Cowon i9 8GB MP3 Player

I was looking for a reasonably priced MP3 player for listening to music and nothing more. Cowon MP3s seemed to be well reviewed and his player fits the bill perfectly. It is really neat, good sound quality and allows songs to be played in any order that might take your fancy - random, artist, genre, album etc. Construction seems pretty robust. The touch controls straight out of the box are very sensitive but this can be changed through the product settings. I haven't used the radio so can't comment on that. Overall, completely pleased with it.

Really fantastic sound quality, wipes the floor with my ipod touch. Great light, durable build. Perfect for the gym!

I lost my Samsung R0 a while ago and had been using a Archos 1v as a cheap replacement. Now I actually like the little Archos (which only cost £15) but it was never meant to be a true replacement for the old Sammy so set about finding a good quality MP3 player under £100. It was a toss up between the Samsung q3 and the Cowon i9. I didn't need huge storage (as i have so much music no player at this cost would have stored more than a fraction of it anyhow) so was happy with 8 gig. Also it was going to be music only so a big screen wasn't needed. The sammy has good sound and great battery life but the Cowon had great sound and good battery life, sound quality won.

Its a great little player, fits in the hand well but not too big so you hardly notice it when walking around. Light yet sturdy its just right for me as I hate tiny players the screens (if they have one) are close to pointless and buttons are too cramped to use while walking about town dodging prams and trollies.(My Zen Stone + suffers with this)

The screen while quite small is perfect for menu hopping and other simple tasks, plays video well but best for short clips etc as it is abit too small for films (which the i9 can do very well indeed if you wish). A usable small screen thats bright and clear.

It has a menu and volume buttons but uses a touch panel for navigating etc. I've used better systems (tactile buttons are always better) but it works just fine and doesn't really hinder you unless you have large fingers so that might be worth considering. I found myself wizzing about pretty well within a day or two of practice. Also uses a small slider switch to turn on and off plus lock the controls while in the pocket. It works.

Battery is something I haven't really checked but I know I'm getting 10 hours before charging and thats still 30-40 % charged so I guess 15 hours (thats using the BBE settings etc too so not bad)

Supplied head phones -------- just chuck them, they don't sound great.

Sound quality is great. Infact I'd say the best I've ever heard from an MP3 player (and thats at £80 so happy days). Very clear and precise yet still has plenty of bass and depth. I won't go on and on about the sound, there are reviews on the net that do it better than me but I will say the many sound options available on this device are amazing. If you can't get a cowon to sound great your probably hard of hearing.

I bought it from advancedMP3players.com and had great service so would happily use them again.

One of the best purchases I've made.

Great little player, brilliant sound , exellent value for money !

the more i use the i9 the more i like it.
sound,is exellent and the preset eq settings are the best i've heard on this type of player.
the screen is a little small for photos but i think most people will buy this for music anyway.
build quality is high,everything is very neat and smooth.
i would prefer a little bit more weight to finish off the quality feel but most peolple are impressed by how light it is.
can't comment on the headphones as i haven't used them.
overall a great alternative to sony or apple.

Bought this player a week ago. As music producer was aiming more to quality, than the other things. Standard headphones are okay for casual user, but it lack of low frequencies and catches lot of ambient sounds. So I bought additionally "MEElectronics M11+". It delivers absolutely amazing sound, you can hear each details in the track. What is more, you will be able to find the difference between lossy mp3 (224kbps) and 320/wav/flac lossless audio format. Since I have approximately 1TB of music on my storage, I change music on my player once per day, because it depends of mood, what you want to listen today or tomorrow, so 8Gb is enough for me though.

as per usual, cowon have created yet another little gem with the i9. unbeatable sound quality and superb video playback (even on that tiny screen).
mmm, let me see now, ipod nano with ok sound, no video and prices starting from £129, OR cowon i9 with all the goodies, no i tunes and prices starting from £74 (silver 8gb)........ its a no brainer! buy one !

I'm from italy!
And buy iaudio 9,
The product it's beautiful,the quality audio it's magnific!
Ergonomic in the hand and easy to' use.
The price it's ok!!
Good shop!
Bye

I'm from the U.S. and wanted something beyond the "ipod," this site offers amazing deals and products that stray away from the norm. I am very happy w/ my white cowon i9 8gb mp3 player. I would recommend the product if you are looking for quality sound.

I bought this for my wife who usually says things are 'rubbish' when she can't use them. However, I have not heard anything like this from her. She loves her new Cowon i9 8GB MP3 Player and says that it is very easy to use. After loking at it myself, to set it up for her, I thought 'I wouldn't mind one of these myself'. So have now got my eye on the 16G!

Bought this as an upgrade to my iAudio 7, there are several improvments over the previous model.

More preset EQs
The UI is less cumbersome
Menu system slightly easier to use
Nicer design
Built in speaker
Ability to load/play Flash games
Multi video format support; Ability to plug into tv
Very good battery life


And of course Cowon's legendary sound quality, drag 'n' drop ease and multi-format support.

Not perfect, still think the UI could do with a little tweaking and now the USB isn't mini B, so supported Cowon or equivalent cable would have to be bought if you lost the supplied cable. Also, the volume doesn't quite have the drive of the iAudio 7 - not a problem for most as it is still quite loud (currently listening through Sennheiser HD205 headphones and volume is more than adequate). The supplied headphones are of a semi decent quality but I recommend buying upgrades to get the most out of the MP3 player.


Bottom line: Is an improvment over the Iaudio7, better sound quality than the iPod Shuffle etc., excellent format support, TV out capability and better UI/menu system.

I did a bit of research on the Web and decided to buy this one. It is also my first time buying a Cowon player. The packaging is quite interesting and more importantly, the sound quality is -WOW! I don't think any other players within the same price band can beat it. I also have to mention that it supports losless file format (flac and ape) - I am now listening to flac only. And it has multi-language display too - a very useful feature indeed.

The earphone supplied in the package are not that bad, but I strongly recommend to buy a decent set of earphones/headphones to boost its performance. You won't regret it.

This is a really great device for listening to music. I use it mostly for hindustani classical ragas with excellent results. BBE provides a good hearing experience as does "crystal clear". UI is good and responsive.

This is a great device. Works great, sounds great, battery lasts for a long time and the video plays smooth with no need to convert. The interface and design is simple but elegant and cool. There has been a big jump from my old Cowon M5L!

BUT...

...it doesn't understand as many video formats as I expected. When you're searching for a player that "eats up" any video format, this is exactly what you want: as many video formats as possible (DivX, XVid, H.264, WMV, whatever), and this is a test the I9 passes, but doesn't excel at, even after installing the latest Firmware.

I know there is an absurd amount of different video formats, and it's almost impossible to give support to all them, but they could give support to a few more of them.

Cowon means freedom for me. No propietary software, no propietary cable, no limits on what formats I can use. Cowon proudly fulfills this promise ... except on video.

Fantastic mp3 player, small, light, great sound and battery life. love the bbe equilizer settings and the countless adjustability of the sound so you can get what ever music you listen to just right . . . screen is pretty good for putting a few music videos on the player aswell.

If you are fed up with the ipod being everywhere and you want a sweet sounding no nonsense mp3 player then the cowon i9 is well worth a look, plus you can even use the packaging as a flower pot ! :-)

The Cowon iAudio I9 is great. Sleek, lightweight and with a responsive touch pad coupled with the fantastic sound quality makes for an awesome listening experience.

I highly recommend the i9 for anyone looking for a small player primarily for playing back their music collection; although the screen does also handle video and pictures very well!