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1 Wireless music, affordable price!
I've owned my RCA Lyra Wireless Transmitter/Receiver for over a year now, and it has never disappointed.
It uses 900mhz technology, so it uses 4 different channels - if you get interference with your cordless phone, simply switch both transmitter/receiver to a different channel (make sure both transmitter and receiver are on the same setting, however).
It does what is advertised. Remote control works fine but only with the MusicMatch software (provided).
If you use other media players (Real Player, Windows Media Player, etc.), simply change the Lyra Wireless device to be your default sound card (Sounds and Multimedia located in the Control Panel). If you use this option, it works great, however you lose the remote control functionality.
Sound quality is surprisingly good! CD quality--so close to the real thing only a true audiophile would be able to tell the difference, and chances are that if they're spending thousands on a CD player, speakers, and receiver, they wouldn't bother with a wireless connection anyway. The full range of sound is all there.
There are improvements I'd like to have, such as a digital connection between the Lyra receiver and my stereo receiver (instead of the standard audio connection), or a video menu option, but I'm sure that would increase the price.
I do have a 802.11g wireless network and a seperate 900mhz wireless connnector does seem redundant, but until they produce a RELIABLE network adapter for your home entertainment center that is INEXPENSIVE, the RCA Lyra wireless is a quality product that provides the best and cheapest solution to wireless listening to your mp3 collection you have stored on your computer hard drive.
2 Music From Your PC to Your Stereo...without cables!
Any music or sound you can play on your computer (Rhapsody, MP3s, Musicmatch, etc.) you can play on your stereo system without running cables. Sound quality is excellent. Setup is easy...worked right out of the box. The remote control is an added bonus! Highly recommend this product. Available through Amazon for about $50 plus shipping.
3 Love this thing
Bought the Lyra for two main reasons: (1) It's very inexpensive compared to the competition (e.g., Apple's Airport Express or Linksys's Wireless Digital Media Adapter), and (2) it works with Musicmatch, my preferred music player. Setup was quick -- about 10 minutes. Sound quality is adequate -- not CD quality, but good enough for MP3s. Note that this device is not very high-tech. Its sole purpose is to allow you to stream songs from Musicmatch to your home stereo -- and that's it. This device does not enable on-screen displays, etc. The only ding: the stereo jack to RCA connectors (for connecting the receiver unit to your home stereo) needed to be jiggled a bit to obtain a clear output to my stereo.
4 Great for the price ...
I purchased this unit a few months ago for using with Musicmatch.
I had subscribed to the On Demand from Musicmatch to listen to at work and I wanted a resonable way to listen to my music on my back porch. Considering that wiring the speakers was going to be a pain, I decided that wireless would be the way to go.
First I purchased a set of wireless speakers that were a disaster. This was perfect though. I can sit on my porch and even use the remote.
The fact that you can't play it over computer speakers is a bit of a pain, but for the cost and the quality. The positives out weigh the negatives on this one. Highly Reccomended!
5 Almost Everything You Need
I just recently purchased this RCA unit and just finished setting it up. Bottom line is that setup is very easy. I just followed the instructions and everything worked. I have tested out playing from MusicMatch Jukebox and from Yahoo LaunchCast Internet radio and both work fine without any skipping or breaks.
I had been using a Dell Audio Receiver device that used a phone-line network and it worked pretty good but would have some pauses every now and then.
When you consider the price of the RCA RD900 the few downsides are managable. I researched quite a few of the audio receiver devices currently available focusing on ones that used either 80211.B or 80211G and not only are they more expensive but most of the reviews lead you to presume that they are not quite ready for prime-time yet. Yes, it would be nice to have a TV interface and the ability to send pictures and video from my computer but the most important thing for me is music and not spending days with tech support trying to get a "higher tech" device to work.
The RCA RD900 delivers music as promised to you home audio system without much effort. My wife is using it and that really says something because if it isn't easy she won't use it.
The few downsides to the RCA RD900 are;
- Audio output is either to your audio system or computer but not both.
- To change ouputs you need to change output preference though the control panel and then restart any audio application you are using
- Since there is no inteface outside of you computer you are running blind so if you want to change playlists or internet radio stations so have to go to you computer to do it.
In summary, I'm very satisfied and will just happily wait for the wireless ethernet devices to shake-out and become more reliable and then make a switch.
6 Works great - especially with Rhapsody
This device lets us use our Rhapsody subscription throughout our house - we love it. Very easy to set up and good sound quality. We have not had any interference issues. Rhapsody is cheap about $10 a month from www.real.com or www.listen.com and gives you access to a ton of music. Lyra really makes it a useful service!
7 Does not work like you think is should.
I picked this up for $39 and I got what I paid for...
1) You cannot play music over your stereo and on your computer speakers at the same time. While this may not be a big deal to some, it's a disaster for me. My computer is in a different part of the house than my stereo; so I cannot listen to music at my computer while my wife listens to Napster in the living room. It's an "either/or" type of a deal.
2) It does not sound that great, there is a hum and the bass sounds like crap. It's ok at low volume, but who listens to music that low? (well besides grandmothers).
3) It's just exactly what I needed one more music library program. (Sarcasm implied)
4) It does play music over the baby monitor quite nicely, but the microwave, cell phone, and cordless phone gives it fits.
5) After all the good things I read about it I am reminded just because it's on the internet does not make it true.
Look if you running MusicMatch then this it the deal for you, but if you are running Napster, Itunes, or Sonicstage/Connect.com then find something else this is not for you...move along.
Happy Trails,
Tony
8 Everything should work this well
I had the Lyra Wireless working within 10 minutes of opening the box. It was a total no-brainer. I've used it on my main stereo (only about 20 feet from the transmitter) and on the boom box in the shop (about 40 feet from the transmitter). Both locations have excellent reception and CD quality sound. Prior to this I had tried one of those low power FM transmitters and was very dissatisfied with the sound quality.
The version 9.x of MusicMatch has drivers for the Lyra already installed so you don't have to risk messing up your existing MusicMatch settings with a re-install of the software. The unit I received also has the ability to control Rhapsody, but I haven't tried that yet. Plus, it comes with a coupon code good for 100 free MP3 downloads from E-music. I bought mine on Amazon for under $40. Even at full retail of $99 this would be a good value.
The only nit pick I've got is that the "Favorites" button on the remote doesn't seem to work with MusicMatch. I haven't yet tried to contact tech support about that small issue.
If you are looking for a simple and cheap way to pipe music from your computer on other devices, I don't think you would go wrong with the Lyra Wireless.
9 Seems to work fine
wish I could use an equalizer to adjust the sound quality.
10 Decent hardware weak software
Update Dec/2004:
With the release of MusicMatch 10 and MS Media Player 10 the problems with remote control of the Lyra and inability to play most public radio stations has been fixed. It's still a bit tricky to set up such stations, the easiest is to get it playing in MS Media Player, then create a new stream in MM and cut and paste the Media Player URL into the newly created stream in MM.
The Lyra idea is pretty good, remote control of your computer music for wireless delivery to an amp or powered speakers elsewhere in the house. However, my estimate is that they spent close to 10 minutes on developing the manual entry on remote control of MusicMatch, so you'd better be ready to experiment. Overall, in keeping with the poor documentation, the integration between the Lyra remote control software and MusicMatch is pretty weak.
The control allows switching between saved playlists, radio (MusicMatch radio) and CD. Within these groups you can go up and down between playlists and radio stations and forward and back by entry. However you can't go to say the 5th station, just up or down one. This makes the MusicMatch radio staion option pretty useless since you can't select which ones you want to choose from. You're always going through the entire list in alphabetical order. For playlists it's much better since you can control what's in them and the order they are cycled through (alpha by filename). Within a playlist you can go forward and back by entry.
To add a bit of navigation, I record short wav files that identify the playlist and entry in the playlist and put them into the list to identify the next entry. For example, the playlist of college stations starts with me saying "College stations" then before each stream, there's a wav file of me saying "WBUR" or "WERS", etc. immediately followed by the stream for that station.
I've got 3 of these now, each with a powered speaker for use in various places around the house so you get good music with remote control in each room for not much $. If they would only enhance the software to provide more remote control, this would be an absolute must-have device. As it is it's very cool once you figure out how to make it work.
11 Works Great.
I previously bought an Advent Wireless (AW810) indoor/outdoor speaker, but it was difficult to get it to tune in to the right frequency, and it would not stay tuned in.
The Lyra works perfectly with no frequency drift anywhere in the house. House is about 4000 sq ft, the transmitter is upstairs in one corner and the stereo is downstairs in an opposite corner. The remote control also works well anywhere in the house.
It would be nice if the remote worked with Windows Media Player, but MusicMatch is not bad
12 just the basics
I had tried one of the more costly units that required a tv be hooked into it as well. and after must frustration was only able to get it to work if i shut off my firewall and went offline, also could not use the computer for anything else when it was working. if the microwave was used in the next room the whole thing would fail and rebooting the computer as well as reloading the music files into it's folder was neccessary. way too complicated. I was elated when i found this because all it does is transmit whatever is coming from the soundcard to your stereo nothing else, you can continue to work online and microwave to your hearts content as well. i can't believe this is not more widely advertised.
13 Can't believe this product doesn't get more publicity
I was looking for something that would do what this product does before I even knew that the Lyra existed.
Worked flawlessly out of the box. I was a little concerned about interference/reception, since I live in a 25-story apartment building, but the Lyra transmits from my office, through an interior wall, to the stereo in my living room with no problem.
I already had MusicMatch installed on my computer, but the Lyra also works fine with Windows MediaPlayer (note that the remote only works with MusicMatch, however).
I highly recommend this product.
14 Wouldn't Live Without It
okay...probably an overstatement, but to some extent, as a Rhapsody customer, I'd simply not have one without the other. It's worked well since day one (it occasionally requires a power-cycle), and sounds good (to my non-audiophile ear). If you've come this far (early adopter!) I think you should give it a whirl, you'll not likely be disappointed.
While i've not tried other similar products, I can say that I can think of any way that it could be improved.
15 You will not be disappointed. But read these setup tips.
Overview - The Lyra wireless unit works as a substitute soundcard. Do not mess around with the Musicmatch software, which only locked up my XP machine. Instead, install only the RCA wireless remote software.
Installation - First, connect the Lyra wireless unit to your USB port, and let XP find the drivers. To get music to come out of your stereo, go to Start, then Settings, then Control Panel, then Sound and Audio Devices. Under the Audio tab, change the top line ("Default Device") to the Lyra unit, instead of your soundcard.
When you make this change, all sound output from your computer (using any program - Winamp, Rhapsody, you name it) will play through the stereo that is connected to your Lyra receiver.
Upsides - Very easy to use, if you follow these instructions. Sound quality is fully acceptable; I can't say it's audiophile, but the Lyra delivers a clear and strong signal.
Downside - You can't change sound output on the fly. If you are listening to Winamp on your computer and want to switch output from your soundcard to Lyra, you need to close Winamp (or Rhapsody, or whatever), change the audio device on your PC, then restart the software. Also, you can't listen to both your computer soundcard and Lyra at the same time - only one sound output at one time.
Conclusion - These complaints are very small grievances. The Lyra wireless unit is very easy to install, very inexpensive, and performs exactly as advertised. Considering the total cost and performance, this unit has to be rated 5 stars.
Note - I consider myself to be reasonably savvy with computers. Follow my instructions, and your installation will be a snap.
16 Works great @ great price!
I debated on this product for some time and looked into far more expensive options. After all is said and done, I'm really glad I didn't go for the other more expensive wireless MP3 options because this thing works perfect. It transmits crystal clear and you can't beat this price. I've always used the MusicMatch software so that was no problem for me. It is the perfect thing for parties! I'm actually looking to buy a second receiver unit so that I can use it on a 2nd stereo elsewhere in the house.
Cool. Cheap. Easy to use. Short on bells and whistles but as long as it sounds great - I don't care.
17 RD900W - Pure frustration
I see how many emphasized the ease of setting this puppy up. I will agree that it was very easy to connect to the PC and stereo and get a strong signal. But since I spent all day trying to get the Musicmatch plug-in to no avail I do not agree. I selected a lyra plug-in (on Musicmatch's website) that was not RD900W and although I did hear music if I cranked the speaker, the buzz of having the speakers at max won out over the music. If anybody knows where I can get the plug in, please let me know otherwise it's going back to the store. My e-mail is thebraces@yahoo.com
18 Excellent for home use
I really like this machine--it was a breeze to set up and now I can send all my Mp3 files to my home computer. Simple! You might have to experiment a little with the channels. I also noticed that having other appliances running (my dryer!) seemed to interfere and force me to change channels. However it transmits directly through 2 walls! I am happy with this purchase!
19 Outstanding Product
Hello All, Probably like some of you, I waffled for quite some time over whether to buy the RCA Lyra Wireless or not. Finally I plopped the dollars down and now I'm here to tell you that RCA Lyra does exactly what they say. And now, the particulars.
The setup was simple and straightforward, most of my time was spent moving my huge entertainment center from the wall so I could get to the back of my Sony receiver. I plugged the receiver into the MD/DAT slot, plugged it to a power source and every light on the signal indicator glowed green with joy. If only 802.?? were this simple. Ran the software to install the remote and musicmatch (not necessary, but I like it), checked all the audio settings per the manual and WIN XP had everything ready to go.
Went to the radio in Musicmatch and wow, the sound is outstanding, no hiss, just pure clean music. The manual stated that the Lyra could receive interference from cordless phones and recommended using position number four on both transmitter and receiver. I tried the others, turned on my cordless phone and no interference.
I subscribe to Rhapsody and Realone also. So naturally I tried each and they worked, matter of fact any and every sound that my computer makes come through the stereo. I do recommend you download the latest RCA Lyra software, it allows you to switch between players, currently Rhapsody and Musicmatch. But, like I said all the other players work as well, Media Player, MSN Radio Plus, Spinner, MoonTaxi, LaunchCast and more.
The remote control is awesome too, it does just as RCA states, I was surprised to learn that it closes whichever player you're listening to and it works through walls with no hesitation. If you're a Rhapsody user, you know that you can skip to the next song, the remote does that and more. It operates all other electronics as well, I haven't set it up for that yet, probably want, I have a nice Sony all you can control remote.
Well, I'm sure I may have missed something, but I've hit what's important to us all and that's the sound and the ease of setting it up.....PERFECTO. I'm very satisfied, actually it has exceeded my expectations. Lastly, it works, now go order yours!
20 Good product, awful support
Problems getting the plug in were infuriating, as the customer service rep told me that that was my problem (although it wouldn't work without it). Finally got it - through no help from RCA and the day before I could no longer return the product. Note: Looks from RCA's site that they may be discontinuing this model - if so, buyer beware. If they support it this poorly and its this dependent upon the plug-in....
The product works well now that its finally running.
21 High quality, Distortion free FM sound.
Great way to avoid wiring hassles and play your MP3 collection through your sound system. One note of caution, this gadget likes to have its own direct connection to the PC; It doesn't like being on a hub. MusicMatch is a terrific way to organize and play your files, go for the Plus version -- it is worth it.
22 This transmitter rocks!
I couldn't be more pleased with this receiver. We have a new home which has a Speakercraft sound system installed throughout the house. We have enjoyed the digital music provided by our dish service, but I have a large collection of music on my PC that I previously needed to burn to a CD if I wanted to hear it on the sound system. Now I can play it directly with this Lyra transmitter. Installation was a snap, and the sound quality is better, IMO, than the digital feed from our dish service. Much better ... stronger and clearer. I would call it CD-quality.
The only downside to the program is that you must use the included MusicMatch software if you want to use the remote. I don't need the remote, since I just program the music from my PC using the playlists I prepared using Windows Media Player. The MusicMatch software included is the basic OEM version, and it constantly prompts you to upgrade to their full, expanded version. I found it annoying, uninstalled it, and went back to using Media Player, which is more than adequate for my needs.
The transmitter also can relay the signal of any radio station that broadcasts over the internet. We enjoy this feature, as it allows us to listen to some out-of-town radio stations that we enjoy, and previously could only listen to if we sat down at the PC. Now we can roam about the house.
I highly recommend!
23 Works Like A Charm
I had always been disappointed with the Lyra line of MP3 players so I was a bit wary when first trying out this product. However, I have to say that this is one excellent piece of hardware.
The hardest thing about setup for me was connecting the supplied RCA cable to the inputs on my receiver as it is a bit tough to get behind it. Otherwise, everything was flawless. The software supplied is Musicmatch (Kudos to RCA for allowing one to upgrade ones own Musicmatch installation with the Lyra plug in rather than having to downgrade with a proprietary version of Musicmatch as many other companies often require).
While you pretty much need Musicmatch to take advantage of the remote control functionality, you can play your music or any PC sound through any app on your PC and have it sent to your sound system as long as you set your PC's audio (soundcard) to the Lyra (You don't have to do this if you just plan to play music/internet radio through Musicmatch only as it has its own output setting in Player Settings). Again RCA excels with documentation for all this, even giving step by step instructions for all supported operating systems!
Performance is superb, pushing out surprisingly good sound through simple analog connections on your stereo. I doubt that an optical connection, only available on a few competing products, would sound much better, especially since most people will be listening to simple stereo anyway.
You may need to fiddle with the channels on the transmitter and receiver a couple of times to get things right but this is no different from the fine tuning needed for most any wireless device. For example, I first set them to channel 4 and experienced frequent drop outs on my left speaker channel. Trying channel 1 produced some annoying buzzing interference. Finally, channel 2 has produced the best sound quality with zero interference or drop outs.
In short, I was pleasantly surprised at the results I have obtained. It does exactly what it says it will do, high praise in todays tech marketplace. I strongly recommend this unit for anyone who wants to stream high quality audio to their sound system without additional wiring. Go get it!
24 CD Quality Sound and Great Range
Wow! This thing sounds great. It's indistinguishable from true CD sound. Try this: Play a CD on your stereo's CD player, simultaneously play a copy of the same CD on your PC. The PC links to your stereo through the Lyra wireless. You can switch back and forth between the two at your stereo and there's no difference in sound quality. Really!
It uses 900Mhz, so your 802.11 and microwave don't interfere.
I've used other similar products, but the sound quality is really poor. With the Lyra, I get great reception all around our house, and in the garage, which is about 60 feet from the house - still super CD quality sound. I liked it so much I got an extra one so I can have a receiver in the garage and one at the entertainment center.
It's the best value out there for a wireless audio system. Maybe others have more features, but they cost way more than this does. Buy it, you'll like it.
25 Great for MP3s, clumsy for Rhapsody Internet radio
This is the only PC-to-stereo product I could find that supported listen.com's Rhapsody service. It also works with my MP3 player, MusicMatch (plus the MusicMatch Internet radio service, although I don't subscribe to that). These facts led me to buy one.
Setup was easy. Sound quality is excellent. RF remote is way nicer than it needed to be. Integration with MusicMatch for local MP3 files is pretty good, especially considering the lack of a display on your TV.
The only problem with its MusicMatch integration is if you sometimes want to listen to MusicMatch on your PC. Each time you switch between the Lyra (i.e., your home stereo) and your PC, you must manually switch MusicMatch's output audio device. A decent workaround is to only use MusicMatch when playing on the Lyra and use Microsoft Media Player or WinAmp when playing on the PC (but you must then sync your playlists).
The Rhapsody integration, sadly, isn't so good. It's actually not the fault of the Lyra; it's the current Rhapsody client from listen.com that is the limiting factor. The normal Rhapsody client runs on your PC as always and is controlled remotely by the Lyra. There are two problems caused by the Rhapsody client. 1) Since it doesn't have its own setting for the audio device like MusicMatch, in order to listen to Rhapsody on the Lyra, you must redirect ALL sounds to the Lyra, including system beeps, etc, and nothing goes to your PC speakers (until you manually switch it back). 2) If you don't interact with Rhapsody occassionally (skip a song, etc.), the service will time you out. This wouldn't be a big deal except that it puts up a modal dialog on your PC that prevents Lyra from restarting the music. You have to go to your computer, hit OK, and try again. Same deal if the connection is broken for some reason. This is no big deal for many of us geeks, but it pretty much kills the deal for my wife; she won't use it if it doesn't just work without babysitting.
Hopefully Rhapsody will fix those issues so that RCA can get the credit it deserves for the Lyra. In the meantime, I'll be waiting to see if the SMC EZ-Stream supports Rhapsody when it's released.
Bottom line: if you use Rhapsody, prepared to be annoyed (until Rhapsody gets its act together and releases an update). If you just play local MP3s or get your Internet radio via MusicMatch's MX service, you'll really like the Lyra. Yeah, it doesn't display to your TV, but products that do cost nearly twice as much.
Update: Now that the SMC Universal Wireless Multimedia Receiver has been released, I see that it does NOT support Rhapsody (nor Napster, MusicMatch MX, etc.). It only supports "standard" MP3-streaming Internet radio stations. This means the Lyra is your only bet for Rhapsody on your home stereo.
Update 1/17/2004: Looks like the latest Rhapsody client supports better integration with devices that support its Universal Plug-n-Play interface. Omnifi and simplefi are already available, and the less-expensive MP101 from Netgear is to be released in February 2004. The Netgear should retail for about 50% more than the Lyra, but looks worth it, IMHO.
26 Lyra Where have you been all my life
Can I say Wow. I just purchased this device and was overjoyed when it worked EXACTLY as it says. I have tried moving this thing all around my house, not huge 1900sqft, but it didn't miss a beat and had excellent signal strength even on different floors and in the garage. It was almost instant to set up and going on-line with the e-music trial enabled me to quickly download 4 or 5 CDs like B-Legit, Dropkick Murphys, Bad Religion, etc to test it out. I have also subscribed to the service(purely voluntarily) which offers 200,000 plus songs to download. The sound is cristal clear, no CDs skipping while I'm working out, It works outdoors. Heck, even the remote, which is RF not infrared, works like a charm and is universal so it can control my tv, etc.
This is great and definitely worth the money, it's cheaper than most of the other options anyway. Now if I can just get 2 more receivers for it so I don't have to keep moving the receiver around the house to the different stereos. I wrote RCA about that, we'll see what they say.
Well I got the response back from RCA and it was worthless. I don't think those nuts even read my email. I still can't find another receiver. I would dock this thing down to a 4 for support, but the item itself still rules.
27 RCA Wireless Lyra works GREAT!
The RCA Wireless Lyra that I purchased from Amazon has worked better than I expected. The package comes with both a transmitter and a reciever. Initially, I connected the wireless reciever Lyra to a sound system in my home that was located in another room away from the computer; it worked well and sounded great. But my real test was to connect the 'Lyra receiver' to a stereo amp on the second floor of a building which is approximately 150 feet away from the 'Lyra trasmitter' located installed by the computer in my home -- it works GREAT!
The Lyra's features (and specifically the "RF" long range remote control) is designed around MusicMatch software; however, you can use other programs to play your music playlists (i.e. WinAMP - but you can not use the remote to control WinAMP). I hope future models will allow more than USB input to the Lyra's transmitter ... opening up more uses for the device.
The RCA Wireless Lyra does what it says it will do -- I recommend it.
28 Almost perfect
I scoured web reviews for a while, looking for a good system which would allow me to play the internet radio stations I get on my computer (which is in my office) on my stereo system (in my living room). After much deliberation, I chose RCA's product over Motorola's SimpleFi (and others).
The reason? I wanted as high quality of sound as I could reasonably get, which typically meant streaming through USB and staying away from those FM-transmitter cheapos. It couldn't be too expensive, either. So, this narrowed it down to the SimpleFi and Lyra. And I chose the Lyra because a) I wasn't limited to certain software or internet radio stations (give me my KEXP!), b) I could simply add additional transmitters to other stereos in the apartment, and c) it was cheaper. I had no need for Motorola's display or TagIt features.
So, the Lyra is good, but has its faults. The first is interference problems (which can be overcome). When I first got it, I temporarily plugged it into the front of my stereo to test it out. The sound was great, and I was happy. After a day or two, I moved all the wires, etc., behind my entertainment center, and started noticing choppiness. I thought I imagined the first day or two of great sound until I moved everything back to the front of the stereo (and the plug in its own socket), and I got great sound again. I'm going to try and narrow down the problem in the next few days.
Second, the MusicMatch software supplied is buggy as well. The most annoying fault is the fact that switching sound output between the USB port and the sound card doesn't work -- it's always being outputted to USB, so my computer's speakers get nothing. I'm playing around with that, too, to try and fix it.
Those quirks aside, the Lyra Wireless is doing its job. It's *almost* a great system.