Official ABI Cowon J3 Review

[Marvin the Martian]

Originally Posted by manulm

Very nice review, the player deserves it.
I share the view on the audio quality which is really good.
I have a different view on the build quality. I have, and I read from other users, that the player has some corner lifting on the lower right corner of the screen. This is seriouly dissapointing. My D2 feels much stronger (while 4 yrs older).

I opened the player, and realized the build is actually nothing fantastic. Normal catchers, the metal frame around the screen is actually plastic and will turn white sooner or later.
Inside, there is a battery of 3.7V & 1120mAH. A Telechips Application processor, a Micron Flash, Hynix RAM, and wolfson 8960.

How about some pictures?

[CrowdAds]

[manulm]

you can take a look here, (these are not my pictures)
http://iaudiophile.net/forums/showth...105#post294105

[Marvin the Martian]

Originally Posted by manulm

you can take a look here, (these are not my pictures)
http://iaudiophile.net/forums/showth...105#post294105

Thanks!

[The DarkSide]

The inside of the device looks quite clean and well put together - a rather professional job IMO. As for the review, what can I say - it's dfkt's normal excellence.

[IDvsEGO]

does anyone know if the mentioned cell phone chargers work with the J3? a car charger could be useful for me.

[dfkt]

You can use any USB car charger, just use the stock USB cable that comes with the J3.

[IDvsEGO]

there is the problem...I want to leave my cable at my desk at home. Right now I carry it in my laptop bag but I occasionally leave it at work and cant transfer any music until I go back. luckily the charge lasts a while. The replacement cables are like $10 so I was trying to find a cheaper, local solution.

[dfkt]

In that case, I'm sure you find a Samsung/LG charger that works with it.

[manulm]

It does, I tried it
just need to make sure you use the 20 pins connector kind of cable/charger. I mean by that not ANY LG/Samsung charger will do the job, as both manufacturer also use other connectors, like µUSB ... That might sound obvious but well, just don't order any LG/Samsung charger.

EDIT:
ouch I have to correct that, sorry: it actually does not work.
I had tried the other way round: the Cowon cable fits in samsung phones.
But the Samsung phone connector is wider and does not fit. I tried a few chargers / headsets, none of them fits the J3 connector!

You may want to be carefull with that and not try to fit in a Samsung phone your Cowon cable.
I also tried on a couple of LG phones, they do not have the same connector either (looks similar but has less pins than Samsung and is not as wide, 22 pins on LG, 27 pins on Samsung side).

[meanwhile]

Originally Posted by dfkt

In that case, I'm sure you find a Samsung/LG charger that works with it.

WARNING!!!
Someone damaged their J3 the other day by using a Samsung phone cable that fit physically but which delivered the wrong voltage to some pin:

http://anythingbutipod.com/forum/showthread.php?t=67967

Now the player will charge, but it will no longer connect to USB for file transfer.

[meanwhile]

Also: I always liked my J3 a lot and considered it worth the extra cost over my Clip+, but until today I didn't have any idea of its real potential. Which is as a music delivery system for a Sennhieser HD25-1ii. Wow.

[The DarkSide]

Please use the edit button, unless it's either a few days later - or someone has posted below your last post. Thanks,...

[thephoenix]

@ dfkt , odd question probably, but since i see you re still using your X5 next to the J3, how do these 2 compare ? (i assume there is a reason you still havent retired the X5 ..)


i still have my M3 (i think the X5 hardly differs sound-wise, only tried one aaages ago), although i have to admit to mostly using my Fuze (or Clip) or even my phone due to convenience. However i still like the M3's sound best.

[dfkt]

The reason I use the X5 is that it has Rockbox support, sporting many features that are missing from Cowon's firmwares. I also ditched the HDD and put a 32GB Compact Flash card in it, which helps tremendously with speed and battery life. If the J3 had a Rockbox port, I could die happy...

I don't notice any audible differences between these players, they drive all my phones equally well.