[janruzinsky]

OK,
after getting bored with my work today I found a thread on the iAudiophile website the partially working rockbox for the D2.
I am not extremely skilled in installing stuff to devices so it took some time to install Rockbox but maaan it was worth the trouble.

The UI is not too confortable but the sound is extremely improved when compared to all the FW I tried before.
I recommend the installation to everybody out there.

See u in soundheaven.

 

[shigzeo]

had it been available 8 months ago, i might have kept my d2.

 

[Calexico]

How big of a sound improvement is it? I can't STAND the Rockbox UI, but when I went back to my iPod 5.5's default firmware, I figured that the sound quality with Rockbox was worth it. Since Cowon D2 already has pretty good sound quality, it shouldn't be as big of an improvement, right?

 

[wuwhere]

SDHC is not supported yet.

 

[Henmyr]

How did you install the bootloader? or how did you even make the bootloader?

EDIT: Found a pre-built bootloader.

 

[shigzeo]

i would hope rockbox helps things with d2. i know that what i did not like about d2 is a hardware issue but having options to play aac, gapless etc: a winning combo!

 

[kingbuzzo]

I'm liking the better EQ and Gapless playback.

But no SDHC... is gapless even possible on SDHC?

 

[shigzeo]

i think gapless should not be affected what media it is on: it exists on md, cd, cassette tape, dat, dcc, computer, flash and harddisk.

eq would be great as the d2 had such a half-hearted eq

 

[Punnisher]

The D2 has a much better EQ than the ipod ever did.

I think the major shortcomings of the D2 are all software based.

 

[toughnut]

SQ improvement? i hardly noticed any improvement over V3.57. i use RB for few hours and decided to go back to OF. 3 reasons:

1. lack of SDcard support
2. poor UI
3. no pause button!

 

[tds101]

I just don't like the RockBox UI. I've used it on my stolen 5.5g iPod Video, and my now gone Sansa E280 V1. And it's a great effort put forth by all those devoted to developing a better FW for all these truly neglected players. Too bad they couldn't combine forces w/Cowon and produce a really stand-alone FW. That would be SOLID!!! The SQ would really be where it belongs!!!

 

[Punnisher]

Rockbox has tons of customizable UI's. You should try them out. (for your ipod that is, dont know how well they would work on the d2)

 

[nsx_23]

I'm probably going to wait till its fully developed before installing it on my D2. No SDHC support is a big bummer.....

 

[janruzinsky]

So, after one week of listening to my rockboxed D2 I can state some more facts.

1. NEGATIVE

- the UI is wery bad. I can change the settings but they will be set to default each time I turn off the player
- no SDHC
- the touch controlls are nut working good enough and I have to use the buttons... to navigate

and this is all negative I can say and this issues will be removed with time...

1 POSITIVE

- the sound- the sound of the D2 has changed significantly after installing rockbox. the bass is much punchier (before it was sometimes really muffeled) and the heights and mids sound more realistic than before. i really like theis sound.
-EQ-i think the equaliser is more responsive than before (i do not use it much but sometimes it is neccesary)
-the hiss is definitely gone (at least with my UE Triple fi 10)

At the bottom line I would like to say that the UI is quite scarry now but I just cant go back to the cowon firmware. Rockbox has transformed the D2 to a real sound beast.

 

[tds101]

What really kills me is that what your describing is how the D2 could and should sound like, if Cowon did the FW right. I'm really having second thoughts about getting an S9 when it's finally released. It'll take years just to get the FW to an acceptable state. I hope the new Samsung P3 (rumored for the end of 08, beginning of 09), or the 16gb S Series from Sony get here soon. Might keep me from being a fool and gettin' another Cowon. I love the D2, but the low end, compared to my A829, is seriously lacking. Why exacerbate the situation by getting another possible bomb.