[Sweet Spot]

Oh man...I'm just getting giddy with excitement now. So Ian, you're saying that the software/drivers etc. actually work without hesitation/flaws?

Speaking of which Ian, that's something you've not yet hit upon. That being its flaws. It can't be perfect, no piece of technology is. So you may as well tell us exactly what about the Karma is annoying/flawed yada yada. Thanks.

S.S.

 

[ian]

My mistake everyone, it turns out the Karma does play WAV's. Mine is getting patched right now (UPS should drop it off any minute...) so I couldn't test it, but another beta tester confirmed it does work. Either way, the battery life should be much better under FLAC (less hard drive spinups) so there is no reason to use WAV's.

The flaws? The RioStick is pretty akward for me to use, I'm not a big fan of it. Also, I'm not a fan of the way the UI works by default. Too many button presses to get music playing. However, the beta testers came up with a feature to re-map the function of the menu button to allow for easier selection of music (less button presses). Also, I still haven't gotten DHCP working correctly with the dock (May be my network or something else, they found a component that needed to be removed that increased ethernet reliability). The biggest flaw is probably that the RioMM software does not include an MP3 encoder. You have to use RealOne to rip directly to MP3. Not a big deal for me, since I use EAC and lame, but others will not be happy. It can do OGG, WMA, and FLAC out of the box. The MP3 encoder is $10 extra, which blows, but that would have to be tacked onto the price of the Karma if it wasn't extra. I guess I'd rather not have it for the price.

 

[Dweebgal]

i want one of these so bad..i wonder when/where it'll be availible in the uk, and how much.

something tells me that they'll just chop off the $ sign and add a £ sign. which sucks.

also, i find it odd it's not availible here yet, as i thought rio was based in cambridge, england.

i could be wrong though

i also wonder how much i'd be able to get for my old 10gb ipod...

 

[bangraman]

Quote:

Originally posted by Dweebgal something tells me that they'll just chop off the $ sign and add a £ sign.

Count on it.

 

[Murasame]

i want one

i want one

i want one

i want one

i want one

 

[Dweebgal]

Quote:

Originally posted by bangraman Count on it.

it pisses me off so much when they do that.

in fact it would probably be cheaper to get the thing shipped from the states and pay the bloody VAT on it.

the charger is a world one so i read, so you just need a travel adapter for it.

 

[ian]

The empeg Rio folks are in Cambridge, and they designed the Karma. DNNA is located in CA - they are working together on the Karma. Sounds like QA is in CA while most of the engineers are in Cambridge. Talk about an ugly UPS bill!

 

[Ruahrc]

How is the support/reliability on the thing so far? I had a Rio800 and the support for it was HORRIBLE. Left a bad taste in my mouth, I'm weary of anything Rio now. (No matter how good the specs look)

Ruahrc

 

[ian]

Comparing the Rio 800 and the Karma is like comparing products from two different companies. The Karma was designed by the folks who design the empeg, which is known for being an amazing product with a great community still writing software for it. I believe the Rio 800 was developed by completely different people.
Support is being worked on as well, it was brought up by many of the beta testers. Rio support is outsourced (I think to India?) but they are trying to get them educated on the Karma asap. I would also expect a pretty signifigant online community to develop for the Karma, just as there has been for the empeg. There will be many opportunities for developers to expand on the functions of the Karma, especially over ethernet. One of the beta testers has written some applets that allow for streaming and other unsupported features. I dont think he can release yet though...it will take a community to develop them.

 

[Sweet Spot]

pre order 40 gig Karmas

Thought this was worth a look. Another $40 seems worth it to me in the long run.