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Topic: RioVolt SP90 (Read 5143 times) previous topic - next topic
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RioVolt SP90

Couple of quick questions. I just received a RioVolt SP90 for my birthday and love it (upgraded of course via the firmware hack). Playing MP3's encoded with --alt-preset standard sound great.

My questions are:

1) My car power adapter that I used with my discman doesn't plug in to the SP90. Anyone recommend a car power adapter that I can use with this?

2) The volume of my MP3's, even when I max out the SP90's volume, is pretty low. Is there anything I can do to raise the SP90's maximum volume?

3) Since I got hacked the RioVolt SP100 firmware so it would work on the SP90, is it possible that a future SP100 firmware will support new audio formats like Ogg Vorbis or Musepack? Or does the SP100 firmware not allow for new audio formats. Most of my music is encoded with Musepack, but I think I am going to switch over to MP3 now that I have this portable MP3 CD player.s
iTunes 10 - Mac OS X 10.6
256kbps AAC VBR
iPhone 4 32GB

RioVolt SP90

Reply #1
1) You can buy decent (and inexpensive) car adapter kits that work with the RioVolt from either MP3PlayerStore or EasyBuy 2000.

2) For one thing, make sure the EQ preset on your RioVolt is set to ROCK as that will give you the best and loudest overall sound quality for most music. At the very least, it provides a noticeable volume increase over the normal EQ setting. Alternatively, you could try using a device like the Boostaroo to amplify the player's volume. It will add some noticeable background hiss to the audio, but the only time in which you'll really notice it is during silence (when they player is stopped or paused, for example).

3) If iRiver (the actual creator of the products behind the RioVolt line) somehow manages to enable new format support on the iMP-100 series, then you should be fine. I wouldn't hold my breath, however, since new format support may require more processor power than what you'll find in the SP90 / SP100 series and may therefore be limited to the iMP-250 / iMP-350 (SlimX).

Oh, and, in the future, you can use regular RioVolt SP100 firmware updates without having to hack them, since the player now thinks it's an SP100 unit. But if you want the absolute latest in firmware for your player, you may want to try using the iRiver iMP-100 firmware (v2.02). The incentive in all of this is that iRiver releases firmware updates much more frequently than Sonicblue does, so you have access to features like the enhanced anti-shock mode and the gapless audio CD playback, among other things.

RioVolt SP90

Reply #2
Excellent, thank you, you were very helpful.

What are the steps to the iRiver firmware installation? Do I have to use a hex editor again or just burn the file to a CD?
iTunes 10 - Mac OS X 10.6
256kbps AAC VBR
iPhone 4 32GB

RioVolt SP90

Reply #3
At first, I was going to suggest hacking the iRiver firmware before attempting to use it, but on second thought, I don't think that's necessary. The RioVolt SP100 and iRiver iMP-100 use cross-compatible firmware, if I'm not mistaken. Did you notice how the name of the firmware for the RioVolt SP100 is even called "IMP-100.HEX"? :cool2: Since your SP90 has already been flashed to function like an SP100, I think you should be able to use the iRiver firmware on it without having to hack it.

The reason why I can't give you a 100% definitive answer is because I don't own an SP100 or SP90; I'm going primarily by what I've read over at the MP3.com hardware message boards. For what it's worth, I do own an iMP-350 SlimX, which is also from iRiver, but not exactly the same product.

RioVolt SP90

Reply #4
Ok I will try this when I get home. Thanks.
iTunes 10 - Mac OS X 10.6
256kbps AAC VBR
iPhone 4 32GB

RioVolt SP90

Reply #5
It worked, thanks. Didn't have to do anything to the file, just burned it to a CD-RW and it worked.
iTunes 10 - Mac OS X 10.6
256kbps AAC VBR
iPhone 4 32GB

RioVolt SP90

Reply #6
I liked my SP-90 until I dropped it. Now if I try to play any CD it'll just click a bunch of times then say there's no disc.  Whatever you do, don't drop it! My new SlimX should be arriving tomorrow though and it'll never leave its padded Caselogic carrying case.

RioVolt SP90

Reply #7
Quote
Originally posted by chrisgeleven
It worked, thanks. Didn't have to do anything to the file, just burned it to a CD-RW and it worked.


Excellent! Enjoy your much-improved SP90, and keep an eye out for new iRiver firmware updates (http://www.iriver.com/english/firmw01.htm) as they're released.