Entered CNET Catalog: 08/18/2001
SKU: AR-100
Manufacturer: Digisette, LLC
Manufacturer description
The new evolution in digital audio is here! Only the DUO Digital Player works as both a stand-alone MP3 and digital audio book player, and a digital E-cassette you can play in your car... in a boombox... anywhere! The rechargeable Nickel Metal Hydride battery allows you to enjoy uninterrupted music for up to 6 hours and up to 9 hours of spoken word. USB connection enables fast download speeds, while the sleek aluminum body provides the utmost in portability. What's more, the adjustable head control feature allows you to optimize the DUO for different cassette decks, enabling maximum compatibility and audio fidelity. DUO Players are also AudibleReady. Audible is the Internet's largest, most diverse provider of premium spoken word audio for download or playback on personal computers or AudibleReady mobile devices. Audible has more than 28, 000 hours of audio programs and 160 content providers so one can use their DUO Player to listen to a daily audio digest of The Wall Street Journal, for example, or weekly digests of The Economist and Forbes, or audio books or original audio that isn't available anywhere else. To help manage music, each DUO Player comes with Music Management software. Convert CDs, index your files and create custom playlists. Product summary
The good: Plays through a cassette deck; Windows 95 users will like parallel-port transfers; good sound; rechargeable battery.
The bad: Slow parallel-port transfers; no display; small controls; immature software; only 32MB of memory.
The bottom line: The ability to play MP3s in a cassette deck is cool, but that doesn't justify the price tag for 32MB of memory.
Editors' review
- Editors' Choice: No
- Reviewed on: 11/22/2000
This cassette-shaped MP3 player adds a new dimension of convenience to digital music, not only letting you carry MP3s wherever you go for headphone listening but also allowing you to pop them into any tape deck to be played like a normal cassette. While it's not the first such device that we've seen by any means, Digisette's Duo-MP3 player sounds good through headphones or a cassette deck, although we still don't think that 32MB is enough memory.
This cassette-shaped MP3 player adds a new dimension of convenience to digital music, not only letting you carry MP3s wherever you go for headphone listening but also allowing you to pop them into any tape deck to be played like a normal cassette. While it's not the first such device that we've seen by any means, Digisette's Duo-MP3 player sounds good through headphones or a cassette deck, although we still don't think that 32MB is enough memory.
Tape Shape
From a distance, it's hard to tell the difference between the Duo-MP3 and any regular cassette tape, unless the device has the set of headphones or the parallel-port cable coming out of it. The player packs a lot of features into such a small size, including a slim rechargeable battery and a slot for a multimedia card. However, you'll be itching to get one of those expensive memory boosts since the device holds only 32MB--about half an hour--of music.
What's more, the Duo's small controls were difficult to use. There are buttons for Play (which also toggles through a few preset equalizer settings), Stop, and Volume Up and Down. To go back and forth through tracks, you have to use the Volume buttons in concert with the Play button. Added to this is the Duo's lack of a display, making it hard to navigate your playlist. There's also no way to rewind or fast-forward through parts of tracks, which can be a pain, especially if you're listening to any kind of spoken-word media.
We found the Duo-MP3's sound superior to that of similarly designed (yet cheaper) Unitech Electronics Rome and the Human Information Technology Camp MP3 Player. In addition, we liked the Head Control switch, which allows you to choose between three different positions for the magnetic area that delivers the signal to your cassette player's head. That way, you can experiment to find out which setting works best with your cassette deck.
Software a Drag
The software that comes with the player seemed slapped together without much thought. To find tracks on your computer to download to the player you must browse through your drives by folder--and if you usually access your music through desktop shortcuts or something similar, there's no way to find it easily. You can't open a window and drag the files into the software, and adding and deleting tracks to the device is only possible by right-clicking, which is convenient but nonintuitive.
Filling the player with music took about seven minutes, which was more or less what we expected, considering that the Duo-MP3 uses a parallel-port connector rather than a USB. This is a boon for Windows 95 users who can't use USB players, but it slows the downloading process a bit for other people. Digisette claims that a USB version is on the way if you want to wait. (This might also push the price of the parallel-port version down.)
At about $250, we found the Duo-MP3 player a bit pricey, especially considering the short playing time. It's nice that you can expand the memory with multimedia cards, but they cost around $150 for another hour of music. If playing MP3s in your car is a priority and you don't want to replace your tape deck with an MP3 car stereo, the Duo is a convenient solution, but it's not ideal.
User opinions
Select a User Opinion to view: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 User Rating: 4.5 stars
out of 9 user reviews
Good Thinkingby - April 14, 2003
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Cons:
Review: I think its really neat, now i dont have to use a cd player or mp3 player with cassette converter, the bigger mem model is a better choice but still a great product!
User Rating: 3.0 stars
out of 9 user reviews
Good for what it is intended.by - December 2, 2002
Pros:
Cons:
Review: I don't want to change the player in my car which has a cassette. With only 32 mb memory, it can manage some albums (one at a time), with an additional 32 mb memory it can handle about an hour of music for the daily commute. It does seem to be a little finicky about the USB connection, and the ac adapter connection could be better, I take the battery out and put it in the chareger. At $250 I wouldn't even consider, but at $60 (bestbuy.com) it is a reasonable buy for a 32mb player. The ear buds feel a lot better if put in the opposite ear. I did have another problem with the first memory card though, don't know if it was a problem with the memory or the player yet, but the second card is doing better.
User Rating: 1.5 stars
out of 9 user reviews
Not very well madeby - October 10, 2002
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Cons:
Review: I like the idea that you can play it as a cassett, but the construction of the player is flimsy. I had a lot of problems making sure the connection with computer is good.
User Rating: 2.5 stars
out of 9 user reviews
Great sound, Difficult to move aroundby - January 15, 2002
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Cons:
Review: I have a USB version Duo-Aria with 32 MB. Sound is better than all other MP3 players I've tested, but only with ear plugs. Using car cassette, sound is Good only. Extremely frustrating to move around. Forget about skipping around. Takes practice to press FF or REV exactly 2-3 seconds to go to next section of Audible book. Forget loading more than 1 book, because it's too difficult to go back and forth between books. Powering on/off while driving may cause an accident. On/hold/off switch require precision finger nail action. These frustrations are enough to make me want to kill someone or thing!!! Still, I am keeping it after finally figuring out how to use it. Mainly, keep it very simple when loading content so there will be no need to move around. One Audible book at a time. I can't imagine using it to listen to music.
User Rating: 0.5 stars
out of 9 user reviews
Poor Choice!by - November 22, 2000
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Cons:
Review: Why in the world would anyone want to convert their tunes to analog for playing back thru a cassette adaptor? There are much better products out there, and for lots less money. Now let this one die in peace.....
User Rating: 4.0 stars
out of 9 user reviews
Great for cars that still have tape players.by - December 31, 1999
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Cons:
Review: Many classic cars don't have CD or MD players. Most owners don't want to put them in either; they can be technologically out of place in classic cars. This product is excellent for this application.
User Rating: 1.5 stars
out of 9 user reviews
Go retro is the Motto ?by - December 31, 1999
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Cons:
Review: Go retro is the Digisette MP3 Player manufacturer motto, this is not a bad motto if it it reffering to design but when you go retro on features there you have a problem . Explanation : --Parallel port for data transfer ?have you heard of USB ? --32 MB of internal memmory... give me a break , who is going to stay to download only 30 minutes of music nowdays.... -- MultiMedia card ...wrong again . These cards are just an bad experiment , everybody will look for a SmartMedia or FlashCard device because you can use the same card on your Digital Camera or Camcorder or laptop. Overall a very good ideea who was ended as a poor product
User Rating: 3.5 stars
out of 9 user reviews
The 2 newer models are AWESOMEby - December 31, 1999
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Cons:
Review: Yeah, check digisette.com there are two new models of this...one is the Duo-Aria which is what i've got. It is 32mb upgradable to 96mb but the difference is that this one is USB not parrelel like the one reviewed on this site. Also, you can get a remote control for it, it comes free with a mains charger, car charger and these also work as adapters. The newest is the Duo-Aria64 which has 64mb up to 126mb which is WAAAY cooler...this is the way forward
User Rating: 3.5 stars
out of 9 user reviews
Digisette is greatby - December 31, 1999
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Review: I think Digisette is great the only the only thing i don't like is the memmory card. I prefer SmartMedia .
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Digisette Duo-32 AR-100 specifications
- General
- Product type Flash player
- Software type RealJukebox
- Color Silver
- Body material Aluminum
- Depth 0.5 in
- Height 2.5 in
- Width 4.0 in
- Weight 1.9 oz
- Included accessories PC connection kit , Battery charger , Battery pack
- Audio Features
- Sound output mode Stereo
- Additional features Digital volume control , Auto power off , Pause function
- Digital Player / Recorder
- Supported digital audio standards MP3 , WMA
- Playback modes Direct track access
- Response bandwidth -19980.0 Hz
- Signal-to-noise ratio 90.0 dB
- Additional features PC Connection via USB
- CD System
- CD system type None
- Cassette System
- Cassette system type None
- Equalizer
- Equalizer factory presets Classic , Pop , Normal , Jazz
- MD System
- MD system type None
- Headphones
- Sound output mode [Sep 14, 2011 from CDS: Audio Output] Stereo
- Battery / Power
- Mfr estimated battery life 6.0 hour(s)
- Power device type Battery charger
- System Requirements
- Peripheral / Interface devices [Jul 2, 2008 from CDS: System Requirements] USB port
- Operating system Microsoft Windows 98 Second Edition
- Min processor type [Jul 2, 2008 from CDS: System Requirements] Intel Pentium
- Min processor speed 200.0 MHz
- Min RAM size 32.0 MB
