External mic + pre-amp ?

[Creuz]

Hi, I can chime in with a suggestion.
I use an old Pioneer SK31 cassette boom box to record jam sessions with my S9. I Set the tape recorder to pause / record, then plug the S9's line in to the headphone jack of the boombox - and monitor with a pair of headphones plugged into the S9.
There's several advantages to this: The automatic level control on the SK31 keeps the Cowon from distorting at peak levels and I can use the bass, treble, balance, & volume level controls to tweak the sound quality, plus quality vintage boomboxes are easy to come by. I have the volume on my blaster set to 10 o'clock, and the Cowon input volume set to 3.
It works great and I will post a link to some recording samples if anyone wants.
Cheers
Rick