Cowon Plenue R

For music lovers with higher demands, it offers everything the heart desires: impeccable sound quality via cable or Bluetooth, a long battery life of up to 17 hours, and a large internal storage of 128 GB, which can be expanded with microSD cards.

Music can be played wirelessly from the Plenue R via Bluetooth. The Qualcomm aptX audio codec is supported, ensuring clear, rich sound when using Bluetooth. The Plenue R features two headphone jacks, a standard 3.5 mm and a balanced 2.5 mm connection. The balanced operation has the advantage of providing even cleaner signal transmission, resulting in clearer and more natural sound reproduction.

The PCM5242 DAC from Texas Instruments integrated into the Plenue R is an excellent digital-to-analog converter used in many leading HiFi audio devices. It supports DSD, DXD, and 24 Bit/192 kHz PCM. The SoundPlus amplifier, also from Texas Instruments, reliably delivers high voltage while maintaining the highest linearity. With this equipment, the Plenue R is capable of reproducing music accurately and powerfully across the entire frequency range, even when paired with high-impedance high-end headphones. The sophisticated 10-band equalizer allows for fine-tuning of the sound.

The operation via the large touchscreen display is intuitive, and the user interface is aesthetically designed. Music albums can be displayed graphically in an organized manner, making it easy to find a specific song quickly. Even without visual contact, the essential functions can be executed using the buttons on the right side of the device. A nice detail is the LED around the power button: depending on the music source being played, the color of the light changes - blue for standard sound, pink for HD sound, and yellow for DSD/IDXD.