Customer Reviews

RCA Lyra RD2315 512 MB Personal Digital Audio Player with Voice, Line-in and FM Recording

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

 

 

I decided to replace my iRiver 190T after a 3rd party cable adapter malfunctioned and fused the pin connection to the USB cable together. I wanted USB 2.0 for the faster connection and a larger capacity, but still desired standard user replaceable batteries on a flash based player so I picked this up on sale.

I may still search for a used iRiver 190T after playing with the Lyra RD2315. I like the ruggedness of the 190T a bit more than the RCA Lyra RD2315.

Pros:
User replaceable AAA batteries
Expandable SD slot up to 512 MB
Decent sound for biking and general yard work
Screen is able to be positioned at 0 or 180 degrees for easy reading from belt clip/lanyard
Line in recording and voice for short memos
3 different color backlights for user preference
Decent battery life

Cons:
Headphones are worthless. Placing them in ear prevents clips from holding them in place
Slow reaction on interface compared to older iRiver player "Please Wait..."
Belt clip is going to break after minimal usage (like ink pen cap clips do)
Doesn't seem like USB 2.0 speed, just normal USB 1.1
No armband or case available

I used firmware 3.11 for my testing after upgrading from version 1.11.

Not ready to invest a lot of cash into an MP3 player yet, so I wanted something expandable and cheap. I am pretty happy with my purchase of the RD2315 Lyra. This one has 512megs embedded memory and is expandable via an SD Card slot (up to another 512 megs for 1 gig total).

This is my first MP3 player, so I am not sure how the sound compares, but it sounds good to me. No equalizer mode...but it does come with 5 presets (Rock, Jazz, Pop, Bass, ect...) Transferring files from the PC is easy via a mini-USB Cord (included). It supported USB 2.0 but 1.1 mode is plenty fast. No special software needed (I'm using Windows XP...it auto-detected the Lyra as soon as I connected it)...just drag and drop files and folders once it is connected. The latest firmware update allows up to 50 folders and 8 folder levels. It supports WMA (including DRM) and Mp3 formats up to 320kps.

The display has 3 backlight colors (red, blue and purple) and you can adjust the contrast on it. It has a cool flip mode which flips the screen 180 degrees so you can hold it in either direction. Fliped mode was easier for me to use (pressing the joystick downward is awkward in default mode). Flip mode looks just like the image of the Player on this web page, but the round part would be at the top instead of the bottom.

LCD response time is what you would expect for a passive matrix display. Processing speed could be better ("please wait" messages, ect..). The tiny joystick control could be better, but isnt awful. The 4 buttons surrounding it could also be better, but are useable. It feels sturdy considering it's weight (just under 1 and a half ounces). Controls arnt real intuitive...you will need to either read the manual or experiment a lot to figure out how to do stuff like jump to different radio presets.

Although I havnt tested it yet, it comes with a line-in jack (cable included) that lets you rip CDs directly to it's memory...no PC required. You connect it directly to a CD player and just start ripping.

It comes with an FM tuner that allows for 10 station pre-sets. Reception seemed pretty good to me. A built in recorder allows you to record either voice or radio directly to MP3 (limited only by the amount of memory you have). The one I bought also came with an FM transmitter, which allows you to hook it up to your car stereo (plugs into your cigarette lighter...transmits your music over a very short range radio channel, which you have your car stereo tuned to...so your MP3 player plays over your car radio).

It runs on a single AAA battery (included). Docs say it will run 50 hours or so. Comes with a neck strap and a replacement cover for the battery that doubles as a belt clip. The included earbuds are ok, but you will probably want to replace them with better ones. The firmware can and has been upgraded...the version as of this writing is 3.11. Firmware updates are handled from RCA's website (their site is actually pretty easy to use). You will need to download and install a small utility.

I paid just under $130 for the 512 meg version as of Dec 2005, after tax (there is a 256 meg version as well, the RD2312). Overall I am happy with it...I looked at a couple dozen other MP3 players the same price and cheaper and didnt see any I would rather have purchased. It comes with a free copy of Music Match Jukebox (which I dont use, because I dont like it). It would have been nice to have had a manual included, but a PDF version is available free on RCA's website. If you're looking for a good medium/low-end MP3 player, this one seems pretty good to me.

I got this mp3 from Target, mainly because of the 1). good review in amazon.com; 2). good price; 3). SD expansion ability.
However, after I tried it for 1 hour, I got disappointed.

Altough RCA tried to make his customers happy, this machine is poorly designed beacuse of 2 important thing 1). there is no resume function, which means if I listen to a 1 hour file and stopped at 20 minutes place, the machine can not remember the point I stopped and will play from the begining next time I turned on the machine. 2). when you put a SD card into the expansion slot, part of the card extrude out the machine, and not completely protected.

Nowadays, mp3 player is not only for songs and music. the designer of a mp3 player must consider the possibility that a customer will possibly use it for long audio book tracks.

These 2 shortcoings are enough to kill all the other endeavours RCA tried to upgrade their mp3.

The only thing I like about it is the sound quality is good. I can fit about 130 songs.

Cons:
It's very slow, everytime you go through your files you have to wait while it loads. It's pretty annoying, especially if you are looking for something far down the list and you have to wait each time.
I find it hard to use. There are so many times when I just want to go to the main menu and it doesn't go, and programming is difficult.
I leave the player to choose my songs on random, but random is very weird. I'm used to players going through the whole list, never repeating a song, until all the songs are done. This player will play the same song you just heard 3 songs ago. Also, say you pick a song, and it randomly chooses the rest for you. Somehow, it memorizes that order or something, because say you choose that song again some other day to start off, it will play the same songs again in the same order.
Sometimes I'll be listening to songs on random and it will just stop and go back to the main menu.

I really wish I didn't buy this, but the salesperson told me this was the best seller and he never had any complaints about it. I listened to him, even though I thought it was hideous. Don't buy this, spend a little more money and get an IPOD.

RCA Lyra RD2315 512 MB Personal Digital Audio Player with Voice, Line-in and FM Recording This is good for the person who wants an MP3 for books, and music and recording in class. most college students can tell you about that. It can hold a 2 gig sd card which are chip as chips and will hold up to about 30 LP's or CD's or it will resord for hours if you have a long class and the prof. never know it is even in the class. Most MP3 don't have the SD chips but my friends and I have been shopping around for all the one's that do. One's that hold pictures MP3, movies, music vidio's and more because we can trade then with each other and have all types music and stuff at a touch.
Doyel Whited

While this thing was working, I lenjoyed it. For what it was anyway. It's good for background music at work or workout. It's slow to start and respond, all problems other reviews stated, but lightweight and I think shaped very well with clip and all.

The problem is that I started it up one day and had progressively worse errors till now when it only displays the logo and the lights stay on permanently. I'd buy another one for work (where it might get broke) if I can find it for cheap enough.

After receiving the RCA Lyra, I began to use it only to find out that it would freeze up and the only way to unfreeze it was to take the battery out and start it up again. Well after two more times I had enough and I am still waiting on my refund!

This product is everything you would need if you're looking for an mp3 recorder. I purchased it for our church as a back up unit in case something goes wrong and it has turned out to be our primary sermon recording unit. I couldn't be happier:)