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Dudebox Explorer from Red Chair Software

 Dudebox Explorer
   April 22, 2004
   Review By: Jordan M. Wigley, Administrator

Manufacturer/Vendor: Red Chair Software
Product Webpage:
Suggested Price: US $25.00

Review Score (out of 100):

Introduction

     The Dell DJ has been a popular low-budget portable digital audio player ever since it was released at the end of last year.  However, one of its biggest disappointments among users has been the lack of software available to organize music and files on the player.  From the factory, it comes packaged with Musicmatch and Dell's DJ Explorer software, both of which have at least a handful of bugs and/or quirks that are frustrating for most users.  Red Chair Software, makers of Anapod Explorer (for the iPod) and Notmad Explorer (for the Nomad), quickly stepped up to the plate and released Dudebox Explorer for the Dell DJ shortly after the player's release.  They took the many loved features of their software for the other audio players, and also listened to the complaints that DJ users had with Musicmatch, using all of this to put together a very handy utility that just about any DJ user will want to at least try out.

Product Features

• Integrated right into Windows Explorer
• Quick and easy transfer of music to and from your DJ
  • Drag-and-drop files
  • Copy and paste files
  • Right-click menus
• Easy playlist management
• AudioMorph - Alters bitrates and/or formats on-the-fly
• Xtreamer - Browse, stream, and download from your DJ via the Internet
• DudeboxSQL - Generate reports in Text, HTML, or XML formats

Using Dudebox Explorer

Transferring Files

     Red Chair couldn't have made Dudebox Explorer any easier to use than it already is.  To start up the software, simply plug your DJ into your computer's USB port.  It is recommended that you also plug your power adapter into the DJ, as transferring files requires a good amount of power and will drain your battery quite a bit.  After your DJ is plugged in, right-click on the DJ icon in your system tray (Figure 1) and select "Connect Dell DJ" from the menu.  A progress bar (Figure 2) will show the connecting progress, and once it disappears your DJ is connected.  Now just right-click the icon again and select "Open Dudebox Explorer" from the menu, and a Windows Explorer window will open and take you to Dudebox Explorer.

Figure 1	Figure 2

     The root directory (Figure 3) of Dudebox Explorer shows general statistics of your DJ, such as the number of tracks, number of albums, etc.  If you want to transfer files, you can begin by clicking on the Audio Tracks folder in Dudebox.  Then you'll want to open up a new window and browse to the folder (Figure 4) that contains the files you wish you transfer to the DJ.  Now you can either select the files and drag them over to the file-area in Dudebox, or you can Copy them and Paste them into the file-area in Dudebox.  There are other ways to get your music onto your DJ using Dudebox, but these are the methods that I find the easiest.  A dialog box will then pop up and show you the progress of the file transfers (Figure 5).  The computer I was using for the review only was equipped with USB 1.1, so the transfers took quite a while, but was still faster than transferring the files using Musicmatch.  Speaking with other Dudebox users, however, I can assure that any USB 2.0 equipped computers will transfer files much faster.

Figure 3

Figure 4

Figure 5

     After you have transferred files to your DJ, you can then browse them in Dudebox by Artist, Album, or Genre.  If you need to retag any music files, Dudebox makes that a simple task as well.  In my example, I needed to tag the Genre of a CD that I had not entered a genre for.  To retag the genre of all the tracks at once just select all of them, right-click on the selection, and choose "Properties (Edit Tag)" from the menu (Figure 6).  A new window (Figure 7) will then appear that has the common information between the selected files already showing.  In order to update the genre of all the selected tracks, I just made sure that Genre had a check mark, and then typed the genre name into the text box.  Once you have made your needed changes, just click the Save button and the tags of the selected tracks should be updated.

Figure 6

Figure 7

Syncing Files

     If you're like me, you probably always rip your CDs to the same folder (or set of folders) on your hard drive.  If you've previously ripped 50 CDs to this location and transferred them to your DJ, it becomes a pain to find the "new" ones if you rip 10 more CDs.  Dudebox makes this a very simple task with its syncing features, very similar to the way files are synced between a PC and a PDA.  To enable syncing, just click the Dudebox Options button and then go to the SpeedSync section.  If you store your audio files in a single folder (can have multiple subfolders inside it), then an easy option is to use the One-Touch Synchro Mode (Figure 8).  Just check the box to enable this feature, and then browse to the root folder of where your audio files are stored.  In the screenshot, you'll see that I chose to sync my G:\CD_Backups folder.  Just to give you an idea of my folder hierarchy, inside the CD_Backups folder I have a folder for each Artist.  Inside each Artist folder, I have a folder for each Album by that artist.  Finally, of course, I have the actual audio tracks within each of the Album folders.

     After you have enabled One-Touch Synchro Mode, you are now ready to sync the folder with your Dell DJ.  Inside Dudebox Explorer just click the Sync icon (Figure 9), and choose "Yes" when asked if you are sure you want to synchronize your jukebox with the folder.  Dudebox will then pop up the regular file transfer box, with all of the audio tracks in the folder queued up for transfer.  Before it transfers the file, it will check to see if it already exists on your DJ.  If it does already exist on your DJ, it will skip that audio file and move on to the next one.  If the file does not already exist on your DJ, then it will transfer it as normal.  Bear in mind that this process will take longer (but still fairly quick) than transferring the files manually, because it is checking every file to see if it already exists on your DJ.

     Alternatively to using One-Touch Synchro Mode, you can use the newer SpeedSync option that allows you to synchronize multiple folders.  This is also found in Dudebox Options in the same SpeedSync section as the other sync option.  At the top of the options box, you will see a section for PC Source Folders.  Just click the Add Folder button and browse to a folder that you want to be synced with your DJ.  You can repeat the process to add multiple folders that you wish to sync.

Figure 8

Figure 9

AudioMorph

     One Dudebox feature, appropriately named AudioMorph, really makes it stand out from the other file management software for the Dell DJ.  This feature allows you to "morph" the audio files on-the-fly as they are being transferred to your DJ.  AudioMorph allows you to convert to another file format and/or reduce the bitrate of your audio files.  This is very useful for the average consumer, who generally would much rather store large amounts of music on their portable player than to have the highest sound quality available.  Considering that most consumers listen to their DJ using low- to mid-range headphones or speakers, most people can easily lower the bitrate by a small amount without noticing the difference in quality.  This causes the files to be smaller, which in turn allows you to store more music on your DJ.

     To enable AudioMorph, simply click the Dudebox Options button and go to the AudioMorph section (Figure 10).  Be sure to check the box labeled "Enable AudioMorph during Transfers."  By right-clicking on the listed file formats, you will be able to select the way you would like to morph the audio file.  If you are reducing the bitrate, you can adjust the bitrate settings by going to the Encoding Options section (Figure 11).  Because I listen to my DJ a lot on my high-end home audio system, I prefer to leave my audio files at a high bitrate.  Therefore, I did not extensively test the AudioMorph functionality of Dudebox Explorer.  I can comment that I tested on a few files, reducing the bitrate from 320Kbps to 192Kbps Variable Bitrate.  The transfer performed flawlessly, and using average headphones I could not hear a loss of quality when listening to the reduced bitrate file.

Figure 10

Figure 11

Xtreamer

     Dudebox Explorer also has another extremely nice feature that they call Xtreamer (Figure 12).  This is a web-based interface to access the files (both audio and data) that are stored on your Dell DJ.  While your DJ is connected to your computer, you can access it via a web browser from any computer on your local network (if available) or optionally you can access it from another location via the Internet.  Xtreamer has a very nice user interface, making it simple to browse the files on your DJ.  If you're looking for audio files, you can browse by Albums, Artists, Genres, Playlists, or All Tracks.  You can then either listen to the music streamed directly from your DJ over the network (or Internet), or you can download the audio files over the network (or Internet) from your DJ.

Figure 12

Conclusion

     With the bugs and limited functionality of many file management utilities for the Dell DJ, Red Chair Software has stepped up to the plate to offer a great utility that offers the functionality that most DJ users want and need.  File transfers are very straight-forward and simple, requiring no more computer knowledge than it takes to drag-and-drop files.  Once you set up the synchronization functionality of Dudebox Explorer, moving new audio files over to your DJ is as simple as clicking a single button.  If you're looking to conserve space, the AudioMorph feature allows you to have Dudebox automatically convert between file formats or to lower the bitrate of your files during the file transfer process.  Also, if you're constantly at various computers around your house (or anywhere if using the Internet functionality), you can leave your DJ hooked up to your computer and connected to Dudebox.  Then you'll be able to access your music or data through a standard web browser, including the ability to stream music from your DJ over the Internet.  Red Chair Software's Dudebox Explorer is a must-have utility for any Dell DJ owner, especially if you are unhappy with the performance of Dell's included software.

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