User’s Guide
Creative Rhomba
Information in this document is subject to change without notice and does not represent a commitment on the part of Creative
Technology Ltd. No part of this manual may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical,
including photocopying and recording, for any purpose without the written permission of Creative Technology Ltd. The software
described in this document is furnished under a license agreement and may be used or copied only in accordance with the terms of
the license agreement. It is against the law to copy the software on any other medium except as specifically allowed in the license
agreement. The licensee may make one copy of the software for backup purposes.
The Software License Agreement is found in a separate folder on the installation CD.
Copyright © 2003 Creative Technology Ltd. All rights reserved.
Versi on 1.0
August 2003
MediaSource, EAX and the Creative logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Creative Technology Ltd. in the United States
and/or other countries.
NOMAD is a registered trademark of Aonix and is used by Creative Technology Ltd. and/or its affiliates under license.
Microsoft, MS-DOS, and Windows are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
Intel and Pentium are trademarks of Intel Corporation in the U.S. and other countries.
MP3.com and the MP3.com logo are trademarks of MP3.com, Inc.
All other products are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.
Contents
Contents
Safety and Other Instructions
Caring For Your Player.............................................................................................................................. i
Technical support .............................................................................................................................. i
Introduction
Before You Begin......................................................................................................................................... i
Package Contents .............................................................................................................................. i
Software Included .............................................................................................................................. i
Creative Media Detector ............................................................................................................... ii
Creative MediaSource..................................................................................................................... ii
Creative MediaSource Player .............................................................................................. ii
Creative MediaSource Organiser ...................................................................................... ii
Minimum System Requirements .......................................................................................................... iii
Document Conventions.......................................................................................................................... iv
Web Information ....................................................................................................................................... v
Online Registration .................................................................................................................................... v
1 A Tour of Your Player
Your Player at a Glance ........................................................................................................................ 1-1
Using the Menu Scroller ....................................................................................................................... 1-4
Scroll Select..................................................................................................................................... 1-4
2 Getting Started
Installing Software................................................................................................................................... 2-1
Charging the Player ................................................................................................................................ 2-2
Power Level Indicators ......................................................................................................................... 2-3
3 Transferring Tracks or Files
Downloading from the Internet......................................................................................................... 3-2
Creative MediaSource........................................................................................................................... 3-3
Transferring Tracks or Files ...................................................................................................... 3-3
Editing audio track information ................................................................................................ 3-4
Ripping Audio CD Tracks.......................................................................................................... 3-5
4 Using Your Player
Turning On/Off your Player................................................................................................................ 4-1
Adjusting the Volume ............................................................................................................................ 4-2
Playing Audio............................................................................................................................................ 4-2
Playing music or recordings....................................................................................................... 4-3
Repeating a section....................................................................................................................... 4-4
Playing FM Radio ..................................................................................................................................... 4-4
Changing FM frequency............................................................................................................... 4-4
Storing your FM channel............................................................................................................. 4-5
FM Radio recording...................................................................................................................... 4-5
Voice Recording...................................................................................................................................... 4-5
Making a voice recording............................................................................................................ 4-6
Changing Player Settings....................................................................................................................... 4-6
Selecting equaliser setting......................................................................................................... 4-10
Repeating music........................................................................................................................... 4-10
Editing play list.............................................................................................................................. 4-10
Deleting tracks............................................................................................................................. 4-11
Changing the LCD setting........................................................................................................ 4-12
Turning on backlight................................................................................................................... 4-12
Changing the Visualiser setting ............................................................................................... 4-13
Changing FM region ................................................................................................................... 4-13
Enabling the audio track marker ............................................................................................ 4-13
Changing microphone sensitivity ........................................................................................... 4-14
Locking and unlocking your player.................................................................................................. 4-14
Formatting the Player .......................................................................................................................... 4-15
A Technical Specifications
Size.......................................................................................................................................... A-1
Weight................................................................................................................................... A-1
Capacity................................................................................................................................. A-1
Recording time.................................................................................................................... A-1
Battery type ......................................................................................................................... A-1
Battery playback time ....................................................................................................... A-1
Interface ................................................................................................................................ A-1
Playback Formats ............................................................................................................... A-1
Voice Recording Format.................................................................................................. A-1
Signal to Noise Ratio......................................................................................................... A-2
FM Frequency Range......................................................................................................... A-2
THD....................................................................................................................................... A-2
Earphone Output............................................................................................................... A-2
LCD backlight...................................................................................................................... A-2
B Frequently Asked Questions and Troubleshooting
AutoPlay..................................................................................................................................................... B-1
General ...................................................................................................................................................... B-2
Usage .......................................................................................................................................................... B-3
Safety and Other Instructions
Safety and Other Instructions
y
Caring For Your Player
Creative will not be
responsible for any
loss of data due to an
reasons whatsoever,
including loss of data
due to product
breakage or
malfunction.
Technical support
While your player is quite robust, observing these handling procedures will
prolong its life:
❍ Follow the information in this User's Guide only.
❍ Do not take the product apart or make alterations to the player, including
the built-in battery. This could make irrelevant any or all services the
product entails, including any free after-sales services.
❍ Do not use your earphones at high volume continuously as this may
damage your ears.
❍ Do not shake or vibrate your player excessively as this may damage your
player or cause it to malfunction.
❍ Do not expose the player to high temperature or extreme temperature
change.
❍ Keep the player away from strong magnetic fields.
❍ Keep the player away from excessive moisture.
❍ Keep the player away from chemicals like alcohol, polish, or benzene.
Visit www.creative.com and go to your region’s web site for general help.
Safety and Other Instructions i
Introduction
Introduction
Creative Rhomba allows you to play both MP3 and WMA (Windows Media
Audio) formats. Its built-in internal memory provides ample capacity to store
your favorite music files, and doubles as a storage device for documents,
presentations and other data files. The player also has a built-in microphone
and an FM radio.
Before You Begin
Package Contents ❍ Creative Rhomba
❍ Earphones
❍ Installation CD including User’s Guide (on CD)
❍ Quick Start leaflet
The package
contents listed
here may differ
from country to
country.
❍ Neck strap
❍ USB cable
Software Included ❍ Creative Media Detector
❍ Creative MediaSource
Introduction i
Creative Media Detector
Media Detector makes it easy for you to access multimedia content from
various internal or external media. There is no need to hunt through a maze
of different software to play different types of files.
Media Detector automatically recognises the insertion of CDs, and
connection of external devices like Creative Rhomba. Upon recognition, the
content in the media will automatically start playing.
Creative MediaSource
Creative MediaSource Player
Creative MediaSource Organiser
Creative MediaSource is your ultimate all-in-one digital entertainment
software, designed for playing, creating, organizing and transferring digital
music. It includes several applications like the Player and Organiser.
For more information and usage details on Creative MediaSource, refer to its
online Help.
Unlike other media players, Creative MediaSource Player provides exclusive
features (such as SmartFit), specially designed to manage and configure
your Creative Rhomba more efficiently. With Creative MediaSource Player,
you can play back a wide variety of digital audio and video formats such as
MP3, WMA, WAV, Audio CD, Midi, VCD, AVI and MPEG-1 on the computer.
You can also use the integrated recorder in Creative MediaSource to record
audio.
The Organiser can be considered an extended view of the Player, as it
provides additional features to help you manage a huge music library more
easily. With it, you can:
❍ rip Audio CDs and create high quality digital audio files (up to 320 kbps
for MP3 and 160 kbps for WMA)
❍ configure the settings for Creative Rhomba while it is plugged-in to
Creative MediaSource
Introduction ii
❍ “squeeze” more audio tracks into your player with SmartFit, which
employs intelligent track management and WMA compression
❍ view the contents of your computer and your Creative Rhomba using the
dual-window transfer panel, convenient for file transfer
❍ locate songs in a few seconds, just by typing some keywords into the
sophisticated music search engine
Minimum System Requirements
The software
applications on the
installation CD may
have higher
requirements for
basic functionality.
Refer to each
application’s
documentation for
details.
❍ Microsoft
®
Windows® XP, Windows Millennium Edition (Me), Windows
2000, or Windows 98 Second Edition (SE)
❍ Intel
❍ CD-ROM drive
❍ USB 1.1 port
❍ 128 MB RAM
❍ 100 MB free hard disk space (more needed for storing audio)
❍ SVGA graphics adapter (256 colours, 800 x 600 resolution or better)
®
Pentium® II 233 MHz
Introduction iii
Document
We use icons to highlight useful or urgent information for you:
Conventions
Tip. This tells you about shortcuts or hints relating to a feature.
Note. This highlights additional or important information about
a feature.
Caution! This highlights proper usage of your player. Use this
information to avoid situations involving risk.
Warning! This warns you of possible hazards to yourself or
your player, which may result in injury or damage.
Introduction iv
Web Information
When checking on
product
information, go to
your respective
region.
Visit www.creative.com regularly for information on:
❍ firmware updates
❍ tips and tricks
❍ FAQs
❍ troubleshooting
❍ documentation updates
❍ software updates or purchases
❍ technologies used in your player
❍ an online glossary
Online Registration
Enjoy a host of benefits by registering your product during installation, or at
www.creative.com/register. Benefits include:
❍ Service and Product support from Creative.
❍ Exclusive updates on promotions and events!
Introduction v
1
A Tour of Your Player
A Tour of Your Player
Your Player at a Glance
Microphone
LCD screens
display song
titles, player
settings and
status
Volume button
Earphone jack
connects the
earphones to
your player
Hold button
USB port
connects the
player to the
computer for
audio or data
transfers, and
battery charging
R (Section repeat) button
Play/Pause button
Front View
Record button
Menu scroller
Mode button
Side Views
A Tour of Your Player 1-1
Button What It Does Usage Tips
PLAY/PAUSE
VOLUME
RECORD
MENU SCROLLER
❍ turns the player on and off
❍ starts, pauses or continues playback
❍ changes FM radio presets
❍ stops recording (for FM radio recording
only)
❍ increases and decreases the volume
❍ records voice or FM Radio channels
❍
starts or stops playback
❍ goes to the previous or next track
❍ moves ahead or moves back
❍ scrolls through menu options
❍ selects menu options
❍ changes FM radio frequencies
❍ press and hold until player turns
on or off
❍ press and hold the "+" or "–"
buttons to increase or decrease
the volume quickly
❍ in Voice or FM Radio mode,
press to start or stop recording
❍ during playback, turn the Menu
scroller to go to the previous or
next track
❍ during playback, turn and hold
the Menu scroller to move ahead
or move back
❍ during playback, press the Menu
scroller to stop playback
❍ turn the Menu scroller to scroll
through menu options and press
the Menu scroller to select them
(for more information, see "Using
the Menu Scroller" on page 1-4)
A Tour of Your Player 1-2
Button What It Does Usage Tips
R (SECTION
REPEAT
)
MODE
HOLD
❍
repeats a specific section of a track
❍ mutes audio (for FM Radio mode only)
❍ selects Music, FM Radio or Voice mode
❍ locks the player buttons so they will not be
accidentally pressed
❍ during playback, press once to
mark the beginning of a section,
and again to mark the end of the
section (section will repeat
automatically)
A Tour of Your Player 1-3
Using the Menu Scroller
Scroll Select The Menu scroller is one of the most important features of your Rhomba. In
this document, we will use a new term, “Scroll Select”, to indicate that you
should use the Menu scroller to scroll through options and then select the
option by pressing the Menu scroller.
To "Scroll Select",
use the Menu scroller
to scroll to the option
you want, and select
the option by
pressing the Menu
scroller.
Depending on the screen you are in, you can have different menu options.
You can also choose options from a list.
A Tour of Your Player 1-4
2
Getting Started
Getting Started
Installing Software
Windows 98 SE users
must install the drivers
to transfer tracks or
files to the player.
Windows Me/2000/XP
users do not need to do
so.
To install the software,
Windows 2000/XP
users must log in as
the computer
administrator. For
more information,
refer to your operating
system’s online Help.
DO NOT connect your player to your computer before installing the software.
1. Insert the Installation CD into your CD-ROM/DVD-ROM drive.
2. The disc supports Windows Autoplay mode and starts running
automatically. If not, you need to enable the Windows auto-insert
notification feature for your CD-ROM/DVD-ROM drive. For more details,
see “AutoPlay” on page B-1.
3. Follow the instructions on the screen to complete the installation.
Creative MediaSource and Windows 98 SE drivers (only if applicable)
will be installed on your computer.
4. When prompted, restart your computer.
Getting Started 2-1
Charging the Player
Do not dismantle the
built-in battery in this
player.
When connected using
an external USB hub
without an external
power supply or a USB
extension cable, the
player may take more
than 2 hours to charge.
1. Turn on your computer.
2. Connect the USB cable to the computer and player.
The player turns on and displays the battery level and the charging
status of the player.
3. Once the battery is fully charged, disconnect your player.
The player remains turned on, even when you disconnect the USB
cable.
For more information on battery indicators, see “Power Level Indicators”
on page 2-3.
Getting Started 2-2
Power Level Indicators
When you turn on your player, the smaller LCD screen displays one of the
following icons, depending on the battery’s status.
Icon What the icon means Notes
Do not dismantle the
built-in battery in this
player.
❍ your player’s battery is full
❍ your player’s battery is 30% full
❍ your player’s battery is empty
❍ this battery icon shows
that the battery is full
❍ charge the battery at the
earliest opportunity
❍ when this icon blinks, it
indicates that the battery
is about to go flat in a few
minutes, and that it
requires a recharge
Getting Started 2-3
3
Transferring Tracks or Files
Transferring Tracks or Files
Creative MediaSource is included on your installation CD (see “Installing
Software” on page 2-1).
To listen to transferred
audio tracks, your
player must be in Music
mode. For more
information, refer to
“Using Your Player” on
page 4-1.
You may use also
Windows Explorer to
transfer audio and data
files.
Creative MediaSource is the best way to organise and transfer audio to and
from your player. This chapter includes basic instructions on using
MediaSource to rip audio CDs, transfer tracks by manual selection and edit
track information.
If you wish to download additional music tracks to your player, you can either
download music tracks from Internet music sites (see “Downloading from the
Internet” on page 3-2) or have them “ripped” from audio CDs to your
computer.
Music files must, however, be encoded into the supported formats (MP3 or
WMA), which can then be transferred to your player with Creative
MediaSource Organiser.
Using Creative MediaSource, data files such as presentation or graphics
files, can also be transferred to and stored in your player.
Transferring Tracks or Files 3-1
Downloading from the Internet
It is illegal to encode
MP3 files for trade or
sale unless you have
the express or explicit
permission of the
copyright holder(s).
To get MP3 files from the Internet, use a search engine to locate sites with
MP3 content. You can also try out these sites (web sites listed here are
correct at the time of this document’s release):
❍ NOMADWorld
http://www.NOMADworld.com
❍
SoundClick.com
http://www.soundclick.com
❍
Epitonic.com
http://www.epitonic.com
AMP3.com
❍
http://www.amp3.com
ArtistOne.com
❍
http://www.artistone.com
Soundbuzz.com
❍
http://www.soundbuzz.com
Follow the instructions on the site and download the music files to your
computer.
Transferring Tracks or Files 3-2
Creative MediaSource
Only basic instructions on how to use MediaSource with your player are
provided in this chapter— extensive instructions are found in the
MediaSource Help file.
Transferring Tracks or Files
You must restart your
computer before trying
out any of the installed
applications.
With Creative MediaSource, you can transfer files and audio tracks to and
from your player.
Using Creative MediaSource
1. If you are not already in Creative MediaSource Organiser, click the
Player/Organiser View button.
2. Click the Show/Hide Right Panel button.
3. In the Sources window, select the source device.
If you are transferring files from PC Music Library to a portable hard disk,
select PC Music Library as your source.
4. In the Content window, select the tracks to transfer.
CTRL-click to select multiple tracks.
5. In the Right Panel window, click the Source bar and select your player.
6. Click the Destination Transfer button to transfer the selected tracks.
The Now Transferring dialog box appears, showing the current transfer
status.
Transferring Tracks or Files 3-3
Editing audio track information
You may need to edit track information when the information is incomplete or
wrong.
To edit information about a track
1. If you are not already in Creative MediaSource Organiser, click the
Player/Organiser View button.
2. In the Content window, locate the track you want to edit, and right-click
it.
3. Select the Properties option.
4. Click the property you want to edit to highlight it.
Do not double-click the property.
5. Click the property again, and enter the new details.
6. Click the OK button.
To edit information about multiple tracks
1. If you are not already in Creative MediaSource Organiser, click the
Player/Organiser View button.
2. In the Content window, hold down the <Ctrl> key and click the files you
want to edit, and right-click them.
3. Select to edit the Album, Artist or Genre.
4. Type in the new Album, Artist or Genre.
5. Click the OK button.
Transferring Tracks or Files 3-4
Ripping Audio CD Tracks
Rather than manually
entering track
information, retrieve
such audio CD
information from your
Music Information
Provider before ripping
tracks.
Change the default
ripping format and
bitrate for higher or
lower quality audio.
See the MediaSource
Help file for details.
The first phase in making an MP3 file is extracting audio data from an audio
CD. To extract audio data, you will need a CD-ROM drive that can extract
digital audio data, and a program known as a Ripper. With Creative
MediaSource Organiser, you can rip tracks from most audio CDs. This
program uses the CD-ROM drive to read the audio tracks from the audio CD
and stores it on your hard disk.
The time needed for a successful audio extraction depends on:
❍ CD-ROM drive speed
❍ defects, like scratches on the audio CD
❍ error-checking features on the CD-ROM drive
Encoding is the second phase of making an MP3 file. Encoders are used to
convert the stored audio tracks, usually WAV files, into MP3 files. MP3
encoding is considered lossy compression, which means that some data is
lost during compression. However, using the standard sampling rate and
bitrates will ensure that your MP3 files retain much of their audio quality. The
standard bitrate of most MP3 files is 128 Kbps, although some are set higher,
at 160 or 192 Kbps. Higher bitrates will result in larger MP3 file sizes, with
better audio quality. Use Creative MediaSource Organiser to extract audio
tracks and encode MP3s.
You can rip an audio CD’s tracks to your player, hard disk or PC Music
Library. You can choose to rip an entire CD, or selected tracks from the audio
CD.
Transferring Tracks or Files 3-5
To rip a CD
1. Insert an audio CD into your CD-ROM drive.
2. If you are not already in Creative MediaSource Organiser, click the
Player/Organiser View button.
3. In the Sources window, select [E:] Audio CD (replace E: with the drive
letter of your CD-ROM/DVD-ROM drive).
4. In the Tas k bar, click the Rip Now button.
To rip selected tracks from an audio CD
1. Insert an audio CD into your CD-ROM drive.
2. If you are not already in Creative MediaSource Organiser, click the
Player/Organiser View button.
3. In the Sources window, select [E:] Audio CD (replace E: with the drive
letter of your CD-ROM/DVD-ROM drive).
4. In the Content window, select the tracks to rip.
Ctrl-click or Shift-click to select multiple tracks.
5. Drag the selected tracks to PC Music Library in the Sources window.
The Now Transferring dialog box appears, showing the current ripping
status.
Transferring Tracks or Files 3-6
4
Using Your Player
Using Your Player
Your player has three function modes: Music, Vo ice and FM Radio. In
Music mode, only .MP3 or .WMA files are played back, in Voi ce mode, only
recorded voice files are played back and in FM Radio mode, only FM radio
programs can be tuned to. To switch between modes, see “Playing Audio” on
page 4-2.
Your player also has a Menu mode that allows you to change your player
settings. For more information, see “Changing Player Settings” on page 4-6.
Turning On/Off your Player
If there are no audio
tracks in your player,
the "Empty" message
will appear onscreen.
To turn on your player
Press the Play/Pause button.
The CREATIVE logo appears on the large LCD screen. The firmware
version, available memory space and used memory appear on the small
LCD screen.
To turn off your player
Press and hold the Play/Pause button for a few seconds until after the
Power Off! message disappears.
Using Your Player 4-1
Adjusting the
To increase volume level
Volume
Playing Audio
Press the Volume “+” button.
To decrease volume level
Press the Volume “–” button.
To add audio tracks to your player, see “Transferring Tracks or Files” on page
3-3.
To enable a mode
Press the Mode button until the Music , Voice or FM Radio icon
appears.
Using Your Player 4-2
Playing music or
To play a track
recordings
In Music or Voice mode, press the Play/Pause button.
HOLD
EQ
Folder name
Play Status icon
File name
Track number/
Total number of
tracks
Elapsed
time
Elements on the LCD
To pause a track
Press the Play/Pause button.
To stop a track
Press the Menu scroller.
To move ahead or move back a track
Battery status
Visualiser
Audio
format
Repeat
mode
While playing a track, turn the Menu scroller towards the right and
hold to move ahead, or towards the left and hold to move back within
a track. When you reach the beginning or end of a track, the player will
go to the previous or next track.
Using Your Player 4-3
Repeating a section
You can choose to repeat a portion of a track.
1. While playing a track, press the (R) Section repeat button once to
mark the start of the section you wish to repeat. The icon “A -”' will blink.
2. Press the Section repeat button again to mark the end of the section.
Your marked section automatically plays and the icon “A - B” appears on
the screen.
3. Press the Section repeat button again to resume normal play.
Playing FM Radio
Changing FM frequency
To enable FM Radio mode, see “To enable a mode” on page 4-2.
1. In FM Radio mode, turn the Menu scroller towards the right to
increase the frequency band, or towards the left to decrease the
frequency.
2. To perform an autoscan, move the Menu scroller towards the right or left,
and hold.
3. To select a preset channel, if you have any, press the Play/Pause
button.
4. To select the next available preset channel, press the Play/Pause button
again.
Using Your Player 4-4
Storing your FM channel
1. To store an FM channel as a preset, press and hold the Menu scroller.
An unused preset number blinks on the large LCD screen.
2. Turn the Menu scroller towards the right or left to select the preset
number you want.
3. Press and hold the Menu scroller to store the FM channel.
The preset number appears at the bottom-right corner of the LCD
screen.
4. To store another FM channel as a preset, select another FM channel,
and repeat steps 1 to 3.
FM Radio recording
Voice Recording
1. In FM Radio mode, press the Record button to start recording.
2. Press the Record button to stop the recording.
A great Rhomba feature is its ability to record audio. Recorded audio is
encoded directly into MS ADPCM (32 kbps, 8 bit mono) file format.
When recording, note that the available recording time is determined by:
❍ available memory in your player
❍ battery power remaining in your player
When recording, you will see the elapsed recording time.
To enable FM Radio mode, see “To enable a mode” on page 4-2.
Using Your Player 4-5
Making a voice
To make a voice recording
recording
You cannot pause
the voice recording.
Changing Player Settings
If you d o not s elect a
function within 30
seconds while in
Menu mode, the
player automatically
returns to Music or
Voice mode.
1. In Voice mode, press the Record button to start recording.
2. Press the Record button to stop the recording.
A name is automatically assigned to your recording and it is saved in your
player. The naming convention typically used is: FMDAT [Current File
Number] for FM radio recordings and Voice [Current File Number] for
voice recordings through the microphone.
Your player has a Menu mode that allows you to change your player settings
while in Music or Voice mode only.
To select a menu and submenu
1. Press and hold the Menu scroller.
2. Scroll select a menu.
3. Scroll select a submenu.
4. To exit, press the Play/Pause button once or twice, depending on the
menu or submenu you are in.
Using Your Player 4-6
The menus and submenus available are listed in the table below.
Menu Submenu
NORMAL
CLASSIC
JAZZ
EQUALISER
REPEAT
POP
ROCK
USER
ALL Repeats all tracks stored in player
ONE
RANDOM
FOLDER
Sub
submenu
Allows you to select equaliser
effects
BASS Changes bass boost level
TREBLE Changes treble boost level
Repeats only current track
repeatedly
Repeats tracks randomly in
current folder
Repeats all tracks in current
folder
Function
LIST Repeats tracks in Play List
NONE Stops after playing current track
Using Your Player 4-7
Menu Submenu
Sub
submenu
Function
PLAY LIST
DELETE
DISPLAY
VISUALISER
FM REGION
BEEP SOUND
EDIT
DELETE ALL Deletes Play List
EDIT Selects files to be deleted
DELETE ALL Deletes all files in current folder
LIGHT Adjusts backlight time of LCD
CONTRAST Adjusts LCD contrast level
WAVE Displays wave visualization
LEVEL Displays bar visualization
ASIA/US
EUROPE
ON
OFF
Selects or unselects files for Play
List
Selects FM Radio regionJAPAN
Plays an audio marker in-between
tracks
Using Your Player 4-8
Menu Submenu
Sub
submenu
Function
LOW
MIC SENS.
DONE Exits menu mode
HIGH
MEDIUM
Selects low microphone
sensitivity
Selects high microphone
sensitivity
Selects medium microphone
sensitivity
Using Your Player 4-9
Selecting equaliser setting
1. Press and hold the Menu scroller.
2. Scroll select the Equaliser menu.
3. Scroll select an Equaliser submenu.
4. To exit, press the Play/Pause button.
See the table on page 1-2 for available options and their functions.
Repeating music To select a Repeat setting
1. Press and hold the Menu scroller.
2. Scroll select the Repeat menu.
The Repeat setting is
applicable within a
folder containing the
tracks only.
4. To exit, press the Play/Pause button.
See the table on page 1-2 for available options and their functions.
Editing play list To create a a play list
1. Press and hold the Menu scroller.
2. Scroll select the Play List menu.
3. Scroll select the Edit submenu.
4. Scroll select a track you want. Repeat this step to select more than one
track.
5. Press the Play/Pause button twice to exit.
3. Scroll select a Repeat submenu.
Using Your Player 4-10
To delete a play list
1. Press and hold the Menu scroller.
2. Scroll select the Play List menu.
3. Scroll select the Delete All submenu.
4. Press the Play/Pause button twice to exit.
See the table on page 1-2 for available options and their functions.
Deleting tracks To delete selected tracks only
1. Press and hold the Menu scroller.
2. Scroll select the Delete menu.
3. Scroll select the Edit submenu.
4. Scroll select the track you want to delete. An “x” appears on the file that
you have selected. Repeat this step to select more than one track.
5. Press the Play/Pause button.
The selected tracks will be deleted, and you will automatically exit from
Menu mode.
To delete all tracks in the root directory
1. Press and hold the Menu scroller.
2. Scroll select the Delete menu.
Delete All applies to
tracks in the root
directory only. To
delete all tracks in a
folder, use Edit.
3. Scroll select the Delete All submenu.
A message to confirm the deletion appears.
4. Scroll select the YES option.
The selected tracks will be deleted, and you will automatically exit from
Menu mode.
Using Your Player 4-11
See the table on page 1-2 for available options and their functions.
Changing the LCD setting
Turning on backlight
To set the contrast level for your player’s screens
1. Press and hold the Menu scroller.
2. Scroll select the Display menu.
3. Scroll select the Contrast submenu.
4. Use the Menu scroller to increase or decrease the LCD contrast. The
lower the number, the lower the LCD contrast.
5. Press the Play/Pause button twice to exit.
To adjust the screen backlight duration
1. Press and hold the Menu scroller.
2. Scroll select the Display menu.
3. Scroll select the Light submenu.
4. Scroll Select the backlight duration. A lower number setting conserves
battery power for longer playback time.
5. Press the Play/Pause button twice to exit.
Press any button.
How long the backlight stays on depends on the duration you set in Menu
mode.
Using Your Player 4-12
Changing the Visualiser setting
1. Press and hold the Menu scroller.
2. Scroll select the Visualiser menu.
3. Scroll select the visual option you want.
4. Press the Play/Pause button to exit.
Changing FM region
Enabling the audio track marker
1. Press and hold the Menu scroller.
2. Scroll select the Fm Region menu.
3. Scroll select the region you are in.
Some information on your FM region appears briefly.
4. Press the Play/Pause button to exit.
This function places a “beep” sound in-between tracks.
1. Press and hold the Menu scroller.
2. Scroll select the Beep Sound menu.
3. Scroll select the Off option.
To turn on the track marker, scroll select the On option.
4. Press the Play/Pause button to exit.
Using Your Player 4-13
Changing microphone sensitivity
Higher microphone
sensitivity would
capture more
ambience noise. The
recording may not be
clear.
1. Press and hold the Menu scroller.
2. Scroll select the Mic Sens. menu.
3. Scroll select a Mic.Sens submenu.
4. Press the Play/Pause button to exit.
Locking and unlocking your player
Locking your Rhomba will disable all buttons on the player. This feature is
useful when you do not want any buttons (for example, Pause) pressed
accidentally.
To lock your player
Slide the Hold button in the direction indicated by an arrow.
To unlock your player
Slide the Hold button in the opposite direction indicated by an
arrow.
Using Your Player 4-14
Formatting the Player
For Windows Me/
XP/2000, under the
File System option,
select FAT as the
format. It is
recommended that
you use FAT16 to
format the player's
internal memory
rather than FAT32,
as formatting using
FAT (or FAT16) will
free up more storage
space available in
the player.
You may at times need to clear your player's memory during normal use. Use
Windows Explorer to easily clear your player's memory for the efficient
transfer, storage and playback of music files.
To clear your player’s memory using Windows Explorer
1. Connect Rhomba to your computer.
2. In Windows Explorer, select the drive your player is assigned to, for
example, Removable Disk (D:) (replace D: with the drive letter of your
player).
3. Right-click and select Format.
The dialog box similar to Figure
4-1 appears.
4. Click the Start button.
Figure 4-1
Using Your Player 4-15
A
Technical Specifications
Technical Specifications
Size
Weight
Capacity
Recording time
Battery type
Battery playback time
Interface
Playback Formats
Voice Recording Format
❑ 80 mm (L) x 45 mm (H) x 17.5 mm (W)
❑ 51 g (with built-in battery)
❑ 128 or 256 MB built-in memory (depending on model)
❑ up to 8 hrs (for 128 MB model)
❑ up to 16 hrs (for 256 MB model)
❑ Built-in Li-Ion battery (3.7 V, 550 mAh)
❑ Up to 10 hrs
❑ USB 1.1
❑ MP3 (up to 320 kbps)
❑ WMA (up to 192 kbps)
❑ MS ADPCM (32 kbps, 8 bit mono)
Technical Specifications A-1
Signal to Noise Ratio
❑ up to 88 dB
FM Frequency Range
THD
Earphone Output
LCD backlight
❑ 76 ~ 108.0 MHz (region selectable)
❑ <0.1%
❑ 20 mW (L: 10 mW, R: 10 mW)
❑ Cool Blue EL
Technical Specifications A-2
Frequently Asked Questions and
Troubleshooting
B
FAQs and Troubleshooting
If you have a technical problem with this product, you may wish to consult
our selfhelp tool “Knowledgebase” for online troubleshooting and solutions.
Go to www.creative.com and select your region.
AutoPlay
What do I do when the installation does not start automatically after the
Installation CD is inserted?
The AutoPlay feature in your Windows system may not be enabled.
To start the installation program through the My Computer
shortcut menu
1. On your Windows desktop, double-click the My Computer icon.
2. Right-click the CD-ROM drive icon, and then click AutoPlay.
3. Follow the onscreen instructions.
To enable AutoPlay through Auto Insert Notification
1. Click Start -> Settings -> Control Panel.
2. Double-click the System icon. The System Properties dialog box
appears.
3. Click the Device Manager tab and select your CD-ROM drive.
4. Click the Properties button.
5. Click the Settings tab, and then select Auto Insert Notification.
6. Click the OK button.
FAQs and Troubleshooting B-1
To start the installation program through Windows Explorer
7. In Windows Explorer, search and locate the d:\ctrun folder (replace d:\
with the drive letter of your CD-ROM/DVD-ROM drive).
8. Double-click the ctrun.exe file.
General
Where can I get official information on MP3 Player products?
Visit Creative’s web site at www.creative.com for updates and downloads
relating to all Creative’s MP3 players and accessories.
Windows XP tells me that the software for the player is not certified.
What do I do?
At the time of this product's release, Microsoft strongly encouraged
companies to submit their hardware solutions for certification. If a hardware
device driver is not submitted, or does not qualify, for Microsoft certification, a
warning message similar to the one below appears.
FAQs and Troubleshooting B-2
You may see this message when installing this driver or update. If you do,
you may choose to click the Continue Anyway button. Creative has tested
this driver or update on Windows XP, and it does not impair or destabilise
your computer.
Usage
After playing a sequence of tracks, the player skips a track.
The player will only play valid formats (.MP3, .WMA or voice recordings).
Other types of files will be skipped.
Files or tracks are corrupted when transferred to the player.
Before removing Rhomba from your computer, wait at least 10 seconds after
the file/track transfer is complete.
File transfers to the player are very slow (less than 100 kb/sec).
Try clearing your player’s memory. For more information, refer to “Formatting
the Player” on page 4-15.
Can I use the player for portable data storage?
Yes, you can.
Can I use the player during battery charging?
No. You can only play tracks when your player is not connected to your
computer.
FAQs and Troubleshooting B-3
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