[jjsoviet]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Agent_Moler /img/forum/go_quote.gif The iphone has really great SQ, I personally did a review of the iphone 3gs with a LOD vs the S9. The S9 did not hold up very well at all. I dont see the need to keep the S9 since the iphone sounds so good, I just want a backup player that has good SQ or has a LOD function for a good price. In retrospect, I feel that the S9 is overpriced...

I did not expect to hear that the iPhone 3GS beat the Cowon S9. The S9 is highly regarded as a great DAP, but this is surprising. In what ways did the iPhone beat the S9? Did you use BBE/JetEffect or any other enhancement on the S9 or not? Were you using the same exact songs?

IMO the Sony X is more overpriced. $600 for 32GB? The S9 sells for less than half the price.

 

[Antony L]

what about the new cowon iaudio 9 ,£99 shipped over here for 8gb ,has bbe+ ect as the s9

 

[estreeter]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jjsoviet /img/forum/go_quote.gif IMO the Sony X is more overpriced. $600 for 32GB? The S9 sells for less than half the price.

I agree that its overpriced, esp here, but the gap narrows considerably when you hear the thing with your music ripped at a high bitrate. I previously thought my iAudio7 had great SQ and a good amp - the X has raised the bar so much higher. I havent heard the S9, but nothing in the anythingbutipod review had me dashing out to buy one:

Cowon S9 Review

The reviewer admits he is nitpicking when he says 'it starts to fall apart at higher volumes', but that is exactly where the X starts to blow me away. The ability of the amp to scale with an increase in volume is second to nothing I've ever heard. I agree that the X has been hyped to the max, but I found the reviewers comments on the X particularly pertinent to this thread:

Sound Quality
Speaking now about the player itself, the sound quality is top notch as most Sony players are- but this one is my favorite. Its clean and even throughout the spectrum holding up well in the low end much like the Clip. What I really like about this player’s sound signature it is very neutral. Typically, Sony players sound a bit on the cold side or “too digital”. The X-1000 on the other hand is warmer, but not as warm as the Cowon S9- hence the neutrality. In terms of sound quality this player ranks up there with the Sansa Clip as one of my favorites.

Sony X Series X-1000 Review

It may seem ironic that Sony charges this much for SQ that, if you take the reviewer at his word, you can get from the budget-priced Clip, but this guy pretty much worships at the altar of the Clip. I can buy a Clip/Fuze any day of the week, but I had the money for the Sony and I wanted the player I judged to be the best from a corporate manufacturer : as with anything on Head-Fi, opinions vary wildly as to whether or not that is the case.

 

[cravenz]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hsiu /img/forum/go_quote.gif I do not have iPhone of any version hence I do not know how good they sound. I have friends who own iPhone 3G or 3GS they just not capable of playing music all day long. the battery life of iPhone as music play is far worst than Clip+ which is approximately 8 hour on mid-low volume and my Nokia 5800 last twice as long while maintain normal phone functions. also iPhone is expansive equipment that will cost a lot if damage or stolen. these day most American know nothing but iShxt which make it primary target when we are safer walking with even more expansive rig

Mmm...I know with the 3GS you have to factor in making calls and stuff, but I don't do a whole lot of that all the time and with a 100% battery, it should last 24 hours just playing music alone so a few hours a day ain't gonna kill it along with a few phone calls as well.

I own one if that helps.

 

[cravenz]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jjsoviet /img/forum/go_quote.gif I did not expect to hear that the iPhone 3GS beat the Cowon S9. The S9 is highly regarded as a great DAP, but this is surprising. In what ways did the iPhone beat the S9? Did you use BBE/JetEffect or any other enhancement on the S9 or not? Were you using the same exact songs? IMO the Sony X is more overpriced. $600 for 32GB? The S9 sells for less than half the price.

a fair few people vouched for the iphone hp quality over the cowon in this thread =P

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f15/co...-w-lod-447663/

 

[Albinoni]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bba1973 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Although I have not heard a Cowon S9, I would reccomend trying a Sandisk Clip+. $40-$50 for a 4GB (I think the 8GB is around $70), and it has a Micro SD card slot (I got a 16GB for about $50). The sound quality from the headphone out (I don't think there's any line-out stuff for it yet) is amazing (much better than my iPod Photo and 120GB Zune), but it doesn't improve much at all with my cmoy amp (the Zune and iPod did). Not necessarily a bad thing, but now it really makes me want to buy a new amp . I bought it even though I really didn't need it, and it became my primary DAP. I use it with RE0's (sometimes with BSG cmoy and my DIY interconnect) and OGG Vorbis q-0.8 (it's a VBR that's ~256k) if that gives you any more useful info.

To answer some of your comments here. First off I would reccomend both the Sansa Fuze and Clip, ok probably clip would be more priced towards the ops budget. The SQ I have found myself from the Fuze (havent tried or heard a clip, so wont comment) is nice but weak, this is the only small weak point re the Fuze IMHO. I have found with a CMOY amp and yes I use a CMOY with my Fuze all the time, and have 3 CMOY amps, my latest one having a JRC OPamp chip in it (same one used in the Grado RA-1 headphone amp) have found it makes a good and significant difference in SQ and really boosts the sound in every aspect. I on a personal note reccomend using a CMOY with either the Fuze or Clip just my personal opinion.

 

[Albinoni]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jjsoviet /img/forum/go_quote.gif I did not expect to hear that the iPhone 3GS beat the Cowon S9. The S9 is highly regarded as a great DAP, but this is surprising. In what ways did the iPhone beat the S9? Did you use BBE/JetEffect or any other enhancement on the S9 or not? Were you using the same exact songs? IMO the Sony X is more overpriced. $600 for 32GB? The S9 sells for less than half the price.

What gives you the idea that the iPhone 3GS beat the S9, your hearing a story from one or two users from this forum and on the 2nd note SQ is a very subjective matter, there are probably alot of people out there who would think the S9 is better, I mean honestly speaking we didnt ask the whole world yet and to compare SQ of both, but let me rest assure a true Audiophile and I am sure 100% will say the S9.

Ipod or Apple will never convince me into buying their iPhones or Ipods, sorry not for me.

 

[Agent_Moler]

To everyone who is surprised that I felt that the iphone SQ is better than the S9,

It is important to remember that I tested the iphone with a LOD (which is known to provide better quality than its headphone out) vs the S9 through its headphone out with my corda 2 move. The S9 was not as clear or detailed as my iphone with the LOD, I felt like it was so obvious to my ears that I can't see how anyone else who was making a similar comparison could not hear the same thing.

I'm not saying that the S9 is not a good mp3 player, it is but its headphone out cannot beat the iphone's LOD, in no comparison I did did I find the S9 to offer a superior sound than the iphone could.

 

[Agent_Moler]

I'm getting a strong impression that the clip plus might be a good choice for me, however I'm still interested in the Fuze too. If anyone has some impressions of the fuze with an LOD id appreciate it...

 

[specto]

An LOD on a Fuze provides almost no improvement to sound imo.

 

[clarinetman]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Azazel90x /img/forum/go_quote.gif Yea, your not gonna find anything with better SQ then the S9, but the Clip+ comes close.

x2.

"Better" is subjective, but from what I've heard, the Sansa Clip, Clip+, or Fuze all have good SQ.

 

[aris]

I have an Iphone 3g and clip 1gb got for 20$ off craigslist it even came with creative ep630s
I'm a happy camper.

 

[aris]

double post

 

[Agent_Moler]

Aris, can you tell me how you like the clip compared to your other players?

 

[Loque]

From what I can tell you are looking at a Clip or nothing. AMP3 has better SQ than an s9 IMO, but they are more money and break.