Cowon Systems iAudio U3 Review

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Cowon Systems iAudio U3
4 stars
Average rating for this product is: 4 out of 5

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Guest's Review of Cowon Systems iAudio U3 MP3 Player

11th Oct 2008

Overall Rating

4.5 stars
  • Value for money
    5 stars
Good Points

Simple, straightforward interface. (If you know how to browse for a file on your computer you will know how to work this.)

Line in recording. Great for DJs to record their set at the club.

Built-in electret condenser mic for voice or field recording. Pretty good quality I might add.

FM radio. (Can record also, I think.)

Compact. People see it and go, "Is that your phone??" I wish!

Very durable.

Plenty loud.

Has some pretty effective sound enhancement features.


Bad Points

Line in recording is only 128k WMA so it's not really feasible to edit your recordings. This is the only reason I take a point off.

FM radio doesn't work that well.


General Comments

The Cowon Systems iAudio U3 adheres to standards. Some devices (e.g. iPod) do everything they can to lock you into their software and accessories. I really appreciate that Cowon did not go that route. They created a highly functional audio player/recorder without any intent to hook you into anything else. Ah, how refreshing! This device is basically a USB thumbdrive with an operating system dedicated to playing and recording files. If that's greek to you, just go by what I said above: If you know how to browse for your music files on your computer, you'll know how to work this.

In a time when every big company wants to find ways to lock you in, Cowon has walked the straight and narrow path of quality and integrity. I hope to see them around for a long time to come.

I've owned this recorder for probably a year and a half. Unfortunately a "friend" of mine just stole it from me. I'm about to buy a new one - the white one, just in case I ever see my black one again.

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