Is the Cowon J3 the 'no compromise' player?

[Psychochink]

I originally posted this in the general section, but it occurred that this might be the better place to put it...

So I've been researching around this site and others, and from what I can tell I think it's right to say that if you want the best PMP without compromising on SQ at all, that the Cowon J3 is the one to go for?

I ask because I'm seriously considering picking up a pair of custom IEMs (something from the JH Audio range) in the near future, and there's no point having great earphones if the source isn't as good as it can be.

I guess a follow up question if the answer is 'yes' is whether the J3 benefits much from adding a portable amp - and if so, how much, and what would a decent one be (assuming I don't get carried away, forget that I really shouldn't spend that much money and get the JH-3A/JH-16 Pro combo)?

[CrowdAds]

[dfkt]

The J3 works very well with super-sensitive custom IEMs, it's one of the players with the least background hiss, and very low output impedance. No, you don't need an amp with it, it drives such IEMs just fine on its own. Most amps will rather add more hiss than showing some audible improvements in sound quality.