Cowon D2+ DAB

The audiophiles' player of choice?

Wed 29 Jul 2009 // 08:02 UTC

The ‘+’ in D2+ is Cowon’s proprietary BBE+ technology, a suite of sound enhancement algorithms that can sonically sweeten most kinds of music. OK, so you can spend long hours tweaking equalisers and effects and still end up switching back to flat output, but the facilities in BBE+, if used sparingly, can improve the stereo soundstage and bring the sound forward, improving its presence.

Easy memory expansion offers a way to cut the purchase price

The presets for pop, rock, vocal and jazz are a good point to start, although some did appear to put the lead vocals too far back in the mix. This was particular true in heavy rock tracks and in some experimental music, too. You can save your own settings as user presets.

Cowon claims the D2+ DAB can deliver up to 10 hours continuous video playback and 52 hours of audio. It also claims 5.5 hours to fully charge the D2+ DAB via USB and 3 hours using its optional charger. There are three different, internal memory capacities in the range, but because you can slot in an SDHC card, you can undercut the price differences. For example, an 8GB card will cost you under £15, which is a £25 saving on going from the 8 GB to 16GB player.

Verdict

The touchscreen works well, especially if you don't mind using the stylus, and the video playback is a useful bonus, but not really a prime function. However, if you're after a pocket player, which excels at sound reproduction, includes a DAB radio and support for lossless sound files, then the D2+ DAB is a good choice. ®