OT: Finally...A Worthwhile MP3 Player (really long)

[Rodster]

Yes. It's not even close once you get it dialed in. The Cowon's are so much more customizable and you can tailor them to your taste. If you like bass, or listen to any jazz or hip hop at all...you cannot go wrong with the Cowon line of players. The S9s are cheap as hell right now. I personally like the J3 better because you can use microSD cards along with the built in memory and it just blends the library together. It's genius. I ended up putting all of my movies and tv shows on one SD card and music on the player itself. Allows me to keep them separate as far as file management goes.

How do you dial in a Cowen? Are you referring to it's EQ functions?

I like the fact you can buy SD cards for it so you never run out of space but I also like the idea of Zune Pass which sounds a little bit to me like last.fm and the built in FM Radio. Do any other the major retailers carry Cowen's? I'd like to listen to one and compare it to the Zune.

At least it appears we are all in agreement, the Iplod sucks for sound.

[dbdynsty25]

I have yet to find a Cowon in a retail shop. Amazon is where I usually get mine...their return policy is great, so there is very little risk if you order from there. And yes, I'm referring to the EQ. You can customize the sh*t out of a Cowon if you so desire. Not so much on the Zune or iPod...you just get basic presets.

[F308GTB]

EDIT: Sources/amps should be neutral in sound, adding an equalizer just makes a system ghetto IMO, as evidenced by the large number of cars around me with bass heavy systems that rattle the whole dang car. You should hear what the engineers want you to hear.

I don't know, some people have made careers out of remixing someone else's music.

Can expensive headphones really fix badly compressed audio? There are many tracks which sound okay through a computer's speaker but put them out on even mid-fi speakers and they sound like AM radio.

There's a difference between source gear and source material. I've got U2's No Line on the Horizon on CD. One of the songs is POORLY produced with some nasty electronic noise. That terrible noise comes through on my cheap computer DVD drive as well as high-end dedicated CD playback units. So if the source data is bad, there's not much you can do! I honestly can't believe producers let that album out with such lousy engineering.

[RobVarak]

FWIW, I ended up shipping the Zune to Rapid Repair. Sent it on Thursday and had it back on Monday with a new HDD for about $150. Given that the Cowon seems a ways off, this was my best bed. I definitely recommend RR to anyone who needs work done on an mp3 player, phone etc. Great guys, great communication and convenient as hell.

[fsquid]

Anyone have any recommendations again on earbuds? just sliced my Sennheiser 300s by accident. Looking for something under $40.

[dbdynsty25]

Anyone have any recommendations again on earbuds? just sliced my Sennheiser 300s by accident. Looking for something under $40.

Nothing will beat the Senn 300s under 40 bucks.

[F308GTB]

db,

What do you hear about the Cowon X7?

So I've got more than 80gb of music on my computer, mostly 128kbps from CDs several years ago. If I re-rip I'll be much higher, and I'm adding vinyl recordings by the month. I want to take my personal stuff with me on the road, as right now I've got a 32gb Zune HD almost entirely filled with Zune Pass material. I don't want a smaller player and buy a stack of SD cards, so it seems I'm pretty much stuck with:

Ipod classic 160gb - wife has an 80gb version that's held up well, but I'm not a fan of iTunes. It made a disaster of our music collection by the way it sorted compilations and such. Plus it's known for being on the low end of sound quality. I should mention that at work and home I can run through a headphone amp to get better quality sound. Or on my main system for good sound.

Zune 80 or 120 - expensive as all get-out if you buy new since they have been discontinued, but I've seen refurbished 80gb models at Wal-mart with the A/V pack for ~$130. The pros are that it's a Zune, so it will marry nicely with my existing Zune Pass. Plus it will hold most of my personal tunes. And the A/V pack means I can control it remotely when attached to my main stereo. The main con is that it is a refurb, and for a hard disk model that bears consideration.

Cowon X7 - not out yet unfortunately. Not sure what the cost will be, but on Amazon Japan it's ~27,000 yen, or a shade over $300. I saw somewhere that the MSRP is expected to be around $320 here, which is about $100 more than what you can get an iPod classic for.

Archos 5 internet tablet - not highly rated at Amazon, and about an equal number of buyers giving it 5 stars as 1 star. But it's only $250 and has a 500gb drive. I'd have more than enough room and could even toss video on there. Pro is that it is huge in capacity (and physical size). Con is the user rating. I had an old Archos 20gb Jukebox that was great, but that was a LONG time ago. Anyone have opinions on the latest Archos products?

Any other high capacity solutions now or on the horizon?

[dbdynsty25]

A Cowon MP3 player will sound 100 dollars better than an IPod...seriously.

[Rodster]

Hey db out of this list which Cowon do you recommend? http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_ ... efix=cowon

I've had it with my 32GB ipod. The sound sucks as well as the battery life and I hate itunes. I don't have a whole lot of music to put on their so I guess I can get away with an 8GB player. Does the Cowon have an FM radio or is that a future of the Zune HD? I haven't seen a Zune in awhile did MS discontinue them?

[dbdynsty25]

The J3 is the best of the Cowons right now. The D3 came out but it's severely overpriced right now (by about 50-75 bucks IMO) and it's still pretty buggy. So if you need something now, the J3 is where it's at. I've got it and the Zune HD (which, yes, was discontinued) and the J3 really cannot be beat SQ wise. Sure, the Zune looks better and is slicker as far as the interface goes but if you want nice battery life and awesome sound quality, go with the Cowon.

Also, keep in mind the J3 has a microsd slot that you can throw another 32gb card into to increase your capacity if needed. You can go with the 8gb version and be perfectly happy and in the future if you want more space you can easily do that. Hell, 16gb cards are only like 25 bucks right now.

The S9 is also fantastic but it lacks the expansion slot. The good thing about it is that you can get the 32gb version for a little over 200, so if you never think you'll exceed 32gb, you can always go that way. One thing to note is that the external controls are better on the J3...it's easy to control track skipping and volume from your pocket by feel. It's harder to do that on the S9 if you're going to use it at the gym or something.

Sorry, this ended up really long, but you really can't go wrong with any Cowon player outside of the D3 right now. I wish that one was a little better software wise because the specs are impressive (screen quality especially). Stick with the s9 or the J3 tho...with the edge to the J3.

Yes, they all have the radio too...but do you really use that?

[Rodster]

I was looking at the J3 8GB and it's $180 on Amazon. Are there any deals out there you know of? I have $244 in Amazon credits but wanted to use it for an NGP. And yeah FM Radio is a must.

[dbdynsty25]

Amazon is your best bet. They always have a fantastic return policy if for whatever reason you don't like it. Just get it there.

[Rodster]

OK thanks !

What are the chances the NGP will have a nice built in audio player?

[F308GTB]

How about Cowon X7. Waiting for it to come down in price, as I do have plenty of music files. Can't fit my entire collection in 32 GB or even 80.

[Rodster]

OK guys help me out with this picture. An 8GB J3 is $180 and a 160GB X7 is $285.

[dbdynsty25]

The X7 is nice too...but it's pretty big and some people complain about the screen resolution (both it and the J3 are 480x272 but the X7s screen is an inch bigger, resulting in some pixelation). I've never held one personally, and the reviews are decent, but I still think the J3 is the way to go unless, like F308, you've got a ton of music that you need with you at all times. I've got over 500gb of music...32gb at a time is PLENTY for me. Both of them are Cowon's tho, so sound wise, you can't beat em. Gotta admit tho, 103 hours of audio battery life on the X7 is appealing. But 64 on the J3 isn't too bad either. I charge mine once a week, tops.

[RobVarak]

How about Cowon X7. Waiting for it to come down in price, as I do have plenty of music files. Can't fit my entire collection in 32 GB or even 80.

If you go back a few pages in this thread, I think I may have a link to a review or two. I've had my eye on one for awhile, and even have a daily Google search update. Reviews are generally positive, and it'll almost certainly be my next player.

[Rodster]

I ordered a 32GB Zune HD $189 from Walmart today. They dropped in price after MS pulled the plug on the Zune. Looking forward to it.

[dbdynsty25]

I ordered a 32GB Zune HD $189 from Walmart today. They dropped in price after MS pulled the plug on the Zune. Looking forward to it.

Definitely a nice player. If I wanted to have three mp3 players, I'd still have mine...but I really needed to condense my mp3 collection and the new 64gb Touch was just too tempting with some iOOTP...so had to go that way even though the SQ still isn't up to Zune/Cowon standards. Much better than a few years ago tho...the 4G touch seems to get some pretty good reviews from the audiophile community compared to the rest of the iPod lineage.

[XXXIV]

Are they going to be discontinuing Zune Pass also?? or was this just the MS way of bailing on something and moving to the next thing??... I assume W7 phones?

Rod you will love that ZuneHD.

[fsquid]

still love my Zune HD.

[wco81]

If you're going to carry a large touch screen PMP, is there non-audio content to justify the size and weight?

Did games and video content expand on the Zune? Guessing probably not, which is why they're pulling the plug.

Samsung was suppose to be putting out a PMP based on their Galaxy phone but I don't know if they released in the US or not.

[dbdynsty25]

If you're going to carry a large touch screen PMP, is there non-audio content to justify the size and weight?

Did games and video content expand on the Zune? Guessing probably not, which is why they're pulling the plug.

Samsung was suppose to be putting out a PMP based on their Galaxy phone but I don't know if they released in the US or not.

No, Zune HD didn't expand their offerings really...so that's pretty much the reason it never caught on at all. People want the games. I still swear by the Zune software on my PC...it's light years ahead of iTunes and it's a fantastic way to organize and listen to music on your computer. If you have a bunch of music, you owe it to yourself to try it, even if you don't have a Zune HD player.

Samsung is still planning on the Galaxy PMP...no release dates yet.

[dbdynsty25]

And while we are talking about music management software, the downside of Zune software is it's ONLY PC...in that case...check this out:

http://www.9to5mac.com/68716/miro-4-an- ... -platform/

Sounds absolutely awesome. PK might even like it.

[Rodster]

Are they going to be discontinuing Zune Pass also?? or was this just the MS way of bailing on something and moving to the next thing??... I assume W7 phones?

No they are NOT discontinuing Zune Pass. It's part of the Windows 7 phones. It would be nice for a discount but it's what lured me over to the Zune especially the HUGE discount at Wallyworld.com

Rod you will love that ZuneHD.

Now DB has me second guessing my purchase after saying the 4G Ipods have nice sound and iOOTP