[mrip541]

This morning I picked up a Cowon J3 and I'm a bit disappointed. With my ER-4Ps does it sound better than my Nano? Yes. Better than my Droid? Yes. better than my X-fi Titanium HD? No. Also doesn't sound as good as the headphone amp in my Cairn 4808A but that's quite a bit more expensive. The sound is detailed but gets a bit harsh at the top, is distorting high frequencies a bit, and is lacking the punch of the x-fi. I don't mean volume. The J3 gets as loud as I'd like it but the sound is flat. I don't really know how to describe it but it somehow is lacking in the excitement category. Maybe I'm going a little crazy.
 
I thought that for $190 after tax it would be able to compete with a sound card that cost me less, but alas. With all the crazy good things I read about the J3 maybe I was expecting too much from a small portable device. Since the J3 doesn't have a line out I'm thinking about returning it for a player with a line out and pick up an amp. Would a Fuze with a $100 amp be an improvement?

 

[ilikepooters]

Have you tried messing with the BBE+ settings? i think it's called that, been mentioned on these forums before.
 
I've ordered a J3 too, should be turning up tomorrow but i'll be using Senn IE7's with it, but i'll happily share my experiences with EQ'ing and stuff.

 

[mrip541]

I played with BBE a bit but my ears tell me all it does is drop out the midrange which I'm not a fan of. I'm going to mess with the EQ a bit more but unless I stumble on something groundbreaking I'm planning to bring it back. I don't feel like I should have to mess with a $170 device to get it to sound better than my computer.

 

[extrabigmehdi]

Quote:

 better than my X-fi Titanium HD? No.

Yeah I think that is normal, the source from a decent sound card is still better. I noticed the same thing when comparing the sound of my cowon s9 to my xonar stx, but I preferred the cowon to the sansa clip+. If you are looking for "excitements" play with the bbe settings. With my IE7, pushing the mach3bass setting too far, distort the bass, so what I do is decrease the bass with eq, so that I can push the mach3bass setting a bit further . I can an get extraordinary bass "slam" with my IE7. Perform your test with the most bassy track you have, so that you can appreciate the limits. A bit the same story with bbe setting and the high. On the contrary if the high are too sharp or dry you can apply some reverb too. You can also tweak the soundstage at each frequency, this can help to get a more focused and pleasing image. Even if the cowon source is inferior from the sound of sound card (well, not that much, but it depends of the headphone I guess ), you can customize it a lot, and make it more satisfying.
 
Also don't forget:
- autonomy of player
- amoled screen.

 

[Fortgammon]

Just by looking at the picture of a X-fi Titanium HD  I can conclude that thinking the J3 would be as good was wishful thinking, The only Cowon player I owned was the iAudio 7, but I assume that they sound best when tweaked, most would accept inferior sound on the go compare to what they listen at home, but if you what something as good then a Sansa Fuze with a LOD should be fine 
depending on the amp you'll be using
 

 

[mukumi]

Quote:

Just by looking at the picture of a X-fi Titanium HD  I can conclude that thinking the J3 would be as good was wishful thinking, The only Cowon player I owned was the iAudio 7, but I assume that they sound best when tweaked, most would accept inferior sound on the go compare to what they listen at home, but if you what something as good then a Sansa Fuze with a LOD should be fine 
depending on the amp you'll be using
 

Honestly, I have a sansa fuze with the Fiio Lod to an E7 and I do not like its sound at all. On my GR07 it brings some crackle / noise at high frequency or when volume pass a certain level.
 
Maybe it's the lod that ain't good enough or my Fuse which has a problem. But honestly, I do not understand the rumble around the Fuze here.
 

 

[ilikepooters]

Well I've had a mess about with the player now i've got it, sounds immense with the Denon D7000's but they're not exactly portable so that's irrelevant.
 
With the Sennheiser IE7's it sounds terrible to my ears, good soundstage but thats about it, everything else is average apart from the treble which seems dull, lacking clarity.
 
Hopefully they'll improve with burn-in but i think it's a big ask i fear.
 
Have i spoilt myself with the Denon's and have unreasonable expectations now? 

 

[GLdgShDjKsHT]

burn it in indeed

 

[ilikepooters]

This is... confusing.
 
The Denons sound great out of the J3, the IE7's seem rubbish, but hooking the IE7's up to my E7/E9 combo on PC they sound epic.
 
w'gwaan?

 

[extrabigmehdi]

The IE 7 sound aweful without burning, like a 10 $ headphone, and improves radically on the first few hours. I'll post later the bbe/eq settings I use on my cowon s9.

 

[nraudigy2]

I have IE7 for like 1 year or more now. It sounds terrible compares to Sennheiser MX 980 at same price range. I thought I have an IE8, but MX 980 is vastly better than IE7. Much more bass, better clarity, trebble, bigger soundstage.

 

[extrabigmehdi]

Quote:

I have IE7 for like 1 year or more now. It sounds terrible compares to Sennheiser MX 980 at same price range. [...] Much more bass, better clarity, trebble, bigger soundstage.

Never heard the mx  980, but it's not the same kind of headphone i.e earbud vs IEM. I found the bass of the IE7  more than enough (are you sure you achieved a correct seal, with the iem ?)  , and the soundstage  was able to compete with my hd595. I  would have hopped a better clarity though.
 
By the way, here are my jeteffects settings on the cowon s9, for the IE7:
 
175 hz Wide -7 db
220 hz Wide -4 db
1.4 khz Wide +2 db
1.8 khz Narrow -3 db
6.9 khz Narrow +2 db

BBE: 2
Mach3Bass: 4
3D Surround: Off
MP Enhance: Off

Stereo Enhance: 1
Reverb: Off
 
 

 

[ilikepooters]

Quote:

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

By the way, here are my jeteffects settings on the cowon s9, for the IE7:
 
175 hz Wide -7 db
220 hz Wide -4 db
1.4 khz Wide +2 db
1.8 khz Narrow -3 db
6.9 khz Narrow +2 db

BBE: 2
Mach3Bass: 4
3D Surround: Off
MP Enhance: Off

Stereo Enhance: 1
Reverb: Off
 
 

 
These are some good settings 

 
many thanks