SONICblue Shows off Two New RioVolt Players

If you want to take your music on the road, you probably don't want to limit yourself to just CDs, just MP3s, or just FM radio. SONICblue's RioVolt SP250 CD player lets you play both standard music CDs and CDs containing MP3 and Windows Media Audio (WMA) files, which the company says makes it possible to store up to 350 songs on a single CD. It also includes an FM radio tuner. As a lower priced alternative, the company also just told us about the sub-$100 RioVolt SP90, which doesn't have all the same bells and whistles as its fancier sibling, but costs less if you can do without FM. The RioVolt SP250 us an evolutionary step up from the of the original RioVolt SP100, and adds features that include 8 minute shock protection that stores multiple songs in memory and stops the disc from spinning, to protect against skipping; the aforementioned integrated FM tuner; a customizable user interface; Rechargeable batteries, which SONICblue says lets you listen to music for over 15 hours; an AC adapter; folding headphones and earphones; an on-wire remote control (you can also buy an upgraded remote control with an LCD display through SONICblue's eStore); a high-resolution backlit LCD; support for firmware upgrades via downloading and burning updates onto a CD for copying to the player; an adjustable EQ; repeat and shuffle play modes and programmable playlists; PC and Macintosh audio management software for organizing and ripping music files; support for ID3 tags and CD text title display; and a carrying case with access to the player's controls. The RioVolt SP90 doesn't have the same feature list, but supports MP3 and WMA file formats (as well as standard CDs), has shock protection up to 120 seconds and is supposed to run up to 15 hours on two AA batteries. The RioVolt SP90 has the same LCD and display and navigation features as the original RioVolt SP100. The RioVolt SP250 is priced at $179 and the RioVolt SP90 is priced at $99. The LCD remote for the RioVolt SP250 will be available for $29.95.