Sansa Clip+ vs. Cowon D2 Vs. Cowon J3

[John]

Hi folks,

I need to buy a PMP soon. Choice is between the above.

Sansa Clip+ vs. Cowon D2+ Vs. Cowon J3

Edit: Or Sansa Fuze?

I need good quality sound (replacing my Ipod Nano)
Not much interested in video
Expandable memory.

FM would be a plus.

TIA guys

 

[esanthosh]

Depends on the headphones / IEMs you will pair them with.

I do not use FM, so will comment on other features.

Clip+:

• High portability - Light weight, easy to carry and can be Clipped.
• Supports Folder browsing and FLACs
• Easy to operate in the dark
• Sounds good unEQ-ed, EQ is bad
• Would drive low impedance IEMs well, but would need an amp / higher volume with many IEMs.
• Battery life seems to be close to 5 hrs for some and 12 hrs for me. Seems to be dependent on batches?
• It supports gapless, but it's not perfect.
• The UI is very easy to use.
• Rockbox can be used, but it is unstable as of now. But, I've personally found no need for RB-ing

Fuze

• Color Screen, images, Album art - features not found in Clip+
• Using Wheel could be an issue
• SQ - very similar to Clip+
• UI is easier to navigate
• V1 Fuze can be Rockboxed. That is precisely why I got a refurbished one
• I am only using a Rockboxed Fuze, so it gets me 15 hrs on a full charge. Do not know the expected battery life with Original firmware.

Cowon D2/D2+

• Has got enough power to drive most IEMs.
• Has BBE. Cowons in general do not sound well out of the box, set it to one of the presets you like and you are good to go.
• The battery life is among the best in portables. Rated at 52 hours, should do at least 30-35 hrs on 320kbps and FLACs (I only have a S9)
• The UI is said to be a bit "hard to use". Then again, I only have a S9 with completely customized UCIs, but did not find the default UCI harder to use.
• The sound has been described as "cold" across forums. But, I do not know.

Cowon J3

Since I was not interested at all in upgrading my S9, have not read much on it. So, refer to SRR's post for this

 

[srramanujam]

Cowon D2 score in - Price. The 16gb version is available for about 10K. J3 16GB is 14.5K and 32 GB is 18K.

J3 scores in all the features - AMOLED screen

Both have expandable memory.

I simply put my player in my pocket and forget about anything else. In that category, D2 scores for me (which i own). Its small, user interface is easier than using a calculator, i dont know what is this fuss about UI.

With a D2, you can spend the extra 4.5 in good earphones (Klipsch and RE0 come at about 4k i think) and you will get far better experiecne than J3 with mediocre phones. After all, you are listening to the phones not looking at the player.

My combo is D2 16 GB (for 8K), 32 GB card (4k) and REO (4K with Lynx experience).

PS. FM in D2 sucks big time. I dont about FM in J3.

 

[cmsajith]

Thanks John, I was about to start a similar thread.
I am currently using my HTC android phone with NuForce NE-6 IEM and FIIO E3 for listening to flacs. Does a dedicated player better than an android phone for flacs? Clip/Clip+/Fuze are my options as i am not interested in any EQs and videos. Please advice.

 

[iaudio]

cmsajith, though I cant speak about your phone, phones today have good sq, but I still feel the dedicated players are still ahead. I think you can try out the Sansa clip plus if:
1. You dont use it for long trips where long battery life is needed
2. You dont use high impedance headphones which require more power
3. You dont need video and other useless features.
Sansa Clip plus is perfect if you dont have the above requirements.
Else start thinking about D2+. Fuze would have been good, but I just cant bear Sansas scroll wheel!

 

[marsilians]

I need good quality sound (replacing my Ipod Nano)
Not much interested in video
Expandable memory.

FM would be a plus.

You have a subjective ask here as you dont state what format files you listen to, quality of music and genre. Also you dont state what headphone and amp you might be using to listen to your music.

With that said, any of the players will sound better than the nano unless its first gen. Boils down to budget and functional features.

I have a fuze and really like it after going through a no. of other planers. Search for a number of posts speaking to your choice of players.

 

[cmsajith]

Any idea whether the sansa has inbuilt memory \ ROM to store the OS other than the default storage area? If so, i will be going with the 2GB + 8GB SD card as it will be cheaper and will not be wasting much if it wont sound better than the phone.

How good is the keypad quality \ reliability of the Clip+ compared to Fuze? Is it possible to easily navigate through the folders with the small screen size of Clip+?

 

[esanthosh]

^ I personally have no issues whatsoever with the small screen size and buttons of Clip+. I thought it'd be a major issue considering it's tiny size, but it's not.

Clip+ and Fuze support a microSDHC card. I use a 8 GB Transcend Class 6 from eBay. I've read that they take 2-3 mins to process a filled Class 2 card.

The firmware is not going to occupy a huge space. So, if your worry is about firmware eating up your music storage space, you need not.

 

[cmsajith]

^ I personally have no issues whatsoever with the small screen size and buttons of Clip+. I thought it'd be a major issue considering it's tiny size, but it's not.

Clip+ and Fuze support a microSDHC card. I use a 8 GB Transcend Class 6 from eBay. I've read that they take 2-3 mins to process a filled Class 2 card.

The firmware is not going to occupy a huge space. So, if your worry is about firmware eating up your music storage space, you need not.

Oh, does it take 2-3mins to boot every time or is it for the first time? In that case, 4GB inbuilt w/ 4GB external card (ideal) or 8GB internal will be better, right?

 

[esanthosh]

^ Was not clear. Sorry about that.

Do not worry. It has nothing to do with boot times.

Clip+ boots before you can blink twice. I was mentioning what I read in anythingbutipod forums that Clip+ / Fuze take about 2-3 minutes to refresh the library once a microSDHC card is inserted or when a file transfer has taken place. But this is an issue mostly with Class 2 cards. I am using a Transcend Class 6 card and it did not take more than 15 secs with a 8GB card almost filled.

 

[cmsajith]

Hmm, if it is with the library update, its fine. thanks for the info.

 

[John]

Thanks for the suggestions friends. I went for the Cowon D2 Plus and a 16GB SDHC card. Earphones are SoundMagic PL-21. I really like the sound now. I have given away my Ipod to my nephew. h ehe...

Also, I am looking for some headphones (not earphones) for up to 3K, which I can wear when in bed/sleep. I like to sleep to music. Any suggestions?

 

[iaudio]

You could look at the Sennheisser px100 for that budget and purpose.

 

[srramanujam]

Thanks for the suggestions friends. I went for the Cowon D2 Plus and a 16GB SDHC card. Earphones are SoundMagic PL-21. I really like the sound now. I have given away my Ipod to my nephew. h ehe...

Also, I am looking for some headphones (not earphones) for up to 3K, which I can wear when in bed/sleep. I like to sleep to music. Any suggestions?

Great Choice. I think this is the best vfm deal in the market. Your nephew can impress his girls with his nano now.

 

[anubhav2345]

I have used both Clip+ and Fuze .
Loved the portability of the clip+ , simply stand up from the chair and clip it on ur shirt pocket or denim pocket . Same could not be done with fuze .

Sound quality of both are the same . but don't know why fuze sounds a lil better .

Click wheel on fuze is a big plus , navigation becomes very easy .

Video's are a big no no for fuze , video resolution and clarity are a joke for us geeks , for some beginners might be acceptable .

U cant go wrong with either of them , but i still suggest buying fuze .

 

[John]

Thanks for the post Anuvhav. I have got the Cowon D2+, but I am buying the clip+ now as well, as I need it for my long runs.

 

[anubhav2345]

Thanks for the post Anuvhav. I have got the Cowon D2+, but I am buying the clip+ now as well, as I need it for my long runs.

Go with it , u will enjoy it .

I recently sold my 2gb clip+ for 1.8k

New one u can source for around 2.3k

 

[John]

Go with it , u will enjoy it .

I recently sold my 2gb clip+ for 1.8k

New one u can source for around 2.3k

Thanks Anubhav...which is a good earphone to go with it, something to use while running outdoors?

I have a pair of SoundMagic PL21s. I am looking for something that is warm sounding and also that won't get damaged with sweat.

 

[anubhav2345]

Thanks Anubhav...which is a good earphone to go with it, something to use while running outdoors?

I have a pair of SoundMagic PL21s. I am looking for something that is warm sounding and also that won't get damaged with sweat.

What budget u are looking in ??

 

[John]

What budget u are looking in ??

Within 1.5K max.