RCA LYRA Expandable MP3 Player for only $24.95.

[bman46]

I'm glad some people were able to take advantage of this deal, If I come across anything else I'll post. Happy New Years everyone!

 

[StormRider]

Woohoo! I just ordered one! And according to my order form, I think they are sending me a free Computer Geeks Mouse Pad too!

 

[StormRider]

Woohoo! I just ordered one! And according to my order form, I think they are sending me a free Computer Geeks Mouse Pad too!

 

[Silex]

To see the actual email, click here.
Bah, it's only part of the image...nm

 

[hallf]

Originally posted by: StormRider
Woohoo! I just ordered one! And according to my order form, I think they are sending me a free Computer Geeks Mouse Pad too!

Yeah...that free mouse pad sealed the deal for me...

 

[Dragon9]

does anyone know if it has a repeat function?

 

[Cuke]

Originally posted by: Silex
To see the actual email, click here.
Bah, it's only part of the image...nm

Well, the OTHER half of the image is:
(the RIGHT half)

 

[widefault]

Originally posted by: Dragon9
does anyone know if it has a repeat function?

Yes, it offers normal playback, "Repeat 1", "Repeat All", "Shuffle", "Shuffle Repeat", "Program", and "Program Repeat". Haven't messed with the last two, I assume it's some kind of playlist repeat but I haven't looked into it too much.

Oh, it also has DSP modes. Offers "Flat", "Bass", "Pop", "Rock", "Jazz", and an "EQ" setting with 5 bands(60, 250, 1K, 4K, and 12K) with +/-15db.

 

[svtour1]

I wrongfully formatted the cf card because it wasnt working. I read somewhere that it has to be formatted for fat32, but winxp only let me choose fat or ntfs. everytime i try to load the cf software, it just sits at the installation screen. can anyone help?

 

[widefault]

The card should be formatted as FAT, not FAT32.

 

[svtour1]

Originally posted by: widefault
The card should be formatted as FAT, not FAT32.

i did that, but when the lyra boots up it says "dos error 1" i did put the pmp folder in too.

 

[SadClown]

Ok, well I got one of these because I have a few CF cards lying around not being used. I couldn't get mp3 to work at all. Re-encoded my mp3's with the included musicmatch software and all i would get is clicks and pops. Tried ripping fresh mp3's from some cds and still a no go. Went to the RCA Lyra Yahoo Group and did lots of research. This is the only solution I could find that would allow me to play ANY music at all. WMA Playback on 2201 Although I could only get it to play at 128, at 192 it would stutter alot. I hope this helps anyone else who is having problems with this thing. Also on that Yahoo Group they have the pmp files and the winamp plugin that widefault was talking about. In response to svtour1 I had the same problem with the dos error 1. I just kept reformatting and copying the pmp files I dl'ed from Yahoo Group and eventually it worked. If you have a digital camera try and format the card in that as well. Hope this helps. See yas.

 

[svtour1]

In response to svtour1 I had the same problem with the dos error 1. I just kept reformatting and copying the pmp files I dl'ed from Yahoo Group and eventually it worked. If you have a digital camera try and format the card in that as well. Hope this helps. See yas.

ive done it about 10 times now and i still get the dos error. Mabye its because i didnt install the cf software?

 

[SadClown]

It shouldn't matter(i think). I gave up on the included software. Formatted the card in FAT through windows then copied the pmp files i downloaded from the Yahoo Group and copied the wma's straight from my hard disk(using another reader/writer). Are you using the included CF card? Try and do error-check and correcting on it. I did that(don't know if that is what fixed it or not). BTW I could NOT get any mp3's to work, I havent tried WMA9 yet, i think mine are encoded in Windows Media 7. Also there are a couple of different pmp sets to dl from the group. Give em each a try. Oh yeah I am also running Win2k and have tested on the included RCA CF card and a Lexar 128mb card. I couldn't get a 64mb Lexar card to work with the player although it works fine with my camera. Maybe you just have a bad card? Try the wma method i linked earlier. Thats the only way I could get any kind of audio files to work on mine. Good luck.

 

[svtour1]

ok thank you. i will try doing it on another computer tomarrow. i got it to read songs when i first had it, but then i formatted it because it was only playing cracks and pops.

 

[SDRR]

I've had this player, shoot, for 4 years now, I guess. I hardly ever use it anymore,
have moved to CD based MP3 player, alot less hassle.

Anyway, this player has fantastic sound, the stock headphones really rock.
I do recall it being finicky about cf cards. Also, when you run the files through
Real Jukebox(stopped using it right away, I'm pretty anti Real anything now),
or MusicMatch, it encodes them as mpx files on the card, and you have to use
a plugin with either of those programs for it to work.

Now for the good part, I looked and looked trying to find a plugin that would work
with a USB card reader, to no avail. I gave up, maybe there are some now, but
last I looked, maybe a year or so ago, I could find none.

I just wanted to add my input, this is a very good sounding MP3 player, and the EQ
setting for DSP, as someone mentioned is great. For $25, I'd say you can't go wrong.
Mine came with a 64mb card, but you don't want to know what I gave for the player

 

[StormRider]

Hmmm, I'm starting to regret that I ordered this. Hopefully, when I play around with it I'll like it...

 

[Papagayo]

it's 34.95 now

 

[Mektarus]

Originally posted by: Papagayo
it's 34.95 now

There is a code for $10 off the player that can be found on several other sites.

 

[Mektarus]

Anyone found any good deals on CF cards?

 

[StormRider]

Originally posted by: Mektarus
Anyone found any good deals on CF cards?

Best Buy had a sale last week on a 512meg Sandisk CF for $80 AF. But I missed it.

 

[hallf]

Mine arrived today. Hooked up the parallel port CF reader to my old computer (new one doesn't have a PP). Tried to install the CF drivers that came on the Lyra CD - gave an error saying it seemed to already be installed. Looked in My Computer, sure enough - removable Drive was there. Stuck in the 32M CF card that came with the Lyra - double-clicked on the drive icon - read the contents of the CF no problem.

Then I used my own 512M CF card in the reader. Created a PMP folder containing files found on yahoo groups to enable playing of WMA format files. Dragged two CDs worth of WMAs over (that were sampled at 128K). Took the CF card out of the reader, put it in the Lyra. Powered up the Lyra and the song list was there. Tried to play the first song - bzzzt - DOS Error 9. Tried to play second song - and all other songs - and it worked fine! Only thing I could figure was the first song title was too long because I put the CF card back in the computer and edited the song title to shorten it, stuck it back in the Lyra, and it now plays fine.

Only thing I haven't tried yet is to use the Sandisk 8 in 1 reader on my new computer to put WMA files on the CF and see if they play - I have no reason to believe they won't.

All in all, a nice little player for $25. My 512M CF card should hold about 9 or 10 CDs worth of songs at 128K sampling rate.

 

[StormRider]

Originally posted by: hallf
Mine arrived today. Hooked up the parallel port CF reader to my old computer (new one doesn't have a PP). Tried to install the CF drivers that came on the Lyra CD - gave an error saying it seemed to already be installed. Looked in My Computer, sure enough - removable Drive was there. Stuck in the 32M CF card that came with the Lyra - double-clicked on the drive icon - read the contents of the CF no problem.

Then I used my own 512M CF card in the reader. Created a PMP folder containing files found on yahoo groups to enable playing of WMA format files. Dragged two CDs worth of WMAs over (that were sampled at 128K). Took the CF card out of the reader, put it in the Lyra. Powered up the Lyra and the song list was there. Tried to play the first song - bzzzt - DOS Error 9. Tried to play second song - and all other songs - and it worked fine! Only thing I could figure was the first song title was too long because I put the CF card back in the computer and edited the song title to shorten it, stuck it back in the Lyra, and it now plays fine.

Only thing I haven't tried yet is to use the Sandisk 8 in 1 reader on my new computer to put WMA files on the CF and see if they play - I have no reason to believe they won't.

All in all, a nice little player for $25. My 512M CF card should hold about 9 or 10 CDs worth of songs at 128K sampling rate.

I just came home and found a box on my doorstep. Mine came today too! Can't wait to play around with it.

 

[cyberia]

hallf: If you fill the 512 MB CF up to capacity, can the player access ALL of the songs on the it?

 

[hallf]

Originally posted by: cyberia
hallf: If you fill the 512 MB CF up to capacity, can the player access ALL of the songs on the it?

Haven't tried it full yet...I've got about 117M on it so far and it'll play all songs so far...I'll let you know.