RCA RD2201 Lyra 32 MB MP3 Player
RCA RD2201 Lyra 32 MB MP3 Player
Product Description
Amazon.com Review
The RCA Lyra 32-MB MP3 player comes with all the amenities you need in a state-of-the-art Internet music player: a 32 MB CompactFlash card, RealJukebox MP3 software, and headphones. It's a decent player, but as with all computer peripherals, it has some drawbacks.
When we first unpacked the Lyra, we noticed that it was a little larger than most MP3 players but felt somewhat flimsy and lightweight.
Setting up the Lyra involves two easy steps: First, install the card reader/writer software, and then install the RealJukebox MP3 player software. One potential drawback is you must use the RealJukebox software with the Lyra. This is no big deal if your purchase of the Lyra marks the start of your path down the MP3 highway, but if you already use and prefer one of the other MP3 software programs out there--Music Match, SoundJam MP, or Winamp--you're out of luck. Fortunately, you can easily transfer your MP3 files over to RealJukebox, so it's not a huge loss in the end.
Once you've installed the software and attached the CompactFlash reader drive, you're ready to begin transferring files to the Lyra. The 32 MB card that comes with the player holds approximately a half hour of music (one minute of music per megabyte of memory). We easily transferred our songs onto the Lyra. The transfer process was a bit lengthier than we've experienced with other players, taking close to one minute per song. However, we were able to drag and drop all the files we wanted into the player; then we left it alone to finish the job. We wished the player came with some onboard memory--instead, the only memory available is in the 32 MB CompactFlash card that comes with the player (or any additional CompactFlash cards you purchase).
The Lyra has a backlit display, which is a great feature. You can scroll through each track you've uploaded to the player and view six song titles at a time. While each song is playing, the display shows the name of the song, artist, album title, track number, compression rate, mode, and the elapsed time of the song.
The Lyra's sound quality is quite good for an MP3 player, but we did notice a bit of static when we operated the device next to other electronics products. You can choose any preset DSP mode--flat, bass boost, rock, pop, jazz--or you can opt to set the equalizer yourself, which delivers far superior results. As with most MP3 players, the headphones are worthless, and upgrading to a better pair will make a world of difference in sound quality. We also appreciated the fact that RCA made the Lyra upgradable to other music-compression formats, so you won't get stuck with an out-of-date player down the road.
All in all, the Lyra is a good player that will work for you if you don't have any issues using RealJukebox as your MP3 software and if the lack of onboard memory doesn't bother you.
Pros:
Easy-to-read, backlit display
Simple installation process
Upgradable, can support other compression formats
Cons:
Slightly flimsy case
Must use RealJukebox as MP3 software
No onboard memory
Average customer rating: 
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RCA RD2201 Lyra 32 MB MP3 Player
Manufacturer: RCA ProductGroup: CE Binding: Electronics  CD Players & Recorders
| Audio & Video
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Up to 64 MB
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MP3 Players
| Portable Audio & Video
| Refurbished & Used
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Product Features:
ASIN: B00004NKLM |
Product Description
Lyra plays MP3 and RealAudio G2, and may be upgraded for future alternative formats. Lyra comes complete with everything you need to download and transfer digital music files: CompactFlash memory Card, CompactFlash Reader/Writer, cable, music management software, headphones-even batteries!Lyra's 64 MB CompactFlash Memory card holds up to two hours of digital quality audio. Or store ten times as much music with additional CompactFlash. Back-lit LCD display lets you see the table of contents on the flash and: name of the artist, song title, and elapsed time of the song you're playing-even in the dark. Lyra has no moving parts, so it's completely Skip Free (when used with CompactFlash). No jumps, no bumps, no jitters. Create your own digital music library by downloading digital audio files or converting your existing CD collection. Lyra offers 6 play modes: Shuffle, Shuffle Repeat, Repeat (one), Repeat (all), Program, and Play. Available software upgrade allows you to store and play new compressed digital music formats as they emerge.Amazon.com Review
The RCA Lyra 32-MB MP3 player comes with all the amenities you need in a state-of-the-art Internet music player: a 32 MB CompactFlash card, RealJukebox MP3 software, and headphones. It's a decent player, but as with all computer peripherals, it has some drawbacks.When we first unpacked the Lyra, we noticed that it was a little larger than most MP3 players but felt somewhat flimsy and lightweight.
Setting up the Lyra involves two easy steps: First, install the card reader/writer software, and then install the RealJukebox MP3 player software. One potential drawback is you must use the RealJukebox software with the Lyra. This is no big deal if your purchase of the Lyra marks the start of your path down the MP3 highway, but if you already use and prefer one of the other MP3 software programs out there--Music Match, SoundJam MP, or Winamp--you're out of luck. Fortunately, you can easily transfer your MP3 files over to RealJukebox, so it's not a huge loss in the end.
Once you've installed the software and attached the CompactFlash reader drive, you're ready to begin transferring files to the Lyra. The 32 MB card that comes with the player holds approximately a half hour of music (one minute of music per megabyte of memory). We easily transferred our songs onto the Lyra. The transfer process was a bit lengthier than we've experienced with other players, taking close to one minute per song. However, we were able to drag and drop all the files we wanted into the player; then we left it alone to finish the job. We wished the player came with some onboard memory--instead, the only memory available is in the 32 MB CompactFlash card that comes with the player (or any additional CompactFlash cards you purchase).
The Lyra has a backlit display, which is a great feature. You can scroll through each track you've uploaded to the player and view six song titles at a time. While each song is playing, the display shows the name of the song, artist, album title, track number, compression rate, mode, and the elapsed time of the song.
The Lyra's sound quality is quite good for an MP3 player, but we did notice a bit of static when we operated the device next to other electronics products. You can choose any preset DSP mode--flat, bass boost, rock, pop, jazz--or you can opt to set the equalizer yourself, which delivers far superior results. As with most MP3 players, the headphones are worthless, and upgrading to a better pair will make a world of difference in sound quality. We also appreciated the fact that RCA made the Lyra upgradable to other music-compression formats, so you won't get stuck with an out-of-date player down the road.
All in all, the Lyra is a good player that will work for you if you don't have any issues using RealJukebox as your MP3 software and if the lack of onboard memory doesn't bother you.
Pros:
Cons:
Amazon.com Product Description
Now there's a digital music system that goes where you go. The Lyra player delivers everything you need to download and play MP3 and RealAudio G2 files anywhere. You get CD-quality sound with no skipping because Lyra has no moving parts. Store over an hour of music on removable SkipFree memory cards. You can even create playlists from your CD collection with the included music management software.Customer Reviews:
Worthless proprietary trash.......2004-03-22
These days it's evem worse that it had been when it was new. Sure, you can [IN THEORY] upgrade the firmware, but that's only if you have [precisely] the sort of system configuration the developers thought you were allowed to have. Since this is from Thompson/RCA, who own the Frauenhoffer patent the MP3 format uses for encoding, and therefore have a vested interest in proprietary formats, they will likely [never] support the competing OGG Vorbis format. Tough luck if that's what you've been encoding all your vinyl recordings in.
Also, since it's so anal about how you upload your music to it, it seems you can't even use a newer card without some weird formatting utility for ity. (...)
This is one great entry level MP3 player!.......2002-12-07
A Dream come true.......2002-05-28
Amazing highly flexible and expandable MP3 player.......2002-01-21
The initial reluctancy to use it was the low amount of memory. However, with the significant drop in compactflash card prices, I bought a 128MB card for under $100USD and another 64MB card for around $40USD recently. With this expanded memory, the Lyra is awesome. It's sound is almost CD quality, and I now use Microsoft MediaPlayer software to play and to download songs. Very fast and high compatible. I agree with some of the other reviews as to this player eats up batteries.
Using Duracell Ultra's seems the best, I find that I can use the device longer with them. With a 128MB card, I can fit over 20 songs in the highest quality format. Also, what I found out that if you were willing to sacrific sound quality, you can opt for lower data quality files (96K) to have more songs on the same size memory card. However, I do not recommend this.
Now that there are 512MB+ cards available on the market, this MP3 is the best. It has great sound quality, the volume is very loud, uses upgradable reasonably price compactflash memory, has quick download speeds unlike MD's, uses regard AA batteries, is relatively small compared to a CD player, does not skip like CD's, and runs upgradable software right from the compactflash card.
The only drawbacks are that it could a a bit smaller, the light shuts off two quick, and it could us less power.
Nonetheless, all in all an amazing MP3 player even after a year.
HT
The Worst MP3 Player, The Lyra 2.......2002-01-13
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