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Dell DJ MP3 User Manual

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Using a Dell DJ MP3 player
for field playback of bird songs
Stuart Healy
Western U.S. Bird Guide,
Specializing in Southeast Arizona and the White Mountains
220 Stardust Street, Sierra Vista, AZ 85635
Tel: (520) 458-7603 Fax: (520) 458-7353
E-mail:
stuarthealy@earthlink.net
Web:
http://www.aztrogon.com

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  • Page 1 Using a Dell DJ MP3 player for field playback of bird songs Stuart Healy Western U.S. Bird Guide, Specializing in Southeast Arizona and the White Mountains 220 Stardust Street, Sierra Vista, AZ 85635 Tel: (520) 458-7603 Fax: (520) 458-7353 E-mail: stuarthealy@earthlink.net...

  • Page 2: Table Of Contents

    Using a Dell DJ MP3 player for field playback of bird songs. Rev A2, November, 2005 Table of Contents INTRODUCTION............................3 Original Requirements ..........................3 Compromises ............................3 Decision ..............................3 HARDWARE ...............................4 SOFTWARE..............................5 Musicmatch Jukebox ..........................5 Dell DJ Explorer............................5 Audio Editing............................5 IMPLEMENTATION OVERVIEW......................6 Source material ............................6...

  • Page 3: Using A Dell Dj Mp3 Player For Field Playback Of Bird Songs. Rev A2, November

    I looked around at various manufacturers’ equipment and eventually decided on a Dell unit for several reasons -- it had the large display that I wanted, a very easy to use selection device and, perhaps most importantly, I’ve been a Dell computer user for a number of years (two desktops and a laptop) and have been very satisfied with the equipment.

  • Page 4: Hardware

    HARDWARE The Dell DJ 30 is a very compact and sleek unit that measures approximately 4 x 2.4 x 0.7 inches and weighs 6.4 ounces. I use it with an optional soft carrying case which increases the weight to 7.6 ounces.

  • Page 5: Software

    This software has the look and feel of Windows Explorer and allows files to be copied from the computer hard disk to the Dell DJ using drag and drop or cut and paste. The DJ connects to the computer via a standard USB 2 port.

  • Page 6: Implementation Overview

    Using a Dell DJ MP3 player for field playback of bird songs. Rev A2, November, 2005 IMPLEMENTATION OVERVIEW For me, as a guide, it’s imperative that I can access the song or call of a specific species as quickly as possible before an opportunity passes by.
  • Page 7 Rev A2, November, 2005 Before I got very far into the project, I looked at the Dell DJ features to see how they would fit with the way I wanted to work in the field. What I required was to be able to get to a particular species as quickly as possible after I turned on the player.

  • Page 8: Looking At The Results

    Using a Dell DJ MP3 player for field playback of bird songs. Rev A2, November, 2005 Looking at the results A picture is rumored to be worth a thousand words so I think it’s useful at this point to look at examples of Musicmatch and DJ display screens Musicmatch Screen 0 is a partial display of the Raw Birds library.
  • Page 9 Using a Dell DJ MP3 player for field playback of bird songs. Rev A2, November, 2005 DJ Screens 1-6 show the basic menus and navigation needed to access a specific species within a family. Getting to a bird All operations to select a bird are done with my right thumb;...

  • Page 10: Software Workflow

    Using a Dell DJ MP3 player for field playback of bird songs. Rev A2, November, 2005 SOFTWARE WORKFLOW This section describes in detail how I used the Musicmatch software to achieve my objectives. First, in order to efficiently evaluate the source material, I copied all the CDs to disk (in WAV format) and created a master library using Musicmatch.
  • Page 11 Using a Dell DJ MP3 player for field playback of bird songs. Rev A2, November, 2005 Before starting the copy, you can set the disk file format from the recorder settings window (I use WAV for ease of editing) and set the destination on disk from the Tracks Directory window.

  • Page 12: Step 2 - Add Source Tracks To Raw Birds Library

    Using a Dell DJ MP3 player for field playback of bird songs. Rev A2, November, 2005 Step 2 – Add source tracks to Raw Birds Library Adding tracks to a library in Musicmatch involves three basic steps: a) import the tracks; b) add tag information;...
  • Page 13 Using a Dell DJ MP3 player for field playback of bird songs. Rev A2, November, 2005 After the tracks are added, the library display appears as shown in Musicmatch Screen 3. Now the work really begins, it’s time to add tag information using “Edit Track Information”. Tags should be added in decreasing order of most tracks affected.
  • Page 14 Using a Dell DJ MP3 player for field playback of bird songs. Rev A2, November, 2005 Edit Track Information Checking the Album and Genre boxes in the “General Tab” allows data to be entered for those categories (values are memorized and can be accessed via drop down boxes in future sessions).
  • Page 15 Using a Dell DJ MP3 player for field playback of bird songs. Rev A2, November, 2005 Musicmatch Screen 6 shows a partial library display after assigning a family name to the first two tracks. Selecting a track with a right click will get you to the rename operation where the task of tagging is completed by typing a species name.

  • Page 16: Step 3 - Editing Audio Tracks

    Using a Dell DJ MP3 player for field playback of bird songs. Rev A2, November, 2005 Step 3 – Edit audio tracks. This is a relatively straightforward but very tedious task that has to be replicated for each track (twice or more per track if you separate songs and calls).
  • Page 17 Using a Dell DJ MP3 player for field playback of bird songs. Rev A2, November, 2005 I saved the edited WAV files in folder Audio Files/Birds-Edited and sub folders organized by family as hown in the following partial folder display. The MP3 format files subsequently created (see next page) are organized identically within the MP3/Birds folder .

  • Page 18: Step 4 - Convert Edited Tracks To Mp3 Format

    Using a Dell DJ MP3 player for field playback of bird songs. Rev A2, November, 2005 Step 4 – Convert edited tracks to MP3 format This is another fairly straightforward task which is simplified by the ability to select multiple files for simultaneous conversion.

  • Page 19: Step 5 - Add Mp3 Files To Birds Library

    At last, the final step. Musicmatch incorporates software plug-ins for a number of portable devices including, of course, the Dell DJ which connects to the computer via a USB 2 interface. A couple of connection options ship with the DJ -- I use the cradle shown here.
  • Page 20 Using a Dell DJ MP3 player for field playback of bird songs. Rev A2, November, 2005 The Add Tracks window is shown in Musicmatch Screen 9. In this example I’ve selected View by Genre and collapsed the display to show the “pseudo libraries”.

  • Page 21: Practical Matters

    Using a Dell DJ MP3 player for field playback of bird songs. Rev A2, November, 2005 PRACTICAL MATTERS About the only downside I’ve found since abandoning tape players and switching to CDs and now to MP3, is the fact that two pieces of equipment are required -- the player and the speaker-amplifier.

  • Page 22: Dj Operation

    Using a Dell DJ MP3 player for field playback of bird songs. Rev A2, November, 2005 DJ Operation The DJ plays tracks belonging to a temporary list of tracks known as “Selected Music” and the track that is currently playing is known as the “Current Track”. Very logical you say. Tracks can be added to whatever is present in the selected music list, or the list can be replaced entirely with either a new list or just a single track.

  • Page 23: Problems And Annoyances

    Using a Dell DJ MP3 player for field playback of bird songs. Rev A2, November, 2005 Problems and Annoyances DJ player I’ve found the DJ to be very reliable and durable. In fact, dropping it from a height of 3+ feet hasn’t caused a problem, even when the unit was powered on and playing.

  • Page 24: Ongoing Concerns

    Rev A2, November, 2005 Ongoing Concerns The Dell DJ is a sealed unit without any visible screws and it’s even unclear to me how the unit is assembled! Unfortunately, this means that the battery is not field replaceable. The specifications state that the unit will play for 12 hours continuously and, so far, I haven’t even come close to discharging the...

  • Page 25: Appendix

    Using a Dell DJ MP3 player for field playback of bird songs. Rev A2, November, 2005 APPENDIX Index for the Cornell source CDs that I use. (Adobe PDF 130KB) http://www.aztrogon.com/MP3/CD-Index.pdf Manuals Dell DJ User’s Guide (PDF from Dell web site, ~580KB) http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/P82559M/en/Dell DJ UG Final Draft - 06 Oct.pdf...

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