Cowon J3 16GB review

I'd be interested in knowing what audio files you used to review the J3?
My experience is that it sounds superior to the iPod/Phone/Touch playing regular MP3 etc.
When this player comes into its own, is when you listen to lossless music such as FLAC. Not everyone will do this, but for those that do, its an excellent little player.

As for marking down a device because the earphones are poor. Of course we need to recognise if the ones provided are rubbish, but when will reviewers rate units according to a standard set of 'phones?
That way we know what the reference point is which makes it easier to judge each device more accurately.

By thatchampaul on 3 Aug 2010

unfair comments on audio

Not just the flac files but I've also compared the same music (a regular mp3 file) on an Ipod and on the J3 with my Sennheiser headphones, and Ipod was not even close to J3 on sound quality.
When you make the EQ adjustments it's just incredible.
I am not a real audiophile but I always try to look for the best possible alternative when it comes to listening to the music and iPhone or iPod could never satisfy me on that matter.
Seems to me, this review was made by another apple fan!

By keci06 on 10 Aug 2010

unfair comments on audio

Not just the flac files but I've also compared the same music (a regular mp3 file) on an Ipod and on the J3 with my Sennheiser headphones, and Ipod was not even close to J3 on sound quality.
When you make the EQ adjustments it's just incredible.
I am not a real audiophile but I always try to look for the best possible alternative when it comes to listening to the music and iPhone or iPod could never satisfy me on that matter.
Seems to me, this review was made by another apple fan!

By keci06 on 10 Aug 2010

misleading "Amateur" review

I have been listening to mobile
devices since 1984 from cassette to hi-md and now mp3
using high end earphones there is no contest between
ipod and cowon .The Cowon is
far superior clearer and is
has a much more powerful sound.The equaliser can be
user defined along with various settings for enhancement that completely
change the sound to suit you.
As far as bass is concerned
as the so-called expert reviewer slated if you just
move the low frequency equaliser setting or if thats
not enough (it will blow your ears on full) you have the mach 3 bass enhancement as well and for clarity you have
the bbe enhancement setting
but even without these settings it makes the ipod touch that i own sound muddy.
Don't get mislead by reviewers like this just type
in cowon j3 review on google
and you'll see the majority
of reviewers and audiophiles
agree that nothing can touch
this player for sound quality
and for me this is the playing i have been wishing
for since 1984.

By numbet on 29 Aug 2010

terrible review

i signed up to add my disapproval at this review, its absolute rubbish, written by an obvious mac fan (or taker of backhanders hence my username)

the j3 has astounding audio quality, cowon is renowned for it.

yes the included headphones are cheap, cowon understands that XaudiophilesX prefer to buy high quality, even custom headphones/earphones, some of which cost more than the player itself.

and its quite obvious the reviewer has only tried one more set of earphones, probably poorly fitting ones (which explains the bass issue) that he has borrowed from somebody.
the fact they dont own a quality set speaks volumes as you could never appreciate high end headphones using any apple product. (writting this on one of the latest macs and have also listened to gf's ipod, both seriously lack quality dsp.

if you want an honest and proffesional review, and hundreds of user reviews then look for one of the two leading forums regarding cowon players and high end audio products, the above X highlighted word is a huge clue.

never ever trust this idiots review and most likley this websites.

this guy needs to be sacked, and i would be more than happy to take his place, i know for sure i could do a better job of it. ^^

By backhanderssuck on 24 Jan 2011

Excellent player

I bouuhgt the J3 to replace a much loved D2 which suffered in a cycling accident. Teh J3 is even better with better detail, even 128kbs MP3s sound moer detailed on the J£ than on other players, I believe due to the headphone amp stage and DAC being particularly good. I also think this is responsible for the 'lack of bass' comments. I don't find it lacks bass, it is just far tighter and more controlled, it doesn't sound like a poorly designed reflex speaker with uncontrolled rumbling.
in my experience it has tightened up and improved teh bottom end on both large, low sensitivity HiFi 'phones and my PX100s and sounds good on classical, Grime and anything else I fling through it although it does expose bad recordings for what they are, that said the preset EQ is unbeatable and will make a goodf job of tidying things up.
Finally, I believe the reviewer wrote what he heard, I believe also that he is an inexperienced user and rather musically naive.

By timmoss on 2 Feb 2011

Only thing to say.

The name of this page is tottaly wrong, it should be: Noob's Reviews & expert user comments.
The person who edited this threat is a apple lover, only that and this man or woman isn't objective well known in audio "AREA"

By Nicoclass on 12 Dec 2011

lacks the hype !

being an audiophile, i CAN VOUCH that this player is just fantastic. i've used ipod touch, ipod classic, iriver, creative and sony over the past few years. in terms of sound quality only Sony Walkman NWZ-A728 was on par with j3 esp with the premium headphones supplied by sony. as for ipod touch its audio quality and video quality doesn't come anywhere close to j3. i used a eshure headphones for all the above mentioned and a lifetron mini speakers to test the clarity. on every front j3 scored over ipod touch including a spectacular battery life and external memory support. the other thing that made me choose this player was also its ease of drag and drop without the need for a proprietary software like itunes which i feel is terrible. some of the reviews of ipod seems to be more of a apple lover than an independent reviewer.

ravi_india

By ravi_india on 13 Feb 2012

I registered just to dislike this review

The cowon J3 sound quality is fantastic, as is the ability to simply drag and drop my audio files of all types on to the device. Ipod classics have better sound quality than most of the ipod touch generation, the cowon J3 even better than that. And why on earth would an expert review give a shit about the standard issue earphones? this is absolute amateur hour, sadly, one of the first reviews on google search.

By botard on 9 May 2012

oh and..

you pay way more per gig on an Ipod than most other media devices, the j3's micro sd card is a fantastic selling feature, poorly ended review.

By botard on 9 May 2012