RCA RD2204 Lyra 64 MB MP3 Player

Product Review

The RCA Lyra 64-MB MP3 player comes with all the amenities you need in a state-of-the-art Internet music player: a 64 MB CompactFlash card, RealJukebox MP3 software, headphones, and a car kit. 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 64 MB card that comes with the player holds approximately an hour of music (one minute of music per megabyte of memory). We easily transferred close to 20 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 64 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 pair of alternative headphones 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 Review

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. The Lyra 64 MB MP3 player comes with a 64 MB CompactFlash memory card and a car DC adapter/car cassette audio output adapter that lets you listen to MP3 and RealAudio music in your car.

Customer Reviews