[nkk]

Ok, so I am going to get a portable music player for my birthday at the end of July. They knew I was looking at getting a new one, and decided it would be a useful and appropratie gift for going into my sophmore year of college. My parents sought my input, and I said there were two I was looking at--the Cowon S9 and the Sony X1000. The price difference of $100 is not a big concern, and if it becomes one (not likely), I will just get the S9.

However, I have no idea which one to get. I have read reviews, done research, and am still lost. I will be using it with etymonc hf5, which makes me wonder if the Cowon and the phones will b too analytical. However, I am not too opposed to using the BBE effects.

The Sony, on the other hand, has a nice warm signature that would offset the hf5. However, I am not sure if I want that, as I sort of like the hf5 as is with my clip as a source. Sony also has slacker, but I have no idea how much I would use it in real life. It is great in theory, but for me, the reality may be I do not touch it. Or I try it and love it.

Anyway, I was wondering if anyone here had something to say. Anything, really, that will help me decide. Better yet, if anyone has heard both (doubting there are many, but thought I should ask).

Thank you, and if you learn anything from this, let it be that I am horribly indesicive about most things.

-Nkk

 

[a_tumiwa]

can we know what are you looking from player?? do u need FLAC?? need video??

 

[bernado]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nkk /img/forum/go_quote.gif Thank you, and if you learn anything from this, let it be that I am horribly indesicive about most things. -Nkk

I used to be indesicive, but now I'm not too sure!

I don't have the new Sony but I had the s639, so I'm familiar with the sound of the new Sony's. They have a are very likeable sound that's hard not to enjoy, with a UI that's pretty straight forwards and sensible.
I was in the same position as you and I've just bought the S9 and finding it it quite an interesting player. The sound is great, not as harsh sounding to me as the D2, which I wasn't too keen on. The screen is fantastic, as is the Sony I believe.
There is a fundamental difference I think - the potential for modding and development. Cowon's UI is a bit daft in navigation structure, but once you get used to it not too bad. What makes the S9 more interesting to me is the modding community who are coming up with some very nice interfaces (have a look at the forums at ABI and iaudiophile.net). Cowon do typically update firmware frequently too which adds functionality, not just for bug fixes.
That's why I bought the S9 over the X1000, I thought it would have more staying power in it's appeal due to scope for development. The Sony sounds a great player (as long as your not buying it for wifi), but there are a lot of great sounding players out there and I get bored easily!

 

[Berlioz]

The Sony player is very good. My friend recently demoed one and I got to listen to it for about an hour. The sound is very crisp, and an excellent upgrade over any iPod. It is a little warm for me though; I think the Cowon is capable of producing very accurate, analytical sound - what I'm into.

Personally, I prefer the Sony UI over the Cowon one. I'm quite used to the Cowon one now, and it does exactly what I want/need it to, but the Sony UI is easier to grasp and more forgiving.

HOWEVER, if I was given the choice, I would still choose the S9. It has amazing SQ, extremely long battery life, its surprisingly durable, and the screen is very nice too. As bernado mentioned, there are a lot of mods out there for the S9, which could address the UI issues.

Hope that helps.

 

[Photoman]

I had both. The Sony beats the S9 (sound good too) with sound and UI. Please. I couldn't wait to return that S9. The UI is too slow compared to x-1000. Also understand that the Youtube app is good; the wifi will benifit. Noise canceling is good also and built better..

 

[nkk]

Quote:

Originally Posted by a_tumiwa /img/forum/go_quote.gif can we know what are you looking from player?? do u need FLAC?? need video??

Sorry...I thought I had said it in the original post, but they ar equal. To me, each has disadvantages and advantages, and when it all comes out, neither is strictly better in my view. Which is why I need help and am being so indecisive.

Thanks for the replies.

Oh, and photoman, which firmware version of the S9 did you have? I have heard they got faster and more widget type things with the updates.

-Nkk

 

[Photoman]

I had the latest. Its just not as fluid as the x-1000. It's good. It's just I like the sony's sonics better.

 

[Berlioz]

What part of the "sonics" did you like better? I certainly found the S9 to sound more neutral - which I like. Also the bass was superior to the X1000. The sound stage on the Sony was better though.

 

[j_diddy]

I had this dillema before until I finally got the chance to use them both.

The S9 I think is great and for me has better features compared to the Sony.
The "plastic-ky" feel and lightness of the S9 however somehow gives it a cheap look.


I've decided to pull the trigger on the Sony and haven't regretted a thing ever since.

 

[Photoman]

I like the sony's seperation of instruments, clear sonics and its easier and faster to get to my artist

A nice Review. From AnythingbutIpod Site says:

Touch Screen
This is easily the fastest most accurate touch screen on any device I have used to date. It easily kicks the Cowon S9, Samsung P3, and even the iPod Touch to the curb. There are even some nice built in heuristics that fend off accidental presses. If you give one of the home screen icons a light brief brush it will only show a quick glow of the icon. Kind of saying “Hey, I’m not sure you meant to press this button, if you did, go ahead and try again”. Accidental presses are considerably more rare compared to other devices.


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.

EQ & Effects
The EQ has 5 bands +-3 with a “Clear Bass” bass boost. Works well, but I would have like to see more adjustability here with either more bands or adjustable frequency cuts. The clear bass boost works extremely well with the supplied headphones, but I found it to boost too much low midbass with the Shure SE530s- anything more than +1 is overdoing it.

In addition to the EQ there are a few VPT Surround setting. These are the typical “environment” settings like “Club”, “Live, or “Studio”. Personally I am never a fan of these and would never use them, but I will say that these are very well done and are the most natural I have heard on any player. There is even a “Karaoke” setting that works amazingly well with some music if you are into that kind of thing. I turned it on and the vocals dropped out almost completely. Sure it effects surrounding frequencies, but its impressive for an MP3 player.


ConclusionThe X-1000 is priced $100 above competing players such as the Cowon S9 and the Samsung P3, but this elevated price could easily be justified with the additional W-Fi features and a nice pair of noise canceling headphones. The headphones alone I feel add at the very least a $50 value to the player if you are not going to use you own. YouTube was less gimmicky than I had thought and will add to the player if that is something that interests you. For the US the addition of Slacker Radio may also help justify that additional price.

I found that there where are two very big disappointments, the lack of native video support and the sketchy podcast support. That part of the player feels unusually unfinished for Sony. The web browser may disappoint some people- it is not a comfortable experience on a small screen and T9 text input.

Despite the issues, I like the Sony X-1000 a lot mainly due to the fact that it’s an awesome music player. It has top notch sound quality and a very user friendly interface with a very accurate touch screen. The added tactile buttons pair nicely with the touch screen adding to the overall usability. Build quality is solid matching the P3 and surpassing the S9- it’s a very comfortable player to hold in your hand.

I personally like the X-1000 a lot and have found that I use it more so than the P3 or the S9 and I have only been using it for music paired nicely with the Shure SE530s. If you can justify that additional $100 price over the competitors then go for it. If not the Samsung P3 and the Cowon S9 may be just as impressive for you and have strong native video support.

http://www.anythingbutipod.com/archi...000-review.php

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[nkk]

Thanks for the responses. I am still undecided, but I think I am going for the S9 due to two things:

FLAC (do not know about lossless for a portable, but it is an advantage)
The sony just does not do it for me. I do not know what it is, but the S9 looks better. And since they are even overall on other things, I am going to factor this in.

Also, price. I know I said it did not matter, but if I cannot find one to be better, then why spend the extra money? I figure the worse that happens is I wait for the new version of the X1000 in a year. No big deal. I have an iPod and a Clip to last, but neither are high capacity. Which is what started this to begin with.

Anyway, thanks, and if anyone has something to say, I am not rushing to get this, so please speak up.

-Nkk

 

[h1a8]

Anyone did a side by side video comparison? I'm very curious to know whether someone can tell a difference in video quality vs. the S9 although the Sony is listed with a lower resolution. This is assuming high bitrate on both.

 

[lessblue]

the reason i went for the X1000 is because i prefer the smaller size over the S9. portability is important and for me, it's just right. i don't plan on doing much, if any, video playback so that's a non-issue. if flac is a must for you then by all means get the S9. if you don't use flac, then the X1000 series is a great choice.

 

[globiboulga]

I am in the same boat.
The S9 has the edge to date mostly because of its video capabilites... Since it's now gapeless, that's an added bonus... I have my entire library in FLAC and MP3 (320kb), so that's not really the issue.

The x1000 was indeed my first choice until the price was release here in Aus, and since it's twice as expensive as the Cowon here, there is no way I would buy it.

Of course, the new Zune HD could also be an option. I am quite excited about the Tegra if it means that you don't need to reencode videos, but knowing M$, it'll probably require conversion killing the purpose of having a great little chip in the player. And I don't expect M$ to begin supporting FLAC or OGG either... That's a pitty that would have been an excellent choice since the consensus around this forum is that the sound signature is actually quite excellent.

 

[Zerovalk]

What's your choice in the end TS? I'm looking at this two different players as well but I've tried the X1000 with my UM3x and found the music a little too overwhelming for me. It sounded better with the stocks in my opinion, I'm used to more detailed and analytical sound.