July 26, 2010 at 22:30Damn good player
I love music in almost any manifestation of it - starting from a variety of musical genres, ending with the desire to knock out some kind of melody with a slipper on the floor. And often for me the “warm tube sound” is not so much important as the music itself (well, or the words in the songs) - therefore, without a player, I probably only stay at home.
For a long time, the Cowon S9 player was one of my favorite gadgets - it suited almost everyone. In addition to an aesthetically pleasing appearance, he had a long battery life (for 50 hours), a large color screen, convenient control and uncompromising sound, which is one of the main trump cards of devices from Cowon.
The only thing that did not suit me was the lack of a slot for memory cards, because on such a convenient device I wanted to store as much of my multimedia junk as possible.
Accordingly, there were two solutions to the “problem” - to take the Cowon S9 of large capacity (maximum 32GB), or to take the Cowon D2 , which is not inferior in sound and operating time, but with a memory card slot (though, there are minuses - the screen is smaller and not so convenient to control). At one time I went both ways - I took S9 for 16GB for myself (the toad strangled for 32), and for my wife I took D2 + for 4GB and an SD card for 16. So that there were both players, you could experiment and there was always something to compare. Well, actually, the case turned up for a “comparison" - the new Cowon J3 player, which, in fact, has incorporated all the best from his pioneer brothers. To understand what level of devices in general we are talking about, just look at the reviews in Yandex.Market or at comments on reviews of previous models.
Cowon J3> Cowon S9> Cowon D2 +
And if the review of the S9 model was called “ A step from the ideal ”, then in today's article the player became the main character ... well, yes, perhaps, without flaws - it’s a kind of work on the bugs. So I suggest you familiarize yourself :)
Cowon J3> Cowon S9> Cowon D2 +
The new player comes in a conical plastic container that turns into a flower pot in a tricky way - we've seen it once before) Included is the player itself, a driver disk (and a Cowon JetAudio combine), a branded USB cable, headphones and a handful pieces of paper. It is a pity there is no cover - it would be very handy.
90% of the front surface is occupied by glass protecting the AMOLED touch-screen display (3.3``, 480x272, 16 million colors). The remaining 10% of the case is occupied by a damn stylish metal insert with a fine grinding texture.
Everything would be fine, but the screen is extremely easily soiled - prints remain from any touch.
The back of the player is very similar to the one that was in iAudio 9 - a black matte cover without unnecessary “garbage” - only two small “points” (microphone / reset) and a speaker slot. The latter is very handy - even if the ability to "listen to music in many ways" is not needed, then the alarm function can be useful to many.
At the top end it is unusually deserted - all buttons are spaced on the sides. The switch / lock button (s) is on the left, and on the right is the play / pause button and two pairs of rockers to control volume and tracks. Management is not as convenient as in S9, but there are more than enough hardware buttons here - it’s more convenient than with D2 / D2 +.
Everything else is at the bottom - a headphone jack and a flip-up plug, behind which are a proprietary USB / AV connector and a microSD card slot.
The case is almost the same size as the S9, but it still seems more compact. Specifications do not lie - 56x106.5x9.9 (mm) with a weight of 76 grams. Very nice and comfortable to hold in your hand.
The player comes to full combat readiness 1 second after switching on - this pleasant trifle has already become traditional for Cowon players and is not so surprising. The interface ... it is very similar to S9, in fact, everything is the same, but with a new sauce, quite original.
The main menu consists of 10 items, which I’ll talk about in a couple of lines. Above is the status bar, which displays time, volume, battery and something else, depending on the selected mode. Bottom - the power off button and the name of the current track - all this can change on the screen, depending on the position of the device in space (due to the built-in gyroscope). Looking ahead - everything works smoothly and without the slightest hint of brakes.
Music
We have done a good job of this window. If in S9 there were many distracting buttons without signatures (which are very handy if you sort them out once), then here, on the contrary, everything was minimized. Large cover of the track, when clicked, the necessary information appears. Below are three music control buttons and a progress bar. And at the very top - a pop-up menu (it just contains all the removed buttons - add to favorites and bookmarks, equalizers and playback modes) and two buttons - to exit to the main menu and to navigate the play lists.
The pop-up menu has become more convenient - it is very well optimized and some settings have appeared, which previously had to go into the settings. So, there was a search for files, the ability to change the background on the fly under the text, change the playback speed of the track). And among the available 35 equalizer presets, finding the right one has become even easier (my favorite is still BBE Headphone 2).
Videos
If you wish, you can watch videos, but this is, I think, a secondary function for the player. Some formats and codecs are supported (detailed specs below), even subtitles - it’s very nice to watch something on such a colorful screen, if it were even bigger ... The
four subsequent functions have not changed much since the Cowon S9:
Pictures
A primitive image viewer, with a "slide show" and the ability to rotate the image,
Documents The
ability to read text documents. You can change the text / background color and text size, as well as enable auto-scroll.
Flash
Support for SWF toys or utilities. If desired, the player’s functionality can be slightly improved by means of third-party applications, but for more than a year I have not used it. Well, yes, there was some kind of metro map and a couple of games - all this pampering for 5 minutes.
Browser A
file browser for navigating the contents of the player. No more.
Radio
Like last time, this is an amazing radio made. A virtual rotary knob, the rotation of which leads to a frequency switching. It’s very convenient - you won’t slip through the necessary one (the FM range from 87.5 to 108.0 MHz is available). But just in case, there is an automatic station search, which automatically finds everything found. If desired, the broadcast can be recorded .... it’s only a pity that you won’t listen without headphones - there is no built-in radio antenna; headphones act as it.
Recorder
Recorder, with the ability to record (up to 256 kbps) through a microphone or LineIn. Two large buttons (record and play) - writes until victorious :)
Utilities
A primitive notepad, notebook, calculator and game on a gyroscope. All this was still in S9, I wrote about this and will not repeat myself. But most importantly - you can put any additional applications, for which you need to climb sites like w3bsit3-dns.com or CowonWorld.
Settings
A very vicious place, because there are really a lot of settings - they are all divided into categories. But there are practically no differences from the settings of the Cowon S9 player, so I won’t repeat again - read-see in the previous review .
A non-removable lithium-polymer battery (with a capacity of 750 mAh), according to the manufacturer, should be enough for 64 (!) Hours in audio mode and for 11 hours in video viewing mode. I’ll say right away that I didn’t test from call to call, but it plays really painfully long ... and there has never been such a thing that this manufacturer cheated. In any case, even if the player is capable of playing at least 50 hours - this is already very, very good.
The sound once again surprises - it is incredibly loud and crystal clear (on tracks of appropriate quality). It is easy not to hear the approaching subway car, the doorbell or the phone ringing - here you need to be careful. And the main thing is not to make another mistake at the very beginning, when after the first launch the player suggests choosing a region. You need to specify something from the list “Not Included in the European Union” - I have always been stingy with the USA. Only then the sound will be so loud that in good headphones listening to it at maximum will be simply dangerous) For those who messed up the first time, the advice is simple - connect the player by wire to the computer and delete the Param.cfg file from the player’s System folder. After the reboot, everything will be as smart engineers intended.
Pros and cons
Nice design, excellent build quality, compact body
Large and juicy AMOLED-screen, external speaker
Convenient control, the possibility of flashing
Finally, a slot for a memory card
Long battery life
Sound quality -
no audio No cover included
Marky glossy screen
Fairly high price
Price : depending on the volume - 8, 16 and 32GB cost respectively 7500, 9000 and 11500 rubles.
In my spoiled opinion, the Cowon J3 has absolutely everything that you might need from a player. At least, I won’t immediately mention what I would like to add in it (the necessary _for the player_). Great battery life and great sound are what the player should have in the first place. And J3 has this to the fullest - it’s enough to hear it once (not through the standard headphones) and you will never want to return to “listen from the phone, everything suits”.
As elsewhere, there are drawbacks, but this time they are so insignificant that you can just close your eyes to them. Well, easily soiled body, well, the connector is non-standard ... so what? The connector has its advantages, and the screen is soiled by a cover or sleeve. Even the high price can be “tricked" by taking the youngest model with a large microSD-card inside.
The player has incorporated all the best from the D2 and S9 models - these two models will also surely appeal to most music lovers. But the “marketing path” of the Cowon J3 can be considered a success - it will definitely find its customers, as it once was with all other models. And if upgrading from S9 does not make much sense, then from any other player - I highly recommend it. Thank you also for saying that I advised;)
Success!
For a long time, the Cowon S9 player was one of my favorite gadgets - it suited almost everyone. In addition to an aesthetically pleasing appearance, he had a long battery life (for 50 hours), a large color screen, convenient control and uncompromising sound, which is one of the main trump cards of devices from Cowon.
The only thing that did not suit me was the lack of a slot for memory cards, because on such a convenient device I wanted to store as much of my multimedia junk as possible.
Accordingly, there were two solutions to the “problem” - to take the Cowon S9 of large capacity (maximum 32GB), or to take the Cowon D2 , which is not inferior in sound and operating time, but with a memory card slot (though, there are minuses - the screen is smaller and not so convenient to control). At one time I went both ways - I took S9 for 16GB for myself (the toad strangled for 32), and for my wife I took D2 + for 4GB and an SD card for 16. So that there were both players, you could experiment and there was always something to compare. Well, actually, the case turned up for a “comparison" - the new Cowon J3 player, which, in fact, has incorporated all the best from his pioneer brothers. To understand what level of devices in general we are talking about, just look at the reviews in Yandex.Market or at comments on reviews of previous models.
Cowon J3> Cowon S9> Cowon D2 +
And if the review of the S9 model was called “ A step from the ideal ”, then in today's article the player became the main character ... well, yes, perhaps, without flaws - it’s a kind of work on the bugs. So I suggest you familiarize yourself :)
Cowon J3> Cowon S9> Cowon D2 +
The new player comes in a conical plastic container that turns into a flower pot in a tricky way - we've seen it once before) Included is the player itself, a driver disk (and a Cowon JetAudio combine), a branded USB cable, headphones and a handful pieces of paper. It is a pity there is no cover - it would be very handy.
Appearance
90% of the front surface is occupied by glass protecting the AMOLED touch-screen display (3.3``, 480x272, 16 million colors). The remaining 10% of the case is occupied by a damn stylish metal insert with a fine grinding texture.
Everything would be fine, but the screen is extremely easily soiled - prints remain from any touch.
The back of the player is very similar to the one that was in iAudio 9 - a black matte cover without unnecessary “garbage” - only two small “points” (microphone / reset) and a speaker slot. The latter is very handy - even if the ability to "listen to music in many ways" is not needed, then the alarm function can be useful to many.
At the top end it is unusually deserted - all buttons are spaced on the sides. The switch / lock button (s) is on the left, and on the right is the play / pause button and two pairs of rockers to control volume and tracks. Management is not as convenient as in S9, but there are more than enough hardware buttons here - it’s more convenient than with D2 / D2 +.
Everything else is at the bottom - a headphone jack and a flip-up plug, behind which are a proprietary USB / AV connector and a microSD card slot.
The case is almost the same size as the S9, but it still seems more compact. Specifications do not lie - 56x106.5x9.9 (mm) with a weight of 76 grams. Very nice and comfortable to hold in your hand.
Inclusion and work
The player comes to full combat readiness 1 second after switching on - this pleasant trifle has already become traditional for Cowon players and is not so surprising. The interface ... it is very similar to S9, in fact, everything is the same, but with a new sauce, quite original.
The main menu consists of 10 items, which I’ll talk about in a couple of lines. Above is the status bar, which displays time, volume, battery and something else, depending on the selected mode. Bottom - the power off button and the name of the current track - all this can change on the screen, depending on the position of the device in space (due to the built-in gyroscope). Looking ahead - everything works smoothly and without the slightest hint of brakes.
Music
We have done a good job of this window. If in S9 there were many distracting buttons without signatures (which are very handy if you sort them out once), then here, on the contrary, everything was minimized. Large cover of the track, when clicked, the necessary information appears. Below are three music control buttons and a progress bar. And at the very top - a pop-up menu (it just contains all the removed buttons - add to favorites and bookmarks, equalizers and playback modes) and two buttons - to exit to the main menu and to navigate the play lists.
The pop-up menu has become more convenient - it is very well optimized and some settings have appeared, which previously had to go into the settings. So, there was a search for files, the ability to change the background on the fly under the text, change the playback speed of the track). And among the available 35 equalizer presets, finding the right one has become even easier (my favorite is still BBE Headphone 2).
Videos
If you wish, you can watch videos, but this is, I think, a secondary function for the player. Some formats and codecs are supported (detailed specs below), even subtitles - it’s very nice to watch something on such a colorful screen, if it were even bigger ... The
four subsequent functions have not changed much since the Cowon S9:
Pictures
A primitive image viewer, with a "slide show" and the ability to rotate the image,
Documents The
ability to read text documents. You can change the text / background color and text size, as well as enable auto-scroll.
Flash
Support for SWF toys or utilities. If desired, the player’s functionality can be slightly improved by means of third-party applications, but for more than a year I have not used it. Well, yes, there was some kind of metro map and a couple of games - all this pampering for 5 minutes.
Browser A
file browser for navigating the contents of the player. No more.
Radio
Like last time, this is an amazing radio made. A virtual rotary knob, the rotation of which leads to a frequency switching. It’s very convenient - you won’t slip through the necessary one (the FM range from 87.5 to 108.0 MHz is available). But just in case, there is an automatic station search, which automatically finds everything found. If desired, the broadcast can be recorded .... it’s only a pity that you won’t listen without headphones - there is no built-in radio antenna; headphones act as it.
Recorder
Recorder, with the ability to record (up to 256 kbps) through a microphone or LineIn. Two large buttons (record and play) - writes until victorious :)
Utilities
A primitive notepad, notebook, calculator and game on a gyroscope. All this was still in S9, I wrote about this and will not repeat myself. But most importantly - you can put any additional applications, for which you need to climb sites like w3bsit3-dns.com or CowonWorld.
Settings
A very vicious place, because there are really a lot of settings - they are all divided into categories. But there are practically no differences from the settings of the Cowon S9 player, so I won’t repeat again - read-see in the previous review .
A non-removable lithium-polymer battery (with a capacity of 750 mAh), according to the manufacturer, should be enough for 64 (!) Hours in audio mode and for 11 hours in video viewing mode. I’ll say right away that I didn’t test from call to call, but it plays really painfully long ... and there has never been such a thing that this manufacturer cheated. In any case, even if the player is capable of playing at least 50 hours - this is already very, very good.
The sound once again surprises - it is incredibly loud and crystal clear (on tracks of appropriate quality). It is easy not to hear the approaching subway car, the doorbell or the phone ringing - here you need to be careful. And the main thing is not to make another mistake at the very beginning, when after the first launch the player suggests choosing a region. You need to specify something from the list “Not Included in the European Union” - I have always been stingy with the USA. Only then the sound will be so loud that in good headphones listening to it at maximum will be simply dangerous) For those who messed up the first time, the advice is simple - connect the player by wire to the computer and delete the Param.cfg file from the player’s System folder. After the reboot, everything will be as smart engineers intended.
Pros and cons Nice design, excellent build quality, compact bodyLarge and juicy AMOLED-screen, external speaker Convenient control, the possibility of flashing Finally, a slot for a memory card Long battery life Sound quality - no audio No cover included Marky glossy screen Fairly high price Price : depending on the volume - 8, 16 and 32GB cost respectively 7500, 9000 and 11500 rubles.
Total
In my spoiled opinion, the Cowon J3 has absolutely everything that you might need from a player. At least, I won’t immediately mention what I would like to add in it (the necessary _for the player_). Great battery life and great sound are what the player should have in the first place. And J3 has this to the fullest - it’s enough to hear it once (not through the standard headphones) and you will never want to return to “listen from the phone, everything suits”.
As elsewhere, there are drawbacks, but this time they are so insignificant that you can just close your eyes to them. Well, easily soiled body, well, the connector is non-standard ... so what? The connector has its advantages, and the screen is soiled by a cover or sleeve. Even the high price can be “tricked" by taking the youngest model with a large microSD-card inside.
The player has incorporated all the best from the D2 and S9 models - these two models will also surely appeal to most music lovers. But the “marketing path” of the Cowon J3 can be considered a success - it will definitely find its customers, as it once was with all other models. And if upgrading from S9 does not make much sense, then from any other player - I highly recommend it. Thank you also for saying that I advised;)
Success!
