chinesekiwi
Headphoneus Supremus
- Joined
- Feb 29, 2008
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Well, after some self-experimentation and reading a bit on what others have tried, I feel the following setup is the best setup for the D2 to get the most out of it soundwise.
I have some Denon c700's, which are quite balanced all-round so it makes it good for experimenting with the settings.
Remember, the Cowon D2 IMO is meant to be tweaked and I feel is deliberately not set to sound it's best on stock default settings.
The following settings can also be easily applied to the iAudio 7 as both have the same JetEffect settings.
Firstly
Equaliser
As well stated on Head-fi and other sites, the Cowon D2 does seem to suffer from a bass rolloff from 80Hz down.
Going from Punisher's suggestion in this thread of tweaking the EQ to -5 flat, the bass has better response and is deeper but however with this setting I felt that the mids and treble were recessed as a result. I bumped up band 3 to band 5 (left to right) by 2 to counter this so my final EQ is:
-5, -5, -3, -3, -3
Take into mind though although it helps the bass response significantly, it does not solve the rolloff problem. It merely patchworks it.
If you are going to use the Mach3Bass (M3B) setting, do not set it higher than 6.
Why?
Because any higher will clip the bass response of the D2.
Evidence of this is from KromaXamorK's post here in the 'Wow! Sansa Fuze- color me impressed- Fuze appreciation thread' in which he did posted some frequency response tests of the D2.
RightMark Audio Analyzer test : Cowon D2 - FW 3.53 - BBE1 - M3B8
As you can see if you click on that link, with the Mach3Bass setting at 8, it severely clips at around 80 Hz. With a bit of subjective experimentation with some DnB, I worked out that with the Mass3Bass setting at 6, it will not clip.
If you still feel you are not getting enough bass, the problem would be in the earphones you are using and not the D2.
As the D2 is also reported to have a small soundstage, I also feel it is essential to do this.
Tweak the 3DS setting in JetEffect to '2'
3DS on 1 = no significant difference while any higher than 2 results in an unrealistic soundstage and lowers the impact of the instruments, it just sounds fake. This helps the soundstage significantly. As the Denon c700's reportedly have a small soundstage compared to other earphones, it's good for noticing these changes better.
The Cowon D2 has also been reported to be a 'cold' sounding player compared to other DAP's so these settings both help in that regard and make the Cowon D2 sound slightly warmer.
Set 'BBE' to 1 and MPE to 'ON'
Also remember the Cowon D2 is one of the most tweakable and skinable players out there!
Head over the iaudiophile.net, a Cowon fansite where they have heaps of skins and even Flash games for your D2.
You can tweak everything right down to the actual GUI!
Important: If you are getting a package which will change the GUI interface, make sure it is made for the same firmware as your D2! Always backup your songs/data before you change it!
http://www.iaudiophile.net/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=62
So to recap:
Equaliser: -5, -5, -3, -3, -3
* If using Mach3Bass, don't set it any higher than 6
3DS: 2
BBE: 1
MPE: 1
Every other JetEffect setting off
If you want to personalise your D2, go ahead and tweak it with skins and packages galore!
Enjoy your even better sounding Cowon D2!
Comments are appreciated
I have some Denon c700's, which are quite balanced all-round so it makes it good for experimenting with the settings.
Remember, the Cowon D2 IMO is meant to be tweaked and I feel is deliberately not set to sound it's best on stock default settings.
The following settings can also be easily applied to the iAudio 7 as both have the same JetEffect settings.
Firstly
Equaliser
As well stated on Head-fi and other sites, the Cowon D2 does seem to suffer from a bass rolloff from 80Hz down.
Going from Punisher's suggestion in this thread of tweaking the EQ to -5 flat, the bass has better response and is deeper but however with this setting I felt that the mids and treble were recessed as a result. I bumped up band 3 to band 5 (left to right) by 2 to counter this so my final EQ is:
-5, -5, -3, -3, -3
Take into mind though although it helps the bass response significantly, it does not solve the rolloff problem. It merely patchworks it.
If you are going to use the Mach3Bass (M3B) setting, do not set it higher than 6.
Why?
Because any higher will clip the bass response of the D2.
Evidence of this is from KromaXamorK's post here in the 'Wow! Sansa Fuze- color me impressed- Fuze appreciation thread' in which he did posted some frequency response tests of the D2.
RightMark Audio Analyzer test : Cowon D2 - FW 3.53 - BBE1 - M3B8
As you can see if you click on that link, with the Mach3Bass setting at 8, it severely clips at around 80 Hz. With a bit of subjective experimentation with some DnB, I worked out that with the Mass3Bass setting at 6, it will not clip.
If you still feel you are not getting enough bass, the problem would be in the earphones you are using and not the D2.
As the D2 is also reported to have a small soundstage, I also feel it is essential to do this.
Tweak the 3DS setting in JetEffect to '2'
3DS on 1 = no significant difference while any higher than 2 results in an unrealistic soundstage and lowers the impact of the instruments, it just sounds fake. This helps the soundstage significantly. As the Denon c700's reportedly have a small soundstage compared to other earphones, it's good for noticing these changes better.
The Cowon D2 has also been reported to be a 'cold' sounding player compared to other DAP's so these settings both help in that regard and make the Cowon D2 sound slightly warmer.
Set 'BBE' to 1 and MPE to 'ON'
Also remember the Cowon D2 is one of the most tweakable and skinable players out there!
Head over the iaudiophile.net, a Cowon fansite where they have heaps of skins and even Flash games for your D2.
You can tweak everything right down to the actual GUI!
Important: If you are getting a package which will change the GUI interface, make sure it is made for the same firmware as your D2! Always backup your songs/data before you change it!
http://www.iaudiophile.net/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=62
So to recap:
Equaliser: -5, -5, -3, -3, -3
* If using Mach3Bass, don't set it any higher than 6
3DS: 2
BBE: 1
MPE: 1
Every other JetEffect setting off
If you want to personalise your D2, go ahead and tweak it with skins and packages galore!
Enjoy your even better sounding Cowon D2!
Comments are appreciated
