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Quick Start

Overview (see picture on outer leaf)
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Microphone LCD screens Volume button Earphone jack Hold button USB port 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. R (section repeat) button On/Off and Play/Pause button Record button Menu scroller Mode button

English

Getting Started

Installing Software

Your Creative Rhomba comes with Creative MediaSource, which helps you to rip CDs and create high quality digital audio files, play and organize media files on your computer as well as transfer music tracks or files seamlessly to and from your player! 3.
Alternatively, from your Windows desktop, click Start Run and type d:\ctrun \ctrun.exe (replace d:\ with the drive letter of your CD-ROM/DVD-ROM drive). 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. When prompted, restart your computer.
DO NOT connect your player to your computer before installing the software.
Note: 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. 1. Insert the Installation CD into your CDROM/DVD-ROM drive. Note: To install the software, Windows 2000/XP users must log in as the computer administrator. For more information, refer to your operating systems online Help. 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.
Creative MediaSource Special features such as SMARTFIT, intelligent track management and WMA compression, enable you to transfer more music tracks to your player. For more information, refer to the Creative MediaSource online Help. Go to Start Programs/All Programs Creative Creative MediaSource Creative MediaSource Organizer.
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Connecting and Charging Your Player
Disconnecting Your Player Properly
Before disconnecting your player from your computer, use the Windows Eject or Safely Remove Hardware icon on the Taskbar to safely disconnect your player. If not, your player may not be able to function normally. Follow these steps below to safely disconnect your player:
Windows XP, Windows Me and Windows 2000
1. Figure 1: Connecting your player 1. After restarting your computer, connect the USB cable to the computer and player, as seen in Figure 1. The player turns on and displays the battery level and the charging status of the player. 2. 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 the Users Guide (on CD). Warning! To prevent data loss, your player must be disconnected in a proper manner. See Disconnecting Your Player Properly. Left-click the Safely Remove Hardware icon on the Taskbar and click Safely remove USB Mass Storage Device as shown.
Unplug your player when you are prompted to do so.
This prompt appears on the Taskbar in Windows XP. On other operating systems, a message box appears on the desktop instead.

Windows 98 SE

1. 2. Wait at least 10 seconds after all file transfers are completed. In Windows Explorer, right-click the Removable Disk icon and click Eject.
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Unplug your player after 10 seconds.

Using Your Menu Scroller

The Menu scroller is one of the most important features of your Rhomba. Use the Menu scroller to scroll through options on the Rhombas LCD (liquid crystal display) screen and

Basic Usage

Transferring Tracks or Files
Note: Install Creative MediaSource (see Getting Started on page 1) before following the steps below. 1. If you are not already in Creative MediaSource Organizer, click the Player/ Organizer 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 your Rhomba, 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. You may also use Windows Explorer to transfer audio and data files.

then select the option by pressing Menu scroller.

Using Your Player

To turn on your player

Press the On/Off button.

To turn off your player
Press and hold the On/Off button for a few seconds until the Power Off! message disappears.

To enable a mode

Press the Mode button until the Music Voice or FM Radio icon appears. ,
To play a track or recording
In Music or Voice mode, press the Play/ Pause button.

To stop a track

Press the Menu scroller. Note: If there are no audio tracks in your player, the "Root Empty" message will appear onscreen.
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Playing FM Radio

To change the FM frequency
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. To perform an autoscan, move the Menu scroller towards the right or left, and hold. To select a preset channel, if you have any, press the Play/Pause button. To select the next available preset channel, press the Play/Pause button again. In FM Radio mode, press and hold the Menu scroller. An unused preset number blinks on the large LCD screen. Turn the Menu scroller towards the right or left to select the preset number you want. Press and hold the Menu scroller to store the FM channel.
To clear your players memory using Windows Explorer
1. 2. Connect Rhomba to your computer. In Windows Explorer, select the drive your player is assigned to, for example, Removable Disk (F:) (replace F: with the drive letter of your player). Right-click and select Format. The dialog box similar to Figure 2 appears. Click the Start button.

2. 3. 4.

To store your FM channel

1. 2. 3.

Figure 2: Format Removable Disk dialog box For more details on using your player, read the Users Guide PDF: d:\manual\english\manual.pdf (replace d:\ with the drive letter of your CDROM/DVD-ROM drive).
Voice or FM Radio Recording
1. 2. In FM Radio or Voice mode, press the Record button to start recording. Press the Record button to stop the recording.

Formatting 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 efficient transfer, storage and playback of music files.
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For Windows XP users

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 shown here, appears. You may see the message when installing this driver. If you do, you may choose to click the Continue Anyway button. Creative has tested this driver on Windows XP, and it does not impair or destabilize your computer.
Register your product! Enjoy a host of benefits by registering your product during installation, or at http://www.creative.com/register. Benefits include:
Service and product support from Creative Exclusive updates on promotions and events. Technical Support and Warranty Information

Creative Knowledgebase

Resolve and troubleshoot technical queries at Creatives 24-hour self-help Knowledgebase. Go to http://www.creative.com and select your region. Technical Support information can be found in the Installation CD. Go to d:\support\<language>\support.pdf Warranty information can be found in the Installation CD as well. Go to d:\warranty\<region>\<language>\warranty.pdf Please keep your Proof of Purchase for the duration of the warranty period. Regulatory information can be found in d:\license\<language>\license.pdf (replace d:\ with the drive letter of your CD-ROM/DVD-ROM drive, <region> with the region you are in and <language> with the language the document is in).
Copyright 2003 Creative Technology Ltd. All rights reserved. Microsoft and Windows are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. All other brand and product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders and are hereby recognized as such.

Creative will not be responsible for any loss of data due to any reasons whatsoever, including loss of data due to product breakage or malfunction.

Technical support

Safety and Other Instructions i
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
The package contents listed here may differ from country to country.
Creative Rhomba Earphones Installation CD including Users Guide (on CD) Quick Start leaflet 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 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.
Creative MediaSource Player
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

Creative MediaSource Organiser

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 Microsoft Windows XP, Windows Millennium Edition (Me), Windows 2000, or Windows 98 Second Edition (SE) Intel Pentium II 233 MHz 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)
Minimum System Requirements
The software applications on the installation CD may have higher requirements for basic functionality. Refer to each applications documentation for details.

Introduction iii

Document Conventions
We use icons to highlight useful or urgent information for you:
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

A Tour of Your Player

Your Player at a Glance

Microphone
R (Section repeat) button
LCD screens display song titles, player settings and status

Play/Pause button

Front View
Record button Menu scroller
Volume button Earphone jack connects the earphones to your player

Hold button

Mode button
USB port connects the player to the computer for audio or data transfers, and battery charging

Side Views

A Tour of Your Player 1-1

Button

PLAY/PAUSE

What It Does

Usage Tips
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
press and hold until player turns on or off

VOLUME

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

RECORD

records voice or FM Radio channels

MENU SCROLLER

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
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

R (SECTION REPEAT)

during playback, press once to mark the beginning of a section, and again to mark the end of the section (section will repeat automatically)
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

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. Depending on the screen you are in, you can have different menu options. You can also choose options from a list.
To "Scroll Select", use the Menu scroller to scroll to the option you want, and select the option by pressing the Menu scroller.
A Tour of Your Player 1-4

Getting Started

Installing Software
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.
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 systems online Help.

Getting Started 2-1

Charging the Player
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.
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.
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.

Transferring Tracks or Files 3-2
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. 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.
You must restart your computer before trying out any of the installed applications.
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.

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 CDs 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.
Change the default ripping format and bitrate for higher or lower quality audio. See the MediaSource Help file for details.
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 Task 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

Using Your Player

Your player has three function modes: Music, Voice and FM Radio. In Music mode, only.MP3 or.WMA files are played back, in Voice 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
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.
If there are no audio tracks in your player, the "Empty" message will appear onscreen.

Using Your Player 4-1

Adjusting the Volume
To increase volume level Press the Volume + button. To decrease volume level Press the Volume button.

Playing Audio

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 appears. , Voice or FM Radio icon

Using Your Player 4-2

Playing music or recordings
To play a track In Music or Voice mode, press the Play/Pause button.
HOLD Folder name File name EQ Battery status

Play Status icon

Track number/ Total number of tracks

Elapsed time

Visualiser

Audio format

Repeat mode
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 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
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. 1. In FM Radio mode, press the Record button 2. Press the Record button to stop the recording. to start recording.

FM Radio recording

Voice 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 recording
To make a voice recording 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 1. 2. 3. 4. select a menu and submenu Press and hold the Menu scroller. Scroll select a menu. Scroll select a submenu. To exit, press the Play/Pause button once or twice, depending on the menu or submenu you are in.
You cannot pause the voice recording.

Changing Player Settings

If you do not select a function within 30 seconds while in Menu mode, the player automatically returns to Music or Voice mode.

Using Your Player 4-6

The menus and submenus available are listed in the table below. Sub Menu Submenu Function submenu
NORMAL CLASSIC JAZZ EQUALISER POP ROCK USER ALL ONE RANDOM FOLDER LIST NONE BASS TREBLE Changes bass boost level Changes treble boost level Repeats all tracks stored in player Repeats only current track repeatedly Repeats tracks randomly in current folder Repeats all tracks in current folder Repeats tracks in Play List Stops after playing current track Allows you to select equaliser effects

REPEAT

Using Your Player 4-7

Submenu

EDIT DELETE ALL

Sub submenu

Function
Selects or unselects files for Play List Deletes Play List Selects files to be deleted Deletes all files in current folder Adjusts backlight time of LCD Adjusts LCD contrast level Displays wave visualization Displays bar visualization

PLAY LIST

DELETE
EDIT DELETE ALL LIGHT CONTRAST WAVE LEVEL ASIA/US

DISPLAY

VISUALISER

FM REGION

JAPAN EUROPE ON

Selects FM Radio region

BEEP SOUND OFF
Plays an audio marker in-between tracks

Using Your Player 4-8

Selects low microphone sensitivity Selects high microphone sensitivity Selects medium microphone sensitivity Exits menu mode

MIC SENS.

HIGH MEDIUM

Using Your Player 4-9

Selecting equaliser setting

1. 2. 3. 4.

Press and hold the Menu scroller. Scroll select the Equaliser menu. Scroll select an Equaliser submenu. To exit, press the Play/Pause button.
See the table on page 1-2 for available options and their functions.

Repeating music

The Repeat setting is applicable within a folder containing the tracks only.

To 1. 2. 3. 4.

select a Repeat setting Press and hold the Menu scroller. Scroll select the Repeat menu. Scroll select a Repeat submenu. To exit, press the Play/Pause button.
See the table on page 1-2 for available options and their functions. create a a play list Press and hold the Menu scroller. Scroll select the Play List menu. Scroll select the Edit submenu. Scroll select a track you want. Repeat this step to select more than one track. 5. Press the Play/Pause button twice to exit. To 1. 2. 3. 4.

Editing play list

Using Your Player 4-10
delete a play list Press and hold the Menu scroller. Scroll select the Play List menu. Scroll select the Delete All submenu. Press the Play/Pause button twice to exit.

Enabling the audio track marker

Using Your Player 4-13

Changing microphone sensitivity
Press and hold the Menu scroller. Scroll select the Mic Sens. menu. Scroll select a Mic.Sens submenu. Press the Play/Pause button to exit.
Higher microphone sensitivity would capture more ambience noise. The recording may not be clear.
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 To unlock your player Slide the Hold button arrow. in the opposite direction indicated by an in the direction indicated by an arrow.

Using Your Player 4-14

Formatting 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 players 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.
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.

Figure 4-1

Using Your Player 4-15

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 FM Frequency Range THD Earphone Output LCD backlight

up to 88 dB

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

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 Creatives web site at www.creative.com for updates and downloads relating to all Creatives 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.
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 players 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