Lyra 256MB MP3 Player with FM Tuner (RD2012)

Rating:
Summary: I love this little gadget
Review: I bought the Lyra after dissapointing experiences with portable cd players. I use the player while I'm working. There is a lot of physical activity involved and no matter what kind of anti-skip was on the cd player it still would skip. The lyra has never had this problem at all. The other advantage is battery life. Cd players go through batteries like crazy. My lyra lasts longer than the stated battery life (about 12 hours on one AA!) You don't need to be a computer techie to use it. Loading songs can be done with the drag and drop method. The software that comes with it is ok, and has some handy features. The earphones are comfortable and have decent sound. The cable shorted out after 2 months, not unexpected for all the unintentional tugging it recieved. I replaced them with some 8$ sony earbuds and was even more knocked out by the sound. All in all my life is better, or at least less boring.

Rating:
Summary: Does what it says - and expandable!
Review: After breaking my umpteenth CD player at the gym I sprung for this and am very happy. I use it whenever I exercise, or have to wait in the car for my kids to get out of some class or something.

The clip-on earphones hurt my ears so I use a large headphone which I had before so it sounds great. I never use the FM module. MusicMatch (included) adequately does the job of downloading my MP3s which is all I use it for - slow download but I don't do it often. Musicmatch doesn't tell you how much memory the songs take that you want to download to the Lyra so you have to guess and then add some more if you still have space. Or use another program to select your songs and then select the same ones in MusicMatch. Realplayer tried to get the Lyra software but couldn't find it. Included armband is fine, leaves opening for the volume control.

Nice things: it remembers last song I was listening to instead of always starting from track 1 like my CD player. It has shuffle, repeat list, repeat song, skip, and back as well as some audio equalizer settings like jazz, pop, rock, etc. Tiny display automatically lights up when I push a button and is very readable - even shows song title etc.

The buttons seem very durable but are a little hard to push.

The best thing is knowing I can expand it as the memory modules get cheaper and bigger all the time. I use 160 KBPS for my mp3s so 256 MB = about 75 songs = about 3 hours+ which means adding a 1 GB SD chip (now getting affordable) will give me another 12 hours of music!

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful
Review: I am very enthusiastic about this little guy.

My biggest fear was that with only one AA battery, it wouldn't be loud enough. (When I'm huffing and puffing on the treadmill in my crowded gym, I like my music LOUD!) That has turned out not to be a problem at all. The radio is always plenty loud; I rarely have to turn the unit all the way up to its max. As for MP3 playback, it depends on the file. Some of them seem to be recorded at a loud level, and some are softer. (I'm going to have to learn something about ripping to figure out what's going on with that.) The ones that are recorded at a high level are plenty loud enough. ("I wanna make some eardrums bleed!" Spinal Tap)

The radio reception is not fantastic, but I have never found a portable radio that *does* have fantastic radio reception. This one is about the same as all the others.

Here's one thing that you might not expect: when you are recording FM, you can't adjust any settings. That is, you can't change the volume and you can't scroll through the stations. I suppose that it has to be this way, but it would be cool if it wasn't.

There are 9 separate control actions (4 push buttons, a "left/right" button that gives you 2 more control actions, and a thumb wheel that gives you 3 others: "up", "down" and "select" when you push it in.) Of all those, there is only one that is finicky: the "left" action on the "left/right" button. Sometimes I have to push it so hard to get it to register that I just give up. That's only a pain when I'm tuning the radio. It means I have to tune up all the way around back to the bottom again.

Rating:
Summary: great
Review: i got one for christmas and was very impressed. musicmatch is a great program for adding songs. worth the money.

PROS- Can purchase memory stick to add more songs
-VERY FAST USB TRANSFER
-FM tuner
-convienence

CONS- Small storage space
-must add songs from cd to PC before transferring
thats about it

definently worth the money

Rating:
Summary: so far so great!
Review: I purchased the RCA Lyra MP3 player because of the size and the price. I don't need a lot of memory because I tend to listen to the same songs again and again until I get bored. I stored about sixty songs so far, with room to spare, and I haven't even used the SD card option. An additional reason for my choice of the RCA Lyra was this expansion option- using minute SD cards instead of CDs.

That said how has this unit performed? So far its great. To begin with I was able to load the songs and I have no great understanding of this stuff! The instructions were not stellar but the software helped explain much of what had to be done. When I couldn't get the plug in to install I thought I was in trouble but the Lyra MusicMatch Jukebox program asked if I'd like to download this item and at my command did it for me and automatically profiled the files to make them usable. The mp3 controls are fairly intuitive so using the Lyra after loading the songs is a breeze. The sound is fabulous. I love the headphones that clip around your ears. They produce quality sound, stay in place and are light weight and comfortable.

I also appreciate the case and armband that are included. They make exercising to music easy. The unit continues to play well even when I'm in motion. The small size of this MP3 player makes it quite convenient to take with you anywhere. The price was also right. I'm very happy with this device!

Rating:
Summary: Good news, it is better than an iPOD
Review: Pros:
-Holds and infinite number of songs thanks to its upgradable memory.No iPod can match that.
-LCD screen is large and lited.
-FM Radio built-in and...hello, you can record from FM to MP3 and then transfer to your computer.
-It is smaller, lighter and cheaper than iPod.
-No moving parts = no skipping, ever.
-Excellent FM reception. 10 presets.
-Excelent sound reproduction. Bass equalizer is ok.
CONS:
-You need a degree in Computers to use it. Unfriendly interface.Poor manual.
-Really lousy support for Macintosh. Software is for Windows only.
-FM recording on mp3 is unusable on "low quality settings". High quality setting is passable but not perfect.
-Comes with cheap headset.
-Sometimes the unit shuts itself off for no apparent reason. Must take battery out and start over.
Ok, here is what you need to know: go get a 1 gigabyte SD card and fill it with 230 songs plus. You still payed about $180 for the whole thing. If you have a mac you WILL have some incompatibility issues particularly with indexing and directories, but it still works and this player is worth it. I abslutely do not recommend it for neophites, this is a difficult player to understand but it has great potential. When memory cards prices come down, you will have an infinite upgradeable player, if you buy a couple of 1GB cards you should be set for life. No worries about battery replacement, it uses one AA and alkalines last a week or more. I use AA rechargables. I highly recommend you try any RCA player over the ridiculous Shuffle Mini iPod which is not upgradable, it only holds a few songs, has no FM radio, no LCD screen and the battery can not be replaced after it dies (and it will, trust me). The Lyra is a step forward, the iPod is a step backwards, and who wants to pay top money for outdated technology?

Rating:
Summary: Copying file is easy.....
Review: So far, so good. Here is a tip for people having trouble copying files: Dont use musicmatch, just use windows explorer! In xp and 2000(maybe 98 too...not sure) it should show up as a removeable drive.

Rating:
Summary: Works fine. User interface could use work.
Review: This unit works fine. Nice to have the option of adding memory via SD cards. And the Musicmatch software allows CD's to be ripped in MP3Pro format, which is about half the size of a standard MP3. So...you can get twice as much music in the same amount of space. The major downside is the user interface. One thing particularly irritating is that the button which is used for setting the station presets of the the same as the volume control. So...if trying to change the volume, you can EASILY change the preset. You can "lock" the unit, but then every button is locked. The LOCK function should just LOCK the settings, buit still enable the more common functions to be used...like volume control, on/off, station changing. It's pretty obvious that the people that designed the inerface didn't spent much time using it. They should go for a few walks or bike rides. Would be easy to fix via a frmware upgrade...but...doubtful it will be done.

Oh...and when I first got the unit, it would not turn on (well...it would, but then turn off after 5 seconds). Then when connected to the PC, would not work either. The only way to get it to function was to go to their web site and download/apply the latest firmware. Then things worked.

Rating:
Summary: RCA Lyra RD2012 needs Tech Support
Review: This was an expensive mistake for me. I could not get the digital music function on this device with the provided software. The given phone and web contact information is useless. Phone number is a recording that all circuits are busy-I called repeatedly and always got this message. Web site is also useless. 1st message went through and was never answered. All other attempts failed! Still trying to resolve the software problem with the Musicmatch provider through their tech support. Beware of this product if you are a Windows XP user.