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Review 2 of 2
Price Paid:
$350.00
from eCost.com Summary:
This is my first hard disk-based portable music player, and I am very impressed with the job the folks at Rio have done. This device has the same footprint as my Sony minidisc player (that means it's darn small), but it's thicker than, say, an Ipod. On the plus side, the battery lasts about 2x as long as the Ipod's, which may explain the extra thickness.
The user interface is fairly easy to use. There is a navigational wheel (which I admit I never use) and a pointer stick, as on laptops of old (which I use exclusively; it's just a matter of what works for you). There is a fairly extensive menu system that let's you choose what you want to listen to by artist, album, genre, etc., as well as options for using the built-in equalizer.
What sold me on the Karma, besides the sound quality, was the RioDJ software. With RioDJ, you can let the Karma choose what to play for you, based on your listening patterns and any criteria you choose. I love the feature because the player can "surprise" you by choosing something you like but hadn't listened to in awhile--or by choosing a selection you didn't even know you had!
The Karma supports all of the current music playback options except for Apple's proprietary AAC format. That means it won't play music downloaded from the I-tunes store, but it will play music from any of the Windows-based music stores, like MusicMatch and Napster. I have already begun re-ripping my CDs into Ogg format, which sounds incredible compared to MP3s encoded at the equivalent bitrate.
I should note that I do not use the included earbuds. Instead, I use the Sony MDR-7506 when I'm listening at home and the Shure E2 when I'm on the go. Good headphones really show off the capabilities of the Karma.
All in all, I've been very pleased with the Karma and the level of support available from Rio engineers at places like www.riovolution.com. If you're looking for a hard disk-based MP3 player with excellent sound quality in a tiny package, you should try the Karma. Keep in mind that hard disk players are not designed for intense physical activity; for that, you're better off with flash memory players because there are no moving parts. Strengths:
Intuitive user interface; excellent sound quality (with good headphones, not the included earbuds); designed for easy connectivity to a home stereo; works with any computer system through the ethernet connection; supports Ogg, which sounds far better than MP3 at the same compression Weaknesses:
Software still has some bugs which causes the player to reset in the middle of the song (sometimes it will continue to play, and sometimes you have to turn it off an back on to set things right); does not come with a protective case (I picked up a Gameboy Advance SP case for it, which fits perfectly); OGG playback will not be gapless until new firmware is released Similar Products Used:
Sony NetMD Minidisc Player
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