Cowon C2

[el maco]

Originally Posted by dfkt

No worries, my C2 is on its way.

Be sure to share your initial impressions once you get it

I'm desperately in the need of a new PMP... I already thought I'll pass the C2 by because of the (presumably) lackluster resistive touchscreen etc but somehow its difficult to find even one remotely interesting mp3 player in the market right now; so I guess this one goes back to the very short list of possibilities...

Edit: at least engadget seems to like it: http://www.engadget.com/2011/06/26/c...player-review/

[CrowdAds]

[lebellium]

I just finished writing my review of the Cowon C2 that should have been published 2 months ago....

Review in French
Google translation

Of course the google translation doesn't make any sense as usual but don't worry, the ABI review by dfkt is coming

[The DarkSide]

Still, thanks lebellium!!!

[Marvin the Martian]

Thanks lebellium!
I suspect your playback time would have been a little bit closer to the advertised 55 hours if your screen settings were more like mine. You test at max brightness and time off one minute....I keep my brightness usually at one-third (or less at night and indoors) and my time off at 30 seconds.

I'm sure 55 hours is still a bit of an exaggeration though.

[tienbasse]

Thanks for the review!

Still, I really don't see the point of this player, the only difference with a D2 is gapless (a plus). Micro SD isn't a progress over the good old SDHC, especially speed-wise for copying music.

That being said, it may be a good investment for people looking for a D2-like player (I still have my D2 16Gb, and I really find the form factor to be good, I prefer a small brick over the usual mobile phone shape). And the battery life is just unreal, as for D2 (and is certainly helped by the resistive touchscreen, which is more than enough for music).

Too bad it doesn't come in 32Gb or even 64Gb, I'm really disappointed by Cowon in that regard, they don't have a single 64Gb player, and their main players with hard drives really suck (x7 anyone?).

And they still have to learn from Sony or Samsung quality-wise (my Sony A847 or my Samsung R1, despite their numerous software defects, share a flawless build quality).

[lebellium]

Originally Posted by Marvin the Martian

Thanks lebellium!
I suspect your playback time would have been a little bit closer to the advertised 55 hours if your screen settings were more like mine. You test at max brightness and time off one minute....I keep my brightness usually at one-third (or less at night and indoors) and my time off at 30 seconds.

I'm sure 55 hours is still a bit of an exaggeration though.

The reason is easy: I don't listen to the music when I measure the battery life (I can't listen to music for 41hrs continuously^^). That also means I don't really use the player, I can't stay just next to the player during 41h and turn on the display every half hour!!
When I normally use a mp3 player, I often turn on the display to skip the song or to play another album etc...
SO setting max brightness and display off time 1min is just the best way I found to compensate for a normal use where I use the display more often.

Hope that makes sense

Oh and of course, like any manufacturer, they measured battery life with MP3 CBR 128kbps ...that sucks
So no, it's impossible to reach 55hrs in normal and acceptable conditions

@tienbasse: I totally agree

[musichound]

Originally Posted by tienbasse

Too bad it doesn't come in 32Gb or even 64Gb, I'm really disappointed by Cowon in that regard, they don't have a single 64Gb player, and their main players with hard drives really suck (x7 anyone?).

I beg to differ. Save for some manual database refreshes, I've had nothing but good experiences with my X7, and I've had it for about 6 months.

[tienbasse]

Originally Posted by musichound

I beg to differ. Save for some manual database refreshes, I've had nothing but good experiences with my X7, and I've had it for about 6 months.

Each has his/her own expectations for hardware.
I found the x7 way too big when opposed to an iPod Classic 160Gb.
Database issues are a no go for me, I load/unload sh**loads of stuff every week.

And I have yet to see a Cowon player building a 64Gb database as fast my Sony A847 (I even once tried to load it in one go, it booted like a charm and it took only a minute to build the database [~7500 tracks]). It also boots way quicker for normal use (~5-6s).

The only things which keeps me coming back to Cowon is the massive battery life (the A847, despite its classy built and its very nice sound signature [better than my D2 for mids], has a miserable battery life.... of 8-9 hours).
Luckily, my D2 is still working fine for long trips and trekking, and with a nice white leather cover, it can take steep falls. Best investment ever (4 years old).

[Xinz]

My D2+ is a brick also. Beside being drowned, I think it has survived almost everything

[Confispect]

There's something called sleep use it.

[TimYoung]

I bought my Cowon C2 just now. Really needed another mp3 player and just saw advancemp3player.com had it in stock today. They were suppose to get stock on the 11th but seems like they got their stock early.

Also got a Fiio e9 amp to boot as well so should get them this Friday. Give an impression of them maybe this weekend if I get them before then.