Rio Volt SP150 Personal CD Player

Note: This review is based on my experience with the SP-90 and SP-150 with the Rio Volt. Some models have less, some have more… you will have to carefully look to see your getting the features you want in the particular model you are buying.

The RIO Volt is one of the top of model MP3/WMA/ CD Players on the market today. Though, I do not use WMA (Windows Media Audio…If my memory serves me correctly), due to the fact that the quality is not as good as "regular" Mp3s, the Addition of being able to listen to WMA files as well as regular CDs and Mp3s in the RIO VOLT could be a great additional feature for many people whom use th4e WMA Format.

Why would I want a mp3 player anyway?… You have a CD player and that still works. Yes, not all people need or even want an mp3 player. There are many different ways to encode mp3s (think of it as SP –vs- SLP on your VHS Tapes).. The highest level (which I only encode half of that) can probably get you at least a few WHOLE ALBUMS on one disc. I am a huge fan of old radio shows, so during this past Christmas I compiled a CD that contained (at a lower bit-rate then regular music you will be using), The Campbell's playhouse edition of A Christmas Carol with Orsen Wells, About 4 or 5 Jack Benny Christmas Episodes each (approximately 25- 30 Minutes each), several Christmas CD's (Tony Bennett, Nat King Cole, …and other various artists), as well as (the name of the company escapes me at the moment) another 60 Minute Production of A Christmas Carol, the full radio shows of It's a Wonderful Life, and Miracle on 34th Street …. and still had room for more!… As far as regular song files recorded/encoded at between 128kbps and 192Kbps (the standard range for most people), I have regularly been averaging at least 150 songs per disk. If you have a large CD or cassette collection, and your able to digitize it (instructions will soon be on my website (http://www.hostultra.com/~Xmetalfanx/Common/Record.htm) , you can have say 10 (to say the least) albums on one disk. This will make storing, organizing, and traveling with your music much easier.

Now to the RIO Volt. Why should I choose the RIO Volt when there are other Mp3/CD Players on the market?. That's a good question and I found myself asking the same question. I looked at reviews on sites such as here on Epinions.com, as well as sites likes www.techtv.com/freshgear, www.cdnet.com, as well as asking around. Although they may never have had a RIO Volt, by they did have experiences (and not pleasant ones with other models. All the opinions I have heard on the Volt, are kind of like mine. It's not perfect, but it by far the best, with "setbacks" that are not that significant

Features
I have had personal experiences with the SP-90 and SP-150 models of the volt. I had to return the SP-90 (I know what your thinking, but this was my fault). When I upgraded to the SP-150, I found it had some features that I had always wished were in the SP-90. For one, the backlight features was a great improvement. Sometimes you want to go to another track (say at dusk or later), but you cant read the screen… Sure you can go one by one threw the tracks and hope you find the song that your looking for, but if you rather be able to have a light on the screen, so you don't have to find the near-rest streetlight or something. The SP-150 also has a better equalizer system, in my honest opinion. I did not notice that big of a different between the preset selections on the SP-90, but do hear a good difference on the SP-150 (remember, its not perfect… its not a high end stereo system). The added feature of making a customized equalizer setting is another great addition. I personally find a downside in the way the custom equalizer is set up. It is only Tremble and Bass, and is set up numerically. Say Tremble = 3, Bass = 3. I would like to have greater control over, since even some of the cheaper Volts are about $70.

Resume
You May be wondering "If I have that many songs on a particular disk, what happens when I shut the player off? … Will I have to go through the tracks one-by-one to find the track that you were last on?". No. The Resume feature will not only pick up at the last song you were on, but in most cases, this feature will even start at the point of the song where you were last at.

Scan-Speed is the control for how fast the Volt will scan threw the tracks. There are 3 settings: 2X, 4X, and 8X. Scroll-Speed controls how fast the titles move on the screen. An additional, the ID3 Tag option can be turned on or off. ID3 Tags are bits of information on Mp3 files that contains such information as the track Title, Artist Name, Album Name, Comments, and more. Although, only the Title, Artist(s), and Album Name are really read by the RIO Volt, that is truthfully all that is needed, and with my ID3 tags, some of the only ones I use.

The navigation screen is large and easy to large and easy to read. One of the faults I have found in other players, is that their screen are smaller, or the screens are the same size as the Volt's; though, the text size on other Mp3/CD Players are in many cases, much smaller. I personally can read them; however, the RIO Volt's screen and text are much, much easier to read anyway.

Track 10- and Track 10 is the feature that scrolls ten tracks up (or ten tracks down). This comes in handy when dealing with possibly a hundred or so tracks. The Rio Volt SP-90 does not contain a previous track option. (10-tracks at a time that is). Its was not that big of a deal to me; however, on my new SP-150, it's a good improvement. The play/pause, Previous Track, Next Track, and Stop buttons are a good size and easy to use, unlike some other brands who's buttons may be difficult to use.

I personally give the RIO Volt and Sonic Blue a solid two thumbs up for this product.

Problem (2 years later): The Buttons Reprogramming - --- Lately I have had to fight the unit .... volume up button works...
vol down is now "previous track".... the stop button doesn't stop anything (or shut off the unit like its suppose to) .... the forward button doubles as another volume up button .. and you get the idea by now..... only in the past few days, after keeping it at room temperature in a protective Case Logic Case (i have heard some say its due to the unit being exposed to 'extreme" weather... not the case here ...). This puzzled me until I did read other reviews stating the same exact problem happening to many others with the same model Rio Volt, not to mention average conditions (dry room, room temperature....etc etc) in their cases too.