Cowon X7 vs AK120

Author
Discussion

Finlandia

7,803 posts

230 months

Tuesday 19th January 2016
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The Phonaks are hard to find, they have been discontinued for a few years, but every now and then some pop up, in fact there are a few on amazon.com at the moment, they're not cheap though.


telecat

8,528 posts

240 months

Tuesday 19th January 2016
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The Chord Mojo has now appeared as well 32/384 in a tiny package. The HUGO range has grown with the HUGO TT (table top) and the replacement for the QBD76 revealed to be the "DAVE". A HUGE upgrade in price means the DAVE is £7995. The 2Qute with HUGO functionality for a HiFi Syetm is "only" £995 though. For those wanting a "budget" Player an Iphone6 with the ARCAM Musicboost and Onkyo HF player might fit the budget better.

Truffles

577 posts

183 months

Wednesday 20th January 2016
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Podie said:
Not in a huge hurry. I love the SE425s, but they could do with a touch tighter bass. They were vastly improved with the Westone star tips though.

Never managed to find the Phonaks, but all the reviews are brilliant.
I have an AK 100 II and use SE535s. I upgraded from SE425s a while back but I am not sure that I noticed much difference. Recently I have started using Comply Isolation tips, and they make a huge difference. I can hear little external noise now; the Shure tips never really worked with my right ear (although the left was fine). Well worth the (relatively) small price.

Podie

46,630 posts

274 months

Wednesday 20th January 2016
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Truffles said:
Podie said:
Not in a huge hurry. I love the SE425s, but they could do with a touch tighter bass. They were vastly improved with the Westone star tips though.

Never managed to find the Phonaks, but all the reviews are brilliant.
I have an AK 100 II and use SE535s. I upgraded from SE425s a while back but I am not sure that I noticed much difference. Recently I have started using Comply Isolation tips, and they make a huge difference. I can hear little external noise now; the Shure tips never really worked with my right ear (although the left was fine). Well worth the (relatively) small price.
Just spotted my mistake - I have an AK Jr, not an AK100! paperbag

Interesting about the tips - on Finlandia's recommendation I went for Westone star tips. Would completely agree on the Shure tips.

SGirl

Original Poster:

7,918 posts

260 months

Wednesday 20th January 2016
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Podie! Hello. cool

Podie said:
SGirl - what did you end up purchasing?
Lots of things, in the end.

Initially an AK240 and Chord Hugo with Sennheiser HD800s. Then I got the Sennheiser IE 800s as well for listening to the AK when I'm out and about.

And then I discovered some even more interesting equipment, so I swapped to that instead. hehe

The TT is great too - I don't own one, but someone I know does. Rumour has it the Mojo is pretty good too, but I have to let my bank account cool down before even thinking about that! I doubt I'm going to make any more changes in the immediate future, though - I like my current setup. smile

Edited by SGirl on Wednesday 20th January 14:38

Flip Martian

19,512 posts

189 months

Tuesday 26th April 2016
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I finally FINALLY replaced my X7 (pushing the memory card in too hard and losing it inside the case made me think it was time to get something else...) and I bought the Cowon Plenue D. £199 so will no doubt be poopoo'ed by many on here but it sounds damn good on all my material. Not tried 24 bit as I came to the conclusion there was no point - my ears aren't 100% so any difference would be minor. It is compatible with that though.

Impressed with the GUI on the Plenue too - not buggy and seems to work logically, quickly and well. Bit of a first for Cowon. I did want to buy AN Other brand as I was a bit fed up of Cowons but actually it rates better than anything else in its price range (and slightly more). And still has the best battery life.

TX1

2,348 posts

182 months

Tuesday 26th April 2016
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The Plenue D seems to be highly rated, personally have owned a Cowon x5l for many years and it has never given any problems however in my wisdom last month I bought an Ibasso DX80 and for myself its been a big pain as every so often new firmware comes out to fix the things they should have sorted before they put the dam thing on the market.
Have been given the option of changing it and am in two minds whether to change it for a Plenue M however its nearly double the price.
In a bit of a quandary about it as I know the EQ is far superior in the Plenue but soundwise is it better than the DX80 and overall is it worth double.

Flip Martian

19,512 posts

189 months

Tuesday 26th April 2016
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TX1 said:
The Plenue D seems to be highly rated, personally have owned a Cowon x5l for many years and it has never given any problems however in my wisdom last month I bought an Ibasso DX80 and for myself its been a big pain as every so often new firmware comes out to fix the things they should have sorted before they put the dam thing on the market.
Have been given the option of changing it and am in two minds whether to change it for a Plenue M however its nearly double the price.
In a bit of a quandary about it as I know the EQ is far superior in the Plenue but soundwise is it better than the DX80 and overall is it worth double.
Well last year I was on the verge of getting the iBasso. Then when I knackered my player last month I looked at reviews again - and I saw more than once about the iBasso having UI issues or bugs or somesuch. And also other players around that price all had little foibles with their UIs that turned me off. So I'm very pleased with the Cowon - its the first of the 3 I have had that has been impressive out of the box. No UI issues, no quirks - it just works.

As to the sound quality question - may also depend how good your hearing is. I'm almost 52 and I can't honestly imagine anything sounding twice as good, to my ears. It really sounds excellent to me and I've had a lifetime of using decent audio kit.

TX1

2,348 posts

182 months

Tuesday 26th April 2016
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Should have read a few more reviews tbh however I had my heart set on it and not much would have changed my mind at the time but now have a couple of niggles with it so in my wisdom I am looking at something that might please me and shut me up and that is why the Plenue M has caught my eye.
I think I shall wait until the next updated firmware and see if the DX is sorted if not shall look the Cowon way.

Finlandia

7,803 posts

230 months

Tuesday 26th April 2016
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Cowon makes nice players. The iBasso owners with issues should try Rockbox, makes a world of difference. But then, recently I tried the Pioneer XDP-100R, now that is a great player.

TX1

2,348 posts

182 months

Tuesday 26th April 2016
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Unfortunately Rockbox is not compatible with the DX80.

Finlandia

7,803 posts

230 months

Tuesday 26th April 2016
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TX1 said:
Unfortunately Rockbox is not compatible with the DX80.
...yet smile

It is being ported as we speak, not sure how far it has come though.

TX1

2,348 posts

182 months

Tuesday 26th April 2016
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Thats good to hear as tried the Rockbox on a Cowon and its fantastic.

Edited by TX1 on Tuesday 26th April 18:33

SGirl

Original Poster:

7,918 posts

260 months

Tuesday 26th April 2016
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Flip Martian said:
I finally FINALLY replaced my X7(...)

Impressed with the GUI on the Plenue too - not buggy and seems to work logically, quickly and well. Bit of a first for Cowon. I did want to buy AN Other brand as I was a bit fed up of Cowons but actually it rates better than anything else in its price range (and slightly more). And still has the best battery life.
Excellent news, glad you're happy with the replacement. smile What kind of onboard capacity does it have? I know what you mean about the battery life, that's the one thing I miss about my Cowon! It's interesting they've finally sorted the GUI, too - now why didn't they do that in the first place?!

I swapped out the AK240 too, in the end. And the headphones and IEMs. But I don't like to think about it because I'm now very poor. hehe

Finlandia

7,803 posts

230 months

Tuesday 26th April 2016
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SGirl said:
I swapped out the AK240 too, in the end. And the headphones and IEMs. But I don't like to think about it because I'm now very poor. hehe
There has to be a good story here? biggrin

Flip Martian

19,512 posts

189 months

Tuesday 26th April 2016
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Finlandia said:
Cowon makes nice players. The iBasso owners with issues should try Rockbox, makes a world of difference. But then, recently I tried the Pioneer XDP-100R, now that is a great player.
The Pioneer was interesting to me too but a bit out of my price range!

Flip Martian

19,512 posts

189 months

Tuesday 26th April 2016
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SGirl said:
Excellent news, glad you're happy with the replacement. smile What kind of onboard capacity does it have? I know what you mean about the battery life, that's the one thing I miss about my Cowon! It's interesting they've finally sorted the GUI, too - now why didn't they do that in the first place?!

I swapped out the AK240 too, in the end. And the headphones and IEMs. But I don't like to think about it because I'm now very poor. hehe
You? Poor?! Never! wink what was wrong with the AK240?

The cowon has 32gb on board and an expansion slot that takes up to 128gb on a card. Once it's read and indexed the card, access time is indistinguishable. And it's tiny too but the screen is good. Very happy with it.

SGirl

Original Poster:

7,918 posts

260 months

Wednesday 27th April 2016
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Finlandia said:
There has to be a good story here? biggrin
Yeah. The law of "well, that's good but ooh look! There's something even better..." hehe

Flip Martian said:
You? Poor?! Never! wink what was wrong with the AK240?
Nothing at all, I still use it and it's still great. But to get the best out of it, you need an amp. The Hugo is outstanding, but it's big by comparison and the two together are a hefty lump. I thought of swapping the Hugo for a Mojo instead, but then Astell & Kern came out with a better option...

Flip Martian said:
The cowon has 32gb on board and an expansion slot that takes up to 128gb on a card. Once it's read and indexed the card, access time is indistinguishable. And it's tiny too but the screen is good. Very happy with it.
That sounds good - 32GB for your must-haves, 128GB swappable depending on your mood. I'm still amazed at the thought of a Cowon with a decent GUI, I'd never have replaced mine if the GUI had been any good. It's really good to hear they might be heading in the right direction at last.

I think add-on cards are a great idea. That was always my problem with the iPod - no add-on storage. I was really annoyed with Apple when they reduced the capacity of their biggest iPod, I couldn't get my whole collection on one!

Flip Martian

19,512 posts

189 months

Wednesday 27th April 2016
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SGirl said:
That sounds good - 32GB for your must-haves, 128GB swappable depending on your mood. I'm still amazed at the thought of a Cowon with a decent GUI, I'd never have replaced mine if the GUI had been any good. It's really good to hear they might be heading in the right direction at last.

I think add-on cards are a great idea. That was always my problem with the iPod - no add-on storage. I was really annoyed with Apple when they reduced the capacity of their biggest iPod, I couldn't get my whole collection on one!
I made a mistake earlier - it was my X9 I had to replace. The X7 of course bricked a couple of years ago...

Anyway, yes - while the X7 had a big HDD, I think players should always be expandable; especially 24 bit compatible ones.

There IS still a database limit on the Cowon of so many thousand files - guessing its indexing routine starts to weep once over the limit! But I have a lot of music, and many internet radio shows and live gig remasters I've done, so at least now I can have cards for each and get to play them without a lot of faffing about. And having picked up a kosher sandisk 128gb card for just over 20 quid, it really is a no brainer.

I might have KNOWN you just went out and bought another player...you should perhaps think about opening a museum for them... wink

Podie

46,630 posts

274 months

Wednesday 27th April 2016
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Still loving the AK Jr, but an AK100 II is calling... trouble is, my use is on the train - will I really get much benefit?