Digisette DUO-ARIA 64 MB E-Cassette Multi-Format Digital Audio Player

Digisette DUO-ARIA 64 MB E-Cassette Multi-Format Digital Audio Player

Product Description
Amazon.com Product Description
The DUO-Aria digital audio player works as a standalone MP3 player, a digital audiobook player, and a digital e-cassette you can play in your car, in a boombox--in virtually any audiocassette player.

It features 64 MB of built-in memory and is expandable using MultiMediaCards (MMCs). The DUO-Aria plays MP3 digital audio files, and can also play Windows Media Audio (WMA) files with a firmware upgrade.

DUO players can also play content from Audible.com, the Internet's largest, most diverse provider of premium spoken word audio for download or playback on personal computers or AudibleReady mobile devices. Audible Inc. has more than 28,000 hours of audio programs and 160 content providers, so you can use your DUO player to listen to a daily audiodigest of the Wall Street Journal, weekly digests of the Economist and Forbes, and audiobooks that aren't available anywhere else.

With its adjustable head control, you can optimize the DUO for different cassette decks, enabling maximum compatibility and audio fidelity. The rechargeable NiMH battery allows you to enjoy uninterrupted music for up to six hours and up to nine hours of spoken word. Its USB connection enables fast download speeds, while the sleek aluminum body provides the utmost in portability.

To help manage music, the DUO-Aria comes with RealJukebox music management software from Real Networks. Convert CDs, index your files, and create custom playlists.

The DUO-Aria comes with a set of earphones, USB cable, one NiMH rechargeable battery, AC battery charger, DC car power adapter/battery charger, DC charger connection cable, carrying case, software CD, and a user's manual.

Product Description:
It looks and works like a cassette, but it's actually a revolutionary digital audio player. Bridging the digital and analog worlds, the patented DUO E-Cassette Player allows you to download and listen to digital audiobooks, MP3 music, and more, right off the Internet.

Digisette DUO-ARIA 64 MB E-Cassette Multi-Format Digital Audio Player
Average customer rating:

No serious complaints, but it isn't perfect

a disappointment

WARNING - Buyer Beware! - Part 2

WARNING - Buyer Beware!

This is a nice little toy!

Digisette DUO-ARIA 64 MB E-Cassette Multi-Format Digital Audio Player

Manufacturer: Digisette
ProductGroup: CE
Binding: Electronics

CD Players & Recorders | Audio & Video | Categories | Electronics | CD Players | CD Recorders | DJ CD Players | Portable CD Players
Up to 64 MB | Flash Drive-Based | MP3 Players | Audio & Video | Categories | Electronics
MP3 Players | Portable Audio & Video | Refurbished & Used | Special Features | Electronics Features | Electronics
Audio & Video | Refurbished & Used | Special Features | Electronics Features | Electronics
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Product Features:

64 MB built-in memory--expandable to 128 MB using MultiMediaCards (MMCs)

Use in virtually all audio cassette players; doubles as a stand-alone digital audio player

Includes DC car power adapter/battery charger

Plays content from Audible.com--including audiobooks, newspapers, magazines, and radio shows

Upgradable firmware supports WMA, digital rights management, and new audio codecs

ASIN: B00005KC97

Product Description

It looks and works like a cassette, but it's actually a revolutionary digital audio player. Bridging the digital and analog worlds, the patented DUO E-Cassette Player allows you to download and listen to digital audiobooks, MP3 music, and more, right off the Internet.

Amazon.com Product Description

The DUO-Aria digital audio player works as a standalone MP3 player, a digital audiobook player, and a digital e-cassette you can play in your car, in a boombox--in virtually any audiocassette player.

DUO players can also play content from Audible.com, the Internet's largest, most diverse provider of premium spoken word audio for download or playback on personal computers or AudibleReady mobile devices. Audible Inc. has more than 28,000 hours of audio programs and 160 content providers, so you can use your DUO player to listen to a daily audiodigest of the Wall Street Journal, weekly digests of the Economist and Forbes, and audiobooks that aren't available anywhere else.

To help manage music, the DUO-Aria comes with RealJukebox music management software from Real Networks. Convert CDs, index your files, and create custom playlists.

Customer Reviews:

No serious complaints, but it isn't perfect.......2006-01-21

I've owned a Digisette Duo Aria AR264, a very similar MP3 player, for a couple years now. I can't really say I've ever had any serious problems with it, but this won't be an ideal MP3 player for most users.

First, maybe it's just because I'm rather tall with large hands, but the Duo Aria feels rather tiny, delicate, and fragile, and the controls aren't very easy to handle. I've owned this MP3 player for a long time without any problems with it breaking, but it's hard not to feel like this device is about to face impending doom every time I handle it. The controls aren't impossible to use, but the visually-impaired, and big clumsy oxes like me, may have problems.

The software was hit-and-miss, giving me trouble more often than it worked - this appears to have mostly been because of a hardware conflict between my computer's USB port, network card, and sound card, but the software utilitarian, somewhat dated and basic-looking, resembling home-made internet freeware. Nothing wrong with that (and it's admittedly preferable to sprawling, clunky software full of pointless bells-and-whistles), but it did seem a bit strange. Even so, I have always been able to get it working right with a little work, and like I said it seems to have been a hardware problem un-related to this player and its software. Sound quality on some MP3's has been rough, but I think that was caused by some flaky third-party software.

In spite of these little problems, this MP3 player has held up well against light usage over a couple years, and has done everything I've ever wanted it to do: it makes an effective little MP3 player, the tiny MMC expansion cards work nicely as a way to expand the player's memory and capabilities, and the device worked great on my portable stereo cassette deck and played a long time before the battery ran down. It works excellently as a walkman-type device on long hikes and walks, and I sometimes listen to it while mowing the lawn (though as you can imagine much of the music gets drowned out, especially using the included earbud headphones.)

I'd recommend buying an extra battery or two, and at least one or two 64MB MMC chips; these items are relatively inexpensive and they go a long way to expanding the amount of music available to the player and the amount of time it stays running. You will probably also want to upgrade the free earbud earphones to something better, too - I'd gotten a pair of generic, light, over-the-head headphones somewhere for less than US$3.00 that were a HUGE improvement over these.

This player isn't perfect, it isn't for everyone, but I can't think of an MP3 player I'd rather have. It has lasted far longer and performed far better than I expected, though it still looks like it requires the walking-on-eggshells-treatment more than, say, a cheap CD-player would. And in spite of a number of other minor problems or complaints, I'm rather fond of this neat little gadget, and couldn't give it fewer than 3 stars.

a disappointment.......2003-12-27

The Duo-Aria was a disappointment for several reasons, only one of which was the fact that I was never able to make it play an audio book.
The cassette controls are tiny by necessity, but they are also ill-designed. For instance, the off /on / hold slide switch is difficult to manipulate and even more difficult to place into the center "on" position without having it slide all the way to one end or the other. The manual is poorly organized and because of its tiny font and blurry printing, difficult to read. Installation for use with audio books under Windows XP requires three pieces of software - the DUO manager, a Windows Media plug-in, and the Audible Manager. I spent a most of a day working through install - uninstall - search for drivers that actually work - process before realizing that the software supplied with the Duo Aria won't run under XP - you have to download a newer version from their web site.
I was eventually able to transfer and play MP3 files directly from the cassette, but even after considerable effort and more wasted time, unable to transfer an audible book to the cassette or make the Audible Manager software function properly. I'm reasonably sure that this is possible, but given the awkwardness of the device, I'm unwilling to invest the additional time.

WARNING - Buyer Beware! - Part 2.......2002-11-27

I have to agree with the person from Edgewater, MD United States. I had exactly the same situation with my DUO-64. I purchased the DUO-64 on June 2001 and on October 2002 the internal memory got corrupted somehow (few months after its one year warranty period). I contacted DIGISETTE and they said that the product couldn't be repaired, i.e. if you ever have a major problem with it... throw it away in the garbage. The product is just a great idea. It's fragile (battery cap and its contact, on/off button, head alignment button), sometimes it does not line up with the magnetic head of the tape player, making the sound too low and bad to hear, and once and a while the software won't recognize the player or the expansion memory (if you dare to have one installed).
As I was not satisfied with their response, I tried everything I could to overcome the internal memory problem. After lots of attempts I managed to successfully low format it, and the player went back to operation. But for the price and problems that I had, I wouldn't recomend it at all.

WARNING - Buyer Beware!.......2002-06-11

Digisette will not back the product!! I purchased the DUO-ARIA 14 months ago and it stopped working. It has a one year warranty - after that your out of luck. I called and asked how I could get it serviced and they told me they will not service any DUO product. Basically, you're on your own - I didn't want anyone else to make the same mistake I did.

This is a nice little toy!.......2002-05-30

I have read all of the reviews and they were sort of mixed! So I still bought this thing...and yes its fragile and yes it sometimes freezes in the middle of a book. But I still say that I would recommend this little thing...it works pretty nice and even though it is a little flawed its still very very convenient and I take it with me everywhere!

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