Summer Time

It's summer time, and we are looking to BBQ during Memorial Day weekend. I was in charge of tunes, but I looked all over the house and found no batter-operated speakers or boom boxes I can use for such an occasion. Everything needed an AC wall outlet! I even asking around and no one else had anything suitable either. I broke down and bought yet another item I may have to put in storage for a while. I figure I might just use it in the garage, but I have a set of powered computer speakers already there since my garage have an AC outlet. Hmm...

So I went to Best Buy and looked around the boom box area. My main criteria was that it needs to be able to run on batteries and have an auxiliary in for my MP3 player. The icing on the cake would be that it also have a CD Player that plays MP3s. I walked in expecting a few units to fit the bill, but surprisingly, only found one - the RCA RCD200.

It cost just under $50, which is priced about right. There was no way to test the sound quality at the store, since it was not plugged in. Either way, I wasn't concerned with sound quality. I needed the portability offered by being on batteries and the only other thing I need that it would be loud enough to fill an area where we would be BBQing.

In the Box
The brown box has a colorful label on it on two sides that have a picture of the unit as well as a few description of it. A few features also were proudly listed.

Inside, you get the boom box itself, a small instruction pamphlet that reads in several languages, and an AC power cord for the RCD200. There really isn't much else.

In Use
The RCD200 itself is really small. It is a lot deeper than what you would expect, but not uncommon these days for boom boxes of this age. Styling is modern, which seem to mean lots of curves with a silver and black theme these days. The CD player itself does not have a window for which you can see the disc spinning. It is a solid plastic door. It feels hefty for an inexpensive boom box. It is dampened so when it is opened, it doesn't fling up. Instead, it opens up somewhat slowly and controlled.

The buttons are laid out in a very intuitive manner for most operations. There are buttons on top for power and mode (same button), as well as the playback transport controls (play, stop, skip, etc).

On the front, there are buttons to control volume, bass boost, and the 4 preset equalizer. There are also a program button to program and recover saved radio stations. A large "band" button is for changing from FM to AM and back again.

Using the radio was the hardest part to understand without the manual's help. I was using the preset up and down buttons on the front to tune initially, but found that it only displayed P00 to P20 for the presets. Since I didn't program them yet, I didn't get any stations. I found out by reading the manual that you had to use the buttons on top. The buttons to change stations is track skip back and forwards for the CD. To set a preset once it is tuned to the right station, you must hit the Program button and choose which preset number you wish to program the station to.

When playing back CDs, the transport buttons on top work as expected, playing, pausing, skipping, fast forwarding, and reviewing. The mode button in front of the RCD200 allows for you to change playback modes such as repeat current track, repeat all tracks, and random playback. This works also with MP3 CDs.

Audio CDs are ready to play relatively instantaneous once the disc spins up. MP3 CDs seem to take longer to initialize before playing - almost 5-10 seconds longer depending on how much files are on the disc.

When playing MP3s, the RCD200 ignores the folder structure. Instead, it just plays the MP3 files in order in which they were recorded.

There are also two jacks on the front of the unit. One is for headphones and the other is an auxiliary in jack for MP3s or other audio source that uses a standard 1/8" mini jack.

The RCD200 takes 6x D cell batteries. I found a 12 pack of D cells (Rayovac) at a local Ace Hardware store for $13. I figure if the first set dies out too soon, I'd have the 2nd set ready.

Fortunately after 3 full hours of use at a relatively loud volume setting, the RCD200 was still going without any signs of electrical deprivation.

Sound Quality
I wasn't expecting anything earth shattering when it came down to sound quality, and it performed as expected. Mids were the only clear part of audio reproduction with the mid-range only stereo speakers it came with. Highs were lost as well as bass. The bass boost seem to make up for a bit, but overdrives the speakers when listening to bass-heavy music such as a few Daft Punk tracks I had in store.

Without any enhancement, sound falls flat and is very uninspiring. It does in fact sound like it was reproducing audio using a tin can and a string. As stated, using the bass boost was too much for the speakers, which resulted in distortion when any bass hits came in. Instead, I used the Rock equalizer preset. It seem to give bass a more fuller sound, as well as round off the high frequency to a more manageable comfort level. It's still sounds like crap (for a lack of a better word), but no one notices since it was the food and a bit of touch football we were more preoccupied with.

The Upshot
Don't buy the RCA RCD200 for the promise of excellent sound quality. You'll be disappointed. Come in knowing it won't sound as good as a larger unit, but expect portable functionality to be there. The fact that it operates with batteries mean that you can bring it to the beach or any other outdoor setting that you normally can't with most iPod docks. Also, the price is perfect for a boom box used outdoors, as you won't feel quite as bad if it gets jacked or if some overzealous quarterback-wannabe throws the ball its way.

Battery life also seem to allow for fun times to go on and on just one set. This makes the RCA RCD200 perfect for the outdoor during the summer, and perhaps in the office in the winter. As long as you don't expect sound quality to blow you away, you'll like having the RCD200 around.