Collected S9 reviews by other sites

[ZEROSKI]

http://www.engadget.com/2008/12/29/cowon-s9-review/

Wow, donald bell fron cnet and now engadget say the s9 is cheaply built. I can't agree, it is put together with screws instead of being pressed together. It has scratch resistant glass like the ipod touch. The buttons feel just right. It uses some really high quality plastic, and has steel reinforcements on each side ( I opened mine up). The board looks just fantastic, and with the type of plastic the used I can set it down without it becoming a scratched up mess. Like my touch back would if I didn't keep it in a case 24/7. Yes it's light, but seems a high quality build, in fact better than most,

Also the lightness would help in a fall, less density. If you look closely on the left side you can see part of the metal frame thats on the inside. Also they had some kind of interference shield? on the inside of the back cover that I've never seen on a dap.

pic of PCP:


the inside of the back cover



S9 screen of aqua teen hunger force


touch image of ATHF


view of both at angle

[Uphaillife]

"The lack of a "home" or "back" button on the front panel means that moving back within the menu system requires screen presses, and that means pressing a ridiculously small "M" button rather than just mashing a dedicated hardware control to escape whatever mess you're in. "

please hold the play button before coming to conclusions. thanks.

[Cowon#1]

Yeah what I can't figure out is just because it is light does that mean it is cheaply built?? I mean what do they want it to be made out of steel and weigh 600 pounds....I'd much rather it be light weight.

Not a bad review though...

[Claw]

I agree - though it is plastic the build quality is nearly the best I've ever seen. People comment on P2 build quality a lot - but the two segments of it are held together by glue - and mine was coming apart. S9's build is superb - at least so far.

[doomlordis]

Great photo, the dac is visable wm8750s, a quality wolfson as expected!

[Claw]

Originally Posted by doomlordis

Great photo, the dac is visible wm8750s, a quality wolfson as expected!

Not sure that means anything considering iTouch and newer ipods use the same exact DAC.

[doomlordis]

Originally Posted by Claw

Not sure that means anything considering iTouch and newer ipods use the same exact DAC.

New ipods use cirrus logic chips (some people say that these are inferior to the old wolfson in the 5.5g ipod, others disagree).

You are right though , you can make a good DAC sound bad, you cant however make a bad DAC sound good so its always nice to have a good starting point.

[doomlordis]

http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/12..._pmp_cowon_s9/

About the best review i have read.

[iPoo]

They say the sound quality is on the same level as the iTouch. Blasphemy

[doomlordis]

The touch gets a bad rap to be honest, i have had one for nearly a year , i also have a clip and x5 and a few others.
The Touch has a little hiss when paired with sensitive phones, other than that it is hard to fault. The clip has a wider soundstage and the X5 is more analogue sounding but the touch has nice bass and the detail in the high frequencies is stellar, it does however get muddled with some complex passages.
One good thing about the Touch is the line out, through my Cambridge Audio Dock to my amp it sounds really really good with lossless, i mean cd good.
I need to get an S9 , Amp3 shop is closed until 5th Jan damn it!

[Juxxy]

They made some really odd comments, they said the screen was resistive? And on top of that some of those press shots see the screen stretched to the corners of the device.

[ronnie]

Originally Posted by doomlordis

http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/12..._pmp_cowon_s9/

About the best review i have read.

well hard to say its the best review... cause i noticed they got so many things wrong about the player.. and plus they've been using th 2.02 firmware version..
and they say for sound - "nothing to choose from S9 and the touch " .. huh !?! i don't think you'll find anybody who'll second that..

[mgz]

doesnt the european version by default have a volume limiter on it, not sure to what extent that would limit volume sound or what. Which means if your comparing sound quality of all units ide assume you would do so at various volumes presumably loudest being one the the things you would check, Being able to play things louder then its competitor is a big thing for many people who either like their music very loud, or just listen in crowded places like a subway or bus ect.

[dfkt]

Originally Posted by mgz

doesnt the european version by default have a volume limiter on it, not sure to what extent that would limit volume sound or what. Which means if your comparing sound quality of all units ide assume you would do so at various volumes presumably loudest being one the the things you would check, Being able to play things louder then its competitor is a big thing for many people who either like their music very loud, or just listen in crowded places like a subway or bus ect.

With Cowon players you usually don't have to choose "Europe" on the first startup to "fix" this annoyance.

[DaremoS]

Originally Posted by doomlordis

Great photo, the dac is visable wm8750s, a quality wolfson as expected!

Indeed if S9 is using WM8750S will bring a great sound... but... this is a less expensive DAC than the one used in Cowon D2, WM8985, which is (was?) the top of the line of Wolfson DACs.

This WM8750S was used in past year in Chinese players like Onda VX858, Meizu M6SL. Oppo Vx and some Korean players like Samsung YP and iRiver B20... I can assure that the Chinese player brings a excellent sound thanks to this DAC. No idea of Korean players (BTW: iRiver X20 sound is simply poor). Then in this aspect there a reduction in costs but not in quality. Wolfson assures quality

Originally Posted by Claw

Not sure that means anything considering iTouch and newer ipods use the same exact DAC.

It's not the same DAC... in iPhone was used something called APPLE 338S0506 which is a Wolfson WM6180C. In Touch Wolfson WM87588. In iPod nano 3G there is APPLE 338S0462 AKA Wolfson WM1870. In iPod Nano 4G there is no Wolfson visible.

The only iPod that uses WM8750S was iPod Nano 2G.

Anyway this of SQ is a very personnal appreciation or in iPods Chinese engineer just put the chip and doesn't do any customization to bring a better sound.

Concerning S9 sound quality it's important the way Cowon integrate BBE+ new technology with WM8750S.

[The DarkSide]

Nice pic ZEROSKI, and I'm glad to hear a few positive comments for a change.

[Olley]

I find the red patch wire the most interesting thing. It usually means that production run was missing a trace. It may explain the late rumors the S9 would be delayed. A fix was found (the red wire) and so one more pass through the a soldering line and the S9 was back on schedule. Just a theory.

[dfkt]

Trusted Reviews Cowon S9 Review - one of the sites I personally... trust.

[Olley]

A quick Google search for "Cowon S9 Review" picked up a few more reviews for those interested:
T3
ElectronicsInfoLine
Head-fi

I ignored any that were just repeats of previous one or didn't use original photos. After the first page of Google you end up with sites that simply posted engadget's photo and their own summary. Have fun.