I miss it. I really truly freaking miss it.
I love my Phonaks as IEMs. They are SICK. They are perfect. The FiiO headphone amp fills out the bass.
The Cowon S9 is still holding up like a champ. I have gleefully shown off it’s kickass screen to many friends. And they all say the same thing: I WANT ONE!
So I thought I’d toss up a quick follow-up post about this set of awesome over a year after I bought them. Honeymoon period over, I thought I’d share my thoughts on how they stack up against the test of time.
I will say this again: I MISS THEM.
I lost one of the earphone guides (the silicon loop that wraps these sick phones around your ear). I also lost one of the small silicon ear tips. So I have one small and one medium tip and only one ear guide. THIS SUCKS! I tried to order new ones but SHOCK! The phonak site’s store DOES NOT WORK. Amazon does not sell them. I AM IN SHOCK. And rage…lots of rage. I want some damn accessories that also fit their current stock and their goddamn site does not work. I get a 404 error page whenever I click on their store. WHY?!?!?!
I have fallen asleep with these babies on. They are comfortable (even with mismatched tips!) and they don’t blow out my ears. My coworker bought some Klipsch S4s and I convinced a close friend to do the same. No complaints from them, but I still love my Phonaks more. RAWR I need more tips and one more ear guide 
As for the FiiO headphone amp…well there is a slight hissing sound. Not noticeable when you crank it, but to be honest, I prefer to listen to my music at a very low level. I like to hear what’s going on and honestly I like being able to hear vaguely what’s going on. Not enough to cover the sound of music, but if someone shouts my name or there’s an explosion, I don’t want to be that guy listening to music as certain doom looms near.
So that was a slight waste of $17. But I mean…it’s $17.
The S9 is actually on loan to a friend who needs it to watch downloaded TV on her TV. YEAH that TV out cord was a good purchase. She loves it and I secretly think she’s going to try to steal it. FAIL! I refuse to allow that to happen.
I seriously miss my S9 because lately I’ve had to settle for listening to music on my iPhone. Yes I sold out by buying Apple and even more so by playing music on it, BUT A MAN’S GOTTA LISTEN TO MUSIC WHEN HE’S DOING MINDLESS WORK AT WORK!
But then I get shrieky MP3s and static-y bass and generally muffled sound. Now these are MP3s that are high quality high encoding and sound beautiful on my laptop with my Denon AHD5000s (yeah I betrayed basically this entire set of equipment >_<). So it’s not a source file issue. It’s not a headphone issue since they rock. SO……
YEAH. Thanks Steve Jobs. Jerk.
If I could get better fitting tips and another silicon ear guide, I would be happy. Also, I’ll need my S9 back so I can rock to it. Which is seeming less and less likely due to my friend’s attachment to it. The irony is that she has an iPod classic (160GB of MUSIC! SERIOUSLY!). Yeah she’s crushing on my non-Apple products, whooo~oooo
Final Glimpse: Looks like this set of equipment is win. You need the headphone amp for blasting bass-heavy music. In all honesty, I don’t think I own any music that’s even slightly bass-heavy, leading me to believe that I probably didn’t need it. BUT IT’S COOL TO HAVE ANYWAY!
I still love the phones, still love the S9. I think that a year later, after purchasing other equipment that does the same job (and some better, since those Denons ROCK MY WORLD but unfortunately are huge over-the-ear headphones and also leave an unattractive line of flattened hair on my head), still loving this set of equipment says a lot. Given a Saturday evening to re-up the music onto my S9, I would totally sit back and listen to some great music. The thing about the S9/Phonak combo is that it makes you want to listen to music again. HELL, the S9/Denon combo makes me feel the same way, regardless of that doofy line across my hair. But, life being what it is, I haven’t had a free Saturday in ages and all my equipment is scattered to the winds.
Audeo…please fix your damn site so I can order accessories for these awesome headphones I bought from you! Cowon, please update your touch interface because after playing with the iPhone, the S9 looks like a primitive resistive touchscreen (which it isn’t, if I recall the specs correctly, it’s a capacative touch screen! For god’s sakes stop embarrassing yourself!)
If you’re looking for a solid entry into IEMs and sound equipment, look no further. I got my Phonaks for $140 and my S9 for $300 (with free plastic case and $12 TV out cable, 32 GB version without DMB cuz it was a US model). It’s a great entry into high-quality sound. Of course you can spend hundreds and hundreds of dollars on sound equipment, but honestly, I think this is the best bet. From here, you can decide exactly how much you want to spend on more equipment. As my good friend over on Without Terebi says….you should go check it out. It’ll do you some good.
