Diamond Rio 600 MP3 Player
The Rio 600 is controlled by, the Rio Audio Manager software, which is similar to that of RioPort, used by the Rio 500. Therefore the software hasn’t changed much as far as I am concerned. The Rio Audio Manager is capable of writing audio CDs, provided you have a CD writer. In addition this the software assist you to create and systematize audio content on the Desktop and as well as on the Rio. Thus, it initially searches the Hard Drives for compatible files and then arranges them in a database. Thereafter, you could catalogue the database of songs according to your desire. This exercise doesn’t cost you much time at all.
Further, the Rio audio manager is also loaded with a unique feature, with supports for skins, which impressed me a lot. Take a look at the number of skins they have included for the spectrum analyzer. Impressive!!!
What’s more, the Rio 600 has a built-in web browser under its ranks. Therefore you could regularly rummage around the web and download latest happening audio MP3s.
The installation process of the USB driver was smooth and neat.
Moreover, the Rio 600 has a base memory of 32MB, “Backpack” module that combine space with the battery section. In contrast, the Rio 500 came with a 64 MB of Base memory. However, you will not find any memory expansion slots in the Rio 600. Therefore you have to procure new Backpack’s to boost the memory capacity. These backpacks come in two capacities, a 64MB (capable of storing 2 hours of music) and 32 MB versions. I am more or less surprised why Diamond didn’t opt for more modern and advanced memory modules such as MultiMediaCards (MMC’s) or SmartMedia, obviously, which are easily expandable and very demanding.
But nonetheless, the modest memory capacity compensates with the low price of the product. Even so, with a low memory the Rio 600 doesn’t lag on quality. This is due to the fact that the player supports Microsoft WindowsMedia (WMA), which transforms songs into 64Kbit WMA format; providing you the audio quality equivalent to 128Kbit MP3 files. Amazingly, I even found WMA slightly better than MP3’s…. Apparently, the Rio 600 is the first apparatus on the market to support the WindowsMedia (WMA) Format. However, WMA does consume slightly more memory than MP3 does, which is the only minus factor pertaining to it. Obviously, for me this was a very insignificant issue.
