Reformating?..Starting from scratch...

[remerone]

so how do i delete everything from my cowon s9 and go back to original uci and factory settings...i wanna delete all my music and the g2 uci thats installed.. is this possible.

[CrowdAds]

[ultrauber]

Absolutely. First, go to setting/system, then set load defaults to on. You might have to restart. Now plug it in and format in windows, fat32.

[remerone]

when you say format in windows you mean right-click on cowon internal storage icon and click format, right?

[xenarchi]

that is what he is saying, yes.

[ultrauber]

waitwaitwaitwait. put it in msc mode first (setting, system, usb mode, msc) then format in widows, as you said. Then load defaults. wrong order, sorry

[Curiouss]

Why can't you just format from the S9?

[ultrauber]

The s9 doesn't have a a format option in the settings, unfortunately.

[Curiouss]

oh wow.............. O_O

[Tassie Devil]

Hi everyone.

New to this interesting forum (first post) and a new S9 owner - a used unit arrived yesterday. It came with an FiiO E3 headphone amplifier & a nice protector case.

So I need to update firmware, reformat the card and set it up for recording highest quality classical music. I will aso put a few family pictures on it but no movies. I understand that FLAC is the best format to use but I'm completely ignorant about it (& a heap of other things too!).

Links to appropriate posts, hints etc on the most efficient way to set it up all gratefully received.

I'm a retired audio-video nutter, paranoid about audio quality - why I'm switching from the (also very good) Samsung TH-J70 to the Cowan S9. My wife can have the Samsung.

TIA

John from down under

[jtm33]

I believe that the S9 supports FLAC normally. Keep in mind that FLAC is a lossless codec (no audio quality loss in encoding), hence why it is considered the "best" format in many cases relating to getting the best sound quality. However, what format is "best" will not always come down to sound quality and lossless codecs. A typical FLAC file will have a bitrate of around 1000kbps, compared to typical MP3 files with bitrates of 128kbps - 320kbps. Now this mean that a typical FLAC file will be at least triple the size of an MP3.

MP3 files are lossy, this means that there an some audio quality loss during encoding to keep the quality down, however the loss is not very significant and depending on what headphones/player you use the difference is hard to notice. You need to make a compromise between sound quality and file size, but don't be afraid to use MP3s, the compromise is good.

To get your music into FLAC, you will need to recode all of your music.

[remerone]

Originally Posted by ultrauber

waitwaitwaitwait. put it in msc mode first (setting, system, usb mode, msc) then format in widows, as you said. Then load defaults. wrong order, sorry

yeah i figured that the mode mattered, thanks for clarification.

[Tassie Devil]

Originally Posted by jtm33

I believe that the S9 supports FLAC normally. Keep in mind that FLAC is a lossless codec (no audio quality loss in encoding), hence why it is considered the "best" format in many cases relating to getting the best sound quality. However, what format is "best" will not always come down to sound quality and lossless codecs. A typical FLAC file will have a bitrate of around 1000kbps, compared to typical MP3 files with bitrates of 128kbps - 320kbps. Now this mean that a typical FLAC file will be at least triple the size of an MP3.

MP3 files are lossy, this means that there an some audio quality loss during encoding to keep the quality down, however the loss is not very significant and depending on what headphones/player you use the difference is hard to notice. You need to make a compromise between sound quality and file size, but don't be afraid to use MP3s, the compromise is good.

To get your music into FLAC, you will need to recode all of your music.

Thanks for your helpful response.

I see there are a variety of programs to convert CD audio into FLAC files with EAC being the best, but most complex & not so easy to use.

Only being moderately computer literate I'm hesitating and wondering if it will be worth the bother. Add in that at 74 my ears are no longer pristine I'm coming around to thinking MP3 might indeed be the most sensible choice.

I just sucessfully installed firmware 2.51 so am ready to roll. Also printed out the manual but it is not very helpful about how to install music files, jpegs etc. Is there a step by step set of instructions somewhere to help? I have all the necessary gear on this computer and years ago put in heaps of music files (.ogg from memory) into the Samsung but that required downloading the appropriate software first.

So, if I go ahead with simple MP3, what will I need? Please excuse my ignorance.

TIA

John from down under.