At first, we encountered several problems when connecting the Lyra to the jukebox applications. We had to install the latest firmware upgrade twice before connections were smooth. Even so, sometimes MMJB recognized the player, sometimes not; however, this may be an issue with MMJB rather than the Lyra.
Playlist navigation is also slower than average. It takes a couple of seconds to cue up lists of artists, albums, and so forth. The firmware, which is designed to improve navigation, did help a little, but it's still slower than we're accustomed to.
Sound quality was decent, although some defects become exposed when using better-quality headsets. We could sometimes detect slight but noticeable distortion on all DSP modes--including the Flat setting--when listening to music through Koss UR 40 full-size headphones and Shure E2c earbuds. Making any type of adjustment with the five-band EQ only exacerbated the problem.
As for battery life, the player's rechargeable battery scored an average of 14.3 hours of continuous playback in CNET Labs' tests. This is about middle of the road for a microdrive player, but it far exceeds RCA's own rating of 8 hours.
What You'll Pay
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