RCA RD2201 Lyra 32 MB MP3 Player

by RCA

Product Details

Product Manual [542kb PDF]

• Product Dimensions: 4.2 x 2.5 x 0.8 inches ; 1 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B00004NKLM
• Item model number: RD2201
• Batteries: 2 AA batteries required. (included)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #361,166 in Electronics (See Top 100 in Electronics)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

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

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.

See all Product Description

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

44 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Having Troubles Deciding? You're NOT alone!, July 18, 2000

By 

Glenn D. Gardner "Techy" (Philadelphia, PA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: RCA RD2201 Lyra 32 MB MP3 Player (Electronics)

After checking the prices and reviews of other manufacturers' MP3 players, I bought the RCA LYRA Model RD2201 Player a few days ago and believe that I have sufficient experience with it to share several thoughts that you will hopefully find helpful in your quest.

1.) I agree with virtually everything that is cited in the AMAZON.com review for the RCA LYRA RD2201 MP3 Player. Essentially, it is a thorough, objective, and accurate review. READ IT!

2.) Prices appear to be fluid-- effectively coming DOWN. The stores and the web cites are competing and running their specials. You can almost count on a price this week changing within the next week or two. This will make your choices harder if you are basing a significant part of your decision on price comparisons. Waiting for a "better deal" can be good, but there is such a thing as "waiting too long". Newer models are replacing those of today and are offering more features to confuse you!

You must be careful to compare "apples to apples". One of the biggest differences among players is the "amount" and "type" of memory. A player equipped with 64 MB will naturally cost more than one equipped with 8MB or 32MB. CompactFLASH or Smartmedia Cards serve as the storage media. Technically, there doesn't seem to be any discernable advantage of one media type over the other. However, there can be a price variation of about $10 between the two depending on where you buy them. In retail stores, the prices appear to be the same. However, SmartMedia Cards appear to cost a little less on internet sites-- possibly due to a growing preference for them. BOTTOM LINE-- the internet sites can save you $20 to $30 over retail store prices.

3.) There is a lot most of us will probably never understand or realize about "formatting" of the storage media that can cause disappointment when planning to use it with "other" products as well (i.e. Digital Camera, Multiple Media Reader/Writer, etc).

Each device seems to use its own format which makes the storage media incompatible with the other products. If you're lucky, you have two products that use the same format. How would you positively know until you try it? That's when the disappointment sets in! At least the RIO MP3 Player tells you this on their packaging if you know to look for it.

I believe that "formatting" will always be an issue since everyone is attempting to protect their technology or end-product. The music industry serves as a good example. As hard as it is to accept this fact, DON'T AGONIZE OVER IT!

4.) When comparing features of MP3 Players, remain REALISTIC about your needs and intended uses. It is easy to "try" to make the product do more than it is intended to do.

Until music is sold as less expensive CompactFLASH and SmartMedia Cards presumably compatible with your MP3 Player of choice, remember that the MP3 Player is not supposed to give you all sorts of versatility for hours of music listening pleasure and variety at a low cost through a simple change of the storage media. If this is what you want, then you should buy a compact Disc Player/Recorder!

The MP3 Player provides you with a portable, lightweight product that contains NO MOVING PARTS and needs minimal accessories (if any). This makes the product more reliable and offers SKIP-FREE music listening pleasure-- great for active people. It serves as a good stop-gap product to occupy your time while using public/commercial transportation or during lunch break. It is not necessarily practical for that long vacation automobile drive where you will have to listen to the same music over and over again until you can get to your computer and change the song list. If economy is not a priority, you could purchase multiple 64MB CompactFLASH Cards to take with you for easy changeout. IF YOU DO THIS, I SHOULD INVEST IN THE COMPANY'S STOCK!

5.) The MP3 Player should not be expected to be all things to all people. I suppose that a RADIO function or a VOICE RECORDER function would be useful-- neither of which can be found in the RCA LYRA Model RD2201.

How much do I really need it to store 300 telephone numbers and addresses? Isn't that what Electronic Pocket Organizers are for? Fortunately, the RCA LYRA Model RD2201 Player does not come with such a feature! Perhaps it would be more advantageous for the Organizers to include a MP3 player function for those that have the need (and the money) for such products!

6.) Contrary to the AMAZON.com review, I find the headphones to be one of the better quality versons packaged with the MP3 Players. In part, I suppose it depends on your preferences. I prefer the full, one-piece headphone that comes with the RCA LYRA Model RD2201 even though it is less compact than an ear-bud, foldable style.

As AMAZON.com stated in their review, you can always purchase another style of headphones or even use your favorites from another product. THANK GOODNESS THE HEADPHONE PLUGS WERE STANDARDIZED YEARS AGO!

7.) It is important to hold the various manufacturers' MP3 players in your hand and sample the pushbuttons/displays.

I find that the RCA LYRA Model RD2201 fits comfortably in my hand and provides controls that can be operated single-handedly. I attribute this phenomenon to its "larger size" when compared to other MP3 Players. Someone referred to it as "the bar of soap" which is a suitable description. It is more rectangular than square like its competitors. It is also as much as twice as thick as some of its more compact competitors which I think is a good characteristic. Therefore, it doesn't fit as comfortably in a pocket as its competitors.

I find that thin products usually require two hands to operate them since they have controls located in odd places. I also find it more difficult to cradle square shaped objects than rectangular shaped objects in one hand-- depending on the dimensions.

8.) Initially it bothered me that the RCA LYRA Model RD2201 Player does not have a "HOLD" button to prevent unintentional activation of its controls. However, the controls appear to have been designed with this issue in mind.

The buttons require a genuine, intentional activation to get a response. The unit seems to ignore rapid, light activations of the buttons. This may be one reason that both AMAZON.com and I experienced the need to push buttons a second time to activate the desired function. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but I can see where it can be irritating at times.

9.) The only EQUALIZER setting that is worth anything on the RCA LYRA Model RD2201 Player is the "customizable" version. You can do some really good things with the feature.

Minimal impacts to the music are distinguishable with the five other preset Equalizer settings. This is disappointing-- particularly since the "customizable" version must be reprogrammed EVERY TIME the CompactFLASH Card has been altered to make changes to the play list files. Frustrating? THIS IS WHERE SOME BUILT-IN EPROM MEMORY WOULD BE HELPFUL!

10.) Don't let the WEIGHT figures fool you! The RCA LYRA Model RD2201 is relatively lightweight until the two AA-Batteries are installed.

Obviously, a product that utilizes only one AA-Battery or possibly disc/puck type batteries found in calculators will weigh less. Then again, they are probably thinner and more squarely shaped. YOU KNOW HOW I FEEL ABOUT THAT!

11.) The parallel port computer cable for the RCA LYRA Model RD2201 Player involves more than that. It includes two "pigtails"-- one to be plugged into the keyboard or mouse port and one to be plugged into a printer cable.

These "pigtails" make the cable arrangement unwieldy. A federal case does not need to be made of this issue! Just the same, it's something you should know about.

It seems advantageous to have a separate storage media reader/writer which comes standard with the RCA LYRA Model RD2201 Player. It serves as an external drive for your computer-- limited only by the amount of CompactFLASH memory inserted.

12.) There doesn't appear to be any reason to perform hand-stands and cart-wheels over the RealJukeBox software. I don't have much experience with comparable software programs. The software does the job.

Contrary to the AMAZON.com review, I am not so sure that the files are strictly MPX-- an extension that "protects" the file from duplication. The "options" can be set to less protective extensions. Of course, RealJukeBox is quick to flash WARNING notices on your screen to advise you of the potential consequences for doing so.

As I recall, RealG2 files require less space than MP3 files. Even a little savings adds up. Any time storage space can be saved, this is an advantage. Chalk one up for RCA!

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars unbelievable sound, October 26, 2000

By 

josh l (ca, usa) - See all my reviews

This review is from: RCA RD2201 Lyra 32 MB MP3 Player (Electronics)

this things sound is awesome it has by far the widest range of volume. i own this item but before i bought it i researched mp3 players and trust me the diomomd rio is not the way to go. if you want a lot of sound, a lot of rock, and a lot of boom, for your buck lyra is the way to go. i bought a 96 mb memory card and i am using it for this item it stores tons of songs off napster, cds, or anything. and about batteries... trust me it lasts plenty long. just pop in a couple duracel ultras and this bad boy will run for 10 hours or more nonstop. so what i am saying is i strongly earge you to buy this if you are in the market for a mp3 player.one more thing... comparing this to the rio as far as sound is concerned is like comparing a tape player to a dvd player.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing highly flexible and expandable MP3 player, January 21, 2002

By 

Henry (Toronto, Ontario CANADA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: RCA RD2201 Lyra 32 MB MP3 Player (Electronics)

I received this MP3 player with 32MB of memory from my sister as a gift around a year ago and for the first six months never used it since I had a MiniDisc player, a portable CD player, and a high speed CD burner.

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