D2 vs D2+, Which one???

[dfkt]

The 4-star or the 1-star review?

[CrowdAds]

[coolbluewater]

4 star

[The DarkSide]

Heh, nice review coolbluewater.

[rlight]

Well done.

[grantedman]

I'm the 1 star review guy. I can tell you I spent plenty of time with and still cannot get it to work properly, including time both on this forum and iaudiophile.net. I do not appreciate the ad hominem attack, nor the fact that people on this forum are supportive of the attack. You can read on both forums that other people have had plenty of problems with Cowon products.

If you've had a good experience, which it sounds like, you're free to write about it. Likewise, if people have very negative experiences, they're free to write about it, too. Don't go dismissing other people and making false statements just because they don't agree with you.

[coolbluewater]

False statements? ...attacks?? I've read the comments to your review at Amazon, and they're mostly spot-on, IMO.

I have zero issues with my D2+... but then again, I did alot of thread research before I bought it. For some users to have minimal issues via research and for others who are seemingly defeated - well, the hardware isn't magically different for each person. Cowon isn't a large company like Apple; most people who buy a Cowon product should plan on doing some homework. For me though, the experience is fun and has been worth it.

[The DarkSide]

Besides, grantedman, did it ever occur to you that you may have gotten a lemon? Every company has the occasional "flub" manage to sneak out. I would suggest that you exchange it for another D2+, or another player altogether if you dislike it so.

FWIW, I'm actually on my 2nd D2, as I had issues w/the first (video sync, ID3 probs) that a re-flash of FW did nothing to resolve. I've had this 1 for a year come the 4th of April, and I'll have it for at least another year. So I had a lemon as well, but I didn't trash EVERY D2 that came out of the shop, or tell everyone it's crap cause I had issues w/it. I just tried again and been happy ever since!!!

PS: MoreMono V1.2 FTW!!!!

[grantedman]

Originally Posted by coolbluewater

I've read the comments to your review at Amazon, and they're mostly spot-on, IMO.

Almost all of those comments were laughably wrong. Let's look at a handful of them:

• "its [sic] not a video player" (then why does it advertise itself as one?)
• "Cowon has more video codecs supported than the majority of companies out there" (it supports WMV and XviD, and doesn't even support AVI correctly due to using timestamps rather than frame counts for synchronization)
• (paraphrased) "you're encoding it wrong, so don't blame the device" (I'm using the official converter. How is that not Cowon's fault?)
• Your comment that I didn't give the device enough time (How long am I supposed to spend then trying to get it to work before giving up on it? 40 hours? 100 hours?)

Look at the advice given in those comments, like "upload your music in small batches (10 albums per upload) and after each upload turn the D2+ off (make sure you wait until it's really turned off). Turn it back on and alllow [sic] it to refresh its database. then repeat the process." If you really need to do this to get your device to work, then your device needs voodoo. And I don't mean hocus-pocus-voodoo, I mean dancing-around-with-a-dead-chicken-voodoo.

This is a device that can't handle MP3s transferred in MSC mode without third party programs. That speaks mountains about it.

Darkside, I would exchange it and entertain the fact that it might be a lemon, except for every problem I've run across (except XviD decoder artifacts, although I haven't investigated this problem yet since I'm still struggling with audio/video sync issues), they're well documented problems with the device. So even if I exchange it, it's still going to have problems.

[coolbluewater]

Sometimes ya gotta think outside the box to get things done - the D2+ is basically the same hardware as the D2, and I'm not the only one here that thinks highly of it:
http://www.anythingbutipod.com/archi...rs-of-2008.php

I'm sorry to hear yours wasn't as pleasurable - maybe The DarkSide's right and you received a lemon; it's possible.
I've also upgraded to 3.02 FW immediately after charging it initially and was able to copy 5+GB of FLAC on the first go without issue. Go figure. The videos I've encoded for my Zen (@25FPS) play on the D2+ with no sync or artifact issues either - even though the D2+ says it's rated for 30FPS. I used CloneDVD Mobile from DVD rips, since I already purchased it for the Zen beforehand (I haven't tried using the Cowon software).
As for myself though, the only thing I don't like about the D2+ is it's FM reception - the Clip's FM reception is better IMO.

P.S. - I'm also a member at iAudiophile and Head-fi.

[denox]

Hi Cool,
I saw on your sig you have d2+ and clip.
Which two sound better? D2 or Clip

[coolbluewater]

@ Denox - the D2+ by a long shot (and the Clip sounds pretty damn good).

[BigJoe309]

Have been looking for a while since my Zen Mirco(*) died and have settled on the D2 (/D2+) - I seem to be moving towards the D2 - a better buy - power adaptor and possible D2+ FM hack and the metal casing?

In the absence of any docking station I assume I can plug it into my HiFi Amp and listen to MP3s through that? My CD collection is in a different hemisphere to the ripped MP3 (c 85Gb) and occasionally my other half wants to listen as well

I am also tempted to buy the smaller (4Gb?) D2 as I can supplement with SDHC Cards and the rest of the machine is the same.

Is the power adptr needed or does the USB cable do the job? Is it a dedicated adptr or can I go generic (I have so may things that need them was thinking of getting one of those one plug many adptr gizmos).

* I tried to get Creative to talk me through repairing as I think it was a s/w not h/w problem and with the right files I could have revived it but they seemed more interested in pushnig me to their buy a new one site

[denox]

Cool, thanks for the reply.
I owned D2 before and bass is not high and deep is good but not deep enough.
Do you think clip has better and deeper bass? I am looking for device that have deep bass. I use audeo PFE as earphone.

[Mujlza]

I've been reading through this thread now, and it occured to me that no one has commented the DAB. With the original D2 it was possible to buy 16 GB and DAB in the same player, but with the D2+ you have to choose between 8 GB with DAB or 16 GB without it. It is atleast not possible to get both on the new device in Norway.

[Flamin_Spirit]

look at the last post date, 4/22/09 this thread is more or less dead.

With the file limit and the SD slot 8gb vs 16gb isn't a big deal

[skybluedream]

Are both the D2 & D2+ MTP or UMS devices? Can you select either of the two modes for them?

[Flamin_Spirit]

yes, and again, necrothread

[The DarkSide]

Originally Posted by skybluedream

Are both the D2 & D2+ MTP or UMS devices? Can you select either of the two modes for them?

You can use either MTP or MSC, it's selectable in the "Settings" menu.

[York]

Hi, I am looking to buy my first mp3 player and after reading and googling to decide which D2 model to buy. I am leaning towards a refurbished D2 8GB for about $107. Is this a good price? I am also looking at possibly used or refurbished D2 16gb thru ebay.
*I was reading that "there are two flavors of D2 with DBA and without" what is this?
Too bad newegg is out of D2s I preferr the metal trim and since there are no hardware differences between D2 & D2+.
What would you advise given the used and/or refurbished purchasing options?

[The DarkSide]

Cowon D2 16 GB

It's not in stock atm, but you can be notified when it is.