Greetings!

There are quite a few threads that have been opened about the Karma. Reading through, I see only two people who have actually received a purchased, (early) production one. One person was extremely happy with it, found a problem or two, and reported it. The other has found a large number of problems, is extremely dissatisfied and has pointed out some very serious problems with their unit and with inconsistancies with the sales docs.

Now, I am on the beta team, so my opinions are biased by previous experience with the device. I would just ask the following:

a) Let's keep this civil. There is a lot of crossposting to various forums out there, and the information is becoming very fragmented.

b) Let's keep a list of complaints and comments in a form that can be passed on to Rio (well, DNNA). This way, they can be used to improve the Karma.

c) If you are happy with your Karma, keep it. If you are not happy with your Karma, return it. If you do not have a Karma yet, weigh both users' experience accordingly when you decide if you want one. If possible, try to see one in person before you buy.

d) Be patient. A lot of people went through a lot of work to make the Karma what it is today. For better or worse. Everyone's feedback will be looked at and used to try to make the Karma better.

e) Everyone has an opinion. Mine is not more valid than anyone elses. But yours is no more valid than mine. Shouting about it will not help anyone.

Thank you.

PS - Feel free to flame me if you want - I don't care.

May I also add... if you like the Karma, say so. It would be nice to hear opinions from happy owners.

I agree. However there is one thing that I am very annoyed by. The dimensions on the site are very, very misleading. The real volume is quite a bit larger then the advertised volume.

This is one thing that most comsumers will consider, as I did. I feel seriously gipped. There is no reason to lie about physical dimensions. I really think the marketing dept. thought it was that important to advertise it as being under an inch when it clearly is not.

Advertised: 2.7” X 3.0” X 0.9”
Real: 2.9-3.1" X 3.12" x 1.1"

I probably don't count in this as a beta user. I am currently using a Karma that I did not pay for.

The other five I have on order from J&R Music World for other people I know (various gifts and sundry) were not free. They were list price. I like the Karma enough that I preordered them. Unfortunately from a place that does not have them in stock yet.

I actually intend to keep one of these purchased ones for myself, since it has the latest hardware advances that the early betas did not have.

Agreed. And that has already been brought to their attention. We are trying to get an answer to this from their marketing folks directly, and to get them to explain it, change it, apologize for it, or whatever is appropriate based on what happened. More information will be posted as soon as any of the developers, designers or beta team find out.

Paul, by my count you need 4 40's alone to hold your mp3 collection. That only leaves you with one extra one to give away...

Matthew

Nah... I just put my main randomized mixes on it. I also use the DJ & sync features to swap stuff out periodically. I have the empeg for car / office use, so this is for random travel. In those circumstances, I do not need the entire library around...

Oh cool are you saying that it automatically swaps stuff around on the player from your collection if it is bigger than your player.

As to the software of the player i have every faith in empeg towers to improve it into a mini empeg in features and quality i just hope those above them give them time and let them.

it automatically swaps stuff around on the player from your collection if it is bigger than your player

Uh, yup.

So far I like mine. It has a lot more features then my 1st gen ipod. The docking station is very nice since it makes it easy to play stuff from it on my amplifier (I know later ipods have this but mine doesn't). The DJ settings look very nice even though I haven't had a chance to use them much yet. Sent files to it over ethernet which works fine even through RMM or the Karma (not sure which) don't autofind each other. However, when it is in the dock I would like to be able to control it from my laptop - it's a pain to have to get up to change tracks if I don't like what is playing.

Bookmarks are great to have. I listen to a lot of audiobook type stuff as well and so bookmarks are great. I do think that there should be a way to update a bookmark off the "now playing" menu. Going all the way back to the main menu is cumbersome IMO.

I have no problems with the size however rio does need to explain why the posted specs are wrong. I would like to see some kind of belt clip for it and a remote.

The interface takes a little getting used to but I don't find it confusing at all.

The Karma does not look anywhere near as "sleak" as the ipod which I think is going to hurt it. It does lack the simplicity of the ipod however it does so much more that I think it is a good tradeoff.

I would also like to see (and maybe it is there and I haven't found it yet) the "tweak playlist" options like on the empeg where you can quickly do "add another by same artist", etc.

All in all, very much better then my 1st gen ipod and I am very pleased. Good work guys.

What are the DJ settings?

DJ settings are where you can tell the Karna to just play the songs you have listened to the most, or those you haven't listened to in the longest time, or the newest songs, or those from a certain decade, etc. There are quite a few options.

Since I have just got mine I don't have enough play information yet for a lot of those to be useful yet. Looks like a cool feature though.

The dimensions on the site are very, very misleading. The real volume is quite a bit larger then the advertised volume.

Yes you said so a thousand times in a thousand forums, well done. Someone [censored] up the web site and no doubt someone will get fired.

Now stepping briefly into the real world. You bought a player. It is packaged in CLEAR PLASTIC. If you didn't like to form factor, you didn't have to buy it. Even if you couldn't be sure from the packaging, you have every right to return it.

Some people will want the taller thinner iPod with 8 hours battery life, some people will want the shorter thicker Karma with 15 hours battery life. It beats me quite where you thought that extra battery life was going to come from without making the unit bigger!

Rob

I love my Karma however your comment about "where do you think that extra battery life would come from" I thnk is wrong. He was basing his expectations on size from what was reported on the web site and was surprised when he did not get what he expected.

I agree that the extra battery life would require a biger unit, but don't blame him for expectime a unit size that is what was reported on the web site.

I love my Karma and the size is not a problem for me. However, don't blame a buyer for being upset that what he got was not the specs reported on the website.

His comments are getting old and annoying and very repetative but the fault is not his. He bought based on marketing information that was released that was inaccurate.

That being said, if he is unhappy he should return it.

I interpreted his comments as going much further than the web site screw up. The incorrect spec is one thing, albeit a huge glaring cock up which is going to severely spoil somebody's day. However the rest of the post(s) was squarely a criticism of the Karma form factor. I tried to point out that being thicker than the iPod is only part of the story.

I've seen several other comments along the lines of "Oh, that's not big at all, I don't know what the fuss was about".

Rob