Coming fresh off the electronic bandwagon of MP3 players, I found myself in search of yet another MP3 player in the course of ONLY 2 years. My first player was a Rio Forge 256, which was found to be, without a doubt, a flop. If you’d like to hear more about it, check out my thoughts on the 256
here.
As with most any other electronic, I followed my own research procedures and narrowed the search down by simply deciding what I was looking for in a player. After starting to finally sift through the choices, I realized that a hard drive based player would almost be out of the question, considering how this player would primarily be used when running and working out. On the flipside, this most definitely set me off to the flash-based player market. For those who may be technologically inept, a flash based player simply means that the player uses an internal “chip” that stores the memory, so there is no moving parts to break. This makes flash players a perfect choice for anyone involved in invigorating activities that require excessive moment that would normally cause a hard-drive based player to skip, and possibly sustain damage
This very quickly narrowed down the market, between such companies as Mpio, iAudio, Creative Lab, and iRiver. I used to think that 256MB would be sufficient, but after having the Rio 256, I realized very quickly that this had me running back to load/unload songs much more often then I preferred. That as well as the fact that you can get a lot more money for almost the same price at 256MB 2 years ago had me wanting more. That aside from the fact that most of my music is ripped a 192kbps had me looking deeply for no less than 1GB. Deciding on the 1GB did help to narrow down the players, considering how 1GB was usually about the limit for many companies flash players. That said, I narrowed the pool down once more the only a handful of players, specifically the iAudio U2 and the iPod Nano. While I did find the Nano to be a nice MP3 player, it’s longer length and shiny design/casing had me a little weary of it’s durability, not to mention it’s still-new name that had yet to be proven by Apple on the flash market. The last 2 demands I had, those being some type of armband and very small and light, finally brought me to my conclusion…the Cowon iAudio U2. The answer almost seemed unanimous. Reviews from peers on Epinions as well as CNet were very highly recommending the iAudio U2, so I decided to dive in. This outcome was much different then my Rio Forge experience…thank goodness.
Appearance
Loved it…point and case. The U2 was so simple that I couldn’t help but love it from the get go. Yet, as you’ll soon find out, the U2 also has a huge list of complex options that will have even the most advanced audiophile smiling. The player is slightly larger then a pack of gum (the 5 piece packs…not 20). I didn’t actually realize exactly HOW small this player was until I received it. It was downright tiny. Yet, somehow they managed to cram an AMAZING amount of info on that little display! The display had an equivalent 4 lines of info, including such categories as title, folder, 2-bar analyzer, play time, play progress bar, file number, total files, audio options (BBE, 3D effect, Mach3 Bass, Repeat, Birate, Battery life, Source, and music on/off. What makes that most impressive is that ALL of this info appears on the screen simultaneously together, as opposed to scrolling info. Very impressive, I don’t mind saying so myself. Although the player is constructed of plastic with no rubber edges (as some athletes find attractive and durable) the U2 still makes its case and does so with style. The 2 control buttons are located on the top of the player, while a control knob lays off to the right side of the front of the player. A hold switch is also located on top of the player, next to the 2 control buttons. The simplicity of the player lies in it’s lack of controls, while still retaining the ability to do almost everything you could imagine out of an MP3 player. The control knobs movies in all 4 directions, as well as presses in for an additional 5th function for the control knob. A very helpful little idea was to add a whitish glow to the LCD screen when in use, which can be turned off if some would find it to be annoying, although it automatically turns off after a few seconds anyhow. The power button dubs for one of the control buttons atop of the player, and needs only be held in for a few seconds to turn the player on/off. One word came to mind when I held the player, and that was very surprisingly the word solid. I didn’t hear or feel anything that made me fear dropping the player a small ways, and really giving it a run through the ringer of workouts. One thing worth mentioning would be the lack-of an armband AND a wall-charger out-of-the-package. All of which could be purchased separately, I found it most strange not to add one, if not both of these “normal” accessories. The armband available was a little bulky for what I’d have preferred, but still did the job. The wall charger was a nice addition, and even allowed playback while plugged into the wall. However, strange enough, the USB charger didn’t allow playback while plugged in.
Functions
Another pleasant surprise, I found that the U2 sported an uncanny list of functions…more then I’d have even imagined. For such a little device, it functions almost exactly an MP3 player program on a computer would, such as Winamp, or Windows Media Player. The unit supports MP3, WMA, WMA9 CBR, WAV and OGG formats…a rather impressive list, if you will. Some of the follow functions found on the Forge are the following:
FM Tuner - The signal was exceptionally good…for how small the player was. Not the best by any means, but local stations came in decent, and I found it to be amazing good with all things accounted. However, as with most MP3 players, not really one of the main selling points of an MP3 player. Then again, who’s buying an MP3 player for a radio anyway?
FM Record - Although more and more companies are starting to add this on as a standard option, it was still rather helpful. The ability to record any radio station for the amount of memory available, then play back at a later time struck me as a pretty good idea. Although I couldn’t see myself sitting around recording any radio station for fun, it’s a nice option to have in the instance that you would need it. Obviously going hand-in-hand with the radio though, this option is pretty limited to the luck-of-the-draw of getting good reception, which seems to be a miracle in itself.
Voice Recorder - The U2 comes with a built-in mic, making this little player not only a player, BUT also a mic AND recorder BOTH. I found this particularly useful for such activities as interviews or short lectures. Although it can only record for the allotted time left on the memory, you’d be surprised as to the time it will last. I can record up to 128kbps, so choosing a lesser birate would yield more time for those concerned with needing more recording time. Very nice idea.
Line In/Direct MP3 encoding - Oh yea, you’ll even find a line-in jack on this little player! This was one of my favorite options on the player, putting it above all others that I’d found. The line-in jack allowed you to rip (record) external sources onto the U2, such a cassette tapes or anything else that you could run in a mini-jack from. The one drawback to this came by means of the limited 128 kbps limit, making my preferred 192 out of the question. Still, a GREAT idea if your wanting to rip something on the spot, or even rip anything that you don’t have means of ripping via any other source.
Equalizer - This was another nice lil trinket to add to the U2. There are 5 pre-set equalizer curves that allow the music to instantly transform to your liking of music styles. There is also a “custom” function that allows the user to customize each of the 5 different levels of audio equalization. Very nice for quickly changing music styles.
File Navigator - I can say that I wasn’t a big fan of this one. The system for lining up files and the file-tree was rather confusing to use until you really got the hang of it. Prepare to dig into the manual pretty deeply before you even dare add a dauntingly huge collection of MP3’s to the player. It works out pretty good once you get the hang of it, but the learners curves is, quite frankly, not there. This was one of the only spots where I found the Rio Forge to have the upper hand on their navigation.
Shuffle/Repeat - Pretty Simple and to the point…you can chose to shuffle all the songs, and/or repeat all music if chosen. Obviously, these 2 options can be used separately, or together.
Jet Effect - Simply put, the Jet Effect is a subdivision other players options that includes an abundance of sound options, which includes BBE, Mach3Bass, 3D effect, and a few others that team up to reproduce a simply AMAZING sound out of such a small player. It really surprised me as to ALL the options that you can team up to make a night-and-day difference between the sound. Bravo on this one Cowon…it’s impressive.
Time/Date - Not so much of an option, but more of a basic function. The player also does keep the time and date straight, just incase you’re time heavy without a watch…or maybe if you come down with a sudden case of amnesia, and forget what year your living in.
Battery Life
Bragging an excessively generous 20 hours of playback from a lithium rechargeable battery, the U2 does bring it’s game to the table with an in-your-face attitude. However, results have shown that listening to the player at about 4/5 volume for most of the time (which is about right for working out) yielded only about 14-15 hours tops. This is still rather acceptable, comparing to my previous CD players, which were lucky to cross the 8-hour mark for 2 AA. Furthermore, the days of replacing batteries every week are a thing of the past. The rechargeable battery doesn’t have a listed lifespan, which makes you ponder its longevity. Downside however, would be that replacement of the battery is not user-friendly, meaning that you’d have to send the player into Cowon to have it done.
Performance
Simply put, amazing. The sound quality of the U2 was VERY impressive for the size and specs of the player. It’s sound is very strongly affected by the Jet Effect options however, making it crucial that you adjust them appropriately before really setting out to listen abroad. The volume level of the U2 was even higher then that of the Rio Forge, which happy to find. I’d always thought that the Forge lacked on all of its audio quality/quantity options, meaning that the U2 once more picked up where the Forge had left off. The U2 puts out 26mW of sound (13mW + 13mW), leaving the Forge easily behind in the dust with a max level of 16mW combined (8mW + 8mW). Once tuned to my liking (taking the in the EQ curve as well), I found the U2 to perform beautifully in both the highs and mids. As with any player using micro-drive headphones, bass is never all that prevalent to any surprise. However, pumping up the Mach3Bass level up to 10 made a substantial difference in the bass available. To no surprise, this took a rather dampening toll of the overall sound that the U2 could put out during high SBLs, making the volume almost sound like it was backing down to compensate for the extra power needed to pump bass out. Since bass requires more power, this is expected, and will even shorten the charge of the battery much quicker. But have no fear, because any decent level of bass mixed with treble proves to provide an excellent sound that doesn’t seem to lack in any aspect of the audio spectrum. Some complain that a slight bit of noise can be heard when one track ends and the next begins, but then again…does that even effect playback? Hardly. As an experienced audiophile myself, this MP3 player does set an impressingly high bar for it’s genre.
Software
I’ll be honest in saying that I didn’t care for any of the iAudio’s software. Neither Jet Shell nor Jet Audio really impressed me all that much. It wasn’t so much that it was tough to use, but that I didn’t like the way it worked. It’s drag-and-drop methods were a little more complex then I would have thought drag-and-drop could have been. Then again, I didn’t really take the time to read the online-only instructions or follow any of the tutorial help that was offered. Simply run the included CD, install the software, and run the program. This would be the other aspect of the Rio Forge that I liked better then the U2. However, I found that for basic song-addition, you could simply go through Windows “My Computer” and select the U2 (which is listed as a drive) and simply add songs on your own. Using USB 2.0, the U2 is rather quick, transferring around 1.8MB per second. Some don’t find this fast enough for their taste, but to me, I can barely pick my music fast enough to keep up with the writing. When using the added programs, you can select a number of songs and add them to a list, then select to transfer them all at once, as opposed to the typical drop-and-write instantly, which is provided by windows. Maybe a little more time and effort would have went to friendly, but I’m likely biased to the Rio Forge’s software, which prevents me from giving my personal thumbs up to the U2 software.
Durability
As to no surprise, the U2 held up to every invigorating activity I could throw its way. I carried it along for running, cycling, weightlifting and everyday movement. On a few different occasions, the player was thrown around and dropped on occasion, but still continued to pump out music flawlessly and continually despite its carelessness it’d been subject to. The supplied headphones were sufficient, although as usual, upgraded headphone for only $20 would definitely prove to be a good investment. The player never seemed to struggle through any points of my use, and never once did I experience anything like I did with the Rio Forge. As mentioned in my Rio Forge review, I had experienced severe problems with random shutoffs and screwy sound…which thankfully were nothing short of a Rio specialty. Cowon seems to have all their eggs in one basket when it comes to durability, a point that Rio could definitely take notes on.
Overview
Cowon certainly has embedded a diamond-in-the-rough here. Considering how few people have actually heard of this player, much less the company, it continues to amaze me that such a no-namer out there could be so flawless! Its drawbacks were obviously few and far between…and even those weren’t anything worth keeping someone away from it. Its impressibly small package teamed up with its great value and sound make it a prefect competitor for the best in class. Ipod’s Nano may provide some hefty competition for the U2, but the limited durability of the Nano’s delicate screen may be enough to toss it backseat to this beauty. It’s abilities surpass not only it’s own shortcomings, but also that of it’s closest competitors as well. And priced at a very reasonable $100, this class-leading player may have you proposing the question…why wouldn’t I buy this player? I really liked this iAudio player…now it’s your call. Do U2?
