Ahh.. The rationalizations most companies are going through...I was wondering how SonicBLUE actually had the guts (while being a company to product for the masses) to offer the market a high-end car mp3 player (which needs an external amp); probably it was more due to the codebase (maybe also human resources) as Rob pointed out..

Sad to see this happen, especially now that the tuner is finally available. Most of my acquintances were waiting for it to be released before purchasing an Empeg...guess we never can know now, huh?

The RioCAR player was a viable product, yes.. but only as far as it is (or was) being distributed "through the Internet" by a small company with a light monthly burn rate. Breaching into supply chains with such product is plain madness as it is years (although the technology to us may not be so brand new anymore) before its time and totally out of its fit in that league.

I also trust that no other company will be formed of what Empeg once was, as the code is "hogged" by SonicBLUE into other (lighter) products.


Amarth of BatMUD, mk2 something owner