[Young Spade]

I currently have an iPod Touch 1st Gen and love it. I'm looking for something that doesn't require a proprietary software to run and has codecs for many different types of videos.

I'm currently looking at the Cowon S9 player. The OLED screen coupled with great sound quality and a sleek design currently have me hooked. Is this a good player? If not, what should I be looking at.

 

[ljokerl]

Yep, sounds like the S9 to me. Very sleek and the screen is absolutely gorgeous. Sound is pretty darn good as well.

 

[Pandemonium1]

definitely the s9
you can also customize it with Claw UI

 

[big_sound]

The s9 has some of THE best video playback for any DAP. Thats what I would get if my collection wasn't in apple lossless.

 

[Acreo Aeneas]

It's a great player, but it doesn't have WiFi. So if you can't live without WiFi, then you'd have to look at the more expensive and larger Archos 5/7 PMPs or the 2G iTouch + OS 3.0.

I'm using the Aero Ultimate G1 UI right now on my S9.

 

[pata2001]

The S9 is sleek, but the video support is actually a notch down compare to other previous Cowon players. For one, it doesn't support H.264 nor AAC. If you really want to focus on video, the O2/A3 will be much more satisfactory than the S9. They're not as sleek, but their format support is superior.

 

[Acreo Aeneas]

The S9 will play H.264 videos encoded to AVI (as tested by many users at iAudiphile.net). As for AAC, most of those iTunes downloads are somewhere between 128 kbps and 256 kbps. It's not exactly high-bitrate media. You could do better ripping your CDs to FLAC or OGG (or even high bitrate MP3) without the AAC support on the S9.

 

[Xan7hos]

I think the new Creative Egg(?) or Microsoft ZuneHD (proprietary methinks) are other alternatives you should look into

 

[pata2001]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Acreo Aeneas /img/forum/go_quote.gif The S9 will play H.264 videos encoded to AVI (as tested by many users at iAudiphile.net). As for AAC, most of those iTunes downloads are somewhere between 128 kbps and 256 kbps. It's not exactly high-bitrate media. You could do better ripping your CDs to FLAC or OGG (or even high bitrate MP3) without the AAC support on the S9.

That means transcoding, which defeats the purpose of getting a Cowon player in the first place. If you have to transcode your videos (or do some fancy muxing-demuxing), than any PMP out there is fair game. Don't know about you, but I rather watch my videos instead of waiting for them to transcode. And who cares about iTunes? AAC is the standard audio codec paired with H.264 in most video downloads. The S9 is a nice and sleek device, but if the desire is to watch video, the O2/A3 are better.

 

[HONEYBOY]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Young Spade /img/forum/go_quote.gif I currently have an iPod Touch 1st Gen and love it. I'm looking for something that doesn't require a proprietary software to run and has codecs for many different types of videos. I'm currently looking at the Cowon S9 player. The OLED screen coupled with great sound quality and a sleek design currently have me hooked. Is this a good player? If not, what should I be looking at.

Dude I got a chance to try out a cowon s9 yesterday and all I'll say is look no further, Cowon s9 is totally what you need. I have the Sony X1060 and subjectively give the edge to the sony with regards to SQ, but when it comes to video the cowon is in a league if its own. I'll be getting one mainly for video playback. For some strange reason it doesn't support AAC but that's not gonna stop me from getting one soon mainly for video playback.

 

[tds101]

I have the S9, and all I do is drop my vids on and press "play". I haven't been successful w/h.264 though, but I hope it become an official codec before the end of the year. And, if I have to convert it, I wont use it.

DivX/XivD both work fine, but I'm not using HD vids, and it's not designed for that anyways. Some have used it/w/varying degrees of success, I'm not even interested.

 

[Punnisher]

Quote:

Originally Posted by big_sound /img/forum/go_quote.gif The s9 has some of THE best video playback for any DAP. Thats what I would get if my collection wasn't in apple lossless.

Why not convert it over to FLAC so you can use it with the S9? It's a fairly simple process to batch convert files.

The S9 would be my player of choice for video. I don't own one but if I were in the market I wouldn't hesitate. Much more of an open platform than anything from Apple.

 

[Acreo Aeneas]

Quote:

Originally Posted by pata2001 /img/forum/go_quote.gif That means transcoding, which defeats the purpose of getting a Cowon player in the first place. If you have to transcode your videos (or do some fancy muxing-demuxing), than any PMP out there is fair game. Don't know about you, but I rather watch my videos instead of waiting for them to transcode. And who cares about iTunes? AAC is the standard audio codec paired with H.264 in most video downloads. The S9 is a nice and sleek device, but if the desire is to watch video, the O2/A3 are better.

It's usually better to transcode your videos to fit the native resolution of the screen. Otherwise, the player will scale your videos and thus eat a bit more of your battery life. At some point you'll have to transcode some of your videos to play on the S9 especially if you have it in unsupported formats/codecs (like RM/RMVB). You also save room for more video/music files.

It's your opinion if you believe transcoding defeats the purpose of getting a Cowon. No player supports every format and codec, unless you plan on getting a MID tablet to serve as your PMP. I have no problems with transcoding. I learn more about formats, codecs, the process, etc.

The O2 and the A3 are also fairly massive PMPs. They're not the in-your-pocket friendly types (unless you have big cargo pockets). Size is a major factor for some, so if you can stand the O2/A3's size, go for it. Otherwise, if you find the S9 your taste, then fine.

I eventually picked the S9 over the O2 even though both were in the similar price range. Ultimately, the newer interface, capacitive touchscreen, OLED display tech, new firmware updates, and generally more community add-ons/customizations won me over. Not to mention the overall video playback battery life of 11 hours is quite a bit better than the 7 hours for the O2. The size and weight were also considerations. Smaller + lighter = less hand fatigue when I'm holding it for 8 hours watching videos and less weight is better for my pants pockets. Size is pretty self-explanatory.

The A2 is just way out of my price range, so that didn't even become a consideration for me.

The screen size is big enough for me to not miss some details in the background when watching a film or some other video. Compared to my D2, the subtitles are easier to read without me having to squint or move the screen closer to my face.

 

[Young Spade]

Thanks for all of the input guys. I was leaning towards the Cowon S9 as I stated when I started the article. I have don a lot of reading and watching (reviews from many sources) and have narrowed it down to the Cowon S9 or the Archos 5.

I'm leaning towards the Archos mainly for the huge HDD space (120 gigs) and the massive support for a lot of different things like documents, pictures, movies, music etc. Basically I would be able to bring everything with me when I go to my dad's house or something eliminating the need for a laptop

But yea the Archos is 50 bucks more so.... if I can get the money, I'll go for that, but if not, then the Cowon S9 is a definite buy for me. Thanks guys.

 

[techfreakazoid]

For video, hands down the S9 is king. However, the Zune HD (available next month) will best the S9 for 720p video output with the optional dock. As for on-device viewing, we'll have to see what panels they're using. As for video codec support, not sure what's been finalized. The S9 does not play H.264 files though there may be some Russian hack.

The ARCHOS 5 offers a larger viewing area, higher resolution, and more storage than the S9. H.264 support is there, though it lacks an OLED screen. Keep in mind, video decoding and display are battery intensive. It really depends on what you want in a 'sleek DAP' and your video snacking needs.