Cowon iAudio X5L 30GB

...DRM in any form, but Cowon have released a firmware upgrade that's compatible with Windows Media DRM and it's likely they'll add more soon. My only real bugbears are:

1) Very few accessories included - no case (essential if you want to keep it safe from scratches and low impact knocks), no dock and no remote. All are available, but at hefty additional costs.
2) The buttons on the side don't feel like they could withstand a ...
...(whilst tough) could easily fall foul of various accidental tugs. Even though I quite like the joystick, I think recessed buttons on the fascia would have been more beneficial.

Otherwise, the X5 is the closest iPod rival (and perhaps confirmed killer, for me at least) yet and, if you ask me, it beats the iPod hands down. Many "professional" reviews I've seen heavily understate the qualities of the X5 and way overstate the ... more

When I bought it in March this year, the iAudio X5 was my third HDD player in the space of about 18 months. I'm sorry to say I followed the crowd and started with a 20gig iPod. Don't get me wrong, I thought (and still think) the iPod looked great, sounded pretty good and was a doddle to use, but by god was it restrictive. And it still is - I didn't realise it at the time, but my opinion now is that iPods are almost like cassette walkmans, only without a radio. My second player (having sold the iPod after needing a bigger hard drive) was an iRiver H340 - now THAT was more like it!! Sure, it didn't have the iPod looks and if truth be told it was a bit of a lump, but it beat Apple's flagship hands down in everything else from features, to sound quality and all sorts beyond. You could even play video on it. Plus it had a radio!! Sadly, the iRiver died after a few months (not a problem with the player itself, but a mains power surge whilst it was recharging) and, having found H340s hard to come by at that point, I spent weeks researching a replacement. After much searching and many demos, I stumbled across the new iAudio X5. And I must say it's the best of the bunch so far - probably the best sounding player on the market, it has more features and supports more codecs than the iPod and H340 put together and also boasts video playing capabilities.

As something of an audiophile, sound is the number 1 priority for me and, with decent buds (bin those standard supply buds people!!!), the X5 is light years ahead of any other player on the market in that department and is blessed with one of the best true 5 band equalisers available. It even outdoes the H340's legendary bassy rumble, thanks to the various effects available (BBE, Mach3bass etc), which actually improve as opposed to hinder the listening experience, unlike other players (H340 included) where these are merely gimmicks. With bass, mids and treble cranked up, the player gives out a deep and rich sound, revealing previously unheard textures in certain music. A direct comparison with a friend's iPod (using exactly the same Panasonic buds) proved that the iAudio outperformed it's more popular cousin with ease. A fact that was agreed on by the iPod owner!

Second priority for me is file support. The X5 has a huge list of audio codecs, including OGG and the lossless FLAC. I've not used FLAC yet, but it's definitely a plus to have it as an option, particularly with the player sounding as good as it does. Video capability is one of the main advertised features of the X5 and whilst this is a handy feature to have, it should be said that the X5 is NOT a multi-media player - the screen is standard MP3 size (ie quite small) and the display, whilst of good quality, can only handle 15 fps. This is fine for TV shows, cartoons and anything that doesn't move too fast - once video files are converted (a requirement and to be honest a tad fiddly, but not a huge problem by any means - merely a case of getting used to the software), they are better than expected, but if you want it for films you're probably best off going for one of the new Archos AV players. Instead, the X5 is a top notch audio player that has the ability to play video, which is fine by me but might not be for someone looking to invest in something that can handle video as well as well as it can handle audio. Unfortunately, in video mode, the only supported codec listed is MPEG4 (confusingly, the video demos that come with the player are in AVI, so it's possible that AVI is also supported), but hopefully this is something that could be sorted with a future firmware upgrade. Many have complained about the lack of ID3 support on the X5 - well, as has already been mentioned in other reviews, the X5 DOES play ID3 tagged files, but doesn't support the intuitive ID3 directory. For me this isn't a problem - I prefer to have my music organised in Windows-like folders anyway (alphabet letter/artist/album/song) and, with the ability to just drag and drop (the X5 is seen as an external hard drive without the need for software - look and learn, Apple) the X5 suits just fine. Besides, it's another thing that could be sorted with future firmware. In fact, it may have already been sorted with a firmware upgrade!

Then ease of use. Contrary to popular opinion, the controls really aren't that difficult - I had them pretty much mastered within a couple of hours and that was without reading the manual. Anyone who's owned an MP3 player already won't have any trouble getting used to the interface at all. And, again contrary to popular opinion, I actually quite like the "joystick" control, though I appreciate that's very much a personal opinion. As for looks, whilst it doesn't have the same sleek ergonomics of the iPod, the X5 is still a sexy little number - much smaller and lighter than you might think (it's actually about the same size as a standard 20gig iPod), it comes in a nice black scratch resistant metal casing and all the buttons feel well integrated and within easy reach.

Here's a quick rundown of the X5's main features:

Multiple codecs - MP3, OGG, WMA, ASF, FLAC, WAV, MPEG4 (video)
FM Radio Receiver and Recording, Voice Recording, Line-In Recording
TXT and JPEG File Viewer
260,000 Colours TFT-LCD
User Adjustable 5-Band EQ
-Normal, Rock, Pop, Jazz, Classic, Vocal, User
-Supports BBE, Mach3Bass, MP Enhance, and 3D Surround
Clock, Alarm, Timer Recording, Sleep Function, Power Saving Shut down
Comes with JetShell (File transfer, MP3/WMA/WAV/AUDIO CD PLAY, MP3 ENCODING) and
JetAudio (Integrated multimedia player software, music/video conversion feature

All this sounds great, so what of the bad? Well, they're very minor things - the supplied adapter that attaches to the bottom of the player (which is required for charging, transferring files etc) is a ridiculous idea but then it has kept the size of the player down, so it's swings and roundabouts. Besides, if you lose it or it breaks, you can get a replacement for cheap. The battery life is excellent on the L models and I can get about 20-25 hours out of a single charge, which is fine with me (supposedly 35 hours in with the right settings!!!). Also, until recently, the X5 didn't support DRM in any form, but Cowon have released a firmware upgrade that's compatible with Windows Media DRM and it's likely they'll add more soon. My only real bugbears are:

1) Very few accessories included - no case (essential if you want to keep it safe from scratches and low impact knocks), no dock and no remote. All are available, but at hefty additional costs.
2) The buttons on the side don't feel like they could withstand a year or two of heavy use and the protruding joystick (whilst tough) could easily fall foul of various accidental tugs. Even though I quite like the joystick, I think recessed buttons on the fascia would have been more beneficial.

Otherwise, the X5 is the closest iPod rival (and perhaps confirmed killer, for me at least) yet and, if you ask me, it beats the iPod hands down. Many "professional" reviews I've seen heavily understate the qualities of the X5 and way overstate the minor downsides, almost as if they are afraid of/biased against anything that doesn't carry the Apple logo, which is a real shame as the X5 offers a lot of things that the iPod doesn't, and it's a sad fact that many people in the market for this type of player will bypass it and head straight for the iPod style icon.  

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