[SemiAudiophile]

My view today walking along the coast. Listening to some Beach House with the IE300 and BTR5.

 

[Zozo11]

Cowon Plenue 2 MKii arrived today from @Blanchot. Have only had a short time with it but wow what a powerful balanced and clear sound...beautiful synergy with the Zen Pro. Cowon magic is a thing.

I have a Plenue L incoming, been looking for a Cowon for a while, glad you like it.

Cowon are producing the D3 which will be available in March/April, once finished they will re-release some of their older models, then they will schedule a new product.

Hopefully a new flagship DAP is in the works!

 

[jaker782]

Quite interesting this Xe6 graph compared to the others. I really like low mid with my metal double kick drums, but this one looks quite a lot.

edit: Corrected KR6 ->Xe6

Yes, I agree the Xe6 graph is atypical for sure. Notice these were matched at 1KHZ and if you look at the frequency response as a whole, the bass/low mid rise is almost dead even with the upper mid peak at 2.5K, which is the highest point in upper mids and treble. Coincidence? This to me indicates good balance across the frequency response.

In contrast, the Kr5 has that spike at 8K in the treble, which is maybe 4-5 db higher than the max level of bass. Due to this, I'd be concerned this has the potential to create a fatigue issue for me.

Why did I post these graphs? Because I wanted to see if anyone came to the same conclusion. I threw the EXT in there since that one is also on my radar and graphs pretty well IMO.

I've been waffling back and forth on these 3 iems (Phonix too), and decided to try the Xe6 because I love my low mids and male vocals. I hope to be able to post some impressions in a few days.

 

[Xinlisupreme]

Today Is a magic night wit RS6 - iFi Gryphon - Faudio Dark Sky.
I realized Tidal sounds better trough Hiby music and LDAC connection sounds very well.

 

[yaps66]

Lovely home!

 

[Skullar]

I have a Plenue L incoming, been looking for a Cowon for a while, glad you like it.

Cowon are producing the D3 which will be available in March/April, once finished they will re-release some of their older models, then they will schedule a new product.

Hopefully a new flagship DAP is in the works!

Good to hear they are still running. Would really like to hear them release a flagship.

N8II seems awesome but probably will be silly priced and not portable much.

 

[DanielListening]

I always loved reading reviews of Cowon. It was always SQ on Cowon > Astell & Kern for a fraction of the price, the only caveat being that the Cowon players were limited by software.

 

[claud W]

Raining again in Vancouver..

That means drink lots of coffee and



make my own earbuds

Like your house tgx78. Lots of pretty wood and windows.

 

[Ace Bee]

So, something new came knocking at my door. Sadly, it's just a guest for a few days.

A pretty face, certainly, but what lies beneath? The secret will be revealed in time, so let's not rush that.

What matters is the sound, and well, I can say that I am most certainly pleased with it. Yes, it does not exactly align with my preference, but from an objective point of view, I cannot overlook the finesse with which it pairs smoothness with separation and delivers a comfortable and pleasing experience.

 

[blotmouse]

I’m mostly hoping its name is “Burd” or “Turd”

 

[Blanchot]

I have a Plenue L incoming, been looking for a Cowon for a while, glad you like it.

Cowon are producing the D3 which will be available in March/April, once finished they will re-release some of their older models, then they will schedule a new product.

Hopefully a new flagship DAP is in the works!

Just out of curiosity: how do you know all this? I have noticed that the Cowon store on Amazon no longer carry any DAPs and I have been wondering why. You seem to have inside information

 

[Deezel177]

I’m mostly hoping its name is “Burd” or “Turd”

My 10-year-old brain immediately put a 'T' in the front as well.

 

[GiullianSN]

Yes, I agree the Xe6 graph is atypical for sure. Notice these were matched at 1KHZ and if you look at the frequency response as a whole, the bass/low mid rise is almost dead even with the upper mid peak at 2.5K, which is the highest point in upper mids and treble. Coincidence? This to me indicates good balance across the frequency response.

In contrast, the Kr5 has that spike at 8K in the treble, which is maybe 4-5 db higher than the max level of bass. Due to this, I'd be concerned this has the potential to create a fatigue issue for me.

Why did I post these graphs? Because I wanted to see if anyone came to the same conclusion. I threw the EXT in there since that one is also on my radar and graphs pretty well IMO.

I've been waffling back and forth on these 3 iems (Phonix too), and decided to try the Xe6 because I love my low mids and male vocals. I hope to be able to post some impressions in a few days.

Yeah, I noticed the the 1khz match and still look at this with a bit of attention.

Your point about looks balanced may be true visually, but our ears frequency response is not a flat line, matching peaks is good, but mid range extension concerns me in the Xe6 to be honest.

As you said, the peak on Kr5 can be concerning to someone that has sensitivity in that area and can be even worse if already started to have hearing damage on the mids/lows, this person will pump the volume to rear the lows but won’t tolerate the highs.

If you add the LX graph there may be more clear to lots of people as it is a much more known sound signature.

 

[gLer]

It's definitely clean and balanced. Tight and controlled. All within the context of a warm and musical sound signature.

When most people use the term "clinical," it is meant to convey "sterile", unemotional, revealing, cold. This is the opposite of warm and engaging. I see where you are going with your descriptions. I just think that some of the words you are using mean the opposite of what you are trying to convey. Your hearing is fine. It's the words you are using to describe them that is creating the cognitive dissonance.

Note to self: use the word clinical with caution, especially around popular IEMs.

I find it sometimes leans more analytical than musical, especially because the overall tone is drier and lighter rather than organic or earthy. On the whole, it still sounds very natural, but if you’re looking for rose-tinted romanticism in your music, this is probably not the monitor for you.

I think maybe this is a wood for the trees scenario. It would be very easy for me to remove the small number of tracks that introduced offensive words into the review, but then what's the point?

Almost every IEM will play some music in a way that doesn't align with certain preferences, but I try give a balanced opinion in reviews as much as subjective hearing and preferences allows. Great IEMs will have more of my music in their lane than not, which is why I consider EXT (and Z1R and EVO and IE 900) great IEMs.

 

[gLer]

So, something new came knocking at my door. Sadly, it's just a guest for a few days.

A pretty face, certainly, but what lies beneath? The secret will be revealed in time, so let's not rush that.

What matters is the sound, and well, I can say that I am most certainly pleased with it. Yes, it does not exactly align with my preference, but from an objective point of view, I cannot overlook the finesse with which it pairs smoothness with separation and delivers a comfortable and pleasing experience.

Yes, but does it have firewoofers!?