New - Cowon Plenue S

[AeroSatan]

That Burr Brown Dac just purrs just as it does on the P1 but better because of a more powerful balanced mode. No surprise it's price hasn't budged since it was released.

 

[tienbasse]

That Burr Brown Dac just purrs just as it does on the P1 but better because of a more powerful balanced mode. No surprise it's price hasn't budged since it was released.

I don't think so.
For the price, 128Gb is now insufficient and the 3.5mm balanced output is a dying breed.
Plenue 2 MK2 (when available) is much better value for the price (capacity, chassis, leather case), although the tuning differs from Plenue S.
And I won't mention other brands of DAPs.

The price SHOULD have decreased, but Cowon has never been very logical with organizing their range of DAPs...

 

[Sound Eq]

I don't think so.
For the price, 128Gb is now insufficient and the 3.5mm balanced output is a dying breed.
Plenue 2 MK2 (when available) is much better value for the price (capacity, chassis, leather case), although the tuning differs from Plenue S.
And I won't mention other brands of DAPs.

The price SHOULD have decreased, but Cowon has never been very logical with organizing their range of DAPs...

I have to disagree when it comes to cowon daps, I always get curious, and I always seek to have the best cowon dap there is, but when it comes to flagship, I can assure you cowon plenue s is the best sounding one among all, as I tried them all.

I am only thinking bout selling mine because now i need tidal otherwise I would not look for another dap

 

[AeroSatan]

Perhaps it should've decreased but for whatever reason the Cowons seem to retain their value better than the rest.

If I had one wish it'd be for a battery on the S and likely you've mentioned a different balanced connection. I'd prefer the 4.4mm.

But the simplicity of the Linux OS, ability to read virtually any tag and file and the sublime SQ, makes it it very difficult for me to find a better portable alternative for me, rivaled only by my WM1A

I don't think so.
For the price, 128Gb is now insufficient and the 3.5mm balanced output is a dying breed.
Plenue 2 MK2 (when available) is much better value for the price (capacity, chassis, leather case), although the tuning differs from Plenue S.
And I won't mention other brands of DAPs.

The price SHOULD have decreased, but Cowon has never been very logical with organizing their range of DAPs...

 

[tienbasse]

I have to disagree when it comes to cowon daps, I always get curious, and I always seek to have the best cowon dap there is, but when it comes to flagship, I can assure you cowon plenue s is the best sounding one among all, as I tried them all.

I am only thinking bout selling mine because now i need tidal otherwise I would not look for another dap

About the sound, it's strictly YOUR personal tuning preference, mine largely differs (I put Opus #2 and WM1Z above, and again, it is MY preference only).

That being said, feature-wise, Plenue S is expensive in 2018, which was my point. With similar features, WM1A is now much cheaper.
It's funny about people put their personal sound tuning preference above everything else when other features can also make or break a DAP...

It's like the Luxury&Precision L6: pretty epic sound, but 32Gb and a shi**y frimware limiting the library to 6000 songs (like Cowon used to do in previous DAPs) is enough to make it useless for me. Priorities, priorities...

 

[FranTBW]

Just got myself an ex-demo Plenue S at a fantastic price, and I've been eyeing it for a long time. Absolutely loving the sound, and nothing else comes close to how this performs to me.

3.5mm balances might be a dead balanced standard, but i can always use 2.5mm balanced and get an adaptor fro a friend. memory limit isn't the best, but it's sufficient for me as it is, and to me, the sound just sits above all. on the warmer side with immense extension, airiness, and a soft, hi-fi like bass hit, The PS is just too good

 

[Sound Eq]

About the sound, it's strictly YOUR personal tuning preference, mine largely differs (I put Opus #2 and WM1Z above, and again, it is MY preference only).

That being said, feature-wise, Plenue S is expensive in 2018, which was my point. With similar features, WM1A is now much cheaper.
It's funny about people put their personal sound tuning preference above everything else when other features can also make or break a DAP...

It's like the Luxury&Precision L6: pretty epic sound, but 32Gb and a shi**y frimware limiting the library to 6000 songs (like Cowon used to do in previous DAPs) is enough to make it useless for me. Priorities, priorities...

i understand your point, but disagree, cowon plenue s sounds better than my ak380 and amp, better than all other cowon daps, and way better than sony wm1a, heck wm1a sounded actually really bad in comparison to plenue s. yes maybe wm1z sounds better than cowon plenue s assuming wm1z sounds alot better than wm1a, but i highly highly doubt opus 2 beats cowon dap, as cowon plenue s is a sublime dap in performance and sound

cowon plenue s is a truly amazing dap, the only draw back is it has no tidal otherwise I would not be selling mine

do u own a cowon plenue s to make these conclusions

if cowon plenue s has tidal support I would never look to buy another dap period

 

[Jay91]

Hi guys,

Is it possible to have a point a quick comparison between ar m2 and plenue S?
Is it an upgrade or sidegrade in term of SQ?

Cause I got P2 mk2 and my ears are too sensible to its trebles with se846... don’t have this problem with my AR M2..

Thanks for help

 

[yurix67]

Hi there!
The new firmware PLENUE S V1.30 - http://www.cowonglobal.com/zeroboard...?id=C08&no=618.
I can't say that the guys from COWON sawed something super new, but overall not bad. Worked and so a great interface - added backgrounds (skin in different designs and colors), simplified the transition from cover to tag and back, became faster and better to work on-screen volume control.
Most importantly - sound! It seemed to me that there was even more volume and the sound became more fleshy. Not that he was rumbling, and more fundamental. All this without deterioration of the overall sound picture of the player. The detail remained at the same level.
I'm happy.
The only thing is not to take a step back to compare with the previous firmware. I want to remind that the kickbacks kill the player!

 

[sect44]

Thanks for the heads up.

 

[Raketen]

Plenue S is going for $700 on Cowon's eBay store ATM.

 

[tiddlywinks]

Plenue S is going for $700 on Cowon's eBay store ATM.

And on Amazon

 

[James Shoegazer]

Plenue S is going for $700 on Cowon's eBay store ATM.

Hmmm S2 coming soon ?

 

[SciOC]

Wow... $700 for this, the p2 Mk ii is $1100 and the p2 is $800.

Which one is the right one to get? 3.5mm balanced is goofy but there are adapters for it...

Any recommendations?

 

[tiddlywinks]

Wow... $700 for this, the p2 Mk ii is $1100 and the p2 is $800.

Which one is the right one to get? 3.5mm balanced is goofy but there are adapters for it...

Any recommendations?

If I had the money I would go for a P2 Mk2 mainly because of the 256GB internal and the look of it, I have a P1 and
while the S is similar sounding from what I've read, I couldn't ignore the price of the S currently so have one on the way,
the reviews about how it sounds made it too good to ignore - have "lusted" after a P2 since they were released but an S
for $700 - no brainer as far as I'm concerned - but that is just one man's opinion.