[Solan]

My X5 has died on me, and I am looking for its replacement. My eyes have been cast on iAudio 7 and D2. Are there any reviews comparing the two, aside from the very obvious touch screen vs non-touch? Esp. interested in if there is any noticeable difference in SQ or emphasis. Will be used to listen to audio books, and to enjoy good music which does not demand an audiophile home rig to be enjoyed.

 

[siresmith]

dunno for sure, but i had the iaudio 7 and little t2. The sq was almost identical, except the 7 had slightly bigger bass impact. Id guess, if there were any difference, it would be a similar story between the 7 and d2.

As for which one, id go for the d2. The 7 is horrible to use, the 'swingtouch' will piss you off in one day flat. Mind you, the t2 was even worse, so maybe its a cowon thing.

 

[Chri5peed]

The D2 is pretty powerful for a DAP...70mW/channel.

 

[woopididi]

Quote:

Originally Posted by siresmith /img/forum/go_quote.gif dunno for sure, but i had the iaudio 7 and little t2. The sq was almost identical, except the 7 had slightly bigger bass impact. Id guess, if there were any difference, it would be a similar story between the 7 and d2. As for which one, id go for the d2. The 7 is horrible to use, the 'swingtouch' will piss you off in one day flat. Mind you, the t2 was even worse, so maybe its a cowon thing.

actually, the interface problems are a cowon thing. the D2 is known for it's messy touch screen interface.

OP - maybe try a Cowon U5? interface should be better, no touch controls, nice design, said to have good SQ. only weakness is it's format support which is kind of poor.

 

[Chri5peed]

^ The touch-screen is better on various firmwares.

I like it, as it saves on buttons.

 

[woopididi]

everyone has his own opinions

 

[uraflit]

I7 for music only, D2 for anything else!

 

[Jzzz]

Two players are clearly different in terms of sound reproduction!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jzzz /img/forum/go_quote.gif Just did a new intensive comparison between i7 & D2, and actually liked i7 better! D2 is good too, but it has overemphasized upper midrange around 8kHz and scooped lower mids, which make D2 sound a bit cold with "metallic" character (color). While D2 maintains less amp noise, i7 is more "musical" sounding!

Add on: D2 has a very distinct sound color/character, that many real audiophiles won't like! i7 is more neutral/natural sounding in this regard.

Hardware-wise:
Cowon D2 uses Telechips TCC7801 / Wolfson WM8985
Cowon i7 - Telechips TCC771L / Wolfson WM8731L

 

[Jzzz]

Ops, I guess we already talked 'bout that, mr Solan!

To make it more simple for you: go for i7 for simple audiobook/music/fm listening on the go. It's really pocket friendly unit! Go D2 if you like to play with touch screen, or want to watch some videos, pictures. You can connect it to TV even, with an additional connector (sold separately).

Sound wise, I still recommend i7 over D2!

 

[robojack]

I actually find the D2 to sound quite neutral, provided you don't use any Jeteffects and EQ. When used as a psuedo-lineout source, it sounds near identical to my Predator's DAC component.

 

[Chri5peed]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chri5peed /img/forum/go_quote.gif ^ The touch-screen is better on various firmwares.

Quote:

Originally Posted by woopididi /img/forum/go_quote.gif everyone has his own opinions

Thats not an opinion.


I tried a few firmwares and apart from flash skins not working properly, the touch-screen played up. Taking numerous presses to activate.

Besides, I predict touch-screen will become pretty prevalent on DAPs, so too OLEDs. So it is probably worth getting used to it.

 

[Solan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jzzz /img/forum/go_quote.gif Sound wise, I still recommend i7 over D2!

You had two other threads:

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f15/ia...79/index2.html
http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f15/ia...-vs-d2-272949/

I got the impression there that D2 was "Grado-like" (treble peak) whereas the i7 was more "Sennheiser-like" with warmth and more bass focus. But was that emphasis there oly with standard portable earphones (or even the accompanying ones), or does the character change if you plug in serious portable cans, like ATH-ESW9 or Grados? In any case, for me, a Grado wearer, the complimentary "Sennheiser" character of the i7 would be a vote in the direction of i7.

Quote:

Originally Posted by robojack /img/forum/go_quote.gif I actually find the D2 to sound quite neutral, provided you don't use any Jeteffects and EQ. When used as a psuedo-lineout source, it sounds near identical to my Predator's DAC component.

That's a vote in favour of D2. Which headphones do you use?

 

[Jzzz]

Quote:

Originally Posted by robojack /img/forum/go_quote.gif I actually find the D2 to sound quite neutral, provided you don't use any Jeteffects and EQ. When used as a psuedo-lineout source, it sounds near identical to my Predator's DAC component.

I didn't use any "enhancements" while doing comparisons! I've the same audio files for the test. Here's my post from another forum:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jzzz /img/forum/go_quote.gif I just did one more comparison between i7 / D2 / E-MU 1616m / MBox, and have to admit 1616m is the absolute winner: crystal clear, tight, very "open" sounding, unbelievable SNR! Next is MBox, then i7 and the last is D2 actually. MBox lack details in high freqs due to a poorer DAC comparing to 1616m. i7 & D2 both lack in high freq response and sound a bit muddy comparing to 1616m. As for i7 vs D2, first has obviously boosted mids and amp noise, but more pleasant sound then D2 which has overemphasized bass & upper mids and sounds a little cold and robotic, with a very distinctive character (color) that I actually don't like!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jzzz /img/forum/go_quote.gif Thanx to comparison I did, I know now that i7 has better SQ than D2, at least to my ears. And I know there is a huge space for improvement... I would definitely pay an extra $100 for i7 having DAC similar to E-MU's! I've used beyerdynamic)))) DT 990 / Etymotic Research ER-4P / Koss PortaPro / Sony MDR-ED31 (modded) for the test! foobar2000 with ASIO output support for E-MU, and of course no enhancements for i7/D2, just plain "line-in" like output!

 

[Solan]

The test that would do it for me: Does Shpongle sound good on either of them, using a reasonable quality headphone? Shpongle was the decidedly most played band on my wonderful old X5, because Shpongle + X5 = Audio enjoyment on the run.

 

[Jzzz]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Solan /img/forum/go_quote.gif I got the impression there that D2 was "Grado-like" (treble peak) whereas the i7 was more "Sennheiser-like" with warmth and more bass focus. But was that emphasis there oly with standard portable earphones (or even the accompanying ones), or does the character change if you plug in serious portable cans, like ATH-ESW9 or Grados? In any case, for me, a Grado wearer, the complimentary "Sennheiser" character of the i7 would be a vote in the direction of i7.

beyerdynamic)))) DT 990 & Etymotic Research ER-4P should be serious enough to make comparisons with! You can actually hear differences clearly even with Koss PortaPro & Sony MDR-ED31 (modded)

I, honestly, liked D2 over i7 at the beggining, due to it's tightness in low freqs and presence in highs, but after spending some time listening to Diana Krall, Michael Buble, Barry Manilow's new CD, Fourplay, Yellow Jackets, etc... it was very clear that D2 lacked mid & low mids and openness of sound, plus it adds it's own color to the sound, that's is not nice to me! Modern, upbeat music doesn't show the difference as clear as Jazz stuff!