Rio PMP300
Encyclopedia
MP3
MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III, more commonly referred to as MP3, is a patented digital audio encoding format using a form of lossy data compression...
digital audio player (portable digital audio player), and was produced by Diamond Multimedia
Diamond Multimedia
Diamond Multimedia is a company that specializes in many forms of multimedia technology. They have produced graphics cards, motherboards, modems, sound cards and MP3 players, however the company began with the production of the TrackStar, a PC add-on card which emulated Apple II computers...
. It was introduced September 15, 1998, and it shipped later that year.
Features
Roughly the dimensions of a deck of cards (3.5 inchInch
An inch is the name of a unit of length in a number of different systems, including Imperial units, and United States customary units. There are 36 inches in a yard and 12 inches in a foot...
es by 2.5 inches and 0.625 inches thick), the Rio was black and had an LCD screen and a circular pad with control buttons. It had controls for skipping tracks forwards or backwards, repeat, random play and for four preset equalizer
Equalization
Equalization, is the process of adjusting the balance between frequency components within an electronic signal. The most well known use of equalization is in sound recording and reproduction but there are many other applications in electronics and telecommunications. The circuit or equipment used...
settings. The LCD displayed the track number being played, but did not display artist or title information. It could play MP2
MPEG-1 Audio Layer II
MPEG-1 Audio Layer II or MPEG-2 Audio Layer II is a lossy audio compression format defined by ISO/IEC 11172-3 alongside MPEG-1 Audio Layer I and MPEG-1 Audio Layer III...
and MP3
MP3
MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III, more commonly referred to as MP3, is a patented digital audio encoding format using a form of lossy data compression...
format audio files, and had support for a variety of bit-rates, including MP3 variable-bitrate (VBR) support.
It shipped with 32 MB
Megabyte
The megabyte is a multiple of the unit byte for digital information storage or transmission with two different values depending on context: bytes generally for computer memory; and one million bytes generally for computer storage. The IEEE Standards Board has decided that "Mega will mean 1 000...
of internal memory and had a SmartMedia
SmartMedia
SmartMedia is a flash memory card standard owned by Toshiba, with capacities ranging from 2 MB to 128 MB. SmartMedia memory cards are no longer manufactured.- History :...
slot, allowing users to add additional memory. It was powered by a single AA
AA battery
An AA battery is a standard size of battery. Batteries of this size are the most commonly used type of in portable electronic devices. An AA battery is composed of a single electrochemical cell...
battery
Battery (electricity)
An electrical battery is one or more electrochemical cells that convert stored chemical energy into electrical energy. Since the invention of the first battery in 1800 by Alessandro Volta and especially since the technically improved Daniell cell in 1836, batteries have become a common power...
which provided between 8 and 12 hours of playback time. Connection to a personal computer was through the computer's parallel port
Parallel port
A parallel port is a type of interface found on computers for connecting various peripherals. In computing, a parallel port is a parallel communication physical interface. It is also known as a printer port or Centronics port...
, with a proprietary connector on the Rio's edge.
The Rio retailed for US $200 with the ability to hold around 1 hours music at a bitrate of 128 kbit
Kilobit
The kilobit is a multiple of the unit bit for digital information or computer storage. The prefix kilo is defined in the International System of Units as a multiplier of 103 , and therefore,...
/s. An upgraded version was later released, which was colored translucent green and equipped with a larger 64 MB internal memory, at a cost of $250. The Rio also spawned one of the first Digital Music service providers (ASP or SaaS), RioPort. RioPort was the first digital music service to license secure, single-track commercial downloads from major record labels.
Diamond no longer provides support for the Rio, and the last version of Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
to work with Diamond's Rio software was Windows 98. Consequently, owners wanting to keep their Rio working use independently produced freeware programs such as "Dreaming of Brazil" or "RIOsitude" to upload audio files to the player. Similarly, limited Linux
Linux
Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...
command-line based support for the Rio is provided by the rioutils package.
Design flaws
The Rio PMP300 suffered from a few notable design flaws. The battery compartment door flap was notorious for breakages—a fairly common occurrence. The battery cover was difficult to repair due to the stress caused by the spring-loaded battery compartment and the fragile plastic used for the door clips. The metal hinge used to hold the compartment to the base of the unit would also put strain on the plastic casing causing cracks around the SmartMedia slot.Furthermore the silver coating applied to the main central control button in the original 32 MB unit would often peel and flake off with use. The control disc would commonly fall off.
Supplied Software
The Rio PMP300 was supplied with a copy of Music Match for managing the user's MP3 library. A selection of folk/country/blues MP3s were also provided, the metadata for which was in a Music Match specific format rather than as ID3 tags. The metadata did include, however, lyrics and band biographies. The included tracks were:- Albert Einstein Dreams - Naked to the World
- Coastin' - Bill Mize
- Dance Again - Terri AllardTerri AllardTerri Allard is an American country/folk singer/songwriter from Virginia. Her most recent album, Makes No Sense, features a song she wrote together with Mary Chapin Carpenter....
- Heartland - Jack Williams
- I'm Not Lost I'm Exploring - Jana Stanfield
- King of the Brooklyn Delta - David Hamburger
- On the River Road - Karen Savoca & The Mind's Eye
- Pouring Rain - Mike Rayburn
- Take No Prisoners - Janis IanJanis IanJanis Ian is an American songwriter, singer, musician, columnist, and science fiction author. Ian first entered the folk music scene while still a teenager in the mid-sixties; most active musically in that decade and the 1970s, she has continued recording into the 21st century...
- Vertigo - Adam+Kris
Legal significance
On October 8, 1998, the American recording industry group, the Recording Industry Association of AmericaRecording Industry Association of America
The Recording Industry Association of America is a trade organization that represents the recording industry distributors in the United States...
, filed an application for a Temporary Restraining Order to prevent the sale of the Rio player in the Central District Court of California, claiming the player violated the 1992 Audio Home Recording Act
Audio Home Recording Act
The Audio Home Recording Act of 1992 amended the United States copyright law by adding Chapter 10, "Digital Audio Recording Devices and Media"...
.
Judge Andrea Collins issued the temporary order on October 16, but required the RIAA to post a $500,000 bond that would be used to compensate Diamond for damages incurred in the delay if Diamond eventually prevailed in court. Diamond then announced that it would temporarily delay shipment of the Rio.
On October 26, Judge Collins denied the RIAA's application.
After the lawsuit ended, Diamond sold 200,000 players.
See also
- Rio (digital audio players)Rio (digital audio players)Rio was the brand name of a line of digital audio players, best known for producing the "Diamond Rio" model that was the impetus for a lawsuit in 1998 by the Recording Industry Association of America...
- Eiger Labs MPMan F10Eiger Labs MPMan F10The MPMan music player, manufactured by the South Korean company SaeHan Information Systems. Debuted in Asia in March 1998, was the first mass-produced portable solid state digital audio player....
– the first portable MP3 player
External links
- A review of Rio PMP300 at The Adrenaline Vault
- Original Rio PMP300 product page, from Archive.org, mentioning two of the first digital music services: Goodnoise and MP3.com