Guide PMP's Comparison

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Hello all, here I am with my latest comparison. Now it’s time for the PMPs. Note that these are my impressions, when I have used these with premier earphones. Atrio M5.Remember I am a very big bass head (even looking to upgrade the M5 for bass).This time the competitors are Cowon D2, Sony NWZA728 and Sandisk Sansa view. Following are the factors that I will look in to now.

1. Audio

2. Video

3. Photo

4. Battery life

5. Build quality

Before we jump in to the details, let me tell you the kind of songs I listen to. I listen to South Indian film songs, All Rahman, Few Hindi film songs (Latest only). I know most of you listen to English songs. But for you all, I listen to Michael Jackson, Enrique and few listed songs here. Thanks to KMD for providing us (TE member through GO’s) the sources.
I know many people have Sony and Sansa with them. I am putting it down here, what I have experienced with the above mentioned players. Remember, you cannot judge the quality, unless you use them. I seriously listened to these before making the judgment.





First contender Cowon D2.

Specs:

• Audio: MP3, Ogg Vorbis, WMA, FLAC, APE, WAV, AAC (only on older firmware versions)

• Video: MPEG4-SP (DivX, XviD, ...), WMV9 - 320 x 240, 30fps

• Photo: JPEG (no size limit)

• Screen: 2.5", 24 bit (16 million) color, 320 x 240, TFT-LCD

• Dimensions: 78.0 x 55.4 x 16.6 mm (3.07 x 2.18 x 0.65 inches)

• Weight: 91 g (3.21 oz)

• Rated battery life: 52 hours for music, 10 hours for video

• Other features: Touch screen, SD/SDHC card slot, TV-out, FM radio, voice/line-in/FM recorder, BBE sound enhancements, user-configurable effect presets, text viewer, date/time/alarm, bookmarks, on-the-go playlist, deleting files on the player, dictionary (only with Korean firmware)





I think everyone knows well about this Great PMP. Here are my opinions.

1. Audio

Cowon is well known for its superior audio quality. Supports much formats than other contenders. I have been using this from the past one and half years and I am a very satisfied user of this. In fact, if the sound of D2 does not suit you, try tweaking with Rock box. You will never miss anything. The bass is Very strong. I listen to the songs with the following settings. As per my taste (Bass head), this is a perfect sounding player. You can work around with the equalizer to suit your taste. Remember, better bit rate will yield you better results. The techies having D2 out there I seriously suggest you to try the rockbox. This thing will bring out the bass details very much than the default firmware. I have my equalizer settings as 60, 80 hz. You will really wonder, listening at the bass detail that you are missing.

Mach bass-10, BBE-2, 3d surround-0, Stereo enhance-2, Mp enhance on

Eq-1 ----80 hz-----> +12

Eq-2 ----230 hz ---> - 7

Eq-3 ----1.4k hz---> 0

Eq-4 ----4.1k hz---> -10

Eq-5-----9k hz-----> 0

I have changed the firmware of D2 to D2+ and now,I have BBE+ effects. The GUI is good. There is an improvement in BASS with D2+.

Audio rating 9/10





2. Video

D2 video is really very good, you can use jet audio to convert the videos. Remember the Audio enhancements holds good for the video as well. The picture is really very clear and you will love the navigation. Just with a touch, you can navigate to the end movie or where ever you want to.

Video rating 8/10





3. Photo

There is no photo size limit with the player. I generally transfer personal photos of about 5mb each and the D2 plays them in 3 seconds. IF the file size is low, it can be played instantaneously. You can use the slide show, Zoom option as well.

Photo rating 9/10





4. Battery life



Seriously, D2 is a champ here. Imagine over 2 days of continuous audio playback with single charge. It will take 3 hrs through wall, 7hrs through USB. I generally charge the player on Sunday evening and use it throughout the week.

Battery rating 10/10





5. Build quality

D2 is really strong. Luckily, I did not drop it more than once or twice. The build quality is really good. As it is touch screen based, use it carefully. I have even not seen any user complaining about the same and have not seen the refurbished players out there either. UI is too good, it never hanged at any time for me. It’s the ugliest among the contenders.

Build quality 9/10.





Total:45/50





Sandisk Sansa view

Specs

• Size: 108.9 x 49.5 x 8.8 mm Weight: 82.2 g

• Screen: 240x320 64K color

• Audio Support: MP3, WMA, AAC, WAV, Audible

• Video Support: MPEG-4, DivX, XviD, WMV, H.264

• Rated Battery: 35 hours audio / 7 hours video

• Photo Support: JPG

• Transfer Protocol: MTP/MSC OS selectable

• Capacities: 8/16/32GB







1. Audio

Well most of the people think that D2 beats sansa in every aspect, but let me tell you for your surprise, sansa has very good sound quality. In fact slightly better I would say. It has got just the equalizer, nothing more but it works very well. I used the following settings.

1st bar - Full

2nd bar- Zero

3rd bar - Center

4th bar - Zero

5th bar - Center.

The sound is too good. Well distributed over the spectrum. Bass is really very good. It really made my M5 drivers work hard.

Audio rating 8.5/10





2. Video

Sansa video disappointed me a bit. No competition at all to D2. Picture doesn’t have the life. It’s dull and the colors are a bit muddy. The good thing is the videos converted for D2 played really well on sansa too.



Video rating 7/10





3. Photo



Photos were played without any problem. They were clear and size limit is applicable here. The HD JPEG photos downloaded were not opened by Sansa.

Photo rating 7/10





4. Battery life

Sansa too have very good battery life. 35 hours for audio and 10hrs for video. No bundled wall charger for this. So keep an eye on the charge in the player before you go out.



Battery rating 8/10





5. Build quality

Sansa is good at the build quality. I think it can with stand a bit stress. The rotate wheel is a big pain. It is unresponsive some times. Player hangs regularly, if you are a frequent song changer. As far as the looks are concerned, it’s really a sexy player. Far better than the images found over net. It a shiny slim beauty.

Build quality 7.5/10.







Total: 38.0/50





Sony NWZA728

Specs

• Format: MPEG 4, M4V

• Playback: Mode: Repeat (On/Off), Continuous Playback (On/Off)

• Equalizer: 5 Band: Heavy/Pop/Jazz/Unique/Custom 1/Custom 2 & Clear Bass

• Format(s) Supported: MP3, WMA, AAC-LC, Linear PCM

• Frequency Response: 20 - 20,000Hz (when playing back data file, single signal measurement)

• Simulated Surround: VPT: Studio/Live/Club/Arena/Matrix/Karaoke

• Backlit Color: 2.4" QVGA TFT display (320x240)

• Battery Charging (Approx.): USB based charging; 3 hours (full charge), 1.5 hours (approx. 80%)

• Battery Life (Approx.): Up to 36 Hours (Music: Approx. 36H Video: Approx. 9.5H)

• Output Power: 5+5mW

• Photo Playback: Yes





1. Audio



I actually used this player to test the quality for just an hour with various songs. The first thing you will notice is the bass. It has good overall spectrum. The bad thing here is the bass is mid bass. The first bar of the equalizer starts at 400Hz.I has got additional effects for it, which makes it sound it better. I really wonder why people will say Sony has good bass (May be due to the bundled earphones). Following is the equalizer setting used. For my taste, I won’t take this.

Band-1- full

Band-2- zero

Band-2- center

Band-2- zero

Band-2- two

Mega Bass -- full.

Audio rating 7.5/10





2. Video

Sony video playback is good. This is better than sansa, but cannot beat the D2. Video is clear, with natural colors. Finding a proper Mp4 converter is a bit tough. One good thing is that you can switch between Portrait and Landscape modes. Over all the video is satisfactory.

Video rating 8/10





3. Photo



Sony too is good at photo playback. The file size holds good here too. Photos are pretty neat and clear.



Photo rating 7/10





4. Battery life

Sony too has very good battery life. 36 hours for audio and 9.5hrs for video. No bundled wall charger for this as well. But one good point here is it can be charged to 80% in one and a half hour.

Battery rating 8.5/10





5. Build quality

Sony is not as good as Sansa and D2 at the build quality. I can say if it’s dropped from the computer table on to the normal marble floor, screen will break easily. It’s really slim. Smallest and slimmest of the three. The UI is fast and neat.

Build quality 8/10.





Total:39/10





Final conclusions

Clearly Cowon D2 wins the contest.

If you do not have budget constraints and look at overall performance, go for Cowon D2.

If you have budget constraints and looking for sound quality go with Sansa view (provided you have good earphones, at least Ep-630).

If you have budget constraints and looking for overall performance go with Sony (Should handle it carefully).
 
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Nice and crisp comparison.. Would surely help me if when I go for PMP shopping :)

It could have been even better with better quality pics :)

None the less nice review :) Waiting for more ;)
 
cowon D2 has been replaced with D2+ which has even better sound quality. The volume has been made a bit little compared to the D2 but overall its almost the same compared toD2 but is better in sound.
 
Yep.. now the sound is awesome, especially the bass. I modded the D2 to D2+ so no sound problems either...
 
anupkumarroy said:
wats a "PMP"
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You deserve to be banned for asking a shitty question like that without reading, oh wait...you are lol

To the OP when you say more bass detail on the D2 by using Rockbox, I want to know what you mean by bass detail? And which headphones did you use for this test? Which headamp? Because if you used the default earphones there's no way you'd be able to tell bass detail apart from say a fart.

If you used the default earphones, then this is an earphone review. The nuances of the D2 will never be tested unless you use reference-grade headphones and an amp.

6pack said:
cowon D2 has been replaced with D2+ which has even better sound quality. The volume has been made a bit little compared to the D2 but overall its almost the same compared toD2 but is better in sound.
Click to expand...

Not sure, but how is the D2+ better than the D2 in terms of sound quality? Just because of the "+"?
 
@Vandal

I am using the player with Atrio M5.

Reg Rock box, it has a customizable equalizer,You can make the 5 band equalizer to be 20,25,30,40,45 hz too.

So this makes a lot of difference to bass. The songs you feel that don't have bass with normal D2, sometimes will sound like the best bass song with rockbox.

One can not compare bass of D2 and d2 with Rockbox.

Yes, the D2+ sounds far better than D2 in bass. If you ever come to Hyderabad, meet me and listen to it. You will notice the difference.
 
Fiddling with the equaliser to get more bass isn't exactly the way to do a review right? You want everything to be as normalised as possible.

You need something better than those canals. They aren't too good with detailing in the mid-range and the highs are rolled off. They're for bassheads, and not even close to reference grade.
 
I want to buy an MP3 player without video (under INR 2500).

Can anyone please suggest, which one will be better among these two : Transcend T sonic 630 and Creative MuVo T-200 ? I am in very much dilemma after reading so much "request of service centers" for T Sonic 630 ! Which is better, T Sonic 630 or 650 ?

Also, as far as I came to know, the Cons. of T-Sonic 630 : 1) Bundled Earphone not good 2) File Transfer rate is slow 3) Minimum sound is bit high & maximum one is bit low (not suitable for crowded area) & also distorted.4) Virus prone 5) UI is bit unintuitive AND for MuVo T-200, Cons : 1) Battery lasts only 3-4 hrs against claimed of 9 hrs. 2) Limited file format support 3) Odd Fm scan 4) Unintuitive menu.

Are all these observations correct ? Can I use AC-USB charger for these two safely ? Is Multitasking supported ? Can I use Creative EP-630 with these two ? What are the present street price of i) T-Sonic 630 ii) MuVo t200 iii) EP-630 ?

So many Q's ! but please do advice :)
 
As per your requirement, i would suggest you the Sandisk Sasa clip as most of the people claim that it has very good sound.

Regarding the battery back up you can not expect much from the little players which are a little bigger than a 5 rupee coin. So For battery back up you must go with sandisk sansa view(35Hrs) by increasing your budget to 3.3K via KMD.

Even if you buy a PMP of 20K you will not get better ear phones, so don't expect on this. Rather spend 7 to 800 and get Ep-630.

Reg UI, Design you will get used to it once you use.File transfers are slow on almost every player. My Cowon D2 and Sansa view gives me about 15kb/s Max .
 
Thanks for the reply :)
I considered about Sansa Clip, too. Every single review says Clip has a great sound quality. But just one thing I didn't like about it that it does not support songs to be grouped by Folder (which both T.Sonic 630 & Muvo t-200 do), instead uses ID3 tag organisation & searching. :huh:
I need a player which must store songs in folders & subfolders. That's why I rejected Clip.
I don't need a huge battery backup but then not as short as 3-4 hrs :( .
Anything above 6-7 hrs. (in real, not according to manual) will do .:)

Some says, EP 830 is better than EP 630 --- is it true ? Yes, I will go for an additional earphone, irrespective of the model I will buy, so that makes by budget over 3K already ! :(

UI is not a big issue for me, yes, after some usage, one should familiar with it. File transfer rate too is not very much important to me.

Actually, I have decided to go for either T. Sonic 630 or MuVo T 200 ; But can't decide which one will be BETTER in terms of performance & reliability :huh:
 
I have never used the T. Sonic 630 or MuVo T 200 or the EP 830. So can not comment on that.

But I have used Creative Stone, Creative Muvo 1Gb one which runs with AAA cell not internal battery and these give you close to 10hrs back up.

Ep 630 is good enough for the players you are getting. once you start listening to any player/earphones you will feel like you are listening to the best pair, until you listen to another player/earphones.

So don't worry much about the selection. Just get the one which you like
 
Thanks again:)

Well, it seems I will have to decide "on the spot" while buying.
If the Sansa Clip would have "Folder" facility, I will not have to think twice before grabbing it !

Anyway, lets hope for the best . :rofl:

I will post my views after getting the product ...
 
Thanks for the great review, nice job.

I also have a cowon D2, and for me, apart from the great sound quality.... the battery life is awesome. I can go on a 10 hour flight and still watch movies and listen to music the whole way without running out of Juice
 
I am confused what to get.I have Itouch and D2 in mind.I might move out of India in quite some time,Cowon doesn't have international warranty,scratching my head from past 3 weeks what to take.I haven't used both of them,will be getting a friend Itouch by this week.Can some on let me know are there any issues with Cowon D2,coz if dies when move out ,i cant get warranty??
 
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