Customer Reviews

RCA RD2211 Lyra 2 64 MB Digital Audio Player (MP3/WMA)

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

I'm a bit of an MP3 old timer, having been around the block with a Rio 500 and a Nomad Jukebox, two of the most popular MP3 players out there. I decided to sell my Rio because it used SmartMedia while my digital camera uses CompactFlash and I wanted to consolodate to one memory card format. I perfer CF for a number of reasons, but I'll save that for another review. I'll use the Rio 500 as the basis for comparison, because it is very similar to the Lyra in many ways.

The Lyra comes with a great accessories kit, including a car adapter and an external USB CompactFlash reader. These components alone are worth around $50. The headphones aren't great, but they do include a removable inline remote control and are much better than the earbud type headphones that come with the Rio. The FM tuner is a great feature if you like to listen to the news occasionally (as I do). The Lyra is playback only, which is to be expected, but it would have been nice if you could record a voice memo or from FM broadcasts.

What is a little unusual about the Lyra is that it has no internal memory -- everything is stored on the CompactFlash card. In theory, this should make downloading music to the Lyra easier, because you don't have connect the player itself to your PC, you just place the CF card in it's USB reader. If you have multiple CF cards, you can store different playlists on each and easily switch between them, unlike players with internal memory. Unfortunately, because of SDMI (digital rights management) restrictions built-in to the Lyra, you can't just drag and drop music from your hard drive to the CF card for playback.

This is where it gets a little weird. The Lyra doesn't actually play MP3s at all -- you have to run your MP3s through a converter (a driver for MusicMatch, RealPlayer or Windows Media Player), which outputs them to 128 bit "mpx" files, which only your Lyra can read. This cumbersome routine is to prevent you from sharing your MP3s with others. Now you know why people hate SDMI. I believe you can dump WMA files directly to the Lyra, but who besides Bill Gates uses the WMA format? The Rio 500 had none of this SMDI nonesense.

But then it gets a little weirder still. The software to actually play the "mpx" files on the Lyra is also stored on the CF card, instead of in ROM! This is kind of cool in that it makes updates to the software very easy and allows the possibility that someone will be able to hack it to play regular MP3 files. The downside is that it takes a few seconds for the player to "boot up" every time.

The Lyra weighs substatially more than the Rio 500 because it requires two AA batteries instead of one. Oddly, the additional battery doesn't seem to increase play time much over the Rio, however. A few ounces may not seem like much, but it makes a big difference when you're jogging with it clipped to your shorts.

The Lyra is a good player for the money, particularly if you need a CompactFlash compatible unit, but the SMDI "feature" really degrades convenience and usability. Be forewarned that most players are SMDI compliant these days and will have similar problems (the Rio 500 being the notable exception). In other words, if CompactFlash vs SmartMedia memory isn't a concern and you don't need an FM radio, get a Rio 500 before they discontinue them!

I Got this one at Radio Shack, for $..., it was listed at $.... ... deal, and yes I am talking about the 64 meg. The one bad review I have seen of this device on this website seems to be coming from some nitpicker, who can not discern between, the red and green light at the intersection, I find people often have strong opinions on topics they "know" little about. The deal with his gripe, let me say that 128k BRS is not just fine it is excellent for good quality audio, if one needs it any better they would stick with WAV's now wouldn't they? Part of the reason for having a Mp3 player is the understanding that you will be giving up the precious bit of sound quality "barely discernable quality" in return for no skipping, no more wasted CDR's, and all the other advantages that solid state music provides. The Software they provide does seem to be the only encoder that will allow a Mp3 to be put on the card, if you try and place it directly on the card it will play the digital sub harmonics as best it can, but it's like calling a fax, and expecting that to be a voice. It has a bright backlight screen, simple interface, Duracell, batt., street style Ephones, cord mounted volume and track selector with a shirt clip, oh yesss even a car adapter. I wanted a Lyra when they first came out, but at the time I was too poor, so I settled for a RCA cd player. It served me well but 20 burned cd's and two pairs of Hphones later, it was time for a change, this is it. If you jog, workout whatever, don't screw with cd players and all their false promise's of anti skip B.S. fact is mechanical action (that is to say motor spinning a optical disk) will fail under the most mediocre conditions. This will not.

.... It is relatively small and it has a wonderful backlit display. It also has great hacking abilities because all of its information is on the compact flash card (no memory is built in) you can customize the startup screen (to whatever you can imagine or draw)

The fm radio is great it has good reception and 15 station presets. Now ask for the software it came with, it was good too, but the headphones werent all that. It can compress songs on your computer from whatever the bitrate to 128,96,64,and 32. Unfortunately it cannot go over 128, which doesnt matter because a 320k song would take up alot of space plus the audio quality isnt much different.

When it came to trasfering songs to the card it was fast, assuming all of the songs were at 128, if they werent then it would have to compress them (which longer) but who cares, you dont have to trasfer songs that often. I fit about 30 songs on the card at 96k and the quality is great! dont think so ? then the lyra has a built in graphic equalizer so you can adjust each music channel so it sounds like it playing at 320k. So it poses no problem.

Although it takes 2 batteries it is relatively light and it can fit in you jean 5th pocket (the small one on the right). The remote is good and you can adjust the songs by touch alone, it also has a plethora of play options, repeat, repeat 1, shuffle, shuffle repeat, and like 3 others it has a program option too.

This is a great mp3 player it it better than the rios because to expand them you must buy thier "backpacks" and a 32mb backpack goes for like 50something whereas a 64mb compact flash goes for the same price.

The headphones are a tad thin but who gives great headphones away anyways, I would like it better if they were a little thicker on the padding for my ears but I'll buy a new pair anyways.

This is a great player, it converts the mp3 files to mpx but it has extrodinary abilities to expand considering all of the system data is stored on the card so it is also easy to upgrade. ...

p.s.- many of you are worried on how loud it plays, turn the graphic equalizer to "custom" and it will pound your ears away!

If you want a small, lightweight MP3 player at a reasonable price, consider this RD2211 Lyra2 from RCA.

On the plus side, this unit can fit in a shirt pocket and is quite lightweight with just 2 AA batteries. It's LCD screen can be lighted (with the push of a button) and the "behind the head" headphones were very comfortable with good sound. Volume was sufficent and the unit comes complete with car kit, USM adapter for the 64MB compact flash memory card and complete software.

Some things to be aware of with this unit: If you already have a compact flash card adapter (maybe for a digital camera you already own), the software for the Lyra2 won't see it. So you may HAVE to use the CF unit that comes with the RCA unit instead of the one you already have. Also be aware that the Lyra2 requires certain system files on the compact flash card to play the songs back, these files eat up a small amount of the card's storage space, and you'll have to copy them to any other CF card you buy.

You can't drag MP3 files to the Compact Flash card; the RCA unit uses a copyright protection mode that is applied to all music files (it's coverted automatically when you use the supplied version of MusicMatch softawre). Once a file is copied to the compact flash card, it cannot be copied from the card to any other source because it isn't a standard MP3 anymore. A little annoying to some of us that would just prefer to copy the music to the card quickly.

The Lyra2 uses the compact flash card as it's only memory source; there is no internal memory. More songs means buying more cards or erasing the one they supply. The radio, with its digital tuner, worked well. You can also memorize a few of your favorite stations for quick recall.

I received the Lyra 2 as a gift and I can't beleive how lucky I was to get THE BEST MP3 player out there. Easy setup and installation. It comes with a 64 meg Compact flash card. I already have Compact flash cards for my digital camera and camcorder so if I need more space I don't have to buy expensive proprietary memory.

I can't beleive all the features this brings. It comes with nice 'street style' headphones, an in the cord remote, 64 meg Compact flash card and a complete car kit. Sound quality and battery life are A+. It has 6 preset EQ settings and a manual EQ. It has 7 different play modes (repeat, shuffle, etc.). It also includes an FM tuner with 15 presets.

By far, the best out there for the money!!!

The fact that everyone was sold out of this MP3 player was just another indication of how popular it was/is. We ended up finding it on auction. After much research we decided on the Lyra 2 because of all the good reviews. The price tag was nice also. With 64MB it consistently holds about 15-17 songs for us. Because of the particular software used and encoding process it does take a bit of time to download songs to the player. Not a problem since the card is big enough to hold many songs. Plus, we intend to by even larger MB flash cards so it's not really an issue for us.

Downloading is a snap. We have Windows XP, went to lyrazone.com, downloaded all patches and updates and the Music Match software has worked great for us. No real problems except it does tend to freeze up every now and then. I imagine the upgrade you can purchase would solve this problem and we do intend to upgrade MM at some point simply for the benefits that come with it.

The Lyra 2 comes with nice street style (they sit behind the head not on top) headphones that are not only comfortable but have a very nice sound. There is a volume control on the headphone cord itself which is quite handy. There is also an adapter that attaches between the player and the headphones. It allows you to adjust the volume and advance songs without having to mess with the actual player after it is attached to your belt/shorts/etc. The included headphones work well for, say, biking but I would recommend earbuds for jogging, weight training, etc. When doing strength training we use earbuds because they stay on better. We also own a pair of large headphones and we use these when cleaning, lounging, etc. The combination provides full stereo sound that will knock your socks off.

It also has a bass feature which works nicely and several play features. The radio is decent enough at picking up STRONG local channels but I doubt many people buy this for it's FM band qualities. It's a neat little bonus though.

It comes with an adapter for the car that plays off your tape player and plugs into the cigarette lighter to save on batteries. We have used this in the car and, while you have to turn the volume quite high, it does work nicely and is a GREAT feature in our opinion.

All in all this is a great MP3 player and well worth the price. We've been using it for workouts and lounging about and have been very happy with the performance of it. Rechargeable batteries are really a must if usage is high. I would definitely recommend picking one of these little gems up. And, spend the extra money to get the 64MB card. The 32MB will probably do nothing but frustrate you.

The Lyra 2 offered what I really wanted...the ability to listen to the radio or digital music in one compact package. The reality, is that this does neither well. The radio reception is absolutely terrible, and I live 40 miles from NYC. MP3 files can only be recordered in RCA's encrypted format (no Windows drag and drop), and it takes (literally) 2-3 minutes to transfer a single song; a 12-song playlist takes nearly 30 minutes. That wouldn't be too bad, I suppose, if the unit consistently played the music...but 2 out of 3 times the unit displays an error message when you try to listen to a newly created playlist. "XYZ bad" or "ABC missing"...whatever. I use only the supplied hardware and software, and have a PIII-700 computer supporting the transfers. My advice: if the radio is what's swinging you toward this unit, don't bother...it's hardly worth it. I'm going to use a greyscale Ipaq 3150 Pocket PC instead..., which offers far easier file transfers, better sound, and rock-solid operating software. The Lyra 2 is a complete waste of money.

It's a gem. Worked great right out of the box. Software is easy to use also. Came with two compactflash cards total of 96MB. Came with flash card writer, car ac adapter, car cassette so you can play through the car stereo and very good and comfortable headset. It is also a FM radio. I was happy with the price. I would have paid more as it is such a complete package. Battery life is good on two AA batteries. Sound quality is great and it has an equalizer to set personnel preference or opt for one of the many pre sets, jazz, pop, rock, bass ... No skips as it has no moving parts. A true go anywhere portable sound machine. You will love it.

What can I say, I love this device. I have avoided using the supplied software (realjukebox, musicmatch) by draging and droping 64K WMA files directly to the CF folder. If you try and use MP3 files they will not play correctly as they need to have some type of encryption done to them in order to play on the lyra2 (musicmatch and realplayer do this on the fly) I also have NOT been able to get my 170Meg Microdrive to work with the device, there are some threads about RCA disabling this feature due to power issues. You can also change the graphics display on the device. (google search for lyra and splash-screen)

Be warned! The Lyra 2 is NOT an MP3 player. It requires that you use custom, encrypted MPX files. You CAN NOT drag and drop MP3's to this device, eliminating one of the main advatages of CompactFlash.