RCA Lyra RD2204 - Good Buy!
Written: Mar 26 '01
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Pros: Outputs great sound. Large LCD display. Easy to use. Compactflash.
Cons: Larger and heavier than its competition. No HOLD button.
The Bottom Line: Good mp3 player, especially for those who already have a Compactflash card. It is not perfect with some flaws, but it is still a good buy.
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| lakers0340's Full Review: RCA Lyra RD2211 (64 MB) MP3 Player |
When I was looking for an mp3 player I had only one criteria. I needed one that could use Compactflash (CF)cards. I already own a Nikon CP800, so I already had a 64 megabyte CF card for that digital camera. I was surprised to find that the only mp3 player that used Compactflash card was the RCA Lyra.
Controls
The buttons on the RCA Lyra are nice and large. They feel kind of cheap when you press on them. You know the feeling... It's kind of loose and just doesn't have the feel. This is just a minor point for me though, so I didn't care too much. The mp3 player was designed very well. I didn't have to read the instruction manual to figure out how to use any of the functions.
There is one problem with the controls that bugs me. There is no HOLD button. Because the buttons are large, it is easy to accidentally push the button when it is in my pocket. A HOLD function would keep any button press from doing anything until the function is turned off. I have experienced the mp3 player do all kinds of things I didn't want it to do while moving around because of all this. It doesn't happen too often, but enough times that I have to list it as my biggest gripe.
The function that I find the most useful is the LIGHT button. It's easily located when you are in the dark and it's absolutely essential. When pushed, the light is a nice looking blue (kind of like those "indigo blue" on watches).
Sound
I was happy to find out that the mp3 player produced very good sound. The volume can be set from 0 (mute) to 50 (loudest). The loudest setting is very loud. You definitely will not feel like "the sound is not loud enough" as I have seen on some of the other mp3 player reviews. I usually listen at the 25 setting. It's already very loud at that setting.
What's so good about a player that is loud, but you hear hisses? Fortunately, I did not hear any hisses or distortion outside of the ones from my mp3. There is a 5 band equalizer that is pretty good at letting me tune the sound until it's just right. If you don't want to tune it yourself, you can quickly select one of the 5 presets: jazz, rock, flat, bass, and pop.
Software
This is probably the part that most users complain about. The Lyra converts mp3 files to mpx files. This prevents you from just copying an mp3 file directly to the CF card. You will have to use one of the programs that support the RCA Lyra. The included Real Jukebox has crashed a few times for me. However, if you go to their website www.lyrazone.com, you can download MusicMatch. MusicMatch seems a lot more stable to me.
I'm not sure, but I think that all they do is rename the mp3 file with an mpx extension. If that is true, you can just rename the mp3 file to mpx and then copy directly onto the CF card I will test this out later on and report back to this review.
Song Transfering
I was very dissapointed that the RCA Lyra comes with a parallel port CF reader. A USB reader would probably have sped up the transfer rate considerably. However, I used my digital camera's usb CF card reader and tried to transfer the songs with Real Jukebox. It wouldn't let me. I tried using Windows Media player, and it worked! However, it didn't seem faster than the parallel port at all. Weird. I don't know if it is because the software just limits the transfer rates or you have to buy their special usb CF reader at their website.
The Wrap Up
This is a nice mp3 player, especially, for those people that already have a device that uses a Compactflash card. If you don't have a Compactflash card already, it is still a good buy. However, there are other good mp3 players out there that may be a better choice for your needs. If you need it for jogging, you might want an mp3 player that is smaller and lighter. If you want more storage, then you should get an mp3 jukebox player. Those can be found for around $350, and can store 6 gigs of music! But if you want to save some money and go for something more compact, then the RCA Lyra is a good choice.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 120 used
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lakers0340
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