[seanmo]

I've never had anything but good experiences with refurbs...but thats just my experience
why didn't I get a new one? because I saved $50 and almost covered the cost of a 32gb microsd card
 
listening to it right now...no problems
and it has the full year warranty, not a modified refurb warranty
 
 

 

[Dobrescu George]

is this cheap a micro sd card 32 gb?...
in my country i can get it only at about 130$....

 

[debitsohn]

think i got mine for like 70 on amazon. 

 

[versp]

I'm just curious as to why the main argument of the J3 over the iPod here is the EQ and BBE and not once has the FLAC and OGG support not been mentioned.

 

[macrocheesium]

 
Quote:

I'm just curious as to why the main argument of the J3 over the iPod here is the EQ and BBE and not once has the FLAC and OGG support not been mentioned.

Most people don't have a problem converting to ALAC, I do because I don't have the extra room. Also, the Rockboxed iPods can play FLAC...
 
You just have to make sure you get a refurb from a trusted store. Most of the time, they'll have a long warranty so you can get a new one if yours stops working.

 

[Dobrescu George]

for a simple answer, flac is played by j3, and rockboxed ipod..... so.... never important.... and ogg?.... i don't even undestrstand it, because all the ogg that is on my computer is under trhe quality of mp3's.... i do not know why.... not even the slghtest ideea....

 

[tarcalion]

Cowon J3:
FLAC support, wide file format support
Tactile controls for FFWD, RW, play/pause as well as volume up/down
Beautiful AMOLED screen
Drag and drop or synchronise with any media player software
Versatile user-definable parametric EQ as well as mind-blowing BBE sound enhancement technology; Jet Effect 3.0 & BBE+, 39 presets and four user-definable presets
High-quality Wolfson DAC
Powerful, high-quality headphone amplifier in headphone out
Drag and drop Xvid/DivX compatibility, wide video format support; videos look stunning on the AMOLED screen
Lightweight build
Almost completely unscratchable Corning Gorilla Glass screen; a screen protector may still be needed as most notably quartzite (sand) is harder than the hardened steel knives used in some of the demonstration videos
Expandable with microSD-cards up to 32 GB, or possibly higher
Entirely customisable user interface with three different menu styles
Comes in two colours and three sizes (8 GB, 16 GB and 32 GB)
Narrow picture format support
Extremely long battery life (64 hours music playback)
Can record from microphone, radio and line-in at various bitrates
Built-in speaker
Composite/HDMI video out
Made in South Korea
Something a bit special
 
Ipod Touch:
No FLAC support
No tactile controls
Pretty crappy TFT screen, albeit with a higher resolution
Completely tethered to Itunes, no drag and drop; all synchronisation and file-transfer must be mediated by proprietary software or software with specific, in-built Ipod support
A few subpar EQ presets, partly resolved by third-party equaliser apps; no corresponding sound-enhancement technology as far as I know
No ****ing idea
Something a fair bit worse, from what I can hear
No idea
Heavy build with extremely easy-to-scratch chrome backside; feels sturdier in the hand, but full-body protection is necessary
Regular glass screen; screen protector is mandatory
User interface not customisable
No microSD expansion
Not customisable
Comes in four sizes (8 GB, 16 GB, 32 GB and 64 GB)
Wider picture format support
Considerably worse battery, haven't bothered to measure though
Can record from microphone
No built-in speaker
No video out
Made in China
Everyone has one
 
Both have gapless playback, both support losless audio codecs (FLAC vs the Apple ALAC crap) and both have capacitive glass touchscreens. There is a reason that I didn't mention applications and Wi-Fi as a 'pro' for the Ipod Touch. This is only and ONLY a comparison between their capabilities as media players, and as such the Cowon wins hands down. If what you really want is a portable entertainment machine, why consider the J3 in the first place? It's there to play music and use it's unrivalled AMOLED touchscreen for beautiful pictures and videos, not applications or web browsing. Arguably the build quality of the Ipod Touch is better, as well as the screen resolution if that is important for you (although 480x272 for a screen of the J3's size feels pretty optimal). Both have proprietary USB cables, and yet everyone seems to have a problem with that.
 
The point is, there is absolutely no comparison. Where I live it is impossible to get the J3 32 GB for under $300 dollars. I bought it for a fair bit more than that and it was worth every penny.

 

[Dobrescu George]

can anyone help on http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/544197/need-advice-in-audiophile-headphone-choosing#post_7337077 ?????

 

[macrocheesium]

Quote:

Cowon J3:
FLAC support, wide file format support
Tactile controls for FFWD, RW, play/pause as well as volume up/down
Beautiful AMOLED screen
Drag and drop or synchronise with any media player software
Versatile user-definable parametric EQ as well as mind-blowing BBE sound enhancement technology; Jet Effect 3.0 & BBE+, 39 presets and four user-definable presets
High-quality Wolfson DAC
Powerful, high-quality headphone amplifier in headphone out
Drag and drop Xvid/DivX compatibility, wide video format support; videos look stunning on the AMOLED screen
Lightweight build
Almost completely unscratchable Corning Gorilla Glass screen; a screen protector may still be needed as most notably quartzite (sand) is harder than the hardened steel knives used in some of the demonstration videos
Expandable with microSD-cards up to 32 GB, or possibly higher
Entirely customisable user interface with three different menu styles
Comes in two colours and three sizes (8 GB, 16 GB and 32 GB)
Narrow picture format support
Extremely long battery life (64 hours music playback)
Can record from microphone, radio and line-in at various bitrates
Built-in speaker
Composite/HDMI video out
Made in South Korea
Something a bit special
 
Ipod Touch:
No FLAC support
No tactile controls
Pretty crappy TFT screen, albeit with a higher resolution
Completely tethered to Itunes, no drag and drop; all synchronisation and file-transfer must be mediated by proprietary software or software with specific, in-built Ipod support
A few subpar EQ presets, partly resolved by third-party equaliser apps; no corresponding sound-enhancement technology as far as I know
No ****ing idea
Something a fair bit worse, from what I can hear
No idea
Heavy build with extremely easy-to-scratch chrome backside; feels sturdier in the hand, but full-body protection is necessary
Regular glass screen; screen protector is mandatory
User interface not customisable
No microSD expansion
Not customisable
Comes in four sizes (8 GB, 16 GB, 32 GB and 64 GB)
Wider picture format support
Considerably worse battery, haven't bothered to measure though
Can record from microphone
No built-in speaker
No video out
Made in China
Everyone has one
 
Both have gapless playback, both support losless audio codecs (FLAC vs the Apple ALAC crap) and both have capacitive glass touchscreens. There is a reason that I didn't mention applications and Wi-Fi as a 'pro' for the Ipod Touch. This is only and ONLY a comparison between their capabilities as media players, and as such the Cowon wins hands down. If what you really want is a portable entertainment machine, why consider the J3 in the first place? It's there to play music and use it's unrivalled AMOLED touchscreen for beautiful pictures and videos, not applications or web browsing. Arguably the build quality of the Ipod Touch is better, as well as the screen resolution if that is important for you (although 480x272 for a screen of the J3's size feels pretty optimal). Both have proprietary USB cables, and yet everyone seems to have a problem with that.
 
The point is, there is absolutely no comparison. Where I live it is impossible to get the J3 32 GB for under $300 dollars. I bought it for a fair bit more than that and it was worth every penny.

IMO, in some ways the iPod is built better, and in some ways the J3 is. The iPod feels noticeably sturdier, although it's basically a pane of glass with a thin piece of metal wrapped around one side. Drop one from 2 feet and you've got a broken screen. The J3 has a really cheap, light, plasticy feel to it, but it does surround the screen better so you get some drop-protection. Also, the piece that comes off the bottom to reveal the USB and microSD slot feels like it's about to break off; I really wish Cowon had used rubber there. Either one I wouldn't use without a case...

The Zune HD however, is really amazing when it comes to build quality. I never once felt the need to protect the body and it's a nice thick device with brushed aluminum plates, strong hard plastic and a rubber insert. It's UI mops the floor with the Touch's and J3's put together, and it beats the Touch in everything media related. Screen looks the same as the J3, and audio quality is very good. Even though I prefer the J3 for audio quality, I miss my HD and it's speed regularly. 

If Microsoft were to team up with BBE for an HD 2, I'd sell my J3 and get one in a heartbeat.

 

[tarcalion]

If the Zune was available anywhere outside of the USA, and not made by Microsoft, I would consider it. As it is neither of those things, I won't even give it a glance. A heavier, slightly bigger J3 would probably be my perfect DAP. But I swear by Cowon so consider me biased.

 
My main grudge with the J3 is the lightweight feel. Not necessarily cheap, but it makes you wonder how all that tech fits in it. The Ipod feels loaded with all sorts of advanced gadgets, whereas the J3 pretty much feels like what it is - a PCB in a cheap plastic enclosure ... but we like to think it is so much more.
 
Something that should be added to my list is the fact that the J3 actually supports different playback speeds of music varying from 50% to 150% with optional REAL-TIME PITCH CORRECTION. This is just awe-inspiring. I know of no other player in the world, save for PERHAPS the Tonium Pacemaker, that can do this. Combined with the parametric EQ and BBE+ it really makes this stand a step above the rest - a player that is almost computer-like in it's playback customisability.

 

[kyuuketsuki]

I may be the minority here, but I like that the J3 is so light. Light weight does not mean cheap materials or anything of the sort. More and more materials are being made and designed to have optimal strength to weight ratios. Titanium is incredibly light compared to other metals, and yet is one of the strongest. If someone gave you a device made out of titanium and another made out of brass, you'd probably think the latter was built better based on weight, but the former is actually far stronger. Granted, I love when I can feel the weight of a product and feel the build quality, but assuming that the build quality could only increase on the J3 from the D2, I see no problems because the only reason my D2 broke was because some idiot at my old job bumped me into an edge that cracked the screen. The J3 doesn't feel cheap, just really light, which is a nice change, since I have an OG Droid that weighs me down enough, and I don't need my DAP doing the same. 

 

[wind016]

I just got the BBE Sonic Maximizer VST plugin for my computer. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to come with a similar Mach3bass effect. The Sonic Maximizer effect is similar to the effect on the Cowon BBE but not really. I really need to tone down the treble with my other linear phase equalizer plugin to make it sound good. I'm still playing with it, but pretty interesting so far. Just probably isn't meant for music playback.
 
I'll keep looking for a plugin that has all the nice BBE enhancements on the Cowon for the computer, but it doesn't look promising... I'll see what the Sonic Maximizer can do.
FYI, to those that are thinking of JetAudio, it's pretty bad. It's really prone to distortion and lack of preamp makes things worse.

 

[macrocheesium]

Quote:

If the Zune was available anywhere outside of the USA, and not made by Microsoft, I would consider it. As it is neither of those things, I won't even give it a glance. A heavier, slightly bigger J3 would probably be my perfect DAP. But I swear by Cowon so consider me biased.

 
My main grudge with the J3 is the lightweight feel. Not necessarily cheap, but it makes you wonder how all that tech fits in it. The Ipod feels loaded with all sorts of advanced gadgets, whereas the J3 pretty much feels like what it is - a PCB in a cheap plastic enclosure ... but we like to think it is so much more.

I hate Microsoft also, almost as much as I do Apple, lol. But I'm willing to see past my hatred and except the Zune as one of the best players the world has ever seen. I also swear by Cowon, and I try to not be biased, so it's so hard sometimes with that fully custom EQ. 

 
I get what kyu is saying, just because it's light doesn't mean cheap. But to me it just feels cheap, like when I tap my fingernail on the back and it makes a sort of hollow sound... ever since I got my Ringke it's felt much better though.

 

[wind016]

I'm downloading the new Jetaudio update now. I wonder if they bothered to fix any of the previous issues.
 
Anybody find a computer version of the Cowon BBE and Jet effect equalizer?

 

[rawrster]

I haven't had any issues on my J3.
 
As for BBE I think there's a plugin on winamp but I don't use winamp or windows for that matter but I bet you could google it or just search their plugin directory.