Author Topic: What's your music player of choice? (Read 112705 times)

allen · « **Reply #75 on:** February 17, 2008, 10:38 AM »

Just a small heads-up for users of Billy. It recently got a update

Version 1.04i beta - Feb 15 2008
FLAC support
Last.fm support (playing history)
ID3v2.4 tag support (view only in properties)
Musicbrainz support and replaygain values extracted, no support yet.
Recording with "pre" functionality in radio streams
Dedicated shortcuts for Shuffle/Repeat
Thanks all for the patients..

Quite a nice update if you ask me. Definatly ensured its spot on my usb stick
-ThalSwe (February 17, 2008, 10:21 AM)

Wow! I really didn't expect to see Billy updated, ever. . . thanks for the head's up!

Renegade · « **Reply #76 on:** February 18, 2008, 10:01 AM »

The minimalist simplicity of VUplayer (recommended by Allen) won me over.
-mouser (January 19, 2008, 09:52 AM)

You should see some of the Japanese players -- they take minimalism to the extreme! Play. Pause. Volume. Context menu for everything else. (Or there abouts.) Check out CowScorpion to see some.

But is there no love for the Satanic Music Detector? Is this forum filled only with godless heathens? Where are there the pious and the devout? Have we all lost our faith?

Renegade · « **Reply #77 on:** February 18, 2008, 10:08 AM »

I should probably post a deeper link for audio players at CowScorpion. Here's one example.

There are a lot more with a far smaller UI at Vector. (I can't connect to it for some silly reason...)

Darwin · « **Reply #78 on:** February 18, 2008, 03:41 PM »

Classic:

Curt · « **Reply #79 on:** October 04, 2008, 06:30 PM »

My music player of choice for the time being is Amy. Amy MacDonald

This is the life, Poison Prince; Let's start a band!

Fedorov · « **Reply #80 on:** October 05, 2008, 02:15 PM »

Foobar of course, light and great quality music

wreckedcarzz · « **Reply #81 on:** October 05, 2008, 02:26 PM »

If I am on Windows, I only use WMP (11). The sole reason: it starts up in a flash. Most of the time (90%) I just open my Music folder and use that as what most people use their playlist viewer in their music player for: play this song, now play this song. It doesn't force me to keep the player open if I want to stop listening to music for a short while, and it doesn't use any more resources than explorer does already.

BUT, if I am on Ubuntu (most of the time now at school), Songbird gets the vote. I used to like Amarok, but it has an odd UI - and I have been watching Songbird since EARLY releases, and it is a mature and stable beta program now (0.7, I started watching it at 0.3).

@Curt:

EDIT: And because I get most of my music from Jamglue, I have to write my own ID3 tags. Do that for over 100 songs manually (I have 105 total, 4 from iTunes (DRM stripped)

), and you get to know your music a lot better than you would have ever wanted to.

einstein999999 · « **Reply #82 on:** October 05, 2008, 06:58 PM »

I've been using iTunes a lot lately (I know, it's wonderfully bloated and such, but I haven't had much time to look into other music players lately). I used to use Realplayer 11 Beta, but I've booted it from my system because I got frustrated with its incompatibility with Firefox 3. I used MediaMonkey for a while, but got rid of it for some reason that I can't remember now. I also used Songbird, which I really like, but the last time I used it, it used up a lot of my RAM. Anyway, I'm so glad I stumbled upon this thread. These are some awesome suggestions, and I'll be looking into some of the players suggested here!

Darwin · « **Reply #83 on:** October 05, 2008, 07:06 PM »

[cue maniacal laughter][rant]So... does iTunes still install about 15 services that HAVE to run in order for it to work? The lack of any sort of provision for end-user input into what runs with the program had me screaming like a madman until I finally decided to cut my losses and uninstall it for good. I do not own an iPod and thus don't need to have a service running to enable iTunes to communicate with an iPod. Likewise, I don't need iTunes plugins loading into Outlook when I open it... and so on! Just curious if version 8.x addressed these long-standing beefs. My experience going from 4.x to 5.x to 6.x to 7.x was that rather than addressing users' concerns with each new release Apple ADDED MORE crap that runs with iTunes (and which must be running if you want iTunes to function).[/cue maniacal laughter][/rant]

4wd · « **Reply #84 on:** October 05, 2008, 07:47 PM »

[cue maniacal laughter][rant]...[/cue maniacal laughter][/rant]
-Darwin (October 05, 2008, 07:06 PM)

Your HTML nesting is incorrect, it should be:

[cue maniacal laughter][rant]...[/rant][/cue maniacal laughter]

First offense is a warning, subsequent offenses result in severe ridiculing.

Yours Sincerely,
TMC (The Markup Cops)

Disclaimer: I'm bored, so sue me.
Disclaimer: I think I'm currently on a Biorhythm high and the extra endorphins are playing havoc with my warped sense of humour.

Darwin · « **Reply #85 on:** October 05, 2008, 09:12 PM »

[cue maniacal laughter][rant]...[/cue maniacal laughter][/rant]
-Darwin (October 05, 2008, 07:06 PM)

Your HTML nesting is incorrect, it should be:

[cue maniacal laughter][rant]...[/rant][/cue maniacal laughter]

First offense is a warning, subsequent offenses result in severe ridiculing.

Yours Sincerely,
TMC (The Markup Cops)

Disclaimer: I'm bored, so sue me.
Disclaimer: I think I'm currently on a Biorhythm high and the extra endorphins are playing havoc with my warped sense of humour.
-4wd (October 05, 2008, 07:47 PM)

It was an honest mistake, guv'nor

Curt · « **Reply #86 on:** October 06, 2008, 11:39 AM »

I have four music players of choice.

AIMP2, WinAmp 5.5 Pro, WMP 11, and RealPlayer 11 Plus - in this order.

For background playing, I prefer AIMP2. It will start playing when I start my XP; no questions asked, it will just hide and PLAY :-) But I tend to mass-download music files, and for this reason I very often come across music that I don't want to hear again. And this is where AIMP2 is a disappointment to me; there is no "delete file" button. WinAmp 5.5 Pro does have such a (plugin) button (it has ALL sorts of features), but it won't start playing in the same discrete way AIMP2 does (I think it should be able to (?), but in my setup it won't).

Windows Media Player 11 and RealPlayer 11 Plus are both nice and easy, and quite capable, but also have some proprietary issues. If I record a CD, I can later realize that it was already recorded by "the other", but I wasn't warned.

wreckedcarzz · « **Reply #87 on:** October 07, 2008, 01:51 AM »

[cue maniacal laughter][rant]So... does iTunes still install about 15 services that HAVE to run in order for it to work? The lack of any sort of provision for end-user input into what runs with the program had me screaming like a madman until I finally decided to cut my losses and uninstall it for good. I do not own an iPod and thus don't need to have a service running to enable iTunes to communicate with an iPod. Likewise, I don't need iTunes plugins loading into Outlook when I open it... and so on! Just curious if version 8.x addressed these long-standing beefs. My experience going from 4.x to 5.x to 6.x to 7.x was that rather than addressing users' concerns with each new release Apple ADDED MORE crap that runs with iTunes (and which must be running if you want iTunes to function).[/cue maniacal laughter][/rant]
-Darwin (October 05, 2008, 07:06 PM)

I didn't even read past the end of the first line.

Yea, it still requires to dig into your system like a virus, and it STILL doesn't uninstall correctly on Windows-based computers (Interesting how Apple Software Update re-installs itself and asks to install more crap...

)

Without reading, I am obligated to agree on all points

muntealb · « **Reply #88 on:** October 07, 2008, 02:30 AM »

AIMP (click on External Mirror in the download page to get the 2.5 beta version) is my music player of choice, once I discovered that it can use the DSP plugins for Winamp (basically the DLL of the plugin must be copied in the PlugIns folder of AIMP, then activated from inside the extension panel of AIMP and finally selected in the AIMP DSP-Manager, where the Options button allows to modify the plugin audio settings).

Recommended DSP plugins (all are free):

Stereo Tool

AudioProc

Sound Solution 1.31

P.S. Curt, AIMP does not need a "delete button" because it can delete a selection (one or more files) by pressing Shift+Del.

Curt · « **Reply #89 on:** October 07, 2008, 03:52 AM »

- Thanks for the tip, munthealb. However, I like to have AIMP2 work as discrete as can be, so I don't want to first open the main window. I want a button in the visible mini player.

Screenshot from PS Tray Factory and a WinAmp plugin:

but no such easy button in AIMP2:

- there is plenty with room for the button, I would say.

muntealb · « **Reply #90 on:** October 07, 2008, 06:57 AM »

There is no need for that button, you can do it easier. AIMP supports global shortcuts, so all you have to do is to define a combination of keys for the deletion of the played file (which is selected by default).

Main button of AIMP (left-corner)>Hotkeys>Physically delete selected>Global>Pause/Break (as an example)>Enter (to confirm the deletion)

Curt · « **Reply #91 on:** October 07, 2008, 07:26 AM »

- that is really cool!

Thanks for informing!

But I hate hotkeys in general and still want that fr***** button!

muntealb · « **Reply #92 on:** October 07, 2008, 07:38 AM »

Then write a feature request to Artem Izmaylov (the author of AIMP) : address is in the "About" section.

I wrote him usually about the language file and he answered in 1-5 days.

urlwolf · « **Reply #93 on:** October 07, 2008, 12:22 PM »

I was using a minimal winamp install, then moved to Mediamonkey. They all use the izotope ozone plugin, which improves qualify to my ears.

I have to say I have a high end amp and speakers, and an external soundcard. I have spent a lot of time and money getting the best qualify possible.

But recently I've tried spider player, and... damn! it sounds better than anything I've tested before. It seems to be doing something at 32-bit instead of 16. I never thought that would make a difference. But it does. If anyone wants to play with it and report here, I'd love to see if other people find it better sounding too.

It's the BASS engine; in theory it should not sound different (i.e., XMplay, musicIP etc all use that engine).

Is it the 32-bit processing? If so, why are not all players doing it?
I'd love to hear if there's anything one can do to make MM work at 32-bit, then. Because spider is very basic, it doesn't even talk to last.fm.

superboyac · « **Reply #94 on:** October 07, 2008, 01:53 PM »

Add me to the foobar camp. You can do anything with it, literally.

muntealb · « **Reply #95 on:** October 08, 2008, 05:05 AM »

But recently I've tried spider player, and... damn! it sounds better than anything I've tested before. It seems to be doing something at 32-bit instead of 16. I never thought that would make a difference. But it does. If anyone wants to play with it and report here, I'd love to see if other people find it better sounding too.

Is it the 32-bit processing? If so, why are not all players doing it?
I'd love to hear if there's anything one can do to make MM work at 32-bit, then. Because spider is very basic, it doesn't even talk to last.fm.
-urlwolf (October 07, 2008, 12:22 PM)

Spider Player sounds good, indeed. But it does not support DSP plugins, so AIMP + DSPplugin sounds better (for example AIMP+AudioProc).

It's not about 16 or 32 bit. Spider Player uses 16 bit by default and can be changed to 32 bit in the sound options (I noticed no difference). AIMP also can use 32 bit (Options>Playing).

LE: Well, Spider supports Winamp DSP plugins (it has by default one named "Equalizer by nevi"), and they are available from the DSP Manager which can be displayed by clicking on a little button with a speaker on it, that is present in the Equalizer panel (which must be displayed of course). I did not click on that button previously because it is identical to those used for the mute/unmute function.

urlwolf · « **Reply #96 on:** October 10, 2008, 04:01 AM »

Thanks for the 32-bit heads up.
I'll try this when I get home.
AIMP is very promising. Unfortunately it seems to crash before importing my entire library. Memory usage is superb.

Do you know if it supports replaygain?

muntealb · « **Reply #97 on:** October 10, 2008, 10:20 AM »

AIMP supports some normalization natively : DSPManager>Auto-normalize sound volume

And it supports ReplayGain via the "Input MAD" plugin (copy the files in the AIMP PlugIns folder, then activate RG in the Input MAD options) :

http://www.aimp.ru/i...amp;category=plugins
Plugins>in_mad.dll>Options>Decoder>ReplayGain>Enable

http://www.hydrogena....php?showtopic=60454

urlwolf · « **Reply #98 on:** October 10, 2008, 06:31 PM »

THanks muntealb!
But I guess you lose the default engine (BASS) which sounds very good to me.
Does MAD take care of ogg files too, or just mp3? I have quite a lot of oggs.

muntealb · « **Reply #99 on:** October 11, 2008, 02:31 AM »

The MAD plugin is only for mp3. But if you have ogg files you can add ReplayGain tags by using VorbisGain. Unzip the program archive in a folder, for example in C:\vg . Make a copy of your ogg files in a folder, for example in C:\ogg . Then open a DOS (command prompt) window, launch replaygain.exe and input a command to add tags to all the files in the ogg folder. The command will look like this:

C:\vg\release>vorbisgain c:\ogg

Press Enter and the files will be processed.