music bar). However, because my playlists are all in folders on my computer, and the Z2 lets me drag-and-drop files, I can put an appropriately titled folder full of songs in my own playlist onto the Cowon and get them on repeat or shuffle or whatever, and that's my playlist.
 
I use the stock player because I like the myriad EQ options and I think it sounds very clean and detailed. I haven't experimented with poweramp or Neutron etc., but if the app overrides the audio chip in the Cowon, then you might get the same sound as another android phone using the music app. But then again, the Cowon has a decent DAC and all to begin with, so I'm not entirely sure how audible any differences may be at that level. I would love to know the answer to this myself

 

[ehead]

Thanks StyleElements.
 
It definitely sounds like a worthy competitor to the iPod Touch, beating it in some categories if not all. It's those little "amenities" that I fret over, such as having your play stats sync back and stuff. Of course, for some people this kind of stuff isn't that important.
 

 

[AnnaB]

Quote:

Hi, I'm hoping somebody can help out a noob here. After reading through this thread I'm under the impression...
 
The 'stock' player on this device does not support gapless playback or playlists.
 
It is possible to install your android music app of choice to remedy this situation.
 
My questions is... is the superior sound quality of this device due to it's 'stock' player? If so, if you end up using poweramp or playerpro or some other android player, is the SQ basically no better than what you're getting on your regular android phone using this same player?
 
Thanks for any info. Cheers.

I had the exact same questions when I was considering getting a Z2. I can confirm that you will get just as good SQ when using a 3rd party app. I use GoneMad Music Player and Player Pro. If you have the equaliser turned off on both those apps then the player will use the stock equaliser with all the Cowon presets, BBE etc. This is also the case with Poweramp which I know a lot of people like. It doesn't work well for me though - the volume seems very sensitive and jumps to really loud and back. I nearly deafened myself once or twice. Re. gapless playback. GoneMad will play gapless. Hope this helps.

 

[simonmay]

Hi,
Your saying to higher the priority of poweramp on the z2 : how do i make it : the music is choppy and i pretty sure it's because power amp has a low priority for the cpu....any hint would be more than appreciated....
 
Regards
 
Simon

 

[ajamils]

With the advancement of cellphones are players like Z2 still relevant? I currently have HTC One X+ and it does all this player does plus more (comes with 64GB on board) so I am just trying to figure out why people still buy separate DAPs ? Does a DAP give you A LOT better sound quality then high end cellphones  ? 

 

[StyleElements]

Quote:

With the advancement of cellphones are players like Z2 still relevant? I currently have HTC One X+ and it does all this player does plus more (comes with 64GB on board) so I am just trying to figure out why people still buy separate DAPs ? Does a DAP give you A LOT better sound quality then high end cellphones  ? 

 
Hmm. I agree; in today's integrated world, separate DAPs are not so useful for heaps of people.
 
As for me, my phone is a really old Samsung F480. I have used an mp3 player (Samsung and Sony, too) for as long as I can remember. My phone is just for calling and texting. Also, when I stick my amp on the Z2, I don't get any EMI as I don't use the wifi on the go. With a phone I'd have to walk around in airplane mode while listening, which might be annoying.
 
My Z2, on the other hand, is worth carrying along with me to uni etc. as it contains all the entertainment stuff, but almost 95% of the time it is for listening to music. I've heard the iPhone 5 extensively (mum and brother have one) and it's ok (in fact the internal amp is stronger on the iPhone 5), but to me, the Z2 is a joy to listen to and the EQ suite is very developed - it just makes my train ride enjoyable as I can listen to all genres and have fun. The microSD slot is handy, as it takes 64GB cards after an internal reformat; I like the idea of that much space. 
 
Can I quantify the difference in SQ? Not really, no. I just like the DAP because it is useful; I already have a phone for communication, and the Z2 browses the web, has apps and great music in .flac format (so I don't have to bother with ALAC on iPhone or w/e). The drag-and-drop is great on my Mac too, I would not be keen to use iTunes to sync everything. I guess a separate DAP works for me, so I just use one.

 

[ajamils]

Style,
 
Thank you for your reply. I guess, the importance of a separate DAP just varies from person to person. I do have the first gen iPod (60GB) that just stays connected to my car and for "on the go" I just use my cellphone. I thought about upgrading to either iPod Touch or Samsung Player but I just couldn't justify spending money on them as I do think that I will gain anything. Though the new players with Android/iOs look very tempting because they can be used to do a lot more things than just listening to music but then again, having a top of the line phone, fulfills that duty as well and instead of carrying two devices, one device can get everything done,