RCA Lyra 1.5 GB MP3 Player

by RCA

Product Details

• Item Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B00008VFCT
• Item model number: RD2760
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #208,644 in Electronics (See Top 100 in Electronics)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

Features:

• 1500 MB Built-in Memory (1.5 GB): Stores up to 50 hours of music (50 CDs in mp3PRO format) as well as being a data storage device.
• mp3/WMA Playback/mp3PRO Ready: Plays back mp3, mp3PRO and Windows Microsoft audio media files (WMA).
• High Speed USB 2.0 Connection: High speed USB connection allows you to transfer files up to 40x faster than the original 1.1 USB connection.
• Blue Backlit Multi-line LCD Display: Multi-line display lists name of artist, song, elapsed time, and battery level indicator when in playback mode. Backlit display enhances visibility in low lighting.
• Built-in Lithium Ion Polymer Rechargeable Battery: Up to 10 hours of playback with internal rechargeable Lithium Ion Polymer battery.
• Supports Multiple Operating Systems: Supports Windows 98SE, Me, 2000², XP, and PC / Mac³. Drag and Drop (Mass Storage Support).
• Full Accessory Kit Included: Includes CD-ROM Music Management Software, USB Cable, Universal Compact AC/DC Adapter, Sports Armband, and e.clipz Clip-on Headphones.

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Product Description

This RCA Lyra 1.5GB MP3 Micro MP3 Player lets you keep up to 50 hours of your favorite music with you wherever you go. Player doubles as storage for other digital data and uses a high-speed USB 2.0 connection for ultra-fast downloads. Features: built-in rechargeable lithium battery for up to 10 hours of playback; 1.5 GB built-in memory that stores up to 50 hours of music or any file type; plays MP3 and WMA files; blue backlit LCD display that shows title, artist and supports ID3; clip-on headphone; sports armband; Mac/PC compatible; USB cable; compact AC/DC adapter; and CD-ROM with MusicMatch music management software. Available storage capacity may vary.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

39 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good first attempt, but with major flaws, September 10, 2003

By 

Gadgester "No Time, No Money" (Mother Earth) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: RCA Lyra 1.5 GB MP3 Player (Electronics)

RCA must be given credit for inventing a new category of MP3 players: the mini jukebox with a 1.5GB hard disk. (Now other companies are also coming out with similar products, including Rio.) The 1.5gb Lyra looks nice and has a lot of features. Unfortunately, the designers are probably total nerds in every sense of the word, because, ugh, they lack common sense when it comes to designing a consumer product.

The 1.5gb (=1.4GB) player supports both MP3 and WMA, so if you encode songs at 64bps in WMA, you can fit about 50 hours of music, at 2 minutes per MB. The controls are pretty straightforward, with the stop button doubling up as power. The screen is backlit and large, with block characters that are easy to read. It also displays all the MP3 tags, so you know exactly what you are playing. An included program called ID3man can label MP3 files without tags; however its success rate was rather disappointing with my files ripped years ago when I had no idea about the tags.

Anyway, sound quality is good, if not at the Nomad level. What's really annoying is the 3-4 second pause between songs. And the fact that sometimes when you skip ahead, the Lyra seems to have hung. It's not really a crash; if you wait 5 seconds or more, it will come back to life, so take with a grain of salt some other reviewers' claim of "constant crashes." They really don't know what they are talking about. Also, you should *always* profile the Lyra's hard drive after downloading files. The profiling process identifies the music files and builds a database for them. If you don't profile, the Lyra can really crash. As long as you profile diligently, you'll be fine.

Yes, this also works as an external drive. And the USB 2.0 connection supports High-Speed, so you get fast transfers.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Great Potential, Great Disappointment, January 27, 2004

By 

Kellie Hoover (Tallahassee, FL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: RCA Lyra 1.5 GB MP3 Player (Electronics)

I purchased the Lyra 1.5 GB player as a replacement for my recently defunct iPod. I wasn't expecting it to be as wonderful as iPod, but it did offer the storage capacity I wanted, and the price was right. The RCA site specified that the player was Mac compatible, an important feature for me. The player has a nice look and feel, and my Mac recognized the Lyra hard drive as soon as I connected it. I was even able to drag MP3 files from iTunes to the Lyra drive. What I was NOT able to do was organize the songs in any meaningful way. The instruction manual that comes with the product is very poor. The word "Mac" does not even appear in it. The online support did not provide any Mac assistance either. Eventually, I gave up and took the player with the included software over to a PC. The installation and setup was a bit more complicated than I thought it would be, but once it was complete, the PC running XP recognized the player. According to the manual, using MusicMatch on a PC is the way to go. Again, I could easily transfer songs, but no matter what I tried, I could not organize songs on the player. The manual says there are a couple of ways to create playlists--either before or after you transfer tunes. Again, no online support; the RCA website just parroted the manual, which really is awful. I even downloaded the newest Lyra fixes from the RCA site, but nothing worked. It's nice to know that the player will hold 375 songs, but it would be much nicer if you could organize those songs in some way. I purchased my Lyra player locally (they matched the amazon/jandr.com price), and I will be returning it shortly.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Very Disappointed!, August 28, 2003

By 

A.D. (Bay Area, CA, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: RCA Lyra 1.5 GB MP3 Player (Electronics)

I was very excited for this product and purchased it the very day it was released. At first glance, the size of the player and the clarity of the screen was impressive...and the menu is quite loaded with features (comparable to the iPOD). To my dismay however, the product crashed constantly and I had to use a paper clip to reset the system at least 20x within the first few days of using the product. When the Lyra *did* work, my music skipped or would erratically play my mp3s really fast (as if chipmunks were singing). Also, there was a lag time of at least 5 seconds between tracks which really got irritating after a while as I like my music to flow smoothly. Dead air just ruins the mood. I reckon the tiny 1.5 harddrive is working too hard. Oh, and the controls are not very ergonomic. You have to fiddle with the buttons a bit in order to get in the swing of things. Lastly, RCA lacks a technical support forum or knowledgebase about these issues. Needless to say, I do not recommend this player. I returned it after 10 days.