After I returned the unit I received an e-mail from Primera about the Windows Media Player issues. It was suggested to close Windows Media Player when trying to rip the CDs. I was not able to verify this, but it might work.

Maybe by now you are wondering what practical use this device is for the typical radio station. Most stations only get a handful of new CDs added to their playlist at a time, which would make this a bit of overkill. Primera advertises this as a tool for consumers to use to load their CDs onto their computer or portable media player. However, with a little imagination and ingenuity it could be useful under some circumstances.

Both Itunes and Windows Media allow the user to select the format in which to save the audio, all the way from rather poor MP3 up to uncompressed WAV files. Since the metadata is stored with the audio, it is possible to use this when importing the audio files into a station's hard drive playout system. It is beyond the scope of this review to tell you how to do this, but many of the automation manufacturers have tools to allow you to automatically ingest WAV files with metadata. If your station is changing format, replacing its automation system or hard drives, or otherwise has a lot of material to ingest, this just might be the answer for you.

Primera Technology
P W E	800-797-2772 www.primera.com sales@primera.com

I would suggest that if you are using this device, use the Itunes player instead of Windows Media, at least for now. I would hope that Primera can address the Windows Media Player issues in the near future, or at least put some warnings in their documentation. Otherwise, this is an excellent unit with a very attractive rental arrangement.

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Carter is chief engineer of WFMT Chicago.

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