Rio Audio Forge User Manual

Table of Contents

Getting Started

Connections

Software Setup

Basic Operations

Advanced Features

Help

Index

Package Contents

• Rio Forge

• Installation CD

•Earphones

• Rio Forge Sports Case and Armband

• Quick Start Poster

•USB Cable

any damages arising out of or related to this document or the information contained herein, even if Digital Networks North America has been advised of the possibility of such damages. This document is intended for informational and instructional purposes only. Digital Networks North America, Inc. reserves the right to make changes in the specifications and other information contained in this document without prior notification. Digital Networks North America, Inc. disclaims any obligation to update the information contained herein. Rio trademark of Digital Networks North America, Inc.

Microsoft, Windows Media and the Windows Logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries.

is a registered

All other product names may be trademarks of the companies with which they are associated. P/N 75550250-003

Rio Forge

• Package Contents..........................................ii

• Copyright/Trademarks..................................ii

1 - Getting Started

Welcome.......................................................1

• Learning More.................................................1

Tour of the Rio Forge............................2

LCD Overview............................................5

• Player Mode....................................................5

• Menu Mode .....................................................5

• Date View........................................................6

• Time Code View..............................................6

• Track Format View.........................................6

• Play Screens...................................................6

• FM Radio: Store Preset..................................7

• FM Radio: Manual...........................................7

• FM Radio: Preset............................................7

2 - Connections

Basic Connections...................................8

• Battery............................................................8

• Earphones.......................................................8

• USB .................................................................8

• Additional Accessories ...................................9

3 - Software Setup

Windows.....................................................11

• Rio Music Manager.......................................12

Mac.................................................................13

• iTunes............................................................13

4 - Basic Operations

Basic Operations....................................14

Copy Tracks..............................................15

• Copying Tracks with Rio Music Manager....15

Transfer Tracks ......................................16

• Rio Music Manager.......................................16

• Transferring Tracks using Windows Explorer17

• iTunes............................................................18

Control the Player.................................19

Play Music..................................................20

Play Music..................................................21

• Play All ..........................................................22

• Album............................................................22

• Artist .............................................................22

• Genre ............................................................23

• Track .............................................................23

• Year...............................................................23

• New Music.....................................................23

• Playlist...........................................................24

• Spoken Word................................................24

• FM Recordings (Rio Forge 256 and 512 Only)24

FM Tuner.....................................................25

• FM Control ....................................................25

• Manual ..........................................................26

• Store Preset..................................................26

• Preset............................................................26

5 - Advanced Features

Advanced Features...............................27

Rio Forge

iii

Bookmarks ................................................28

Settings.......................................................29

• Playback........................................................30

• Equalizer.......................................................31

• Power ............................................................32

• Resume.........................................................33

• Display ..........................................................34

• Time ..............................................................35

• Language ......................................................36

• FM Tuner.......................................................37

• Lock Setup....................................................38

• Tags...............................................................39

FM Record (Rio Forge 256 and 512

Only).............................................................40

Stopwatch..................................................41

About............................................................42

6 - Help

Troubleshooting.....................................43

• Customer Service Information....................43

• Frequently Asked Questions ........................44

Glossary of Digital Audio Terms...50

• Bass...............................................................50

• Bitrate ...........................................................50

• Codec ............................................................50

• DRM...............................................................50

• Firmware.......................................................51

• Gain...............................................................51

• ID3 Tags .......................................................51

• Mass Storage Class......................................51

• MP3................................................................51

• Playlist...........................................................51

• Rip and Encode.............................................52

• Synchronize..................................................52

• Treble............................................................52

• VBR................................................................52

• WMA..............................................................52

ECC, FCC, and Industry Canada

Compliance ...............................................53

• Statement of Compliance............................53

• Federal Communications Commission (FCC)53

• Industry Canada...........................................53

Safety...........................................................54

• Warning.........................................................54

• CAUTION.......................................................54

Rio Forge

Chapter 1 Getting Started

:: Welcome

Thank you for purchasing the Rio Forge. The Rio Forge is a portable digital audio player that provides many hours of MP3 and WMA playback. The Rio Forge features a lighted LCD, a memory expansion slot, a stopwatch, and an FM radio tuner.

Learning More

• Refer to the Quick Start poster for the basics on how to set up and start using the Rio Forge.

• Visit the Rio website at www.rioaudio.com.

Rio Forge

:: Tour of the Rio Forge

In Player mode, press to enter

Menu mode.

In Menu mode, press to return

to Player mode.

POWER

Press to power the Rio Forge

on.

Press and hold to power the Rio

Forge off.

LOCK/UNLOCK

Slide into the LOCK position to

disable buttons and prevent

accidental operation.

VOLUME + and -

Press to adjust volume level.

PLAY/PAUSE

Press to play or pause playback.

CENTER

In Menu mode, press to select options.

In Player mode press to cycle through Time C ode View, Track

Format View, and Date View.

Press and hold to quickly set

Bookmarks.

Rio Forge

STOP

Press to stop playback.

FORWARD and REVERSE

Press to skip to the next or previous track.

Press and hold to scan forward or reverse.

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LOCK/UNLOCK

Slide into the LOCK position to disable buttons and prevent accidental operation.

POWER

Press to turn the Rio Forge on. Press and hold to turn the Rio Forge off.

VOLUME + and -

Press to adjust volume level.

EARPHONES

Connects to earphones,

headphones, or auxiliary

connections.

Rio Forge

USB

Connects to the USB cable.

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Optional Memory Card

The Rio Forge supports optional SD and

MMC memory sizes of 8MB - 1GB.

Rio Forge

AAA Battery

Insert AAA-battery. The Rio Forge supports both alkaline and NiMH batteries.

Battery Compartment Cover

Remove to access the battery compartment.

:: LCD Overview

Player Mode

Volume Level

Artist

Album

Track

Repeat Playback Indicator Shuffle Playback Indicator Lock Indicator Power Indicator

Track Position Bar Track Time

Menu Mode

Rio Forge

Track Number/Total

Number of Tracks

Play Indicator

Menu Title Selected Option

Options

invisible text

Time Code View

Track Time

Track Number/Total

Number of Tracks

Date View

Time

Track Format View

Play Screens

Press CENTER to cycle through Time Code, Date, and Track Format, and EQ setting views.

Month/Day/Year

Rio Forge

Codec and Bitrate

Track Size

new page

FM Radio: Manual

Frequency Scale

Current Frequency

FM Radio: Store Preset

(from left to right)

Volume Indicator, Strong Signal Indicator, Stereo Indicator, Mute Indicator, Battery Indicator

Current Frequency

Preset Station Slot

FM Radio: Preset

Rio Forge

Preset Stations Preset Scroll Indicator Current Frequency

Chapter 2 Connections

:: Basic Connections

This chapter describes how to connect the Rio Forge to earphones, mini USB cables, and alternate devices. Basic connections include:

Battery

The Rio Forge uses a single AAA-battery that can provide many hours of use. The Battery

Compartment Cover must be removed before a battery can be installed.

Earphones

Connect the supplied earphones to the EARPHONES jack on the bottom of the Rio Forge.

USB

The Rio Forge must be connected using the included USB cable to the USB port on your computer before music or files can be transferred to and from the Rio Forge and your computer.

USB Detection with the Windows Device Driver

USB connectivity works immediately. Installation of device driver software is not required unless your computer uses the Windows 98 SE operating system.

If using Windows 98 SE the Windows Device Driver Wizard will be displayed after the USB cable has been plugged into both the Rio F org e and the computer. Please follow these steps:

1 Confirm the Rio installation CD is in the computer’s CD-ROM drive. 2 Check the CD-ROM Drives box when the Windows Device Driver Wizard requests the

location of the Rio Forge drivers.

3 Click Next and follow the Windows Device Driver Wizard instructions.

Rio Forge

Additional Accessories

Get the most out of your Rio Forge with additional accessories available online at the Rio website. Some of the most popular accessories include the following:

•

Rio Approved External Memory Cards

Add an external memory card to your Rio Forge and significantly increase the number of tracks that can be loaded onto the Rio Forge.

•

Rio Forge Sports Case and Armband

Replace sports cases and armbands that have been worn down by extreme sports and intensely active lifestyles.

• Rio Car Stereo Adapter

Upgrade your car stereo for hundreds of dollars less than buying a new MP3 CD player. The Rio car stereo adapter connects to the earphone jack on the Rio Forge and lets you play your favorite music in any vehicle equipped with a standard cassette deck.

Rio Forge

Chapter 3 Software Setup

Software Setup

Software found on the Rio installation disc should be installed on a computer before using the Rio Forge. Rio Music Manager should be installed on computers that use the Windows operating systems. iTunes and the Rio iTunes plug-in should be installed on computers that use a Mac operating system.

Windows Mac

Rio Forge

:: Windows

Follow these instructions to load Rio Music Manager onto your PC. 1 Place the installation CD label-side up into the computer’s CD-ROM drive.

The Rio installation software launches automatically.

2 Click Rio Music Manager INSTALL NOW (required) and follow the on-screen instructions. 3 If prompted, reboot the computer when the installation is complete.

• If Rio installation software does not display automatically, follow these steps to begin the installation

manually:

4 Double-click the My Computer icon, , on the Windows desktop.

5 Double-click the CD-ROM icon, .

6 Double-click the Install icon, . 7 Go to Step 2.

Rio Forge

Rio Music Manager

Rio Music Manager is an all-in-one solution that can rip, encode, and manage entire collections of digital audio tracks. Rio Music Manager provides the following capabilities:

•Save (Rip and Encode) audio CDs into compressed digital audio formats. Rio Music Manager encodes WMA files by default and MP3 via an optional upgrade pack.

• Automatically Synchronize the music collection on your computer with your Rio Forge.

•Edit ID3 T ags and WMA tags on digital audio tracks.

• Organize and manage digital audio tracks on your computer and your Rio Forge.

• Search for tracks on your computer and your Rio Forge.

• Create custom Playlists.

• Transfer tracks from your computer to your Rio Forge.

Rio Forge

:: Mac

iTunes

Rio Forge is compatible with Macintosh OS X v10.2 systems using Apple’s iTunes 4.2 or greater. iTunes is free and available online. Support for iTunes can be found here.

Follow these instructions to load the software that enables your Macintosh to recognize the Rio Forge:

1 Place the software CD label-side up into the computer’s CD-ROM drive. 2 Double-click the Rio icon on your computer’s desktop. 3 Double-click the Install icon.

The Rio Installation Screen will display.

4 Click iTunes Plug-in.

The Plug-in Installation Screen will display.

5 Click Install. 6 Click Done.

Rio Forge

Chapter 4 Basic Operations

:: Basic Operations

Enjoying music on the Rio Forge is easy. Basic operations of the Rio Forge include:

Copy Tracks Transfer Tracks Control the Player Play Music

Rio Forge

:: Copy Tracks

Copying Tracks with Rio Music Manager

Copying tracks from Audio CDs involves two steps commonly known as ripping and encoding. Ripping and encoding refers to the process of ripping (copying) audio from a CD and encoding (saving) the audio content into a compressed digital audio format like MP3 or WMA.

1 Launch the Rio Music Manager. 2 Insert an Audio CD into your CD-ROM drive. 3 Click the CD-ROM icon on the Rio Music Manager Device List. 4 Use any of the following techniques to select tracks:

Track Type Technique

Single track. Multiple tracks. • Press SHIFT+Click or CTRL+Click.

All tracks. No tracks. Every track except for the currently selected

tracks.

5 Click to begin copying tracks to your computer.

Rio Forge

• Click the track.

• Press CTRL+A.

• Press CTRL+N.

• Select Edit, Invert Selection.

:: Transfer Tracks

Rio Music Manager

Transferring tracks from the PC to the Rio Forge with the Rio Music Manager involves selecting tracks, then transferring them to the Rio Forge.

1 Launch the Rio Music Manager. 2 Click My Music in the left frame to access tracks. Rio Music Manager will scan the computer’s hard drives for

digital audio files that are compatible with the Rio F org e. Files are automatically ca tegorized by album ti tle and displayed in the Track List.

3 Select tracks within a category of tracks. Categories include Albums, Artists, Genres, Songs, and Playlists.

For example, if you wish to copy all tracks from a favorite artist onto the Rio Forge, click the Artists tab and then use any of the techniques in Step 4 to select the desired tracks.

4 Use any of the following techniques to select files:

File type Technique

Single track, album, or artist. Multiple tracks, albums, and/or artists. • Press SHIFT+Click or CTRL+Click.

All tracks, albums, and artists. No tracks, albums, or artists. Every track except for the currently selected

tracks.

5 After the tracks have been selected they can be copied to the Rio Forge by clicking .

Rio Forge

• Click the track, album, or artist.

• Press CTRL+A.

• Press CTRL+N.

• Select Edit, Invert Selection.

Transferring Tracks using Windows Explorer

Transferring tracks from the PC to the Rio Forge using Windows Explorer is as easy as Copy and Paste.

1 Connect the Rio Forge to a computer using the supplied USB cable. 2 Double-click My Computer on the Windows Desktop or in the Start Menu. 3 Locate MP3 or WMA audio files on the computer. 4 Highlight files and/or folders to transfer to the Rio Forge. 5 Click Edit. 6 Click Copy. 7 Double-click My Computer on the Windows Desktop or in the Start Menu to open another window. 8 In the new window, locate the Rio Forge (X:) icon that is associated with the Rio Forge. (X equals the drive

letter assigned to the Rio Forge.)

• A Removable Disk (X:) icon will also be displayed if your player supports expansion memory cards-even if no expansion memory card is present.

• If no expansion memory card is present, double-clicking the associated Removable Disk (X:) icon will generate a message that reads: Please insert a disk into drive “X”:.

9 Double-click Rio Forge (X:) or Removable Disk (X:). 10 Click Edit. 11 Click Paste.

Any type of file can be transferred using this method but to assure full functionality, Playlists and copy protected music using Digital Rights Management (DRM) should be transferred to Rio players using Rio Music Manager.

• Files and folders can also transferred to the Rio Forge using drag-and-drop techniques.

Rio Forge

iTunes

1 Launch iTunes. 2 Connect the Rio Forge to a USB port on the computer. 3 Power the Rio Forge on. 4 Click Library in the iTunes Source frame. 5 Select tracks to transfer. 6 Drag and drop selected tracks to the Rio Forge Player in the iTunes Source frame.

• iTunes will only refresh the audio contents located on the Rio Forg e after all selected tr acks hav e been

Rio Forge

transferred.

:: Control the Player

The controls on the Rio Forge work as follows:

• POWER Press and hold to power the Rio Forge on or off.

• MENU In Player mode, press to enter Menu mode. In Menu mode, press to return to Player mode.

• CENTER In Player mode, press to cycle through Play Screens. In Menu mode, press to select menu options.

• PLAY/PAUSE In Player mode, press to play or pause playback. In Menu mode, press to control menu navigation.

• FORWARD and REVERSE In Player mode, press to skip to the next or previous track. Press and hold to scan forward or reverse through a track. In Menu mode, press to control menu navigation.

• STOP In Player mode, press to stop playback. In Menu mode, press to control menu navigation.

Controls

Locations of all controls can be found on pages 2 and 3.

• VOLUME + and Press to adjust volume level.

• LOCK/UNLOCK Slide into the LOCK position to disable buttons and prevent accidental operation.

Rio Forge

:: Play Music

The Rio Forge plays digital audio tracks in Player mode and FM radio in FM Tuner mode. Modes can be changed at anytime through the Main Menu.

Play Music FM Tuner

Rio Forge

+ 53 hidden pages

Rio Audio Forge User Manual

Specifications and Main Features

Frequently Asked Questions

User Manual

Table of Contents

Chapter 2 Connections

Software Setup

Chapter 4 Basic Operations