Home > Consumer Reviews > iAUDIO CW200 256 MB MP3 Player with FM Radio and Voice Recorder

This is an excellent mp3 player -- the sound is incredible with a 95db SNR and a very customizable eq setting (bass,treble,dynamic bass,loudness, etc). The included earbuds are of avg. quality and does not do the sound quality justice - personally I'm using Sony's EX70s, the white imported kinds and looks great with the stylish white clip/case included with the player -- great for the gym by the way. I'm also getting very good FM reception with the radio function in NYC. The voice recorder I've only played with a little to test and its clear and sensitive, but I wouldn't know how well it would do in say a classroom lecture. The software is very easy to use and also allows you to convert WAVs/CD tracks to mp3 files easily. Highly recommended!
If you're doing some comparing - the riosport series have a very unimpressive sound fidelity and terrible radio reception, the creative muvo sounds good but doesn't have FM radio, voice rec. EQ settings, or a display and the cw200 has all these things plus its practically the same size and the cw200 offers a 256MB model vs 128. The only other option I'd think about would be the iriver ifp series - but if you're an audiophile, compare these two and you'll know the cw200 sounds better (90 snr vs. 95 snr)

This is an incredible product and company! Absolutely the best portable MP3 player in its class. It is very small (smaller than a credit card) but has plenty of storage (choose 64, 128 or 256MB version when you buy). Also has a great FM radio, voice recorder, good sound quality and an excellent display & controls. The product is well made and comes with a case, belt clip, decent ear buds, cables & software. It's easy to drop the player into a shirt or pants pocket.

The software is VERY easy to use -- just drag and drop MP3s or files from your CD (it will automatically convert them to MP3). Click a button and it will look up your CD song titles from an Internet database. If you're interested, it also has a utility program that will convert any animated GIF or image file into a logo you can download to the player. Your custom animated logo displays on the LCD when you turn the unit on. Very nice.

When you download an MP3 file to the player, you can choose any Windows font and size for the song title display. I like the hand script fonts -- they make the display look friendly. The LCD has a blue backlight and you can adjust how long the backlight stays on after a button press.

The MP3 player includes a full equalizer. Separate +/- control of bass, treble, loudness & dynamic bass. You can save your settings under a "User" selection, or choose from several preset equalizations (rock, classical, etc.). There are also lots of other options to allow you to customize how the player works (if you want to).

Read the instructions to understand what the buttons do. Other than that, everything else about the player and the software is simple. The player has a lot of nice options to play with, but it's easy to use right out of the box if you're not a techie.

Jet Audio customer service is unbelievably good. I placed my order at the busiest time (one week before Christmas) and they still shipped the same day. The players were ordered through Amazon.com from the "New & used" option -- that means Jet-Audio fills the order directly. When you place the order, there's no option to choose a shipping method and Amazon.com says it could take up to 21 days (yikes!). I placed the order & emailed Jet-Audio to see if they could ship faster. They replied immediately and said the product would ship that day -- I received it two days later (in California). I purchased three players and had a problem with one. I sent them an email and they handled the problem that same day. You just can't ask for better customer service.

Great product, great company, great price ---

I bought this device for Christmas 2002 after doing a lot of research on the internet, and I have been very satisfied so far. It had all the features I was looking for, including enough built-in storage so that removable media is not necessary. I also wanted something with a beltclip that I could use when exercising (the main use for this device). It can also receive FM radio and the reception is very good. And it can record voice memos. I have had no trouble with the software for managing audio files in the unit. The included Jet Audio MP3 player is OK, but I prefer using Windows Media Player because the update of album info is easier. The only thing sort of missing is the ability to play WMA files, but MP3 appears to be a more widespread standard. I got an MP3 plug-in for Windows Media Player. The sound quality of the unit is great. Output is plenty loud for me. I highly recommend this unit as a player to use for exercising. The iPOD has much greater capacity and may be the best unit to take all your music with you, but its movable parts (hard disk) makes it unsuitable to me for use while jogging or engaging in other vigorous exercise.

iAudio CW200 256Mb review

Pros: Incredible sound ! Light, minimal size but maximal reliability. Intuitive buttons and softwares. 256 Mb means about 90 songs and about 5 hours of continuous music. Voice recording works very well. FM radio works fine. Battery saving: 6h with 550MAh AAA batteries. Comes with all practical accessories. Firmware download. Support and service is great (thanx Francis).

Cons: My opinion would lead to nothing in this category. But I want to stay completely objective: no WMA support and FM reception could be a bit better...

Full review:

I've been now using the iAudio for about 2 months.
I tested only one before this one (the Nike one). I was convinced to buy this player when reading all the positive comments on Amazon...
Now I use it every day in the train and on the bike between my home and my office. This means about 3 hours/working day.

All I have to say is THIS PLAYER IS PERFECT :-)

Sound: the best I've ever heard. Also the clearest. The headphones included give very good sound quality. Basses are deep (it surprised me that so small headphones can give so loud basses) but don't hide middle or treble. I was wondering how it comes. I found the answer by switching headphones, using my Sennheiser (the very big ones). The basses there are too loud so it appears that the player sound settings have been adapted to the included headphones.
30 seconds to change equalizer settings and I had wonderful sound in my new headphones.
Do the test once: try connecting hifi headphones to the player. Adjust equalizer and you'll be surprised...

Size: With a size comparable to a chewing-gum packet, this player is the smallest and lightest MP3 flash player I've ever seen. When running (using the armband) you even don't feel it. Except maybe the headphones wires...

Package and menus: with only 4 functionnal buttons (including the hold button and REC button). The 2 other buttons are 2 jog dials commands (left right push). They're very easy to use and combination are possible to enable shortcurts of commands.
Menus are very intuitive and also very complete.

Voice recording: As far as I tried this feature, it fulfills completely my needs. I recorded a one hour meeting, by just letting the player in the middle of the table. The result was perfect. Even when 3 people are speaking, you can still understand correctly. This feature is ideal for this use (lectures recording or meeting recording)

FM radio: Works fine. Maybe reception could be a bit better sometimes. My main problem with it is reception when I move. For example, in the train or in the car don't use it. Except if the radio station is powerful and if it doesn't change frequency.

Memory: The iAudio comes with 3 different memory sizes: 64, 128 or 256Mb. I personnaly have the 256 version. And I recommend it. I can fill it with about 90 songs in 128kb/s format (CD quality). It means almost 5 hours of continuous music. So it means for me never twice the same song/day ... And using random play order it means that I keep the same songs for a long time without being bored..
A small comment to JetAudio: maybe for the next generation of the player try to include external memory expansions. I think new memory card format miniSD is light and small enough to fit in your player.

Screen: Blue backlight LCD. Very readable. MP3 tags are displayed. You can customize the iAudio logo animation during booting. Displays the battery status, mode, time and title of the song.

Batteries: Again a positive point ;-). iAudio uses 1 standard AAA battery so you can buy cheap AAA rechargeable batteries. For example, I use some 550MAh and they last for at least 6 hours. I bought 4 batteries like this one for about 15$. So with one set, I go for 24 hours...

Software included: Jetshell is the utility that comes with the player. It can be used to directly rip CDs to the iAudio. But its main feature is the maintenance and upload/download of the iAudio. I t also provides access to CDDB to directly find titles of songs. It's also very very easy to use. Transfer is done via USB port. Filling completely the 256Mb takes approximatively 5 minutes. Not bad :-)

Accessories: Another good point. The player comes with all accessories you can dream of. The most useful being without hesitation the white leather carrying case. It protects player against scratches and falls damages. It also provide access to buttons and LCD. It comes with a beltclip. I just got today the armband. I tried it on the bike. It fits perfectly on my arm and really doesn't move at all even when shaking your arm. You can also use the necklace (I use it in the train), it's also very useful.

Firmware download: I told this would be a minor advantage compared to the other players. But no, it's a big one. It seems that JetAudio permanenetly tries to ameliorate the embedded software. The last firmware doubles the FM presets and allows equalizer setting while in FM mode. I hope they will continue to improve it like that.

Support and service: 10/10 . I had some questions and I sent them to JetAudio. It took less than 4 hours to get an answer. An sth really relevant. Also I had a special request for them. They satisfied me completely... bravo ;-)

If you were like me, you're wondering "why havn't I heard more or seen ads about this mp3 player that got such great reviews?" Well, I still don't know why. I'm the kind of person that buys only name-brand stuff, and I never heard of JetAudio.
Here were some of my biggest worries about buying this player... Hopefully, it'll help you better decide what to get.

How's the mp3 sound quality?
-It's better than my roommate's Creative MuVo 128mb (played the same songs with the same earphones). There's a clear difference in crispness & clearness, especially since the CW200 has a customizable equalizer. (Also, I did some research and found that JetAudio/CoWon has been making digital audio/video/voice software since 1995. They're also one of the top companies in the Asias.)

How's the FM reception?
-I have a Sony Walkman (Model SRF-M80V, receives AM/FM/Weather/TV audio) which has served me well with excellent reception. I was delightfully surprised that the CW200's reception was just as good.

How's the bass?
-Unfortunately, the supplied earphoness arn't that great for heavy bass. However, I have an expensive pair of Sony earphones (sorry don't know model #). I also have the Creative Audigy sound card in my PC. I turned up the bass all the way on the CW200 (with the Sony earphones) and listened to "Clubbed to Death" from "The Matrix" soundtrack, and did the same with my PC. Sadly, the CW200's bass wasn't quite as booming, but nevertheless still satisfying (much better than my roommate's MuVo).

How's the LCD screen?
-Well, it's easy to read, even in its small size. Whenever you press a button, the screen brightens with a pleasant indigo light. You can also choose any font you have available on your computer (I believe you can have different languages displayed if you have the fonts).

How's the voice recording?
-Sadly, I have no experience with other voice recorders. I use it sometimes in lectures, and I find it clear enough to make out what the professor said, even in 400-student class sizes.

In conclusion,
You get what you pay for, it's a high quality product. It's worth saving up for (don't forget they also come in 64 & 128MB, which you can upgrade later to 256), don't settle for the other mp3 players.