Best MP3 player so far!
Written: Apr 17 '01
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Pros: Great run time on batteries, uses cheap CD-R/RW media
Cons: Small buttons on remote, carry case too small
The Bottom Line: Best CD-MP3 player on the market. Not perfect, but pretty close.
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| Jim.W's Full Review: Rio Volt SP100 Personal CD Player |
The Rio Volt is my third MP3 player, and definitely the best. I have a Rio PMP300, a Creative Nomad II, and now the Volt, and the Volt is definitely the best of the three!
With flash memory-based players, you have to carefully manage your storage, downloading maybe 30 minutes to 2 hours of content by USB each time you change the songs. Granted USB is pretty fast, but it still is a hurdle to boot your computer, load your software,pick your songs, then wait for the download.
The hard disk-based players like the Nomad and Archos jukeboxes have tons of capacity, 6 GB and up, but remember you've got a spinning hard disk with a small recording head flying at a height much less than a human hair over the disk spinning at 4500 rpm. It's a recipe for disaster if you bump it too hard, and they tend to skip with lesser shocks.
The CD-based players like the Volt to me seem the best compromise. Each CD holds up to 700 MB of songs, more than ten times the capacity of most flash-based players. CD-R disks are incredibly cheap (often you can get them for free if you watch the ads) compared to flash and hard disk memory. In terms of shock, I'd have to say that it falls between flash and hard disk: the optical pickup in the CD reader will skip with enough shock or vibration, unlike solid state flash memory, but there is no chance of physically damaging the disk, unlike a hard disk.
How does the Volt compare to other CD-MP3 players? I thought for a long time about which player to get. The early players had lots of limitations, like no support of long file names, couldn't navigate through folders, and generally poor quality. In my mind, there were really only two players worth considering, the Rio Volt and the still unreleased TDK Mojo. The specs sound great for the Mojo, but it looks kind of big and doesn't seem to have true ID3 support. Besides, TDK is a tape and CD company, not a hardware company like Rio/SONICblue which will probably give better support.
Let me cut to the chase and summarize the pros and cons I've found after one month of use. These comments are based on MP3 usage only (why bother with audio CDs anymore?):
Pros:
1. Plays audio CDs, and CD-Rs and CD-RWs with MP3s.
2. Supports packet-writing on your CD-RW disks. This means that you can use your burner software to treat the CD-RW like a giant floppy, writing, erasing, and changing files at will. (Total storage capacity will be less, I think about 535 MB on a 650 MB disk, a small price to pay)
3.Reads ID3 tags. The artist and title from the MP3 file scrolls across the screen while playing.
4. Navigates folders (one layer deep with the current firmware).
5. Remote control with clip. This is really a requirement since you can't see the display or operate the controls on the main unit when it is in the case.
6. Remarkably good sound! The ear bud phones that you get aren't the greatest, but they sound much better than the cheapos that came with the PMP300 and much more comfortable than the backphones that came with the Nomad II. When I use my Grado SR-60s, the sound is quite phenomenal, up to the limits of the MP3 compression.
7. 13 hours of MP3 play time (spec) on just two AA batteries. I use NiMH batteries and they just keep going and going.
8. One year warranty. Much better than the brief warranty on Creative products (either 30 or 90 days... I can't find it on the web site).
9. Upgradeable firmware. Just download the new code from the Rio web site, burn it on a CD-R or -RW, power up the Volt with it inside, and voila, new code!
10. Reads Windows Media WMA files.
11. Good software. It comes with Adaptec EZ CD Creator, one of the best CD-R burner programs around.
11. Excellent shock protection. 120 seconds while playing MP3, and either 10 or 40 seconds for audio CDs. Actually, it hasn't skipped yet for me while playing MP3s.
Cons: (and most of them are nits)
1. Carry case is too small. There's no place to carry spare batteries, the headphones, or a cassette adapter in the case. I ended up buying a nice Case Logic case from eBay for $9.95 for use when I carry it in my car.
2. Volume is too low. Actually, it gets loud enough for me with the supplied ear buds, but it is barely loud enough with my relatively efficient Grados. Don't even think about using Sennheisers with the Volt!
3. The buttons on the remote are awfully small and hard to press. I have small hands and they're even awkward for me.
4. The display could be larger. It takes a while for the artist and title to scroll across the small screen. Plus, they waste a whole line with this stupid dancing stick figure on the bottom.
5. The navigation controls are confusing. You press the Navi button to navigate through the folder structure. "Play" and "Stop" become up one folder and down one folder, while fast forward becomes select. Once in the folder, "fast forward" becomes "play".
6. Seems a little fragile. Nothing has broken yet, but the keys and switches just don't seem robust.
Note: This player is actually made by iriver, a Korean company. The Soul Player is also made by the same company, and is often cheaper than the Volt. I'd rather pay a bit more for the name brand product from a US-based company, even if it is made overseas.
In summary, if you want an MP3 player for jogging, I'd get a flash-based player and pay the outrageous prices. If you want a player for around the house or for use while walking or driving, get the Volt. It's the best CD-MP3 player to date!
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 153
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Epinions.com ID:
Jim.W
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Member: Jim Wong
Location: San Jose, CA
Reviews written: 20
Trusted by: 2 members
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