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Cowon iAudio U5 Now Available, See it in action
comment: 22 | Thursday, January 10 (2008) 11:50PM | Posted by Michael
Perhaps just as disappointing as Creative's pitiful showing at CES, was Cowon's no show. Sure they had a booth, but nothing in it that we haven't seen before. Sometimes I just wish DAP companies pulled an iriver, and released a bunch of prototypes. At least it shows us they're working on something. Just do me a favor and make sure they're better than that lackluster iAudio U5. It just recently went on sale in the US, and Cowon America has provided this walkthrough video of it:



Coming from Cowon, we can be confident that sound quality will be well above average. But everything else just seems so 2006 to me. From the small screen, to the lower capacities, and worst of all, the codec support. You won't find FLAC here, not even Ogg. The U5 supports just MP3, WMA, and WAV files. The design looks pretty plain, but I've seen much worse. The 4GB retails for $119, and the 8GB for $159.

LINK (via Crave)
Comments

LostPhil

Comments: 35
Jan 11 (2008) 09:13AM  

Well, I don't see it as such a bad thing. Maybe they are keeping to those formats so the ID3 browsing is watertight etc. judging by their latest efforts with the D2 firmware... Besides, 90% of people use only mp3 anyway. If they want more then pay up for a better model - my opinion.

Oh and I really think someone needs to draw up a list of current players and their respective prices in the US/UK/Canada etc. The dollar figures mean nothing to me since I have no idea where that fits in with other players (ie, I have no idea whether this is cheap or overpriced). I'll work on one in my time over the weekend if I can.

EDIT: oh and since when has 8gb of flash been small?
[ edited Jan 11 (2008) 09:32AM ]



Agent Smith

Comments: 83
Jan 11 (2008) 10:38AM  

Anythingbutipod heard something about an upcoming D3.

I bet they have the Creative Zen 32GB in their sights.



Michael
Location: New York City
Comments: 2802
Jan 11 (2008) 01:44PM  

LostPhil, I actually meant to write "lower" there, but the point is still the same. That statement was in reference to me saying this player seems like something that probably should have come out in 2006. Most major players in the midrange category from 2007 had either 16GB's of on board memory, or had some sort of expansion. Cowon has already had two 16GB players with the D2 and the iAudio 7 so there's no reason they can't do the same here.

Your reasoning for why they don't include Ogg, or FLAC might be their reasoning too. That doesn't make it right though does it? Again, they're the go-to company for these types of formats. I'd hate to see them start dropping support for them, even on their lower end players. I know some who have their entire library in ogg, and rely on players like those from Cowon when upgrading.



shiftis
Location: Canada
Comments: 369
Jan 11 (2008) 03:25PM  

A Cowon DAP without Ogg or FLAC support is a crime.



DaHarder

Comments: 523
Jan 11 (2008) 04:53PM  

Agreed (with the above)

Saying, "Besides, 90% of people use only mp3 anyway" only serves to show that you are unfamiliar with the very consumer base that has made Cowon what it is today... i.e.

Those Desiring A DAP with uncompromising Sound Quality, and for many of those people that means FLAC/Ogg support.

Cowon best recognize this fact very quickly, or soon go the way of Diamond Rio.



Dominic
Location: Ireland.
Comments: 2408
Jan 11 (2008) 05:13PM  

"Cowon best recognize this fact very quickly, or soon go the way of Diamond Rio. "

hmmm they might sell their product line to another company

Seriously though, this is one player, if Cowon make a few products without flac and ogg vorbis then we should worry, but there is no need to jump the gun or anything. I myself do not see the point of this player but I know there are certainly people who would be interested in it - those people would generally pick up their DAP's from the bargain bin



troxy

Comments: 4
Jan 11 (2008) 05:37PM  

Damn that sh*t is ugly



kelvinc

Comments: 34
Jan 11 (2008) 06:41PM  

I really don't understand their strategy for the screen here. It's clearly large enough to show photos. Now, their lack of photo support does not pique me greatly (it's not that useful in my opinion anyways, and I doubt I'd use it). But then why not save us users some cash and just use a small OLED screen? It's like they want to avoid the connotation of the cheap small-sized player by going with a larger form factor but refuse to actually bother implementing any additional functionality with it. The anythingbutipod review of the iAudio 7 argued that Cowon's living off its reputation as an audiophile's product, and I think this player really speaks to that.



Michael
Location: New York City
Comments: 2802
Jan 11 (2008) 06:52PM  

When i first saw the U5 last year I looked at it as a flash offspring of the X5. It had a similiar look to me, and the same screen size. I wouldn't be surprised if Cowon just took the excess supply of LCD's from the X5 (which is now dscontinued) and popped them onto the U5.
[ edited Jan 11 (2008) 06:52PM ]



Kikkoman

Comments: 38
Jan 11 (2008) 07:19PM  

jesus christ that playback screen is ugly



Breakdown

Comments: 228
Jan 11 (2008) 10:42PM  

Cowon's still around?



Design Fabulous

Comments: 1038
Jan 12 (2008) 11:30PM  

iriver, you're my only hope...



Michael
Location: New York City
Comments: 2802
Jan 13 (2008) 12:40AM  

Photobucket



vuittion

Comments: 1
Jan 13 (2008) 12:43AM  

The Cowon Korean website cleary stats that it plays the following codecs, so either they don't know what there talking about or you don't.

MP3 : MPEG 1/2/2.5 Layer 3, ~320Kbps, ~48KHz, mono/stereo
WMA : ~320Kbps, ~48KHz, mono/stereo
WAV : ~48KHz, 16bit, mono/stereo
OGG : ~Q10, ~44.1KHz, mono/stereo
FLAC : Compression Level 0~8, ~44.1KHz, mono/stereo



Michael
Location: New York City
Comments: 2802
Jan 13 (2008) 01:59AM  

Seeing as I got my information directly from Cowon's site myself, I don't see how you could even point the finger in our direction. Take a look at their US site yourself: [Linky]

MP3 : MPEG 1/2/2.5 Layer 3, ~320kbps, ~48khz, mono/stereo
WMA : ~256kbps, ~48khz, mono/stereo
WAV : ~48khz, 16bit, mono/stereo

They've also had the U5 at just MP3, and WMA (and WAV) since it was revealed at IFA last year. Perhaps they have support for Ogg, and FLAC on the korean version. It wouldn't be the first time a company has shipped different versions for different countries...

edit: In fact, if you look at their site, they even have exclusive colors with a red strip for the controls.



Looks pretty nice too.


[ edited Jan 13 (2008) 02:11AM ]



LostPhil

Comments: 35
Jan 13 (2008) 05:35AM  

ssj and daharder - I'm very familiar with the market myself thanks very much - 99% of my music's in ogg vorbis and I own a Cowon D2. Which happens to have troubles with Ogg/FLAC and track ordering in the ID3 database. They desperately need to get out a player that has zero problems and stupid bugs.

Oh and the D2 only has 8gb's. iPod Nano anyone?

And do you really think that Cowon is eyeing up their existing userbase for sales of this? How many people even on Head-fi use LAME mp3 for their portable players?

I'm sorry, but if other companies can bring out players with limited codec support and it be ok then why not Cowon?

No, I wont be buying this player because of the lack of features such as ogg support. I just dont see why on earth we should be so critical of a product for targeting a different market to their current products.



Dominic
Location: Ireland.
Comments: 2408
Jan 13 (2008) 05:56AM  

LostPhil wrote ...
I'm sorry, but if other companies can bring out players with limited codec support and it be ok then why not Cowon?


Because then they become just another run of the mill DAP manufacturer and do not cater for the market niche which they have been occupying and are currently targeting.

HOWEVER: This is one player, only one, it is not like they have removed ogg/flac from their entire line up and I do not see this as things to come. All DAP manufacturers make seemingly crappy players from time to time, just take Creative for example, they unleash quite a few crappy players from time to time.
The U5 probably has good SQ and good post audio processing features, these will set it apart from the Zune 4/8 - although the U5 GUI blows!

Anyway, the Korean Cowon page does say their U5 will support Flac/ogg so....



Michael
Location: New York City
Comments: 2802
Jan 13 (2008) 11:28AM  

"And do you really think that Cowon is eyeing up their existing userbase for sales of this? How many people even on Head-fi use LAME mp3 for their portable players?"

The thing is, if FLAC and Ogg were on here (which we're not 100% sure yet), don't you think audiophiles and Cowon's userbase would be more likely to pick this up? Why should they dismiss their loyal customers by removing something that likely isn't hard to implement? What exactly would be the harm in supporting those two codecs? Don't you think the player might even benefit financially from having those extra codecs there? I'm positive there are people like you that have a huge ogg library, but are looking for a more basic player than the D2 for their listening purposes. There aren't a ton of options on the market for this group. The fact is, aside from the assumed sound quality, there is very little to me that separates this player from everything else in its category. I feel something like the Sony S610/A810 series trumps this player in every conceivable way. Something like FLAC/Ogg would instantly give the U5 a little more breathing room.

I feel your explanations for their absence come off almost as apologies for Cowon. You make it seem like they had to remove two codecs in order to get a more bug/problem-free player. Don't you think there is something wrong with that? As Dominic said, there's no need to generalize this to their entire future lineup and we aren't going to do that. Of course I feel it would be the worse thing Cowon could do and I hope this is the first and last to have such a barebones audio support. Again, I'm waiting for further confirmation that there is no Ogg/FLAC support.

My mistake about the D2 having 16GB, it was just the iAudio 7. I was basing that on a rumor from GMP3 that has yet to become reality. I do find it strange that they would put 16GB's in the iaudio 7, but not their more popular player.



[ edited Jan 13 (2008) 11:42AM ]



Dominic
Location: Ireland.
Comments: 2408
Jan 13 (2008) 11:56AM  

ssjmicheal wrote ...
My mistake about the D2 having 16GB, it was just the iAudio 7. I was basing that on a rumor from GMP3 that has yet to become reality. I do find it strange that they would put 16GB's in the iaudio 7, but not their more popular player.


You and me both mate..well, you, me and all of iaudiophile it's bizarre altogether



LostPhil

Comments: 35
Jan 13 (2008) 02:21PM  

"I feel your explanations for their absence come off almost as apologies for Cowon. You make it seem like they had to remove two codecs in order to get a more bug/problem-free player. Don't you think there is something wrong with that?"

They cannot get the support for ogg and FLAC good enough for the general public in their existing players, period. You pick up an iPod Nano for instance and load it with whatever formats it supports and you can almost guarantee that the ID3 browsing and playback will be spot on.

On the D2 (and I'm taking the guess its the same in the iAudio 7), you cant use ID3 browsing, you have to use folder browsing for both formats which we don't even know is present on this player. Joe Public (who I think is the target with this player) will a) be using mp3 and b) will want to dump the music on the player and want it to just work.

EDIT: Folder browsing is present, but my point still stands.

Compare it to the Zune 4/8, same size screen and if you're not going to use it for video or lossless playback you might as well save some money.

No, this isn't a great player. Hell, it might not even be good - the form factor is on the large side and yes, the screen is pretty naff although probably good enough for the purpose. But we can't expect it to have all of the features of their premium lineup, working better, for a lesser price. That would probably damage sales of existing models such as the iAudio 7 IMO.

I'm not making excuses for Cowon, they need to get things right on the release of their players, especially ones that had the hardware ahead of the game such as the D2.

I'm sure this wont be the route they will be going down in the future, I hope not. But I think it is obvious that this is a "budget" range and should be viewed as such. Apologies if I come across badly, I'm not here to cause trouble :p

[ edited Jan 14 (2008) 07:36AM ]



enCORe_XTG

Comments: 317
Jan 16 (2008) 06:50PM  

this the worst specs from iAudio (cowon) with contemporary design,



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Lacene
The ZVM is pretty much the most "high-end" DAP I ever got....I got started on DAPs by getting a Dell Pocket DJ, lol. It was a re-branded Creative DAP. All others I got are Sandisk DAPs....

Saijin_Naib
Yeah, I used to remember when I was jealous of Creative DAPs. I couldn't afford to have the "top of the line" DAPs back then, and messed with no-name Chinese OEMs.

These days, you're almost better off taking that route.

Cowon still seems to put out quality. Samsung just makes Android players, same for Archos.

MPIO (my favorite) has become defunct.

These are dark times for DAPs

Lacene
I still have my ZVM that I got when they first came out....it still works and looks like new...I never abused it and put one of those clear protective shields on it and got a silicon case for it.

A shame that Creative put it out - their most highly-regarded DAP ever - and then seemed to go downhill immediately afterwards...

Saijin_Naib
Yeah, I played with one. Pretty slick, great interface. So great in fact, that Apple largely knocked it off and sued Creative to keep the rights. Bastards.

I have a Creative Zen Vision Micro 6gb I need to repair/swap drive out of.

LiQuiD_FuSioN
Anyone have experience with the Creative ZEN Vision:M? Now that was a cool looking player too, never got to try one out though.

Saijin_Naib
Yeah, my friend had the S9 and he really loved it, especially the custom GUIs people would cook up.

I noticed that Cowon recently released a D20 and an X9. They both look rather tempting. Availability looks spotty at the moment though :L

My favorite DAP probably would have been the Zune30, if it was slightly more customizable. The RIO players had great auto-playlisting & searching support.

Similarly, the Haier Ibiza (despite its other shortcomings) has a brilliant filter feature and related features during playback.

It, however, can't make a shuffle list to save its digital life so it gets on my nerves using it as my car player.

Yeah, people still seem to love convergence devices. I'm still of the mind that I'd rather have devices that are designed for a specific task, and execute that task properly. The biggest pet peeve I have is crappy tools, and convergence devices by definition, are crappy tools. By attempting to do everything, they do no single task well.

SarahV
@Saijin: The J3 is one of the best DAPs I've had. The GUI is way better than the S9. The hardware is pretty similar. I still have a special place in my heart for the iRiver Clix, though. Loved the interface on that so much...

The problem we have today is that hardly anyone actually uses a DAP and they don't want to carry more than one device. I probably carry my mp3 player more than my phone, but I realize most people are not like me

Saijin_Naib
This community was tops. I still think we could be.

LiQuiD_FuSioN
Good ol' DAP Review! I still remember when Engadget would rip your stories off.

Saijin_Naib
That sounds like a decent size for a music library. How are you finding the Cowon? They seem to be one of the few manufactures left that makes anything halfway decent. I'm not interested in Yet Another Android Slate (YAAS) like the Archos line have devolved into.

But Sarah, the iProducts are the bestest things ever! Their batteries last like, totally way longer than like, other players do!


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