Home > Consumer Reviews > RioVolt SP350 Ultra-Thin CD-MP3 Player with Car Kit

I already have an SP250 and an Iriver Slimx iMP-350. I bought this SP350 because of the 32 minute shock buffer. The player I got was skipping songs constantly. Called the online store to get a replacement. The replacement seems to work, but it skips songs still unlike the other two MP3-CD players(which never skip). First of all, I am disappointed in the review that [Amazon.com] gave because it says that you can use AA batteries. There is no external battery case to use AA batteries like the iMP-350(Sonicblue might sell it as an accessory later). This player does not always recognize my MP3-CDs like the SP250 and iMP-350. The only good thing is the sound quality is the best out of all 3 MP3-CD players. The rechargeable batteries that did come with the player take 6 hours to recharge. I currently have my own NIMH batteries and a 1 hour charger that I cannot use with this player. Sound quality is the only good thing about this player. Way overpriced and not worth the [$] retail price.

I agree with the folks who have problems with this RioVolt SP-350 player. It skips the music tracks of either ORIGINAL CD-AUDIO music or MP3s stored in CD-R or CD-RW media that worked FINE with the previous model, the SP-250 Player (i wonder why SonicBlue discontinued it!!)

I've followed all the directions of Sonic Blue and still nothing. I believe it's a firmware problem. I mailed SonicBlue a week ago and i just got a reply from them. They say "we are sorry, we have no firmware upgrades, please return the defective unit to the store where you purchased it from to get a new one as a replacement and if they don't want to do it, please call us after may 1, 2003 and we'll do ir for you." but reading someone else's post, getting a replacement won't help much because i believe that it's this model that is all messed up.. now.. will SonicBlue send me a refund for this defective unit? who knows!!

What a disappointment, i expected much more from this brand.. two thumbs down for this model.. SonicBlue guys, do something QUICKLY or you'll lose customers!

Best Regards,

Paul D. Fabre

I have a 90, 100 and have tried the 250 and the 350 leaves a great deal to be desired. It does not handle files well, can read only a limited number of files, does not have resume and is difficult to navigate. The older models have superior firmware. Perhaps SonicBlue will fix these problems with new firmware. It should have been done before release to the public.

Well, I bought it just when it was released, so that was the first problem, you can't read users reviews(lesson learned).
After charging the unit for about 6 hours, it started the real problem. I tried to play standard music CD's and it skipped all time, then strange ASCII symbols appeard on the LCD instead of the usual "track 01"(and for what I'm reading, I'm not the first one). Never worked. I sent it back 3 days later.
Dont buy it!!

I'm on my third MP3 CD player -- I really like the format. I have had the original Philips Expanium player and the Rio PSX100 (the original RioVolt player).

This machine is a turkey. It skips when playing my MP3 CDs, and it skips when playing commercially-available audio CDs. Also, when changing tracks on a commercially-available audio CD, the alphanumeric display went into "matrix mode" -- 2 lines of incomprehensible characters. The only way out of this mode was to power off the unit.

When I called technical support, they told me to "create MP3 files sampling at a lower frequency" than the 256K that I had used. Wrong answer! The device is specified to work absolutely correctly at the sampling rate I used. And that explains nothing about the failure of the ordinary audio CDs on the player.

They also sent me on a wild goose chase saying I should download and install the SP250's firmware on this device. There was no reference to this on SonicBlue's website, but I tried it anyway. The device refused to download the firmware. (I had no problem with firmware updates on my PSX100 in the past.)

I would complain to SonicBlue's support line about wasting my time except for the fact that they now have a recording that says that they are very busy, announces the support center hours, and then *hangs up on you*. No offer to have you wait in a queue. No offer to call you back. No nothing. This is an extraordinary statement about how much SonicBlue values their customer. I'm going to go ahead and return mine to Amazon within the 30-day return window...

On paper, the specifications of this player are extraordinary. In reality, it's a total loser. And SonicBlue has categorically dropped the ball on supporting the unfortunates who got one of these dogs for Christmas.

Maybe they will fix the quality on this product. Stay tuned. For now, this is one product to avoid. I plan to buy no more SOnicBlue products until I hear about a marked improvement in quality -- and that they actually answer their customer support line.