Rhapsody 4

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Rhapsody 4

Real's Rhapsody is the number-one music subscription service in the United States, and we can see why: it's easy to use, it offers a fun and attractive way to discover new music, and it provides witty editorial content to go along with your listening experience. Version 4 aims to improve this experience even more with a fresh, updated interface and seamless integration with SanDisk's new Sansa e200R (yep, that R stands for Rhapsody). The changes are a success--the new Rhapsody is a friendlier option for newbies, yet the improvements are not so drastic as to alienate current users. Whichever category you fall into, Rhapsody 4 is an excellent choice for people interested in a digital music subscription service or just a music management jukebox. However, those looking for an all-inclusive media jukebox should look elsewhere.

Streams play at 128Kbps in WMA, while RAX (AAC wrapped in Helix) is used for downloads (160Kbps) and purchases (192Kbps). Thanks to Real's transcoding technology (Helix) ,tracks purchased in Rhapsody can be transferred to the iPod and PlaysForSure devices alike. PlaysForSure devices also support subscription tracks. On the downside, other than a selection of streaming music videos, there's no video (or photo) support--this is strictly a music jukebox.

Many of Rhapsody 4's features and interface aspects are carried over from version 3, so we recommend reading that review for a more in-depth take. Nonsubscribers can still download the app to use as a music manager and jukebox, and you'll get 25 free streams per month with this setup (with individual purchases costing 99 cents per track). The Rhapsody Unlimited subscription ($9.99/month) allows unlimited streaming and downloading from the 2.5-million song catalog, while Rhapsody To Go ($14.99) adds on transferring of these tracks to compatible portable devices. Subscribers get the added benefit of a 10 percent discount on songs (89 cents per track). Note that certain songs in the catalog are for purchase only (Radiohead and certain Metallica albums, for example), but anything that you can stream can also be transferred to your device.

Real added a pop-up track list window, which activates when you double-click a playlist or the Now Playing button. This window contains handy controls (share, transfer to device, create playlist, and so on).

Current Rhapsody users will instantly notice version 4's lightened-up look--we thought the black was rather nice, but the new silvery tones are easier on the eyes overall. Real also made some little changes to the playback bar at the top. The shuffle, repeat, and EQ buttons are now placed directly next to the playback controls in the upper left corner. And the song info area now shows the next track in the queue--a nice improvement. You still get some artist-related editorial tidbits rotating through on the right and a little album art, but it no longer magnifies when you click on it (bummer). Instead, it takes you to an album page. From the attractive artist page to the tucked-away status meter at the bottom of the page, the interface was thoughtfully revamped.

Several changes have been made to the main Rhapsody interface, though the general layout is the same: you have a split left-hand column and a central main window. You change what pops up in the center by navigating the options in the top portion of the left column. The first option is the Rhapsody Music Guide.

Version 4 still has all the great content that Rhapsody is known for. It's laid out the same, though now you get dark text on a light background, and it's a bit easier to read than the opposite. You can browse music by genre, new releases, staff picks, exclusives, and so on, or you can use the search bar at the top to search by artist, album, track, keyword, or composer.

Within the Music Guide, there are several other tabs as well: What's New (currently a description/tutorial about what's new in version 4), a page called My Rhapsody that contains content personalized toward your preferences, and Playlist Central, where playlists created users and editors alike are compiled and navigable by several handy classifications (celebrity mixes, genres, themes, label spotlights, and so on). There's also a section called Channel Guide.

Rhapsody Radio is now Rhapsody Channels. There are more than 100 programmed stations, in addition to artist-based stations. These can be saved to your library, and now you can transfer them to the SanDisk Sansa e200R. Then, each time you connect the player, the Channel will automatically update with new content. If you hear a song that you like, you can save it to the player to keep it there.

Device management has been streamlined with Rhapsody 4, especially if you use a Sansa e200R. The e200R's firmware is custom-tailored for Rhapsody 4. Benefits include fast transfer times, increased reliability, and special features.

You can drag and drop Channels directly to the Sansa e200R. You can also do this with all of the other content in Rhapsody. (The latter works with PlaysForSure devices as well.) And continuous transferring means you can add more songs to the transfer queue during syncing.

But you don't have to have the Sansa to enjoy improved device integration--and improved navigation in general. Everything is drag-and-drop within the interface, which is much better than the previous version, where you had to click a "+" button to add things to your library, then drag and drop from there (this button still exists, though, if you want to continue doing it that way). You can authorize up to three devices, and if one happens to be a PlaysForSure device, your subscription tracks will transfer over as WMAs. This is one of the things we like about Rhapsody--it is optimized to work with the Sansa e200R, but it works well with most other players including the iPod (except for subscription tracks).

Speaking of the iPod, when you add tracks to your library, iTunes users will get the opportunity to automatically import their iTunes library including playlists. If a purchased iTunes song is in the Rhapsody Music Guide, it will appear in your Rhapsody playlist as a streamed track. This takes the work or worry out of transferring your library from a closed ecosystem, and so far it's worked fairly well.

As for editorial content, Rhapsody still kills in this area. A slew of music editors provide witty and entertaining blurbs for every artist we came across, and for selected albums as well. We'd love to see this expanded into regular blogs or columns from the writers (à la Napster and Urge).

Rhapsody's performance during testing remained top-notch--much better than some other jukeboxes that will remain not-so-nameless. We experienced no hiccups or crashes, though rating the song in the playback bar was a tad glitchy. Streaming music sounded great, and its CPU usage hovered around a reasonable 15 percent, unlike with Windows Media Player and iTunes. Of course, Rhapsody doesn't offer a "view by album art" sort, so the impressive performance may be attributed to the fact that the app isn't handling a large amount of graphics and other extraneous files (videos and photos). Real, however, expects to add more album art in future versions of the app. All devices we connected showed up under sources, and all were responsive within the interface.

Customer service was also commendable. Real offers a quick guide, a comprehensive FAQ section, and free e-mail, phone, and live chat support. Using this last method, we were able to get live support in less than five minutes. Better yet, you don't need to be a subscriber to benefit from this excellent (and free) support.