Cowon iAudio U3 user reviews (2GB, black)

Pros Great sound quility plus BBE, Mach3Bass and 3D surround! Long battery life! Easy to carry! Great Smooth Video playback! Great features including Real-time Lyrics+ Cool Softwares, All you can ask for!

Cons Retail Package doesn't come with a wall charger!

Summary This is the player of the decade! It uses the latest Telechips' Processing Unit TCC770, which are the top-end media player processors running at 200Mhz tops with great crystal clear outputs. (A low-end would be Sigmatel chips made before 2006)(The apple iPod Nanos uses Portal Player chips which are primarily designed for Hard-drive players instead of Flash players).

The U3's amazing sound quility is then carried out by the Ultra Powerful CIRRUS LOGIC CS42L51 which will bring you a 60mW total sound output that none other players can achieve now!! This will increase the treble and Bass to a never before clarity!

The iAudio U3 media player like any other leading flash players uses SAMSUNG flash storage chips, different capacities (512MB/1GB/2GB) has different a model number so I'm not going to get into that here. The player features a huge 16MB cache alowing the player to play basically anything it can without a pause or sudden "stops".

The iAudio U3 has a powerful digital FM radio which also use a top-end chip, the Philips TEA5767 chip, which not only conserves power but brings cutting edge reception technology with clear stereo sound.

If you ever wonder if this player is a "power sucker", it's NOT! It uses a Philips
PCF50606HN PMU(Power Managment Unit) which clearly proved it's conserving abilities allowing the player to operate a TRUE 16.5 hours tops at full charge with backlit on for 30 mins playing 128kbps 44KHz MP3 . (I know this isn't the 20hours on the ad, but that's different with backlit off and all that. Who would keep the backlit off for 20 hours of playback anyways...?)

Another thing worth mentioning is that this player has a 95db SNR! Isn't that something? I can't prove that like the other facts since I don't have the equipment but I don't think they can lie about this!!

I don't know if this is against COWAN in any way(s) to put all this REAL technical information on a public site, but if it is then just delete it. The only con I found about this player is that it doesn't come with a wall charger. You can buy it for about $10 online.

Have fun with this great media player!!
It gets 97 out of 100 from me.

For comparison:
A iPod Nano gets 82 out of 100 from me.

Pros Amazing sound, fantastic design, awesome screen, and spectacular features

Cons lack of some accessories and price

Summary I love this mp3 player.

Most importantly the sound of the U3 is amazing. I have yet to hear a mp3 player that sounds better (and I have spent a fair amount of time with nano and ipod video). When I use the equalizer and other effects on the U3 they actually enhance the music. On other devices it is hit or miss. The different ways you can tweak your music is unbelievable. With 60mW of power (30mW+30mW) the U3 can really drive headphones and IEMs well. If you have a great set of cans you are in for a treat.

The design of this player is fantastic. While the Nano is technically smaller by volume the U3 feels smaller and fits much better in pockets than the Nano. The fact that the Nano is longer and wider contribute to it feeling bigger. The U3 also weighs significantly less than Nano. The U3 weighs 1.11 oz while the Nano weighs 1.5 oz. While this does not sound like much it is noticable in pocket. The layout of the buttons and joystick are perfect. While it takes a while to learn the interface on the U3 once you do, it is very easy to navigate.

The screen is awesome. The colors are vibrant and the text is crisp and clear. I also love the fact that you can change the GUI theme skin. The screen has all the pertinent information you need while playing songs. While the screen is too small for my taste, relating to pictures and video, it is still a nice feature to have. I would rather have the smaller device (and thus smaller screen). I did not buy the device for the picture and video viewing.

The features of this device are spectacular. MP3, WAV, WMA, OGG, FLAC, XviD, song lyrics, text files, FM radio, line in recording, voice recording, record FM radio, the list goes on and on. I'm not aware of any other flash based device that has all these features. While this did not impact me, there is no DRM support but it is coming.

The U3 is very durable. There is no question that the U3 is leaps and bounds more durable than the Nano. It is very difficult to scratch. You can wipe it with your shirt without worrying that you are going to damage it. The U3 also feels very solidly built.

The battery time is very good, I get a lot of play time on the U3. I average 16 - 19 hours of play time on one charge. For the size of this device and the color screen I think that is very good.

The fact that the U3 is also a UMS device that shows up as as a drive when plugged into a PC or Mac is a huge plus. No software is needed to download mp3s, pictures, or video. When I was on vacation I just plugged into the Mac and dragged files over to U3. It is that easy. Being dependent on software to download tunes to your mp3 player is a drag.

Download speeds to the U3 via USB2 are astounding. Cowon rates it at 35Mbps and it is very close to this. I have no idea what the Nano is rated but I can tell you that the U3 is at least twice as fast. It is such a pleasure to be able to move stuff over this fast. For me this is a huge plus.

Dynamic playlist is also a very nice feature to have. It is great to be able to create a playlist of what you want to listen to on the go.

Firmware updates happen on a very regular basis with Cowon. They are constantly improving their devices. I have had the U3 for a month and there has all ready been updates to enhance the device. This is not the case with all mp3 player companies.

The U3 experience is not with out faults. The fact that Cowon did not include a neck strap, armband, or carrying case is a major bummer. For the amount of money this cost in my mind this is inexcusable. The U3 is also pricey but I imagine that the non Sandisk, Apple, Samsung, etc. companies like Cowon are paying a lot more money for flash memory. I would still take the 2gb U3 over the 4gb Nano any day of the week. The start up also takes a little bit longer than I would like.

Relating to cnet's review. I do not understand how they can only give the U3 a 6.7. They gave the U2 a 8 (editor's choice) and the U3 is very similar to U2 with a bunch of upgrades. They gave U2 a 9 in design and the U3 a 6. Why ? Cowon clearly improved the design. How can Cnet only rate the features a 7? What other mp3 player has this feature set? Performance a 7? I know of no flash base player that performs better.

Bottom line: you will love this MP3 player.

Pros nearly everything

Cons no ac adapter, no lanyard, interface not sealed

Summary In my opinion, this is such a well-conceived product that it merits a detailed review.

Two months ago I had thought I had finalized my decision to purchase a Nano until bloggers, the local news, and newsgroups had made clear the point that the surface of Apple’s device scratches easily and that the display had some fragility issues. Although I do think the Nano is quite a good product—and that many people love it—it is one that I would feel uneasy about handling in my daily activities. I’m very active; I spend a lot of time at the gym, on the subway and on the street, and my music player comes everywhere with me. I’m constantly moving it from pocket to pocket, sweating on it, putting it down, dropping it, etc. After using my girlfriend’s Nano, I felt that it was not capable of taking that kind of abuse. It’s a nice device, but just not the right one for me. I knew that if I held out long enough, a product better suited for me would surface. It did.

I purchased my 2GB U3 from newegg.com for $245 + $5 UPS. Although this may seem somewhat of a hefty price tag, it’s completely worth the cost. Some consumers might have a problem with its limited capacity, but it should be remembered that this is a flash-based player. 2GB of storage is quite good for any flash based player. IMO, what really distinguishes this device from the Nano is that your PC recognizes it as a USB mass storage device upon connection. You can simply drag and drop files into it from within file explorer. These can be any type of files—documents, music, photos, videos… anything really. Since it’s basically a juiced-up mass storage device, the U3’s internal file structure can be set up quickly and easily, and in any fashion the user desires. The player comes with two programs: Jet Audio and Jet Shell. Jet Audio is a music and video player, not unlike RealPlayer or Windows Media Player. It also lets you rip CDs to FLAC, OGG and WMA formats (among others). However, there is no option to rip to mp3. This isn’t such a big deal since WMA and mp3 are comparable. The program also lets you burn CDs and convert videos (such as WMVs) to a format optimized for the U3. Although I don’t expect to be doing much image viewing on my U3, photos can be displayed on the bright (but tiny—2.5cm x 2cm ) color screen, and look very sharp. Videos (MPEGS and WMVs) can also be viewed at 15fps, which produces a very clear image. The JetShell application provides a more structured file upload and download interface than the Windows file explorer… but its basic function is the same.

Photos and videos are nice add-ons, but I purchased the U3 for the combination of its ruggedness and its music playing capabilities. I am not at all disappointed. This thing is really amazing. The included earbuds (made by Cresyn, I think) are decent for a bundled set, but are worth replacing by a better set. Shure and Etymotic make great (but expensive) buds, but the Sony makes the decent MDR-EX51 and 51LP set. Anyway, this player is unique in that it pumps out 30 milliwatts per channel through 8ohm phones, for a total of 60, which is difficult to find in the consumer mp3 player market. Most players pump out a max of 13mW/channel. This contributes to the U3’s excellent sound reproduction.

I spent 5 years of my life as a professional full-time club DJ here in NYC. I’m not an audio pro, but the extent of detailed listening necessary has conditioned my ear (to some degree) to know what sounds good, or to know how a ‘sound should sound’. IMO, the sound generated by this unit is excellent. I just retired a 5GB Zen Micro, and it sounded nothing like the U3. I’ve never been much of a fan of electronic audio enhancement features found on many players (like EQ settings, bass boost, or surround sound) because they generally veil the music with another layer of artificiality. For fun, after charging and importing some music into my U3 I tested some of its built-in audio processing features. The “BBE� feature uses BBE’s proprietary algorithms to restructure the sound to allow many more details to be heard. There is a marked difference in clarity between sound processed with BBE and without. This feature is now always enabled on my U3. The Mach3Bass (also running BBE algorithms) is excellent as well (but be aware that all audio enhancing features drain battery life more rapidly). “MP Enhance� compensates for missing sounds within the music file—I’m unsure of how it accomplishes this, but the sound is better with it enabled. “Surround Sound� and “pan�, however, are fairly worthless IMO.

Music playback features include the standard single song/ all song repeat options, as well as shuffle and shuffle repeat. The U3 also allows you to set play “boundaries�, meaning that you can specify that an entire folder or just a single subdirectory is played. The device also allows you set bookmarks in as many music files as you wish and then skip quickly to them at will. This is handy if you have songs with long intros. Another playback feature is the “A-B repeat�, which allows a segment of an audio file to be repeated infinitely, which may be helpful if you’re studying a language or a musical phrase.

You can also customize literally every parameter of the U3’s operation, such as track skip interval (1/2 track, whole track, etc), and scan speed (1sec, 2 sec, 10 sec etc.). The display color can be changed to 1 of 8 available, and wallpaper is user customizable, as is the startup logo. The dedicated “record� and “play/pause� buttons can be programmed to serve as double duty hotkeys to link to features or menu items you most frequently access. Song fade in/out can be set and its duration can be specified as well. A particularly excellent feature is the “DPL� option. This function allows the user to create an on-the-fly playlist, which many other players do not. You can also delete songs directly from the device. The U3 features a sleep timer that can be set in 10-minute increments up to an hour, as well as a wakeup alarm, (although this means you’ll have to sleep with buds in your ears).

The U3’s FM radio picked up all major stations, but not always with the highest fidelity indoors. I was able to position it to receive a clear signal, but it took some extraneous movements. Outside, the receiver works very well. You also have the option of setting 20 presets.

The onboard voice recorder works VERY well… I was amazed at how well it worked. It clearly picked up my voice from 20 feet away in a quiet room. What’s really nice is that the gain can be adjusted for optimal recording. This goes for it FM radio recording ability as well. The direct line-in recording feature is also a fantastic one, enabling the recording of any sound played through a source with a line-level output. You can record old records, tapes, cds, tv, radio, shortwave—literally anything played through a device with a headphone jack. The quality of the recording is as good as the quality of the source audio. For ALL recording you can specify the bitrate at which you’d like to record—very nice. But it should be noted that the U3 will only record in WMA format. You can then upload the recording to your PC and convert the file format from there if you’d like.

The U3’s user interface is excellent as well. Although small, the screen is easy to read, and does well as possible in direct sunlight. The 5-way face-mounted thumbstick is easy to use, and feels very sturdy. I actually prefer this over the iPod’s clickwheel because you can easily navigate the U3 with a gloved hand. The USB port is protected by a rugged plastic cover attached by 2 small and durable plastic strap hinges, so I don’t think it can accidentally detach. The black finish is quite fingerprint repellant—I’ve been using my U3 for several days and there is not a single print on it. The right side record/menu/play-pause buttons are easy to find in a pocket, and the hold switch is sturdy and locks with a satisfying click. Unlike battery indicators on most electronic devices, the indicator on the U3 does not use bars as increments. Instead, it appears to drain like a glass emptying… I think it helps gauge battery life more accurately. And speaking of battery life, I got nearly 16 hours out of a single charge with normal use.

Here are my gripes with the U3:
1. Although very easy to use, the thumbstick interface is not sealed, meaning that dust or other potentially harmful debris can possibly enter the unit’s internals. Also, there is a groove around the area in which the polycarbonate face is set that tends to collect dust.

2. There is no neckstrap or lanyard included with the U3 (or case, if you like that sort of thing). There is fitting for a lanyard at the top of the device, but Cowon does not include the lanyard. I went to J&R to pick up a pack of 3 for $5.

3. When navigating through music files, the files do not appear as ID3 tags, but rather as a file name. This can be problematic if you have ambiguously named files—I’m having this problem now, so I must rename all the files.

4. The U3 does not come with an AC adapter. Sometimes you may not have access to a PC to charge the unit via USB.

5. The U3 does not indicate when it is fully charged when charging via a USB connection.

But overall, IMO this is a simply amazing device. I would enthusiastically recommend it to anyone who is interested in purchasing a flash-based player.