RCA Lyra RD1021 (64 MB) MP3 Player

Pros: Price is cheap, high quality, portability
Cons: Little more memory? don't really need it though.

Click for full Review! This was the first MP3 player I have bought. I must say I am extremely impressed with it. I didn’t understand the big MP3 craze until I picked this up now I understand it. You will not get a better jogging buddy than this ...

Pros: Small, easy to use, can add memory, battery life is great.
Cons: Not reliable, customer service is bad.

I got this at my local Fred Meyer for about $65.00. Seemed like a good deal at the time, but thing ended up dying on me about 4 months later, but about that later. I was very excited when I first got it, I rushed home, threw in the start up cd ...

Pros: Great Sound , EQ, Random play modes, "play from where you left off" feature,expandable memory.
Cons: Software, drivers, no customer support.

First off let me say I'm a retailer and handle many different brands of players. I did a stock appraisal for sales of RCA brand MP3 players, mainly the models 1021, 1022 and the 1028 and out of 77 units sold in Feb.....69 came back as "can't install" ...

Pros: compact, expandable with SD Card
Cons: buttons a little too stiff

This little mp3 player(it's one of the smallest I've seen with a display) is really cool. I'm very pleased with the sound quality. It offers several DSP settings for tonal quality adjustment (i.e. Rock, Jazz, Pop etc.)The ear clips that are included are ...

Pros: Can hold a lot of music Really small The price is RIGHT Durable
Cons: Not sure about battery life No back light It could use a clip

I was overjoyed when I got this neat looking, little compact mp3 player for this Christmas. Being a newbie when it comes to these things, I tore open the box and promptly installed the MusicMatch software. Moments later, I was totally stumped... trying ...

Pros: Price, easy of use, drag and drop, decent sound.
Cons: Headphones, no backlight.

I bought this unit for my 7 year old son, that has become a music fanatic, and loves all forms of music. I have a Rio S30 sport which I will make comparisons to. The Lyra is simple to use, I did not install any of the software, just the drivers ...

Pros: small, good battery life, expandable
Cons: 200 file limit, no folder browse

I was looking for an MP3 player for the gym with only the following requirements - a) was small/lightweight b) supported SD expansion I found this player for $55 on amazon, so I went for it. You can find it for $49.99 on rca.com now. The ...

Pros: Small, includes everything, expands to 128Mb, easy on batteries
Cons: Only two hours of music, other players may have better sound

After deciding that I needed an MP3 player, for use at the gym, I found volumes of information on all sorts of products. The number of options available can be confusing and one of the first things any potential MP3 consumer needs to do is to decide ...

Pros: Light, inexpensive, simple, but expandable
Cons: No backlight for the LCD display.

I was looking for an MP3 player for my daughter's birthday (I use my iPaq for that) and shopped the web quite a bit until deciding on the RCA Lyra RD1021 player. Several features attracted me. One, it was very inexpensive ($69.99 at Walmart) but still ...

Pros: Small. Expandable w/ Secure Disk Memory Cards. Cable and even Battery included.
Cons: Headphones. 64 meg. of space. Maybe durability issues.

OTHER CONSIDERATIONS: Creative Labs MUVO 64 or 128 player. EXPERIENCE: Approx. 11 hours of use, while Driving, walking, browsing in stores and the mall, and swimming (enclosed in an Aqua Tunes Waterproof Pack). SIZE: Between 1/3 and 1/2 the size ...

Pros: Small/ Lightweight/ Good Sound
Cons: Not as compatible with Mac as one would expect. Headphones suck for most activities.

Great Bargain Basement price for such a ultra portable device. This device is more than capable of utilizing as many songs that can fit on its embedded memory or from the upgradeable memory cards (sold separately). I have over 4000 Mp3's on my hard ...

Pros: small, good sound, eq & play functions, arm band, key lock, WMA support.
Cons: No back light or illumination, no battery charger, have to use usb cable.

This player is great for working out/jogging due to the arm band that comes with it. Great for wearing while doing chores around the house or when you don't want to bother others with your music. Despite what some reviews say you don't have to use the ...

Pros: light weight ease of use. lock key
Cons: earphones of course. Also the instruction manuals.

I bought the Lyra 1021 player at Radio Shack and paid $110.00 canadian. I sat down and read all two booklets and then went to the website to download all drivers for the Lyra 1021. It took a little while (about 5 hours) to install the Lyra and get it ...

Pros: Tiny, cheap, and practical with great sound. Great for working out!
Cons: Huge Mac compatibility, and functionality problems

The Lyra is a practical player. Its very tiny, and comes with an arm band that is very convenient if you want to use it while working out. The controls are conveniently placed and easy to use, and the sound is great. It has a preset equalizer that ...

Pros: Inexpensive,long battery life,Holds huge amount of songs,You DON'T have to use MusicMatchJukebox!
Cons: Those Cheesy "headphones"

I Got my 1021 RCA lyra about a month ago too use while I work. It has 64MB internal memory, which I ...

Pros: Small Great sound USB compatible
Cons: Crappy headphones come with it.

This player Can play wma mp3, is plug and play, and is like having a portible hard drive. With wind ...

Pros: Compact Size, Long Battery Life, 64MB of Internal Memory, supports ID3 Tagging
Cons: Supplied headphones hard to put on, Have to use Musicmatch software

I bought the RCA Lyra RD1021 MP3 player as an upgrade to the RCA Kazoo which I had previously owned. ...

Pros: -Small size -Loud output -DSP EQ functions -Light Headset
Cons: -Headset gets tangled easily -Must use MusicMatch software to load music

I bought this MP3 player for the sole purpose of providing tunes while I work out. The RCA RD1021 ca ...

Pros: The RCA Lyra is small, compact, and has a lot of features.
Cons: Doesn't have much Mega Bytes(64)

As a music fan and a MP3 lover, the RCA Lyra RD1021 being my first MP3 player is very cool. Not only is it very small, it has many features which may make music a very wonderful experience. First of all it comes with all the needed accessories: clip on...

Pros: SD/MMC slot
Cons: not 1

I am not sure if everyone realizes what this MP3 Player is? Not only is it a MP3 player but it’s also a mass storage device similar to a flash drive. There is a memory card slot for SD/MMC cards. I don’t believe there are any limitations on the card memory. I purchased a 512mb card and it works great. The MP3 player supports almost all if not all music formats. VBR witch is almost perfect CD quality, MP3 up to 360 kilobytes per second. Considering most MP3 are 128. All the other window formats are supported. I am not sure about apples m4a however. All and all a good MP3 player The sound quality is good in VBR .You could buy better ear buds and it would improve the quality even more.

Pros: Looks I guess.
Cons: Sound, Controls, Memory Stick slot (won't accept memory sticks, Unreconized by my computer. Terrible!

I could not stand this. It's sound was terrible and often broken up. My computer was unable to reconize it after a few times. Now it won't even turn on with brand new batteries. It was the biggest waste of money. I am terribly disappointed!!

Pros: range of features battery life portability price music quality extras (arm band, cool headphones)
Cons: small storage space (which can be increased)

This machine is great. I have had it for almost 2 years now and it still functions well except for a recent problem with one of the keys. It holds enough music for the average lover though its contents can be increased by converting the files to another format(ask a music expert. lol) It is worth the money in terms of features and durability. I mean I practically dropped mine all over for a year and a half and it is still ticking.

Pros: Nice size, Expandible memory, 3hr/AA battery, easy to use
Cons: No backlight, lack of memory, buttons are a little stiff

I got this MP3 player used. It is my first one and I am very happy with it, and with how easy it is to use. It is small enough to easily fit in your pocket without being an irritation. I like the having a multiple choice as far as DSP settings go.
If you are going to be using this player at night, or in dim lighting, I could be a problem because under these cercumstances it is impossible to see the display.If you are planning on storing a lot of music on this player, you will have to get a memory card because the player only has 64MB internal memory. I have a 512MB card in mine. I have a total of 113 songs (MP3 files) on it so far, which fills up my 64MB and under 3/4 of the memory on the card.
All in all I am very happy with this player.

Pros: NICE AND SMALL
Cons: THE BATTERY COVER CHIPS EASY

IT IS NICE AND SMALL EASY TO USE AND HAS GOOD SOUND IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR A GIFT FOR A KID FROM 11-16 THIS WOULD BE IT

Pros: Cost Ease Of Use Never Skips Size
Cons: Doesn't Hold Much

Wow What A Great Little Mp3 PLayer. The software set me up great and showed me how to use it. Its compatible with Windows Media Player,Realplayer, and it also comes with Musicmatch. I got it for $65 at Walmart, and consider it money well spent. Also I can throw this thing into a wall or jump on a trampoline and it still runs without a skip. I suggest you try it.

Pros: 1 AAA battery; MMC/SD slot; wristband carrying case; key lock switch
Cons: awkward position for USB port; no start/stop memory; moderate volume

Solid piece. Distinct Button Locations. Unique facial contour: easy use when not visible. No "last-position-memory" function rules out audio books without fast-forwarding. USB port is in awkward position, keeping you from laying it flat on a desktop while synchronizing. If you want the smallest, easiest to use mp3 player for the money, this is it. Regarding rechargeable batteries: the only on-board rechargeable batteries worth having are Li-Ion, and that would price this unit beyond its worth. I suggest rechargeable AAA's and a charger, or buy alkaline batteries based on your usage. One more tiny con - volume is moderate, but not loud enough to overpower heavy equipment, and headphones are not noise-cancelling: Lyra is not for landscapers or construction sites.

Pros: small, uses standard aaa batteries, expandable memory, external drive feature
Cons: no sd card covering, static humming sound, no folder support, random shut off

update: this player doesn't support folders, it also stops by itself. i'm returning this player the static humming sound is driving me crazy


after buying this unit i was expecting a low quality portable player, but instead i got a small player that uses standard aaa batteries and sd ready expansion (good for long road trips, one card for classical, another for rock, and so on).

the rca lyra is very simple to use, only if you don't use the supplied software.

to upload songs, connect the player to usb port, the computer should detect an external drive, one for the player, the other for sd memory. then simply drag and drop the songs you want onto this drive. done :)


what i don't like. there's a low static type hum if you play music at a low volume, also the sd ram expansion slot has no cover, but you can block this hole using an electrical tape. but other than that, this player is pretty solid for the price.

also, i would like to note you can use this device like a floopy drive, store and run files off the player.

Pros: Price, Expandable Memory, Weight, DSP function, Ease of use
Cons: No radio, headphone uncomfortable

For the price it’s the best $30 Fry's, I was able to use it straight away and drag drop files using XP. Player is small and light great for the Gym and Traveling. If you’re worried about storage space it does have a MMC/SD slot, which is great. Plus you don't have to download the songs at 128kbps, if you want to save memory 96kbps is also good.

Comes with armband pouch but also has a location on the MP3 so you can tie a neck strap on there.

Basically, can you find a MP3 player this size and weight with an expandable MMC/SD slot for $30?

The only thing that I could complain about was the headphone, too uncomfortable for long journeys plus they looked tacky in that chrome.

Would recommend it I had no problems with mine.

Pros: 1xAAA battery, USB, MP3, MP3PRO, WMA, built in 60 usable MB of storage
Cons: Cost, Limited by USB transfer speed, Limited Storage Size

It needed a firmware upgrade before it recognized any music. It plays mp3pro (64kbs), mp3 and wma.
It has more benefits than my mp3 cd player: faster (solid state), efficient power use, supports more music formats, no cd hassles. The cd player couldn't recognize CDRW or multi-session cds, so I couldn't change my music selection often without wasting cds. The lyra is tiny and sleek.

Pros: armband case, light, easy to use, sounds good
Cons: No backlight lcd

I bought this mp3 player to use before and during softball warm-ups. I love it! The adjustable arm band it comes with is awesome for using it during sports. It is so easy to use! NO YOU DON'T HAVE TO USE MUSICMATCH SOFTWARE! All I did was plug in the mp3 player into my computer...it detected it, I opened up WINDOWS MEDIA PLAYER and click send music to device and it sent it directly to the player. I didn't have to use the cd-rom it came with or anything! The player sounds good, is light, and easy to use. I like the headphones it came with. The only bad thing about this mp3 is it doesn't have a backlight on the lcd display. Everything else is cool. It's great that it has expandable storage so you can use a memory card with it also. I would recommend this product to anyone who needs to listen to music while being physically active.

Pros: Very compact; USB; MP3 and WMA playback; ID3 reader; 1 AAA; programmable song order
Cons: No backlight

I received this as a Christmas gift, and it has been working wonderfully. The USB uploads are fairly fast, and the sound quality is great when using the include headphones. The key lock is very helpful when you store it in your pocket. I love the compact size and the fact that it plays both MP3's and WMA's.

This is a great buy, and I highly recommend it.

Pros: great sound quality, compact size, good amount of memory.
Cons: bad headphones, no backlite on lcd screen

ok all i have to say is that it is a great player, with incredible sound, the lyra has cool features like the g equilizer modes(rock, pop, bass, etc). I was a little disapointed at the bass setting. At a medium volume the deep base notes are distorted. I would recomend keeping the player on the rock setting. I like the ease of transfering songs to it, with w media player only. music match is extremely hard to use. I love the compact size of the lyra. the 64mb of memory holds about 15-16 songs using wma. only 13 with music match. I definately dont like the stupid head phones you get they are rediculously cheesy looking, and dont put out great sound.

Pros: Portable, easy to activate, sounds great, long battery
Cons: not rechargeable,

Love it, portable, dont mind those head phones at all, and great sound. (ok they do get tangled but no biggy)

Pros: easy to use, good quality, great sound
Cons: not rechargeable

Great piece of electronics! Very easy to use and operate, nice functions such as a key lock to prevent those accidental track changes.

It would be nice to have a rechargeable battery, but the (1) AAA it uses lasts long enough.