Digisette DUO-64 64 MB Digital Audio Player

Digisette DUO-64 64 MB Digital Audio Player

Product Description
Amazon.com Product Description
The DUO-64 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.

The DUO-64 features 64 MB of built-in memory, and is expandable using MultiMediaCards (MMCs). It plays MP3 digital audio files, and can also play Windows Media Audio (WMA) files with a firmware upgrade. You can also record notes to yourself with the ADPCM-format digital voice recorder.

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-64 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-64 comes with RealJukebox music management software from Real Networks. Convert CDs, index your files, and create custom playlists.

The DUO-64 comes with a set of earphones, USB cable, two NiMH rechargeable batteries, AC battery charger, DC car power adapter/battery charger, DC charger connection cable, carrying case, software CD, and a user's manual.

Product Description:
The new evolution in digital audio is here! Only the DUO Digital Player works as both a stand-alone MP3 and digital audio book player, and a digital E-cassette you can play in your car... in a boombox... anywhere! The rechargeable Nickel Metal Hydride battery allows you to enjoy uninterrupted music for up to 6 hours and up to 9 hours of spoken word. USB connection enables fast download speeds, while the sleek aluminum body provides the utmost in portability. What's more, the adjustable head control feature allows you to optimize the DUO for different cassette decks, enabling maximum compatibility and audio fidelity. DUO Players are also AudibleReady. Audible is the Internet's largest, most diverse provider of premium spoken word audio for download or playback on personal computers or AudibleReady mobile devices. Audible has more than 28, 000 hours of audio programs and 160 content providers so one can use their DUO Player to listen to a daily audio digest of The Wall Street Journal, for example, or weekly digests of The Economist and Forbes, or audio books or original audio that isn't available anywhere else.To help manage music, each DUO Player comes with Music Management software. Convert CDs, index your files and create custom playlists.

Digisette DUO-64 64 MB Digital Audio Player
Average customer rating:

The cure for your commute

Compatible with Macintosh

A marvel of flawed engineering

Corrupted memory when running on Win XP

Unbeatable for it's primary purpose

Digisette DUO-64 64 MB 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
Accessories:

NETGEAR Wireless Digital Music Player

Koss KTX-Pro Portable Stereophone

Koss SportaPro Stereo Headphones

Sennheiser HD570 Traditional Over-Ear Open Dynamic Hi-Fi Stereo Headphones (Black)

Panasonic RP-HT970 Vibration Series Home Theater Headphones

Product Features:

Play digital audio from the internet or CDs

Use in virtually all audio cassette players

Doubles as a stand-alone digital audio player

64 MB built-in memory, expandable to 128 MB using MultiMedia Cards (MMCs)

Digital voice recorder; fast USB connection

ASIN: B00005KC96

Product Description

The new evolution in digital audio is here! Only the DUO Digital Player works as both a stand-alone MP3 and digital audio book player, and a digital E-cassette you can play in your car... in a boombox... anywhere! The rechargeable Nickel Metal Hydride battery allows you to enjoy uninterrupted music for up to 6 hours and up to 9 hours of spoken word. USB connection enables fast download speeds, while the sleek aluminum body provides the utmost in portability. What's more, the adjustable head control feature allows you to optimize the DUO for different cassette decks, enabling maximum compatibility and audio fidelity. DUO Players are also AudibleReady. Audible is the Internet's largest, most diverse provider of premium spoken word audio for download or playback on personal computers or AudibleReady mobile devices. Audible has more than 28, 000 hours of audio programs and 160 content providers so one can use their DUO Player to listen to a daily audio digest of The Wall Street Journal, for example, or weekly digests of The Economist and Forbes, or audio books or original audio that isn't available anywhere else.To help manage music, each DUO Player comes with Music Management software. Convert CDs, index your files and create custom playlists.

Amazon.com Product Description

The DUO-64 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-64 comes with RealJukebox music management software from Real Networks. Convert CDs, index your files, and create custom playlists.

Customer Reviews:

The cure for your commute.......2002-11-25

I have now been using my DUO-64 every day for over a year. Every day I download my favorite National Public Radio shows from audible.com and listen to them while I commute.

The DUO works great. It has changed my commute from an hour of mind numbing boordom to an hour of learning. It is much better than flipping through the radio stations trying to avoid commercials and obsolete traffic reports.

I have a lot of gadgets that I bought thinking they would be cool but mostly sit on the shelf unused. This is not one of them. I use this more than any other electronic device that I have ever owned. I consider it up there with the cell phone in utility.

This is an outstanding product that I highly recommend to anyone.

Compatible with Macintosh.......2002-11-19

Just wanting to add that, differently from what you read in the specs, the product is fully compatible with Macintosh.

Feel free to contact manufacturer's support service...for further details.

A marvel of flawed engineering.......2002-10-17

This has one thing going for it: it's small and portable. There's so many other portable players around it's impossible to justify buying this. If you are thinking it will sound good in your car's tape deck let me advise you go buy an economy pack of standard normal bias tapes, they sound better.

Specific faults:
1. This thing is dyslexic. Sometimes the right channel comes out on the right ear pod, sometimes the left. This seems to be completely random and is terribly annoying.

2. The volume controls on the unit control the tape head volume. What were they thinking? No, no no! Eject and turn the sucker down to get rid of the distortion in a tape deck? Yes, this you must do.

3. Interfacing with your computer is pretty much like rolling dice. You usually have to force initialize the unit and reload the software several times before they talk to each other. The problem is greatly magnified if you are foolish enough to install a Media Card.

4. If you do install a media card you'll find that using forward/back buttons often is pretty much the same as if you had pressed a "random track" button. No such button exists.

5. The equalization feature is akward. I'd prefer the standard bass boost as seen on most portable CD players.

6. Tying to use rewind/fast forward in a tape deck, if you still persist in using it in one after realizing how bad it sounds, is near impossible. Better to eject and use the buttons just like you did to turn the volume to the tape heads down.

This is a very poorly engineered device that barely performs as advertised.

Corrupted memory when running on Win XP.......2002-10-12

Don't buy this product! It was running OK on Windows 2000,
but when I downloaded and used their Win XP software on my
new XP box, their software corrupted my Digisette's memory!
Now I can't use the Digisette at all!!!!! Some problems
are OK when moving from one OS to another, but it shouldn't
ruin the product!!!

Unbeatable for it's primary purpose.......2002-03-22

I purchased this device to help ease my daily commute by listening to audio books. I already own an Archos 6GB Jukebox for my mp3 music files, and while I love the capacity allowing me to carry a variety of music, it fell short for audio book content. The primary problem is the lack of a bookmark feature.

When I found the Digisette DUO-64 I was intrigued, as it seemed to address exactly the problem I wanted to solve. I read the reviews and went ahead with the purchase, and am very satisfied. One point not very clear in the literature is that a separate bookmark is maintained for each file on the device, allowing you to have multiple books or other content (magazines, newspaper, etc.) active at the same time. Battery life is excellent for spoken audio content and the 64 MB memory allows for around 15 hours of audio book content in Audible format 2.

This misses 5 stars only because of the slightly touchy navigation within and between programs, but with practice it can be mastered both with the buttons on the device and your cassette player controls. Given the small size, I don't think an LCD is feasible, and for my purposes is unnecessary.

For audio book content this player is unbeatable in features and convenience. As a standard MP3 player it is still a great product given its small size and large capacity (up to 128MB with an extra 64MB MMC card).

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
Accessories:

NETGEAR Wireless Digital Music Player

Koss KTX-Pro Portable Stereophone

Koss SportaPro Stereo Headphones

Sennheiser HD570 Traditional Over-Ear Open Dynamic Hi-Fi Stereo Headphones (Black)

Panasonic RP-HT970 Vibration Series Home Theater Headphones

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.

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.

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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