My Review #2: The Cowan/iaudio D2

Having owned a D2 for the past couple of weeks - predominantly due to your excellent original review, James - I have to concur with Caged on the issue of the user interface [though I perhaps think 'awful' is going a bit far].

The iPod really does provide a superior 'using' experience to the D2; navigation being the most glaring example - on the D2, it's a fiddly job to navigate between folders even with my small fingers [and the notion of having to employ a stylus just widens the gulf between this and the iPod's strongest element, the touch wheel].

Caged is right about the 'now playing' screen, too. Far too fussy and crowded, and exactly how useful is a L/R delayed-response level meter? The draggable progress marker might be useful if it were bigger than 4 pixels in height, and having most icons/buttons in shades of one colour on a more-than-capable colour screen just highlights the user interface design naivety.

Don't get me wrong, though - the D2 is still usable once you get used to its interface quirks, and I know of no other player that sounds as good while playing OGGs, FLACs or DAB radio for 40-odd hours straight. For these reasons, I can't see me considering selling or swapping mine for the foreseeable future. :)
 
simisker said:
and I know of no other player that sounds as good while playing OGGs, FLACs or DAB radio for 40-odd hours straight. For these reasons, I can't see me considering selling or swapping mine for the foreseeable future. :)
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Just spotted that the new version has DAB on it... Good addition.

Reception any good for FiveLive 6Music and BBC7 and stuff like that?

Simon/~Flibster
 
darn so I am now no closer to decieding what to get & now I see the new Zen which also looks sexy, although has a poor battery.
 
Look for a Cowon M5L, got mine for £57 delivered brand new, very easy user interface and amazing sound quality.

20Gb space too, although it is bigger than the D2 so bear that in mind, battery life is 35 hours.

Nick
 
are there any options for transfering files between card and internal memory? - so want 1 of these, i've craved 50+ hours battery life ever since my MD player days.
 
Nice review,

Im a bit late to the party but I just got one of these recently and its a cracking little player, It was smaller than I expected. Next on the purchase list is a decent set of headphones.
 
Flibster said:
Just spotted that the new version has DAB on it... Good addition.

Reception any good for FiveLive 6Music and BBC7 and stuff like that?

Simon/~Flibster
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I've got the DAB version its not great unfortunately - week signal retention.

For anyone interested in adding movies to the D2 try DVDFab (Creative Zen Vision W and the Archos 320 - profiles work a treat):)
 
I nearly bought this but got the Sony NWZ-A818 instead, haven't regretted my purchase. Bought some Sennheiser CX300b. They compliment each other very well :)
 
Moon Piglet said:
I nearly bought this but got the Sony NWZ-A818 instead, haven't regretted my purchase. Bought some Sennheiser CX300b. They compliment each other very well :)
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omg so you're the mysterious Moon Piglet I've been seeing going on/offline on XBL lately! I was wondering who on earth that was lol

Holy thread revival batman and all that.

I have had enough of my pos ipod touch's sound quality or lack of so I am dumping it for the Cowon D2, however I'm awaiting the 16gb version, which was apparently released last week. I can't find the thing anywhere atm.

Is anyone using the D2 with Super.Fi 5 Pro's here? If so, what do they sound like? :)
 
kainz have you tried replygaining your music?

when look through the installer sources on my iphone, i saw that one of the featured packages (oddly called Kate for some reason) had an equaliser for the ipod in there......is this the fix the iphone and itouch need i wonder.... its only a 3 band eq, but its a start. im trying it now.
 
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I've had enough of the plod tbh, and my touch was jailbroken until I foolishly upgraded to 1.1.4. I can't be bothered to downgrade tbh. I lost it when I replaced two of my favourite Aerosmith MP3's with AAC equivalents, the AAC version felt like it was recorded at some utterly laughable bitrate.

If its an EQ I just can't see how it'll help as I've always put it down to the hardware on the touch/phone, especially given it's thickness. The moment I saw these devices I did want one but questioned the sound quality - and that was ages before I purchased my touch.

Since I bought the thing I have been forever comparing the sound quality with my old iRivers and Vision:M and the they're in a completely different league and I now want to be back at that level again. My super.fi's are wasted on the plod and it always gets me down when I shove them into my ears every morning as I go to work.

Sod the PDA wannabe that excels at nothing, I want a top end music toy again :)
 
Dammit i was so close to deciding on the Sony NWZ-A828,Samsung YP-P2 then i saw this !
Having to use the iRiver software put me right off the iRiver clix 2
 
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Kainz said:
I've had enough of the plod tbh, and my touch was jailbroken until I foolishly upgraded to 1.1.4. I can't be bothered to downgrade tbh. I lost it when I replaced two of my favourite Aerosmith MP3's with AAC equivalents, the AAC version felt like it was recorded at some utterly laughable bitrate.

If its an EQ I just can't see how it'll help as I've always put it down to the hardware on the touch/phone, especially given it's thickness. The moment I saw these devices I did want one but questioned the sound quality - and that was ages before I purchased my touch.
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its the eq, trust me lol. ipods have all done the same thing. turn the eq off and there is no problem at all - it comes very close to my xonar d2's output. turn it on and it turns in to a bag of distortion. if you replaygain the files down low enough, this distortion disappears. its the way apple implement their eqalizer. Their eq's boost the treble and bass but dont cut back the gain by an equal amount. you end up with a signal thats clipping and distorted even before it's amplified. its a major failing of every apple player out there, but the difference is the touch and iphone are an open platform and it CAN be fixed by a 3rd party.

as it is right now, the less eq you use on these, the less it becomes a problem.


anyway, the sony is the best of the lot save the samsung p2, but i havent listened to one yet.

Moon Piglet said:
I nearly bought this but got the Sony NWZ-A818 instead, haven't regretted my purchase. Bought some Sennheiser CX300b. They compliment each other very well :)
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wait you bought a sony, which comes with the very good ex85's, and then replaced them with the inferior cx300s? :eek:
 
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Interesting choice Moon Piglet ;)

I replaced those EX85s though - with my bass modded EX90s :)

I really want a A829 with BT headphones as standard - the price is stupid without that addition :(

BTW James.Miller - whats the best default settings for the Sony?

ps3ud0 :cool:
 
james.miller said:
anyway, the sony is the best of the lot save the samsung p2, but i havent listened to one yet.
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Question is though, where would you put your money? :)
I really cant decide between them as they both have their relative benefits and faults

From other thread
Sony Walkman NWZ-A829 - £229 (Assuambly the 828 is the same minus headphones)
------------------------------
Size & Weight: 93.6mm x 50.2mm x 9.3mm 58g
Battery Life: 8 hrs video, 33hrs Audio
Screen Size: 2.4in
Res: 240 x 320
Audio Quality: Very Good (if not best)
Audio Codec Support: MP3, WMA, AAC
Video Codec Support: MPEG-4, H.264
Extra Features:
PLays up to VGA resolution
Bluetooth
Free bluetooth headphones
Problems:
Proprietary USB connector
Expensive compared to competitors (poor price/performance)
No FM Tuner


Samsung YP-P2 8GB - £149.99
----------------------------------------------
Size & Weight: 100mm x 52mm x 9.9mm 85g
Battery Life: 5 hrs video, 35-hours audio (12 hrs with bluetooth)
Screen Size: 3in
Res: 480 x 272 LCD
Audio Quality: Good
Audio Codec Support: MP3, WMA
Video Codec Support: SVI (MPEG4), WMV
Extra Features:
Bluetooth
FM Tuner
Problems:
Proprietary USB connector
No native divx and xvid support

Cowan iaudio D2 8Gb - £169
--------------------------------------
Size & Weight:
Battery Life: 10 hours video, 50 hours Audio
Screen Size: 2.5in
Res: 320 x 240
Audio Quality: Very Good
Audio Codec Support: MP3, WMA, OGG, FLAC, APE
Video Codec Support: ? cant seem to find info on this
Extra Features:
Expandable memory via SD card
DAB & FM radio
Very good screen @30fps 24bit
Voice Recording
Problems:
Radio a bit flakey
UI not intuiative

Disclaimer: Above arent competitor prices, simply taken off the review sites
 
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comes down to taste really, ps3ud0. for me, its normally mega bass on 1 and the last (highest frequency) slider up one notch. i found it doesnt really need more than that unless im in a bass head mood:p. other sound settings like clear stereo dont really do much at all

Chronictank from those, the samsung easy. its £100 cheaper. the 829 is just TOO expensive. id rather have an 818 for £90 and drop 8gb of memory and blutooth support than spend that much on a 829.
 
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It also seems that Samsung tend to release more firmware updates with additional/upgraded features so it could become a more featured player over time...

http://www.engadget.com/tag/yp-p2/

Im sure the 828 is much cheaper than £229 - the 829 is 16Gb, but the 828 is 8Gb - Sonys MRP is £170...

ps3ud0 :cool:
 
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ps3ud0 said:
It also seems that Samsung tend to release more firmware updates with additional/upgraded features so it could become a more featured player over time...

http://www.engadget.com/tag/yp-p2/

Im sure the 828 is much cheaper than £229 - the 829 is 16Gb, but the 828 is 8Gb...

ps3ud0 :cool:
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from what i remember. the 828 is virtually the same price, because it comes with bt headphones while the 829 does not.

edit: what am i talking about. no, the 8gb is around £160 and comes with headphones. the 829 is around the £200 mark and does not come with bluetooth headphones. making it an expensive player for sure. i still wouldnt pay nearly double for an 828 with BT headphones over an 818 though.
 
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