A2 vs. A3

dimiboy · 07-27-2007, 12:43

hi i am new here
i have now the iriver H320 but its old and its battery almost dead. it is a problem to get a new battery since i cant buy online and only one store where i bought can fix it for a high price (like +100$) (i live in israel) so i just finished my work (my first one) and i thought to get a new player first i thought to get trchos 604 but it costs alot and i have to buy a dvr
than i found the perfect thing i think! the cowon a2! but now i see that soon there will be out a3 and i could not find any difference between a2 and a3...
can someone help me what are the difference? and should i wait for the a3 or a2 is good?

cjcox · 07-27-2007, 15:38

Well... the primary difference is the switch to the DaVinci chipset... which I believe is what the Archos 4th gen (x04) players use. So... doing H.264 at DVD resolution or less will probably (should) be possible. Not sure if there's much else there except the CPU side is faster (maybe less lag in the UI vs the A2).

Look at Texas Instruments site for the difference between DaVinci and the old OMAP2420 (pre DaVinci model). So the codec part is done by the DSP... and the DSP code can support different codecs, but apparently (I think) nobody did the H.264 work for the OMAP2420. Whereas the other formats were even in the reference implementation. However, I believe H.264 is in the reference implementation for DaVinci (or will be soon), so you'd expect any player using that chip would have support for it.

I've never looked inside of my Cowon A2... some say the design/kernel is from the Ingenient MPxxxx series... but I don't know.
I know that a lot of the kernel hacking done on the A2 was done with some help from the Linux kernel work of Neuros Tech. which supposedly started from the Ingenient patches (??).

I'm probably getting too technical (and without fully understanding it all). So... I'll stop... there's a ton of info in these forums... start searching.

dimiboy · 07-27-2007, 15:49

well thanks for the reply
yes it was too much technical. i am more interested abuot the difference in features so can you or someone write just the new features please?
i did search for its specs but could not find anything new

cjcox · 07-28-2007, 09:14

My point is that until Cowon releases the spec, the best we can do is to speculate based on the capabilities and work done on the dsp implementation used (with regards to codec support). As for other features, again, we're at the mercy of Cowon for that info.

hibell · 07-28-2007, 16:45

well, i think the difference between the 2 (or changes) are codec support. and dont know, but maybe they couldn't update firmware in A2 because of limitation of the chipsets cjcox talking about. so they're making an updated version of the a2 calling it a3 with different chip so they can implement new codecs.

really dont know what im talking about. heh. but im pretty sure there are a lot more codec support on the A3, and hopefully improvement on USB OTG, etc.

mikey · 07-28-2007, 17:51

Not to mention the a3 is "supposed to have a bigger hard drive", it seems impossible to change the harddrive in the a2, theres a huge thread on it.

SultanDerek · 09-29-2007, 01:42

If I'm not mistaken, isn't the A2 running a highly modified version of Linux, whereas the A3 is running Windows Mobile Pro? I'll be honest with you- In my opinion, that's a very disturbing direction to take. I have a T-Mobile MDA on Windows Mobile 5, and I can't tell you how horrible my experience has been with this platform. Admittedly, it's a cousin of Mobile Pro, but I can tell you that the performance and reliability of the FIFTH iteration of their mobile platform, they STILL are years behind the performance of my 'old' Palm-based Sony UX50 PDA.

As much as I like some of the sneak-peek specs I have heard about, I myself am leaning towards the A2.

Oh, I am very happy to say that the D2 is a GREAT 'little' device and the sound quality is EXCELLENT. Cowon did a great job on it. I only wish it had a bit wider video support. It sure is sweet with Sennheisers and the JABRA A120s Stereo Bluetooth has paired well with a Motorola Audio Gateway, Motorola Stereo Headphones and a Jensen Audio Gateway as well... But I don't want to get too far off the subject.

omjeremy · 09-29-2007, 10:01

Um... no. A3 is running Linux, just like A2. There may be some differences in interface, but from what I've seen it's nothing drastic.

gunrock · 10-01-2007, 05:50

Quote:

Originally Posted by cjcox

Well... the primary difference is the switch to the DaVinci chipset... which I believe is what the Archos 4th gen (x04) players use. So... doing H.264 at DVD resolution or less will probably (should) be possible. Not sure if there's much else there except the CPU side is faster (maybe less lag in the UI vs the A2).

Look at Texas Instruments site for the difference between DaVinci and the old OMAP2420 (pre DaVinci model). So the codec part is done by the DSP... and the DSP code can support different codecs, but apparently (I think) nobody did the H.264 work for the OMAP2420. Whereas the other formats were even in the reference implementation. However, I believe H.264 is in the reference implementation for DaVinci (or will be soon), so you'd expect any player using that chip would have support for it.

The OMAP2420 is capable of H.264 AVC, but I guess it's a licensing issue for Cowon. Ingenient seem to charge for it separately:

Link

07-27-2007, 12:43	#1
dimiboy Junior Member Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 14	A2 vs. A3 hi i am new here i have now the iriver H320 but its old and its battery almost dead. it is a problem to get a new battery since i cant buy online and only one store where i bought can fix it for a high price (like +100$) (i live in israel) so i just finished my work (my first one) and i thought to get a new player first i thought to get trchos 604 but it costs alot and i have to buy a dvr than i found the perfect thing i think! the cowon a2! but now i see that soon there will be out a3 and i could not find any difference between a2 and a3... can someone help me what are the difference? and should i wait for the a3 or a2 is good?

07-28-2007, 16:45	#5
hibell Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 194	well, i think the difference between the 2 (or changes) are codec support. and dont know, but maybe they couldn't update firmware in A2 because of limitation of the chipsets cjcox talking about. so they're making an updated version of the a2 calling it a3 with different chip so they can implement new codecs. really dont know what im talking about. heh. but im pretty sure there are a lot more codec support on the A3, and hopefully improvement on USB OTG, etc. __________________ PMP: Cowon S9 16gb Titanium, Cowon D2 4gb, Cowon A2 20g Earphones: UE Tri.Fi 10, UE Super.fi 5 Pro & Future Sonics Atrio m5 Amp: Cmoy, Fiio E5/E3(backup) Other DAPs: Sansa Clip 4gb & 2gb, iriver S10, Rio Karma (the ultimate mp3 player ever), Rio Nitrus, RCA Lyra Sports 2217A, Creative Jukebox, Sony NW-HD1

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07-27-2007, 15:38	#2
cjcox Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Posts: 311	Well... the primary difference is the switch to the DaVinci chipset... which I believe is what the Archos 4th gen (x04) players use. So... doing H.264 at DVD resolution or less will probably (should) be possible. Not sure if there's much else there except the CPU side is faster (maybe less lag in the UI vs the A2). Look at Texas Instruments site for the difference between DaVinci and the old OMAP2420 (pre DaVinci model). So the codec part is done by the DSP... and the DSP code can support different codecs, but apparently (I think) nobody did the H.264 work for the OMAP2420. Whereas the other formats were even in the reference implementation. However, I believe H.264 is in the reference implementation for DaVinci (or will be soon), so you'd expect any player using that chip would have support for it. I've never looked inside of my Cowon A2... some say the design/kernel is from the Ingenient MPxxxx series... but I don't know. I know that a lot of the kernel hacking done on the A2 was done with some help from the Linux kernel work of Neuros Tech. which supposedly started from the Ingenient patches (??). I'm probably getting too technical (and without fully understanding it all). So... I'll stop... there's a ton of info in these forums... start searching.

07-27-2007, 15:49	#3
dimiboy Junior Member Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 14	well thanks for the reply yes it was too much technical. i am more interested abuot the difference in features so can you or someone write just the new features please? i did search for its specs but could not find anything new

07-28-2007, 09:14	#4
cjcox Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Posts: 311	My point is that until Cowon releases the spec, the best we can do is to speculate based on the capabilities and work done on the dsp implementation used (with regards to codec support). As for other features, again, we're at the mercy of Cowon for that info.

07-28-2007, 17:51	#6
mikey a2/d2er Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Melbourne Posts: 1,044	Not to mention the a3 is "supposed to have a bigger hard drive", it seems impossible to change the harddrive in the a2, theres a huge thread on it.

09-29-2007, 01:42	#7
SultanDerek Junior Member Join Date: Sep 2007 Posts: 1	If I'm not mistaken, isn't the A2 running a highly modified version of Linux, whereas the A3 is running Windows Mobile Pro? I'll be honest with you- In my opinion, that's a very disturbing direction to take. I have a T-Mobile MDA on Windows Mobile 5, and I can't tell you how horrible my experience has been with this platform. Admittedly, it's a cousin of Mobile Pro, but I can tell you that the performance and reliability of the FIFTH iteration of their mobile platform, they STILL are years behind the performance of my 'old' Palm-based Sony UX50 PDA. As much as I like some of the sneak-peek specs I have heard about, I myself am leaning towards the A2. Oh, I am very happy to say that the D2 is a GREAT 'little' device and the sound quality is EXCELLENT. Cowon did a great job on it. I only wish it had a bit wider video support. It sure is sweet with Sennheisers and the JABRA A120s Stereo Bluetooth has paired well with a Motorola Audio Gateway, Motorola Stereo Headphones and a Jensen Audio Gateway as well... But I don't want to get too far off the subject.

09-29-2007, 10:01	#8
omjeremy My A2 Died :( Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: USA/Chile Posts: 392	Um... no. A3 is running Linux, just like A2. There may be some differences in interface, but from what I've seen it's nothing drastic.