RCA Lyra RD 1076/ MusicMatch problems

[Cindy]

I have a RCA Lyra MP3 player that I am using with Dell MusicMatch. The
MP3 player is supposed to hold 250 songs. I have loaded in 130 songs with
no problem. But...now.when I now try to add more songs from MusicMatch to
the RCA Lyra a message pops up that the device is full.
The device manager say I have 1.90 MB free - 491.00 total. Has
anyone else had this problem? What I have on the MP3 plays fine, I just
cannot add anymore it it. I was going to return to the store but I am 1
DAY over the return policy. Thank you for any help you can give me.

 

[John Marion]

Cindy, the "250 songs" limit is just an estimate based on certain
assumptions that are usually listed in the instructions. It might say
3-minute songs at 64mbps or something like that. If your songs are longer
or your bitrate is higher your files will be larger and fewer will fit in
the 491MB.

 

[Cindy]

Thank you John... sure appreciate you taking the time to help me. It is
frustrating when you can't figure it out for yourself. I am sure you
are right....I checked and some of the songs I have do run 6 or 7 min. as
"American Pie - Hotel CA". I just was really frustrated that I was not
even close to the 250 songs they were telling I could put on. This is my
first MP3, sure do love it. Thanks again.
Cindy

 

[John Marion]

I'm happy to help.

I thought of something else. Check your player specs and see if they
mention mp3PRO. I think most if not all Lyras support it. Mp3PRO files are
60% of the size of mp3 files and sound the same on compatible players.
MusicMatch is a compatible player and the Plus version does the encoding.
Your branded MusicMatch might have mp3PRO encoding enabled; I can do it on
my basic HP MusicMatch. See what MusicMatch does if you choose Options:
Recorder: Format: mp3PRO. It might tell you to upgrade to PLUS or it might
just switch formats. You'll be amazed at how much music you can put in
491MB.

http://www.mp3prozone.com/products.htm

 

[Cindy]

Hello John,
I did check MusicMatch and Yes I have a choice of MP3 or MP3 Pro, WAV and
Windows Media Audio. I am now using MP3 /CD quality (128 kbps).
I should have mentioned what version of MP3 I have. It is a RCA Lyra
RD1076. According to the information that came with the player it will
'play mp3 and windows media audio', so I am assuming that particular model
will not play MP3Pro. I do not plan on changing any of the music on the
Lyra RD1076 so I am fine there since I now know why it would not take the
250 songs that I thought would go on the player..
Since I am now using MP3 in MusicMatch, and if I now decide to change the
setting to the MP3 Pro I am assuming that what I already have in my library
will not be changed to the other format, and only anything new (with now
using MP3 Pro) that I add will now be in MP3 Pro. So I will have 2
different encodings? Will this cause a problem if I burn some CD's?
If I decide to get another MP3 player I will be sure that the new one has
MP3 Pro on it, if I change my settings to use MP3 Pro. I am assuming
that you are suggesting that I should change to the MP3 Pro and just use
that setting from now on.
Thanks again for your help.
Cindy

 

[John Marion]

You mentioned RD 1076 in the topic. I couldn't find mention of mp3PRO in
the specs and I'm surprised. I'm tempted to ask customer support. You
should try ripping a CD with mp3PRO and see if it sounds inferior when
played in the Lyra. I expect it to sound the same. You be the judge.

You are right, the music already in your library stays at mp3 but MusicMatch
has File: Convert... if you want to convert mp3 to mp3PRO. I used it for
over 8,000 tracks when I discovered PRO a couple of years ago. I reduced a
20GB library to 13GB.

There won't be a problem having two formats when you burn CDs.
You can have MusicMatch display File Type along with the usual details in
the library.
True, you would want a replacement player to be compatible.

I might have made a pointless and/or complicated suggestion, but I like
MusicMatch (enough that I paid to upgrade two version 7.5 installations to
PLUS) and you are already using it and it has this nice extra feature...
All this meant a lot more when I had a mere 32MB in my first player.

I hope we find out the Lyra is compatible whether it says so or not.