The Software

Bundled Software

When you first install the Rio Music Manager software, it will prompt you to create a synchronization profile.  The software is capable of automatically synchronizing the files on your desktop with the files on the player.  You can define just how the software will handle the content on your player.

**click to enlarge**

The Rio Music Manager will allow you to browse your music files both on your desktop and player by either albums, artists, genres, songs or playlists and will also allow you to search for content as well.  Overall, the software works well and I like it much better than the Playcenter (bloatware) software that comes bundled with Creative players.

Third-party Software

While the bundled software works quite well, I would like to show you a third-party application that is now available for the Rio Karma.  The RioRad Explorer by Red Chair Software is an excellent explorer-like application that simply offers you much more and will unleash the full capabilities of your Rio Karma.  Before we show you their software, I would like to briefly talk a bit about Red Chair Software.  They have been around for some time now and I've been using their software since I owned a Creative Labs Nomad II MG a few years back.  They now support a wide range of MP3 players and are constantly improving their software and adding many new and exciting features.  I highly recommend their product to any who owns a supported MP3 player.  It is worth every penny and is an excellent alternative to the bundled software that comes along with your MP3 player. 

Riorad Explorer

When installed, it will place a Karma icon on your systray.  The icon will light up when you have established a connection with the player.

When you run the software for the first time, it will automatically run a one-time caching of new and modified files.  This will allow faster loading the next time you connect your Karma to your PC.

**click to enlarge**

The Riorad Explorer offers you a user friendly explorer-like interface.  Just like the Rio Music Manager, you can browse through your files by category.

The software will also allow you to synchronize your music collection but unlike the Rio Music Manager, auto synchronization is not currently supported.  I have been told by Red Chair Software that this feature may be implemented in a future release.  They are excellent when it comes to software updates so I'm sure a future build will include this capability.  Regardless, this feature works very well and it will show you both the files that are not on your PC or files not found on your Rio Karma.  You can then choose to transfer these files if desired.

**click to enlarge**

There are many user defined options and just like the Rio Music manager, you can define what directory the Karma should sync to.

**click to enlarge**

Files can be played directly from the player without the need to transfer them over to your PC.

The Riorad Explorer application works flawlessly and I did not encounter and crashes or issues when using the software.  My experience with their product has been positive and their software is quite stable.  The only feature I'm really hoping they will implement is the auto sync functionality and maybe slightly improve the time it takes to connect to the player.

More information on this product can be found on the Red Chair Software Website.

Next: Conclusions