- BBE+ Audiophile Sound Hardware
- Movie Playback
- 16.7 million colour 3.3" AMOLED Capacitive Touchscreen
- 55 Hour Battery Life
- Bluetooth Wireless support
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Technical Details
Product details
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Product Description
Manufacturer's Description
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The Cowon S9 is here...
If you've been sleeping under a stone, you may have missed our excitement about the latest player to arrive from the masters of quality - Cowon. The S9 has teased us over the last year or so with the promise of the Cowon player we always wanted, but never dared hope would turn out as well as we could imagine.
Well, we're astounded to say, it's better than we could have ever hoped for.
The main points to focus on are the new BBE+ sound architecture, the amazing AMOLED widescreen display, full Bluetooth support and the superb new user interface.
Zoom UI
This is a real step forward for Cowon's players, which have had a reputation for being slightly complex to use. With this new totally touch screen user interface, Cowon have kept the depth of control possible with previous players, but made day-to-day operation simplicity itself.
Your main functions are represented by a set of simple icons on the main screen and on entering any of these options, you're presented with a simple list of track, or videos or photos. Text too small? Use the zoom bar and make it bigger. Not sure what a certain video file is? A looping thumbnail shows some footage from it, right there on the menu. And again, you can zoom in.
It doesn't stop there - the S9 features G sensor technology, so it knows which way up it's being held. So, you can turn it on it's side and scroll through a list of album covers, instead of a textual track list. Watching a movie, it doesn't matter what way up you hold it, the S9 will re-format the file to display the right way up and as big as possible on the 3.3 inch - 480 x 272 pixel AMOLED screen.
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| Easy and cool to use |
Audio
Normally, on a player with such a ground-breaking screen, we'd start with Video, but on the S9, we really want to make special mention of the audio and why it is the best sounding player we've ever listened to - by far.
That's a pretty big claim, but we're totally confident that you will not in any honesty be able to listen to it back-to-back with any other portable player with the same files on it and say it's anything but the best. We have - it's true.
The S9 uses Cowon's new BBE+ audio architecture, personally integrated with the player by the CEO of Cowon - Mr Park.
Mr. Park majored in Control and Instrument at Seoul National University and got a masters degree in 1990. Some of his awards as the CEO of COWON Systems include the Korean Presidential Award, the Korea Digital Award, the Digital Prize from Han-kyo-reh Newspaper, the Global CEO Award from the Mae-il Economy Newspaper and the Industry Resource Ministry Award.
Before the foundation of COWON SYSTEMS, Namkyu Park worked at LG Electronics for 5 years as a senior engineer of Multimedia department. He is known within the industry as “Golden Ears” for his outstanding ability to distinguish even in the smallest differences in sounds.
This is the man in charge of this company - perhaps a small indicator of the sort of importance they attach to ultimate sound quality.
So, what is BBE+? It's a range of sound processes that give incredible reproduction of good quality sources and can boost the quality of low-quality sources beyond comparison. It includes upgrades to BBE, Mach3Bass, 3D Surround and MP Enhance that featured in earlier Cowon players, with the addition of better EQ facilities, stereo enhancements and approximately thirty different specific profiles for different music and acoustics.
Codec support is customarily comprehensive for Cowon. It will play MP3, WMA, OGG, FLAC, WAV and APE - offering compatibility with easily found files and also the most high quality lossless audio. Even better, you can listen to music for up to 55 hours continuously before needing to recharge the player.
All of that is just words, however. To truly appreciate this player, you need to listen to it - you'll be blown away - as we were.
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| Click here for a larger image |
Now, we've spoken about audio before video, but the video capabilities of this player are, if anything, even more impressive than the audio. This is the first ever use on a portable device of a 3.3" 16 million colour AMOLED display.
What does that mean? Well, traditionally, portable screens use LCD displays. These have a mask layer of pixels, which can change colour - filtering light from a backlight to create images. The technology is well -proven, but has some limitations. There is a lag time with the pixels changing, which can cause rapidly moving images to get slightly 'muddy'. Also, their very design means they waste energy - they filter and cut down light output from a backlight.
TV Out Functionality
The S9 has the ability (with the separately available TV-Out cables) to display the contents on a full size TV. Imagine, you've gone round to a mates house with your favourite movies saved on your S9 in DVD quality. Simply plug the cables into the back of the TV to show those movies in the original quality on the full-size TV display. It also works with photos, so you can show holiday or family photos when you go to friends for dinner.
AMOLED works differently. It still uses individual pixels (480 x 272 in the S9) but the pixels themselves emit light and change much quicker than LCD. This means the screen is sharper, pixel for pixel, much brighter and movement is pin-sharp.
Movies on the S9 are incredible - this is really the first pocket device we can wholeheartedly say we have no problem watching full length movies on. It's bright and crisp, but not taxing on the eye as there is no ghosting or blur. The S9 can play Xvid SP/ASP and WMV9SP/MP files natively, and supports SMI subtitles. Playback time is an amazing 11 hours of continuous video.
Capacities
The S9 is a flash- based player - so no moving parts, no skipping and no hard drive failures. There are three capacities available - 8GB, 16GB and the 32GB model. Of course, it doesn't stop there. Cowon have long believed in packing their players with additional functionality and thanks to firmware upgrades, have even added functionality (for free) to players long after launch.
Bluetooth
The S9 supports full bluetooth A2DP and AVRCP functionality. This means you can connect the player to bluetooth devices like headphones without a plug-in dongle and even use any buttons the headphones have to control the player. Audio quality is superb - for ultimate quality, we still recommend wired headphones, but the bluetooth output on this is easily the best we've heard.
Picture Viewer
Still images can really show off the incredible crispness and brightness of the revolutionary AMOLED screen. It accepts JPEG files and will resize any image for display - so you can bluetooth an image from your 8MP camera phone and the S9 will display in full 3.3 inch 16 million colour AMOLED glory.
FM Radio
With great reception using the headphone cord as an antenna, you'll not be bored with access to radio
Document Reader
A great use of the crisp screen, you can load text files (and a lot of classic books are available free online as text files) and read them comfortably on the widescreen display - with the benefit of the Zoom UI if you need to make the text larger.
Flash Player
A flash player, allows you to download flash games and utilities from the internet and integrate them with your player
Calculator
Already included is a handy calculator and this is indicative of the sort of accessory programs that Cowon tend to include with firmware updates for free
Box Contains
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
41 of 41 people found the following review helpful
I felt compelled to write this review having now owned the Cowon for just over a week. I've gone from considering sending it back and purchasing a Zune HD, to one week later being completely in love with the thing!
First impressions: On opening the packaging and first holding the S9, I was somewhat disappointed, coming from the heavyweight Creative Zen Vision W this unit felt like some what of cheap `credit card' style remote that comes bundled with dodgy Panasonic micro systems from Currys. Lovely looking screen though ;)
Also the stock user interface on this unit is damn right ugly and borders on the unintuitive. I turned it on, dragged and dropped Jeff Buckley's Last Goodbye, stuck in the stock ear buds and eagerly awaited the widely reported "stunning" audio.
What's this, wait up? It sounds no better than my Creative Zen and certainly no better than the much cheaper Samsung P3 that I auditioned last week. Bah, I sit there disappointed whilst wandering if I've been mugged off.
I count to 10 make a cup of tea, get online and head to a few Cowon forums to vent my frustrations. Thankfully it's after spending some time on these forums that everything becomes clear.
First off the S9 is a tweakers paradise, being flash based you can literally skin your device with any style of interface you fancy. I download a few themes and soon the interface is looking miles better than it did originally. CLAWS UI finishes everything off (Google it!) and the S9 is now exactly how I want it. I also upgrade to the latest firmware which irons out a few niggles.
Next off, I read about the impressive array of EQ settings i.e. BBE and various ways in which the sound of the S9 can be customised to suit headphone and music type. I spend some time playing around with these, switch on BBE Viva 2 and WOW even with the nasty disposable ear buds that come packaged with the S9 my jaw drops. The sound from this thing is nothing short of incredible, it makes the IPOD touch sound like a power drill! Honestly this unit really is leaps ahead of any other DAP or MP3 player I've heard in recent years.
In addition, the AMOLED screen is absolutely stunning; I recoded BBC Planets Earth from a Blu Ray DVD; drop it onto the S9 and the colours absolutely pop. The S9 trounces any other screen I've seen to date. The S9 also supports a huge amount of formats, avi, divx, the list is seemingly endless. It also supports my lovely FLAC audio files. Hmmm, nice.
Next day my Ultimate Ears Super 5 fi pros arrive, the bundled earphones get chucked in the bin and the sound just improves 10 fold. If you're going to spend £200 on this player than do yourself a favour, ditch the stock earphones and go and spend some money on a pair of decent par of headphones i.e. Ultimate Ears, Shures, Wetstones, Etymotics or Grados. You won't regret it and if you can afford the S9, you can afford a decent pair of cans to go with it ;) You'll thank yourself for it and only then will you really see what this amazing player is capable of.
In short, out of the box you might think "Oh what is all the fuss about" but to think this and give up on it will mean your doing yourself and the S9 a disservice. The S9 is highly customisable and capable unit, do yourself a favour and do some of research! You can set the S9 up to be a stunning little device that is tailored to your needs with a little bit of know how.
This is brings me to my major point, this MP3 isn't for everyone. Many of you will be better off with an IPOD touch, or a Zune HD. Out of the box they're easier to use, they look nicer and if you're using cheap headphones and poorly encoded MP3s with a bit rate of 128kps, you won't be able to tell the difference in sound.
However if you consider yourself an audiophile and put decent sound quality at a premium, than this really is the player for you.
Even the look and feel has grown on me and rather worryingly I heard myself calling it `sleek and sexy' yesterday.
I can't recommend it enough, but before you buy I suggest you do your research whilst asking yourself whether or not you're computer literate and patient enough to get the best out of it. As if you don't know what you're doing you'll end up bricking the device and having to send it back!
I'm hard to please, but this really is a stunning piece of kit and I can't recommend it highly enough.
Pros
Stunning sound quality! Unmatched in my opinion (New Sony X series is on a par though)
Excellent format support including FLAC, Ogg etc.
Fantastic AMOLED screen, only matched by the Zune HD
Endless opportunities for customisation, means you can tailor your S9 until your heart is content.
Drag and drop transfer ability means no useless, invasive and nasty I tunes to bother with.
Regular firmware updates. Almost on a monthly basis, meaning the S9 is constantly being updated and improved.
I don't want to hate on Apple or come across as a Cowon Fan boy, as really its each to their own. I personally feel the S9 offers a far superior product to the Ipod/I touch and makes a statement about the type of consumer you are.
Cons..
The S9 does have some issues e.g Album art not displaying, unintuitive user interface. Although these can be worked around fairly easily and are down to user error and lack of understanding rather than the unit itself.
The S9 at times feels like it is too intelligent for its own good, e.g. carrying out simple tasks can for some seem complicated and I can understand why some users don't like the unit.
Expensive, there is no denying that this unit is costly. If you don't care about flac, customisation or the sound quality, you may do well to consider the IPOD touch, the SAMSUNG P3, Zune HD or other players. They all have pros and cons, yet I would argue that some of these players and both cheaper and more suitable for may users.
Accessories are expensive, the cowon bundle is fairly sparse, you'll have to pay extra if you want TV out cables and a wall charger The USB is also a Korean 20 pin and the S9 won't charge of a micro usb which is a tad frustrating.
Take the time to read and understand the instructions before jumping in and give these guys a visit...
http://iaudiophile.net
They'll save you a lot of time ; )
First impressions: On opening the packaging and first holding the S9, I was somewhat disappointed, coming from the heavyweight Creative Zen Vision W this unit felt like some what of cheap `credit card' style remote that comes bundled with dodgy Panasonic micro systems from Currys. Lovely looking screen though ;)
Also the stock user interface on this unit is damn right ugly and borders on the unintuitive. I turned it on, dragged and dropped Jeff Buckley's Last Goodbye, stuck in the stock ear buds and eagerly awaited the widely reported "stunning" audio.
What's this, wait up? It sounds no better than my Creative Zen and certainly no better than the much cheaper Samsung P3 that I auditioned last week. Bah, I sit there disappointed whilst wandering if I've been mugged off.
I count to 10 make a cup of tea, get online and head to a few Cowon forums to vent my frustrations. Thankfully it's after spending some time on these forums that everything becomes clear.
First off the S9 is a tweakers paradise, being flash based you can literally skin your device with any style of interface you fancy. I download a few themes and soon the interface is looking miles better than it did originally. CLAWS UI finishes everything off (Google it!) and the S9 is now exactly how I want it. I also upgrade to the latest firmware which irons out a few niggles.
Next off, I read about the impressive array of EQ settings i.e. BBE and various ways in which the sound of the S9 can be customised to suit headphone and music type. I spend some time playing around with these, switch on BBE Viva 2 and WOW even with the nasty disposable ear buds that come packaged with the S9 my jaw drops. The sound from this thing is nothing short of incredible, it makes the IPOD touch sound like a power drill! Honestly this unit really is leaps ahead of any other DAP or MP3 player I've heard in recent years.
In addition, the AMOLED screen is absolutely stunning; I recoded BBC Planets Earth from a Blu Ray DVD; drop it onto the S9 and the colours absolutely pop. The S9 trounces any other screen I've seen to date. The S9 also supports a huge amount of formats, avi, divx, the list is seemingly endless. It also supports my lovely FLAC audio files. Hmmm, nice.
Next day my Ultimate Ears Super 5 fi pros arrive, the bundled earphones get chucked in the bin and the sound just improves 10 fold. If you're going to spend £200 on this player than do yourself a favour, ditch the stock earphones and go and spend some money on a pair of decent par of headphones i.e. Ultimate Ears, Shures, Wetstones, Etymotics or Grados. You won't regret it and if you can afford the S9, you can afford a decent pair of cans to go with it ;) You'll thank yourself for it and only then will you really see what this amazing player is capable of.
In short, out of the box you might think "Oh what is all the fuss about" but to think this and give up on it will mean your doing yourself and the S9 a disservice. The S9 is highly customisable and capable unit, do yourself a favour and do some of research! You can set the S9 up to be a stunning little device that is tailored to your needs with a little bit of know how.
This is brings me to my major point, this MP3 isn't for everyone. Many of you will be better off with an IPOD touch, or a Zune HD. Out of the box they're easier to use, they look nicer and if you're using cheap headphones and poorly encoded MP3s with a bit rate of 128kps, you won't be able to tell the difference in sound.
However if you consider yourself an audiophile and put decent sound quality at a premium, than this really is the player for you.
Even the look and feel has grown on me and rather worryingly I heard myself calling it `sleek and sexy' yesterday.
I can't recommend it enough, but before you buy I suggest you do your research whilst asking yourself whether or not you're computer literate and patient enough to get the best out of it. As if you don't know what you're doing you'll end up bricking the device and having to send it back!
I'm hard to please, but this really is a stunning piece of kit and I can't recommend it highly enough.
Pros
Stunning sound quality! Unmatched in my opinion (New Sony X series is on a par though)
Excellent format support including FLAC, Ogg etc.
Fantastic AMOLED screen, only matched by the Zune HD
Endless opportunities for customisation, means you can tailor your S9 until your heart is content.
Drag and drop transfer ability means no useless, invasive and nasty I tunes to bother with.
Regular firmware updates. Almost on a monthly basis, meaning the S9 is constantly being updated and improved.
I don't want to hate on Apple or come across as a Cowon Fan boy, as really its each to their own. I personally feel the S9 offers a far superior product to the Ipod/I touch and makes a statement about the type of consumer you are.
Cons..
The S9 does have some issues e.g Album art not displaying, unintuitive user interface. Although these can be worked around fairly easily and are down to user error and lack of understanding rather than the unit itself.
The S9 at times feels like it is too intelligent for its own good, e.g. carrying out simple tasks can for some seem complicated and I can understand why some users don't like the unit.
Expensive, there is no denying that this unit is costly. If you don't care about flac, customisation or the sound quality, you may do well to consider the IPOD touch, the SAMSUNG P3, Zune HD or other players. They all have pros and cons, yet I would argue that some of these players and both cheaper and more suitable for may users.
Accessories are expensive, the cowon bundle is fairly sparse, you'll have to pay extra if you want TV out cables and a wall charger The USB is also a Korean 20 pin and the S9 won't charge of a micro usb which is a tad frustrating.
Take the time to read and understand the instructions before jumping in and give these guys a visit...
http://iaudiophile.net
They'll save you a lot of time ; )
35 of 36 people found the following review helpful
After a recommendation from a friend i punted for this player given the spec and AMOLED screen. I own a 30gb and 120gb ipod both of which struggle to cope with bass and only offer a limted range of EQ settings. The poor quality sound was really exposed once i bought a pair of Shure SE310 headphones so decided it was time to upgrade the player. Reading some of the forums, everyone has said about how Cowons have the best sound quality etc., and not having heard it for myself decided to take a gamble. I have to say what a fantastic player, the sound from this thing is amazing and matches the quality of the headphones.
You must invest in a good pair or the quality of this player will seem no different to any pther ipod/MP3 player. EQ settings are infinte and the screen colours just blow you away and the screen is brilliantly responsive. FLAC tagging is a little clumsy but firmware updates seem to be coming out every month which should address this. Also MP4's are not supported which is dissapointing but as long as you have a decent converter does it doesn't matter as you can still convert to divX but again a firmware update may fix this. Bass is stunning and top end has clarity you simply will not have heard before. The interface takes a little getting used to, certainly as i own an iphone and the interface is no-where near as intuitive but once you know your way around its fine.
all in all this player exceeded all my expecations. If you can get the 32g go for it, but the 16gb will hold 360 songs at 44mb each in uncompressed format so should be enough for most. I stull use my ipod for going to the gym and use Skullcandy earphones which compensate for the lack of bass, but if your going to spend £200 on a player buy this you will not be dissapointed
You must invest in a good pair or the quality of this player will seem no different to any pther ipod/MP3 player. EQ settings are infinte and the screen colours just blow you away and the screen is brilliantly responsive. FLAC tagging is a little clumsy but firmware updates seem to be coming out every month which should address this. Also MP4's are not supported which is dissapointing but as long as you have a decent converter does it doesn't matter as you can still convert to divX but again a firmware update may fix this. Bass is stunning and top end has clarity you simply will not have heard before. The interface takes a little getting used to, certainly as i own an iphone and the interface is no-where near as intuitive but once you know your way around its fine.
all in all this player exceeded all my expecations. If you can get the 32g go for it, but the 16gb will hold 360 songs at 44mb each in uncompressed format so should be enough for most. I stull use my ipod for going to the gym and use Skullcandy earphones which compensate for the lack of bass, but if your going to spend £200 on a player buy this you will not be dissapointed
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
If you have already googled the player,viewed the youtube demo's and drooled over the images then buy it.
This is as good as the reviews say it is. If like me you are not a sheep and want something other than an iwhatever (yes there are other quality manufactures out there)and do not want to be trapped into itunes then this is a good buy. The trouble is i only want an audiophile quality music player without all the video/picture/apps add ons but they do not exist so you get the whole package. Forget looks (although it is nice)this player sounds great and has plenty of sound customisation tools to get you the sound you like. My clumsey fat fingers had a bit of a job with the touch screen but after shaving my fingers to a point it works great(joke kids)
You will not go wrong with this player. It beats ipod sound and picture quality but lacks the wireless connectivity (although bluetooth is built in for wireless headsets and stuff)I got the 16gb version for the price of the 8gb here at Amazon which was a bonus as there is no facility to expand the memory but saying that i constantly change what i have on the player as variety is the spice of life and have plenty of alternative music storage elswhere. Great style, great sound, many tools,would stop a bullet piercing your heart if you had it in your chest pocket and was shot.
Get one. If you don't like it theres something wrong with you.
This is as good as the reviews say it is. If like me you are not a sheep and want something other than an iwhatever (yes there are other quality manufactures out there)and do not want to be trapped into itunes then this is a good buy. The trouble is i only want an audiophile quality music player without all the video/picture/apps add ons but they do not exist so you get the whole package. Forget looks (although it is nice)this player sounds great and has plenty of sound customisation tools to get you the sound you like. My clumsey fat fingers had a bit of a job with the touch screen but after shaving my fingers to a point it works great(joke kids)
You will not go wrong with this player. It beats ipod sound and picture quality but lacks the wireless connectivity (although bluetooth is built in for wireless headsets and stuff)I got the 16gb version for the price of the 8gb here at Amazon which was a bonus as there is no facility to expand the memory but saying that i constantly change what i have on the player as variety is the spice of life and have plenty of alternative music storage elswhere. Great style, great sound, many tools,would stop a bullet piercing your heart if you had it in your chest pocket and was shot.
Get one. If you don't like it theres something wrong with you.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Best mp3 I've ever used
This is my third mp3 player. I previously owned a Creative Zen Vision M (30gb) and a Samsung YP-P3 (16gb). Read more
Published 3 months ago by A. M. Cameron
DO NOT BUY IF YOU HAVE A MAC OR MAC BOOK!!
I bought this for my daughters 10th birthday in 2010 and at first was pleasantly surprised. But as time passed things started to go wrong. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Baldrick
Great
This is the best mp3 player that I have owned so far.
At first I found the interface very awkward and the quick guide nor the online manual provided much help. Read more
At first I found the interface very awkward and the quick guide nor the online manual provided much help. Read more
Published 12 months ago by Lozzie
Brilliant MP3 player
It won't make phone calls or connect to the internet but damn it does a fantastic job of video and mp3. Read more
Published 13 months ago by Tim
LOOK NO FURTHER
I brought an ipod nano 6th gen and took it back the same day... I decided to step away from apple and investigate other mp3 devices on the market. Read more
Published 15 months ago by ajwesty13
Let down by poor interface design
When I first got the S9 I was really pleased with the sound quality. I found the interface cumbersome but I thought I'd get used to it. Read more
Published 21 months ago by freddie35
Style over substance
Although I agree with a lot of what the other reviews have said (elegant design, wide functionality etc.) the main issue I have had with my S9 is that its durability is diabolical. Read more
Published 21 months ago by Audiorage
First-rate sound, dysfunctional interface
If the limitations of MP3 sound eventually drive you towards lossless formats, you will end up evaluating FLAC vs Apple. Read more
Published 21 months ago by J. R. Stone
Disappointed, i expected more !!!
After reading all the other 'rave' reviews and sending back a faulty samsung mp3 player, i purchased this model. Read more
Published on 25 April 2010 by D. Morrison
Cowon iAudio S9 16GB
Very pleased with this purchase it is a league above other MP3 players I have tried. Great sound quality, a great screen, very good battery life, generally very easy to use & and... Read more
Published on 23 April 2010 by D. Roberts
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