Black Boxes: RCA Lyra Wireless RD900W

by Charles Mohnike
Winter 2003/Spring 2004

Around here, we tend to go through spindles of blank CD-Rs as frequently as milk and butter, so we're naturally interested in any gear that allows us to hear our computer's MP3 and WAV audio files on our main audio system without having to burn tracks to standard audio CDs. The RCA Lyra Wireless transmitter system does the trick nicely. What it lacks in features, it makes up for with a minimum of fuss and an attractive price point ($100). For collect-o-phile music fans like us, this represents a significant savings in blank discs, and a reduction in the piles of burned audio CDs that tend to accumulate in our listening room.

Whatcha Get
The Lyra is comprised of a remote control and two small components, each about the size of a short stack of CD jewel cases. The transmitter unit plugs into a PC via an included USB cable; the receiver accepts standard RCA phono plugs to connect to an A/V receiver or similar audio component with an auxiliary audio input. Each unit includes a "wall wart" AC adapter.

The enclosed software CD installs a small program to control the input from the included remote control and MusicMatch Jukebox. When you play MP3, WAV, or streaming audio tracks in MusicMatch, it routes the audio output to the Lyra's transmitter unit via your computer's USB port. This audio signal transmits to the receiver unit, which allows you to hear your tracks on your home receiver in another room-without any significant degradation in audio quality.

E-Z
The Lyra Wireless is extremely easy to set up and use. There is no LCD screen on the receiver unit to show the name of track currently playing, and no navigation system allowing you to remotely browse the files on your PC. Instead the unit just allows you to play the files or streaming broadcasts you have previously queued in MusicMatch's playlist, moving through them via the forward, back, and pause buttons on the remote. We found this method works very well, though we did have to occasionally go back into our computer room to load more tracks into MusicMatch's playlist. We did not experience any significant problems-even when sending our computer audio to an A/V receiver three rooms away.

Minor Issues
We only had a couple of gripes with the Lyra Wireless. The included remote is universal, meaning that it is programmable to run most common A/V gear. It worked fine with our TV and DVD players-however, we noted that the Lyra receiver required us to be less than 6' away for it to recognize the remote's commands. This meant we had to get up and take a couple of steps towards the unit before changing tracks. Lazy? Yes, but it is worth noting for a piece of gear whose primary selling point is convenience.

Another minor hassle was within the MusicMatch software itself. It is a great audio application that plays most common file types, as well as streaming audio files and Internet radio stations. But the basic version that ships with the Lyra Wireless occasionally "reminds" you about upgrading to the Plus version. We would have liked to see either a trial subscription or just a stripped-down version of MusicMatch that did not harp about the upgrade. The software does include a 30-day trial version of Radio MX, a streaming audio site with channels in a variety of genres.

Thumbs Up!
Overall, the Lyra Wireless is a great performer at an attractive price. Sound quality is faithful to the original audio source, reception is strong and trouble-free, and the system could not be easier to use. If you can handle the short effective distance of the remote and the occasional sales pitch from MusicMatch, the Lyra can be an inexpensive "giant killer" that performs the same duties as systems twice its price.

III SMART SPECS
Dynamic Range: 96dB
Sample Rate: 44.1kHz (22.1kHz bandwidth)
Signal-To-Noise Ratio: 90dB
Noise Floor: 80dB
System Requirements
Pentium 300MHz or higher
Windows 98SE, ME, 2000, or XP
96MB RAM recommended
50MB Free Hard Disk Space recommended
CD-ROM drive
Available USB Port

Company: RCA
Phone: (800) 421-1404
Web: www.rca.com
Price: $100