Customer Reviews

RCA RCD148 CD Boombox with MP3/WMA CD Playback

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

Intial review: I got this player as a gift for my spouse. I had reviewed all "boombox" CD players that play MP3 disks I could find on Amazon, then tried them in local stores. There aren't currently that many that play MP3 disks. There are a lot listed, but most have been discontinued. I tried all I could find, which amounted to three: the Sony S2, this RCA player and a bargain brand called Durabrand. First, they all played the MP3 disks I brought with no problem. I don't know why I saw so much about problems with MP3 files. I suggest you take your own disks to a store that has players out to try. The Durabrand was, of course, the cheapest. It had an analog radio tuner and the sound was, I thought, the poorest of the three. I judged it unacceptable for my purpose. However, if you want an inexpensive player for OTR listening, the Durabrand would fit the bill.

The RCA was in the middle of the threee with respect to sound quality but had, I thought, the best MP3 navigation method. The Sony S2 had the best sound (better highs and more volume) but was not head-and-shoulders above the RCA. I think (but don't know) that the thumb-sized joystick on the Sony will be prone to breaking and was somewhat non-intuitive to use at first. The Sony had a lighted display, which is a big plus that the RCA did not have. I don't know why the RCA did not include a light for the LCD. This is a significant problem if you try to use the player in low light. The RCA came with a MusicMatch install CD but it is a trial version and only allows you to make a few disks. However, I didn't care about this. Disks burned with the MusicMatch software supposedly have additional tags that the player can use with its "SmartTrax" system to sort the tracks by artist, album, etc. Again, it did not matter to me. It already recognizes folders on conventional MP3 CDs.

Pluses are: good intuitive MP3 navigation, reasonable sound quality, small size, takes "D" batteries for longer battery life, reasonably skip-resistant (very skip-resistant on MP3s, moderately so on CDs).
Minuses are: no light for the LCD display, no audio input jacks (if you anticipate needing them, they are hard to find any more on small boomboxes), highs a bit "muddy" compared to more sophisticated speaker systems, fast-forward is slow for MP3s (fast FF is good for searching OTR shows which can be an hour in length).

In summary, the RCD148 is a medium-priced player with reasonable sound quality. Sound quality was not as good as the Sony S2 but it was nearly half the price (depending on where you compare prices). It is a good player as a supplement to a stationary stereo to take outdoors or room-to-room. It plays all the MP3 disks I have put in it just fine. I've seen plenty of reviews of MP3 players where people have had trouble so I suggest you try before you buy with your own MP3 CDs.

After a year:
Well, the boombox worked well for about a month. Then the LCD display started going dim, then out. Got a replacement at the retail store where it was purchased. Second one did the same thing. I am very disappointed that a company with a past reputation like RCA will sell such trash. I recently bought a digital video camera as a gift. Wanted something tapeless for short videos. RCA makes one. Didn't even consider it. Bought one from another company (the FlipVideo camera) that cost 50% more. Won't buy another RCA product.

I got this as a moderately priced way to play MP3 CD's in portable boombox format. It's turned out to be pretty good as a small household digital music player; besides regular MP3 CD's it also plays discs with MP3Pro files and WMA's. The MP3Pro playback feature is a plus, as files recorded in this format have CD-quality sound at a lower bit rate than regular MP3's. About 12 hours of music will fit on one CD![...] I've tried playback of in all three formats and they all put out moderate quality sound through the box's low-power speakers. It has a digital bass boost feature and simplified equalizer control: 5 presets and 1 customizable with only "high" and "low" frequency ranges being adjustable.

The box is bundled with MusicMatch software for creating and organizing your digital music library; mine had version 7.5. Unfortunately you have to pay the standard licensing fee[...]to unlock all the burning features for more than 4 free demo burns. You can use other software to record & burn digital music discs and still play them with this boombox, but the other applications probably won't have the MP3Pro option or support the enhanced "Smart Trax" menu navigation features. If your preferred burning software can use folders to organize your tracks, though, that still works pretty well. One downside I've found with Musicmatch is that it didn't transfer the original albums' track numbers, so the menus list clips in alphabetical order by song title within the folders. Perhaps there is a setting I've overlooked, but I didn't have this problem using RealOne.

The overall design of the boombox is fair. It has prominent metallic grills over the speakers reminiscent of a 60's sci-fi movie prop; I guess it's meant to look "Xtreme" or sporty or maybe just camp. The main controls are placed vertically on the front and the buttons have a rather noisy "clack" when they're used, although the rubber buttons on the remote are quiet. Since the LCD screen for the menu is also vertical and not backlit, it can be hard to read and inconvenient to use unless you have it sitting near eye level in a well lit room. The menu has some advanced features including creating playlists of up to 30 tracks, repeat, intro, and shuffle.

The radio works fine and features digital tuning with 30 presets available, and it can be set up to automatically scan and assign the presets in FM mode. Neither the boombox nor the remote have direct access to presets; you have to scroll up or down to select them.

Overall I like this boombox, mostly because of the MP3Pro feature. The basic design of the boombox is fair, and the playback features are good. I can live with the LCD display design but it may be a feature that will put others off.

I bought the RCD148 yesterday only because it claimed it could play mp3 files. I inserted some CD-R's which had perfectly good mp3 files on them. But this boombox never recognized or played any of these mp3 files. It always interpreted the CD-R's wrongly as audio CD's.

Well, I thought let's try the MusicMatch software they ship with the box. Maybe it does something special. I did that, experimented with different discs (CD-R, CD-RW), finalizing the disc, etc. I also tried to burn a 100%-ISO-conform CD-R with Nero and the Windows XP built-in burn software. Nothing worked!

I was even checking out the RCA website if there was any support information or firmware updates. Nothing.

You will also not find any customer service phone number in the user's manual.

I am going to return this product immediately.

DO NOT BUY THIS PRODUCT! IT DOES NOT PLAY MP3 FILES!

I bought and returned this within 24 hours. After setting it up I tried to play a simple audio CD and it spun up and displayed the number of tracks and the total playing time, but when I pushed play the display would read "serching track" for several minutes before I realized the disc had stopped spinning. I tried another CD and the same thing happened. I then tried an MP3 CD I burned and it took a long while for it to display all the artists' folders correctly, but when I pressed play, nothing happened! After twenty minutes of this I packed it up and returned it. I had the same bad luck with an RCA MP3/CD portable last year and have come to realize RCA has a long way to go to make their products stable enough to simply play MP3 music without failure.

I researched around for a MP3 Boombox and the most popular seemed to be the Sony S2 and the RCA line (118, 148, etc). I have tried both the Sony and RCA and went for the RCA because of 2 reasons:

1) RCA plays WMA and mp3Pro files along with the mp3. Those that are not familiar with these formats, they provide equal or better sound quality at lower bitrates. You can put more songs on a CD-R and not give up quality.

2) Approximately half the price of the Sony.

I have had the unit for about 1 week and have NO problems playing Audio CDs, MP3, or WMA files. For those having trouble playing MP3 or WMA files, need to make sure their media is compatible. The product manual suggests the following bitrates:

MP3: 32 - 320kbps
WMA: 64 - 192kbps (Sampling rate: 44.1 - 48khz)
Mp3Pro: 24 - 96kbps (Sampling rate: 44.1 - 48khz)

PROS: Versatile audio player - MP3, mp3Pro, and WMA. Stylish. Rugged. Comes with a remote. Of course, PRICE!!!! Can't find many Boomboxes that play all the audio formats for under $60.

CONS: Sound quality isn't spectacular. Could be louder too. The bass is clean at most volumes, but tends to deteriorate at the peak, like most "low budget" Boomboxes. Navigation and seek are a little slower than expected. Display is small and not backlit.

Overall, the PROS outweigh the CONS in my book. Although the sound is inferior to the Sony, it is above average for a Boombox. I will live with Boombox sound quality and power and the poorly lit display, knowing that I can play MP3 files, amongst others and it is half the price of its competitors. Also, this box will probably take a couple of hits, bumps and come back with some scratches. That's why I'm glad I didn't break the bank to get music while traveling and even happier that I get to put 10 albums on one CD-R. **Grins like an idiot**

I got this unit for $59 even after reading many negative posts since I really want a MP3 boombox at home. To my surprise, it can read all my MP3 CD-R/RWs. It does take a while to read the disc before playing, but I guess this is not a problem. The sound quality is ok. Anyway, what you can expect from MP3 music? They have already been compressed. Those who have unpleasant experience might need to read the manual carefully again. The shuffle function is especially useful if you have hundreds of songs in one disc. Since it comes with a remote, I don't think the LCD backlight is necessary once you set up everything.

I agree with most other reviewers. I bought this a while ago - but repeated frustrations with trying to play any kind of MP3 disc and FM led me to write this.
The only thing its good for is playing regular CD's. That too, it takes a long time to read a disc before it can play.

- MP3 Disks 'die' after a song or two. It either overheats or the memory runs out. Ive tried this at 128 kbps and lower recordings and none work.

- The FM tuner's volume fluctuates and it keeps losing the presets, even when connected.

- Remote is useless since you need to get real close to the machine to read the display.

The only use I got out of this: I bought this for our newborns nursery and discovered that the remote also worked for the crib mobile ( which came with a remote). In the end, a 70 buck crib mobile remote...

When I shopped for MP3 boomboxes, I could only find 3: a Durabrand (generic), this one, and the Sony ZS-X3CP S2. This one definitely sounds better than the Durabrand, and sounds about as good as the Sony. It has less amplifier power than the Sony, though.

GOOD POINTS: Handles every MP3 disk I've tried, including variable bitrate and 32 kbps mono. Good workmanship for an inexpensive unit. Lots of features for the price (Timer, Hi/Lo EQ, Random play.) Good radio reception (but see note below regarding AM.) Excellent sound quality when using headphones or high-grade external speakers.

BAD POINTS: No cassette--not a problem for me, may be a problem for some users. No matter how much you adjust the EQ, you will not get full, rich sound from the built-in speakers. You can't quite get rid of that "inexpensive boombox" sound, but that's to be expected from any boombox in its price range. AM stations come in better if you approach the frequency from the top rather than the bottom (i.e. start at 1710 and tune downward, instead of starting at 520 and tuning upward.)

BOTTOM LINE: If you can live with the limitations of inexpensive boomboxes in general, this boombox will probably serve you well.

I collect old time radio MP3's, available free from many hobbyists'
websites, and in the public domain since either they weren't originally protected by copyright, or are very old (1930s/early forties.) Most of them are from limited-quality AM broadcasts and are encoded as "low" as 16 kbs. This RCA boombox WILL play them, though the manual states that the MP3 files must be encoded at 32 kbs or higher. The WMA files, though, must be -- as indicated in the manual -- at least 64 kbs.

I have NOT -- repeat, NOT! -- had the problems of some other amateur reviewers. As in the case of my review for the portable RCA 2478 CD/MP3/WMA player, I have had very reliable decoding and playback of MP3's. *Why* some people here say that NONE will play simply mystifies me.

I have owned my unit for the better part of a year and have had consistently good results. Most of the time I use it from AC, but I have also played it from batteries and found the life of the D cells to be close to the claims in the manual. In fact, I haven't changed the batteries more than once in the time I've owned it.

Out of the box I had one small problem: the AM reception was erratic. I tapped on the box and found that the reception would suddenly "snap" in to clarity; but after a while it would fade a bit. I rarely use AM but after a few months it bothered me enough to motivate me to open the cabinet and poke around a bit. A circuit board wire connector must have been *slightly* loose, for in a moment or two I found that I had fixed it permanently, and now the AM reception is fine.

Sensitivity is poorer than the best stand-alone non-CD sets. Do not expect reliable "DX" (distance) reception of low powered AM signals. FM is reasonably good but I usually use the player for CDs and CDRs and rarely for radio, due to the stations in my local area. If I want *radio* I use a really sensitive set, such as one of my Grundigs or Sonys.

I do NOT have any trouble with these alleged problems reported by other reviewers: (a) skipping; (b) truncated or shut-off music tracks; (c) bad sound; (d) "useless" remote control insensitivity; (e) overheating; (f) drifty FM; (g) premature product death; (h) static sensitivity and lost settings.

With respect to the last item: I set it up about 9 or 10 months ago, and never lost any of the settings, which are still in memory. If my recollection is correct, I believe that my equalizer presets were retained even when I changed the batteries: generally well-designed digital equipment uses a capacitor to store a voltage for at least a few minutes, allowing this.

What could be the reason that other people have had so much alleged trouble with the player?

Could it possibly be that THEY ARE PRINTING DISINFORMATION because of some motivation to cause the reader to dismiss all thought of considering the product? I can understand problems with -- say -- a few units along the way; but such consistent bad-mouthing, so categorically and stridently, seems unconvincing. My own background has been in audio engineering (I've designed commercial equipment) so I have some practical experience here. This present RCA product is satisfactory to me, with the exception of the relatively insensitive AM tuner section and its intermittent connection that required fixing, which caused me to downgrade it from a potential "4" to a "3". My CDR disks are *correctly* produced and finalized; play just fine in this RCD148 boombox and in other MP3 players (and computers) that I use; my regular audio CDs play fine. The sound quality is adequate, if not exactly high-fidelity. What more does one expect from a product that cost about sixty dollars?
- 8H Haggis

Paid $59 for the BoomBox. It plays all of my MP3 CDs. The sound quality is good, but not great. Regular CDs have pretty good sound quality. The unit could use a larger and backlit LCD screen -- this one is hard to read. The AM and FM sound is good. I purchased this unit for the MP3 feature for which I am satisfied. I believe the unit is worth the $59.