[truffles]

Hey fellow headfiers !

My primary mp3 player - rio carbon - broke last week. I've always loved it, even more so after the developers cut fw.

I'm looking for a new player now. However, I'm having trouble finding one that has the features I've grown to love from my old carbon.

After updating the fw, my carbon could manage multiple otg playlists: append new tracks, re-order, remove, and finally save them.

The sandisk e2xx and samsung z5 looks really nice. I will appreciate album art, rating songs, and flash based memory... but it seems like many of the new players don't have the advanced playlisting capabilities that my old carbon had. I also understand that the carbon didn't have these new features until the new fw.

So, I'm hoping somebody out there could give me some advice. Should I just get myself another carbon, my wheel broke and now it suffers the upgrader bootup error..? Or could anyone sell me another player.

~ truffles

 

[TheMarchingMule]

iPod 5G + Rockbox.

 

[incognitoedleon]

If it's stuck in upgrader mode, try tapping the back as it boots up. I've read that it realigns the hard drive head or something like that.

 

[jonnywolfet]

be aware that not all dap's have gapless playback like your rio, i would want to keep that feature myself...

 

[elnero]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jonnywolfet be aware that not all dap's have gapless playback like your rio, i would want to keep that feature myself...

The Carbon doesn't have gapless playback.

 

[jonnywolfet]

really? i thought it did, i really wanted one up untill now...

 

[elnero]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jonnywolfet really? i thought it did, i really wanted one up untill now...

I think if you want gapless the only alternatives are the Karma, Sony players using ATRAC encoding, a couple RCA players or Rockbox on either some iPod, iRiver, Archos, iAudio or players. That new Sigmatel chip looked promising to carry over some Karma/Chroma features but I haven't seen anything of consequence utilizing the chip and unfortunatly I'm not sure if it will ever fly.

 

[LaBreaHead]

If you're really intent on replacing your Rio with a Rio, there are still new (non-refurb) ce2100's available, in black or green. About $80 (U.S.) some places for a now-meager 2.5GB capacity ... but they should have all the Carbon features you want (at that price, you could get more than one).

I don't use OTG playlisting (I don't "fuss" with my players on the go -- but I can see that it could be fun), but I agree that the Sandisk and Samsung (and even the Creative V and the iPod Nano) are logical players to consider as Carbon replacements.

 

[IpaqMan]

I would recommend getting another Rio Carbon (factory refurb).

A year ago, I purchased a factory refurbished Rio Carbon 5gb player from Ebay for about $100. It arrived in a factory sealed box and was like new (no scratches or dings). I have been very happy with it and use it most of the time even though I own some newer players. I love its slim size, full feature set (Dev Ed FW), tactile controls (ease of operation in a pocket), and long battery life. I especially like the option of navigation by tags or by folders.

 

[The_Duke_Of_Eli]

Rio players really are incredible devices. I still own my Rio Chiba, and it would be my favorite player to date if it didn't have such a limited capacity and if rockbox didn't come along with gapless and FLAC.

 

[slunk007]

Sorry to hear about your Carbon. I love mine as well. I didn't even know there was a Developer's Cut Firmware. Those features sound interesting.

You can probably find a replacement 5GB Carbon for fairly cheap on eBay. A few months ago I recall seeing them at my local Futureshop and Best Buy. Not sure if they're still around though.

Good luck.