# In the mood for a new music player



## hellrazor (Jun 27, 2012)

I'm looking for a new music player, there are a few things I want:

start fast
For it to not slow down my entire computer
For it to not take up my whole fucking screen
The default file action (double-clicking in explorer) should be to enqueue the song (this is important - I'm about to throw AIMP3 because of this shit)
To not look like ass
Good quality sound
Free
Let me manage my own damn music

I've been looking and every once in a while something gets most of those (Winamp, AIMP3, etc.) but then does something unbearable (Winamp takes too damn long to start and hogs up too much of my precious minerals, AIMP3 won't enqueue by default, etc.) and everything else constantly tries to get me to use it's "fantastic" media library while simultaneously launching a full scale invasion on my monitor.


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## Yo_Wattup (Jun 27, 2012)

Winamp starts hella fast for me. I like audio quality above all else, and also an appropriate player for 15000 songs so winamp is ideal for me. Why are you using windows explorer for song selection anyway?


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## AlienIsGOD (Jun 27, 2012)

VLC is what i use  http://www.videolan.org/vlc/index.html

i just double click on a song in my music folder and it loads up in VLC ready to go.  VLC is easily one of the best media players FREE or otherwise.


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## Ravenas (Jun 27, 2012)

iTunes is probably the best and most versatile music player imo.


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## AlienIsGOD (Jun 27, 2012)

Ravenas said:


> iTunes is probably the best and most versatile music player imo.


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## hellrazor (Jun 27, 2012)

Yo_Wattup said:


> Why are you using windows explorer for song selection anyway?



Why not? It can sort however I need it to, I can move files back and forth, cut, copy, paste, it's only open when I need it to be, can edit tags, rename files, can play music on the fly if it's in some odd folder, etc. Why should I use anything else?



AlienIsGOD said:


> VLC is what i use  http://www.videolan.org/vlc/index.html


Yeah, that's what I was thinking (I already use it for movies all the time), but it's still too big and I can't figure out how to keep it on top (quite helpful with explorer).


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## hellrazor (Jun 27, 2012)

OK, I got AIMP3 to enqueue by default. Show's over, boys.


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## Yo_Wattup (Jun 27, 2012)

Ravenas said:


> iTunes is probably the best and most versatile music player imo.


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## CaptainFailcon (Jun 27, 2012)

Aimp3 for the win


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## xfire (Jun 27, 2012)

Try Media Monkey. 
http://www.mediamonkey.com/

Or
http://www.helium-music-manager.com/
Enabling Auto-Enqueue
http://www.helium-music-manager.com/auto-enqueue-options/


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## 1freedude (Jun 27, 2012)

foobar 2000.

http://www.foobar2000.org/

many add ons.  we used it for our wedding.  I have it pinned to taskbar.


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## CaptainFailcon (Jun 27, 2012)

media-monkey should burn in hell


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## CaptainFailcon (Jun 27, 2012)

1freedude said:


> foobar 2000.
> 
> http://www.foobar2000.org/
> 
> many add ons.  we used it for our wedding.  I have it pinned to taskbar.



foobar requires a tonne of effort not to look like ass and its quality isnt on par with BASS based players like Aimp2 AImp3


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## scoutingwraith (Jun 27, 2012)

Either use Winamp or Foobar200 personally. Ive been using Winamp since it came out way back.


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## TheMailMan78 (Jun 27, 2012)

iTunes works great.


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## ShRoOmAlIsTiC (Jun 27, 2012)

i still use mpc-hc.  plays all formats.  Only thing i dont like about itunes is no flac,  you need to convert everything to alac.


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## micropage7 (Jun 27, 2012)

TheMailMan78 said:


> iTunes works great.



yeah but the size is too much just for music player
i use foobar (if you dont mind with their plain looks)
mediamonkey is nice
or you can try all in one like vlc media player or media player classic aka K Lite


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## baggpipes (Jun 27, 2012)

just get a better computer... problem solved....


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## Drone (Jun 27, 2012)

@ hellrazor if you want a player that complies requirements you've listed then switch to Linux. You won't find players better than Banshee or Amarok. Their Windows versions ain't that great.



I agree with 1freedude.  I love foobar's minimalistic approach. Never cared for plugins and all that stuff.


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## CaptainFailcon (Jun 27, 2012)

Drone said:


> @ hellrazor if you want a player that complies requirements you've listed then switch to Linux. You won't find players better than Banshee or Amarok. Their Windows versions ain't that great.
> 
> 
> 
> I agree with 1freedude.  I love foobar's minimalistic approach. Never cared for plugins and all that stuff.



changing the Os just so he can use amarock/banshe both of those are heavyer then either foobar or AIMP3 >>>


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## Drone (Jun 27, 2012)

CaptainFailcon said:
			
		

> changing the Os just so he can use amarock/banshe both of those are heavyer then either foobar or AIMP3 >>>



Congrats. You completely missed the point. 

a) there's no universal and small player for windows which does everything
b) best audio players can be found in Linux
c) Linux audio players which have been ported for windows are heavy (of course they are, because they are ported)


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## Bo$$ (Jun 27, 2012)

VLC is awesome, easy playlist, can add whole folders


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## claylomax (Jun 27, 2012)

1freedude said:


> foobar 2000.
> 
> http://www.foobar2000.org/
> 
> many add ons.  we used it for our wedding.  I have it pinned to taskbar.



The best. The only one that plays .mpc without plugins.


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## Pioneer.twelve (Jun 27, 2012)

Foobar 2000 is amazing. Ever since discovering it I haven't used any other music player.


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## naoan (Jun 27, 2012)

claylomax said:


> The best. The only one that plays .mpc without plugins.



AIMP can do that.


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## micropage7 (Jun 27, 2012)

Pioneer.twelve said:


> Foobar 2000 is amazing. Ever since discovering it I haven't used any other music player.


yeah and its light weight too
but may be you need to get specific what kind or music player that you need? like you need great plug in, visualization etc
if you just want music player, there are many good stuff out there


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## FordGT90Concept (Jun 27, 2012)

I use Zune.  I have it set up to stream music from my server (5079 songs indexed).  It uses, at most, 7% CPU and 160 MiB and that's while playing a 320 kbps MP3 and doing its screensaver thing.





There is absolutely nothing music related on my computer except the Zune application.  It is all remote (mostly revolving around ID3Tag in every song).


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## CaptainFailcon (Jun 27, 2012)

Drone said:


> Congrats. You completely missed the point.
> 
> a) there's no universal and small player for windows which does everything
> b) best audio players can be found in Linux
> c) Linux audio players which have been ported for windows are heavy (of course they are, because they are ported)



A: yes its called AIMP3 runs with less then ~30MB of ram
B: No
c: i was talking about the linux versions both amarock and banshe are heavier then AIMP3


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## Drone (Jun 27, 2012)

CaptainFailcon said:


> yes its called AIMP3 runs with less then ~30MB of ram



It's your subjective opinion. And by today's standards ram usage is no longer a problem.


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## remixedcat (Jun 27, 2012)

Media Jukebox from j-river!!! Been using it for 2 years now it's very powerful and features a full music manager that has features such as:

1)built in file browser. No need to open explorer to manage your music
2)playlist to folder and folder to playlist
3)fully customizable columns, etc...
4)auto playlists
5)individual playlist export
6)and lots more

it also features a DSP with the following:

1)full EQ with presets and custom presets
2)effects to simulate different environments
3)virtual subwoofer to give more punch with several options
4)surround field enhancement
5)overflow handling
6)output format options such as: channels, surround mixing (JRSS virtual surround, cloning, or none), subwoofer crossover w/ subclarity option, bitdepth,sample rate controls
7)volume levelling:track or album based, replay gain, adjustment:auto fixed or none
8)distortion effects


please note: any of these may also be applied to cds you burn as well.

other features:

1)customizable media info display with addition of virtually any type of data fields. 
2)your usual media player features you expect in other media players
3)playback of any media type
4)ripping to flac,mp3, wma, etc with CBR,VBR or ABR. 

and tons more other options!!!! 

it's free as well. skinnable.


here's mine:


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## newtekie1 (Jun 27, 2012)

Drone said:


> It's your subjective opinion. And by today's standards ram usage is no longer a problem.



So your reply to his subjective opinion which was a reply to your subjective opinions is that his opinion is subjective...


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## Drone (Jun 27, 2012)

newtekie1 said:


> So your reply to his subjective opinion which was a reply to your subjective opinions is that his opinion is subjective...



Your bird is a urinal ... or how they say that ... no matter. And no my opinion wasn't subjective, just a fact. Linux audio players are great. I bet everyone knows that.


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## TheMailMan78 (Jun 27, 2012)

iTunes owns them all.


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## newtekie1 (Jun 27, 2012)

Drone said:


> Your bird is a urinal ... or how they say that ... no matter. And no my *opinion* wasn't subjective, just a *fact*. Linux audio players are great. I bet everyone knows that.



Sorry...what?  Seriously, your opinions are just that, your subjective opinions, they are not fact.


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## Drone (Jun 27, 2012)

newtekie1 said:
			
		

> Sorry...what?  Seriously, your opinions are just that, your subjective opinions, they are not fact.



 Who are you anyway? A lawyer? It wasn't my opinion, it wasn't subjective and it was a fact. Linux has a lot of great audio applications just as macs have awesome graphic tools. What's the point of your comments and nitpicking anyway? Or maybe you're a hyper audio expert or maybe just his lover who knows. *shrugs* Ain't gonna waste my time on this.


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## TheMailMan78 (Jun 27, 2012)

newtekie1 said:


> Sorry...what?  Seriously, your opinions are just that, your subjective opinions, they are not fact.



Your opinion, his opinions are subjective is subjective as his opinions are fact to him.


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## CaptainFailcon (Jun 27, 2012)

Linux sucks
quite possibly the worse thing to happen to computing in decades


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## naoan (Jun 27, 2012)

Drone said:


> Your bird is a urinal ... or how they say that ... no matter. And no my opinion wasn't subjective, just a fact. Linux audio players are great. I bet everyone knows that.



I bet they are mate.



Spoiler











That was 4 years ago, I dunno if they grow more. 



CaptainFailcon said:


> Linux sucks
> quite possibly the worse thing to happen to computing in decades



Why? because you don't use them and doesn't affect you in any way?


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## CaptainFailcon (Jun 27, 2012)

naoan said:


> I bet they are mate.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Obviously you failed to See that Obvious troll was Obvious


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## remixedcat (Jun 27, 2012)

None of the linux players were near to media jukebox....

the DSP manager for media jukebox:


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## newtekie1 (Jun 27, 2012)

Drone said:


> Who are you anyway? A lawyer? It wasn't my opinion, it wasn't subjective and it was a fact. Linux has a lot of great audio applications just as macs have awesome graphic tools. What's the point of your comments and nitpicking anyway? Or maybe you're a hyper audio expert or maybe just his lover who knows. *shrugs* Ain't gonna waste my time on this.



Yes, it was your opinion, you said it yourself, and no it is not fact.

To say something is the best it has to fit the situation at hand.  Everyone's situation is different.  That is why when you ask what is the best xyz program, you generally get 10 different people with 10 different answers.

Just using the Linux music program as an example, they aren't the best if the person isn't currently using linux, or isn't willing to switch to linux. They also aren't really that much better than some offerings available on Windows, so the switch to Linux just to use them isn't warranted in most cases. 



TheMailMan78 said:


> Your opinion, his opinions are subjective is subjective as his opinions are fact to him.



Everyone things their opinions are correct, that doesn't make them a fact.  Facts are true no matter what situation, since everyones needs are different for audio programs, his opinions can't be fact here.


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## remixedcat (Jun 27, 2012)

ok has anyone took the time to check out media jukebox instead of fighting over bullshit?


MJ resource usage:


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## AphexDreamer (Jun 27, 2012)

1freedude said:


> foobar 2000.
> 
> http://www.foobar2000.org/
> 
> many add ons.  we used it for our wedding.  I have it pinned to taskbar.



This. Low mem footprint (using 30,000 K for me), customizable, like the interface and everything else, plugins, lots of stuff. 

Foobar is awesome. Get milkdrop the best Music Visualizer out there hands down.


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## TheMailMan78 (Jun 27, 2012)

newtekie1 said:


> Everyone things their opinions are correct, that doesn't make them a fact.  Facts are true no matter what situation, since everyones needs are different for audio programs, his opinions can't be fact here.


 They are fact to him.......not to you or I however.


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## remixedcat (Jun 27, 2012)

MJ's usage is usually lower then that however, I typically load playlists that have over 2000 songs in them like the complete Future Trance and Dream Dance series in playlists of thier own and FT has 60 vol. and DD has 63 vol.


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## AphexDreamer (Jun 27, 2012)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_J4OXiZkm3Y&hd=1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHGzN5xvrw8&feature=related

No two Foobar2000's are the same.


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## hellrazor (Jun 27, 2012)

baggpipes said:


> just get a better computer... problem solved....



Oh, are you paying?


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## FordGT90Concept (Jun 27, 2012)

remixedcat said:


> ok has anyone took the time to check out media jukebox instead of fighting over bullshit?
> 
> 
> MJ resource usage:
> https://dl.dropbox.com/u/82958834/MJ-TSK-MGR.png


Yes, I quite using it a long time ago.  I don't remember why but something about it pissed me off one too many times.


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## remixedcat (Jun 27, 2012)

what pissed you off????

now, coming from a simple media player like zune there is a learning curve to media jukebox..... is that it? i figured it out right away.... 

and you develop software so you should have figured  it out right away with no problems....


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## FordGT90Concept (Jun 27, 2012)

I think mostly the ads and the inability to change startup away from the ad pages.  I ended up firewalling the program.

Then later, I got tired of having to search for stuff.  It's intended to work with playlists and I don't like using playlists.  I usually listen to an album, genre, or an artist.  Zune did that in a few clicks, not to mention, automatically adding/removing songs as they are added/removed from the music directory(s).


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## remixedcat (Jun 27, 2012)

FordGT90Concept said:


> I think mostly the ads and the inability to change startup away from the ad pages.  I ended up firewalling the program.
> 
> Then later, I got tired of having to search for stuff.  It's intended to work with playlists and I don't like using playlists.  I usually listen to an album, genre, or an artist.  Zune did that in a few clicks, not to mention, automatically adding/removing songs as they are added/removed from the music directory(s).



It's a realtime media manager that's why....  it also does have an artist and album explorer as well:







it's not ads.... it just starts to amazon like 1 out of ever 5 times I open it. and I've left MJ open for like 3 weeks. so i rarely se the startup. Plus this is the free version of media center which is 40 bucks but gives you HTPC interface, Zones which you can send 5 different songs to 5 different areas of your house for example...., it also gives you more audio processing options and better encoders and lots of other stuff. it's prolly the most complex media program out there as far as Jriver Media Center is concerned.


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## FordGT90Concept (Jun 28, 2012)

A wall of text isn't as useful as this...





Amazon is a store and thus, an ad.  I don't want to go there, it took me there because it wanted me to buy something from there.

I restart everyday so naturally, I'd see that message frequently.  I also don't keep music players open unless I play something so I would end up seeing the 404 page not found (thanks to firewall) many times a day on some days.

Zune is free.  Every device in my house can play any song it has access to without any limitations except number of active network connections to my server.

If I really want to adjust the sound, I do it via hardware DAC.


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## 95Viper (Jun 28, 2012)

Media Players are sorta like cars, you pick one out that meets your own needs, wants, and expectations.

I like using Spider Player and Spider Player PRO is completely free now.

Spider Player PRO is completely free now! Please use the following license key to unlock all the PRO features:
27U3Z909I95-KK147A893S4K6Y1M0F-780363812
(enter carefully, make sure there are no leading or trailing spaces, but don't remove the dashes)

See registration instructions here.

Features:


Spoiler






> Features
> 
> *32-bit sound processing for crystal clear sound*
> Spider Player can process sound with double precision internally. So even if your sound card is not capable of output in such resolution, the sound quality is still improved. The difference is especially noticeable, if DSP effects (such as peaking equalizer) are enabled.
> ...


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## remixedcat (Jun 28, 2012)

does it show real time bitrate (on VBR files it will change the displayed bitrate in real time instead of just the static average bitrate)? or as much data as MJ does?  

also does it display how much overflow (clipping) is happening in your songs? cna it do normalization based on standards and not some wonky shit? it prolly uses that SRS wow crap.... LOL.... 

and zune isn't as HARDCORE as MEDIA JUKEBOX IS!!!! seriously....


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## FordGT90Concept (Jun 28, 2012)

Ever heard of information overload?  I don't care about those things.  I just want to hear my music.

It says nothing about SRS anywhere.


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## remixedcat (Jun 28, 2012)

like I said it's not an ad it's an amazon start page that only gets displayed 1/5th of the time or less that MJ ever gets opened. it takes 1 click to get off that screen. it's not a problem for me and I don't let that get in the way of using it. 

and I have a harder time reading the zune UI than I do on MJ.... the text is way lighter, thus takes me longer to read it.... and lots of wasted space.



you use IE9 without adblockers but complain about that seldom appearing start page????


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## CaptainFailcon (Jun 28, 2012)

I don't understand whats so awesome about media monkey its bloated slow and a pain in the ass most of the time and its dsp effects are easily replicated with winamp plugins(AIMP3 can use most Winamp DSP/input plugins)


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## FordGT90Concept (Jun 28, 2012)

remixedcat said:


> and I have a harder time reading the zune UI than I do on MJ.... the text is way lighter, thus takes me longer to read it.... and lots of wasted space.


I had it full screen for that pic, usually it's only 1363x693 (40.9% of the desktop).  Black on white is very easy to read. 




remixedcat said:


> you use IE9 without adblockers but complain about that seldom appearing start page????


I don't go to websites with intrusive ads.  I don't use any adware software (except Steam but that's kind of unavoidable ).


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## newtekie1 (Jun 28, 2012)

I'm with Ford, the Zune software is actually my favorite for playing music.  If think the album art is a waste of space, fine, you can switch to an all text view.  But the feature I like the most is that I can click the little icon next to the minimize button and it turns into a tiny window that stay on top of all other windows, so I can leave it sitting down in the corner to easily access the player controls even with 15 windows open. A nice feature when I'm on one of my rigs that doesn't have a keyboard with media keys.


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## FordGT90Concept (Jun 28, 2012)

I was not aware of that, neat.


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## CaptainFailcon (Jun 28, 2012)

newtekie1 said:


> I'm with Ford, the Zune software is actually my favorite for playing music.  If think the album art is a waste of space, fine, you can switch to an all text view.  But the feature I like the most is that I can click the little icon next to the minimize button and it turns into a tiny window that stay on top of all other windows, so I can leave it sitting down in the corner to easily access the player controls even with 15 windows open. A nice feature when I'm on one of my rigs that doesn't have a keyboard with media keys.



like this http://cl.ly/HiTi
and this
http://cl.ly/Hi5V
or this
http://cl.ly/Hie5
o and this it auto retrives art
http://cl.ly/Hi8u
and this
http://cl.ly/HjjI
all in a 6.6MB installer yea ... fuck zune 
doesn't even use more then 60MB of ram even with over a 1000 tracks loaded and every plugin under the sun loaded uses WASAPI ... pretty much the best player I have found
O yea it also converts audio http://cl.ly/HiOn
 and heres the media library http://cl.ly/Hien


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## remixedcat (Jun 28, 2012)

FordGT90Concept said:


> I was not aware of that, neat.



and you've been using that software for how long? LOL...


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## newtekie1 (Jun 28, 2012)

CaptainFailcon said:


> like this http://cl.ly/HiTi
> and this
> http://cl.ly/Hi5V
> or this
> ...



Well that is good for you, I prefer Zune, it organized my music collection so much better than  AIMP.

I'd care about the size of the installer...but my 50MB/s internet connection doesn't care so I don't.

I'd care about the ~80MB of RAM used by Zune, but my 8GB of RAM doesn't care so I don't.


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## remixedcat (Jun 28, 2012)

I don't need a player to do it. I organize well myself on my drives. I make mood playlists and I play based on mood and style rather then artist. I mostly listen to compilations.

zune/wmp/itunes seems to be a casual player and Media Jukebox/Foobar/Mediamonkey are the professional players.


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## newtekie1 (Jun 28, 2012)

remixedcat said:


> I don't need a player to do it. I organize well myself on my drives. I make mood playlists and I play based on mood and style rather then artist. I mostly listen to compilations.



Actually, I organize everything on my drive as well, but Zune makes it easy to find what I want quicker.


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## AhokZYashA (Jun 28, 2012)

foobar2000 is a great player, 
especially if you add WASAPI on to the plugin, 
simply the best free audio player

or if you want to pay some money, J-Play is excellent


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## hellrazor (Jun 28, 2012)

I'm with Captain Fail on this. Zune doesn't seem too bad, but media monkey takes all sorts of space to show me all sorts of shit I care not for.


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## remixedcat (Jun 28, 2012)

J-Play has from memory playback just like Media Jukebox does! awesome!


and might as well show yah more options I got!!!!


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## remixedcat (Jun 28, 2012)

with zune can you rip to a single .mp3 file and a .cue for dj mixed cds? my media player can.


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## newtekie1 (Jun 28, 2012)

Awesome, I'm sure it is filled with a bunch of other useless to me features too!


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## Solaris17 (Jun 28, 2012)

I agree http://www.foobar2000.org/

foobar is awesome.


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## remixedcat (Jun 28, 2012)

ok, I use what I want and you use what you want.... ok... let's float this boat.


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## CaptainFailcon (Jun 28, 2012)

AIMP3 has a Adjuster for the full file buffering nothing new winamp also supports this


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## CaptainFailcon (Jun 28, 2012)

full file buffering was cool back in the day of Pentium 133's and 5.25inch Quantum fireball hard-rives
now its just better to turn it off


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## FordGT90Concept (Jun 28, 2012)

remixedcat said:


> and you've been using that software for how long? LOL...


Like I said, I'm all about the music, not the playa player.


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## micropage7 (Jun 28, 2012)

remixedcat said:


> ok, I use what I want and you use what you want.... ok... let's float this boat.



yeah every one has their own fav
the best apps is meet what you need


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## hellrazor (Jun 28, 2012)

Yes, I was actually playing a song.


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## Millennium (Jun 28, 2012)

Just trying AIMP3. Impressed so far - thanks for the recommendation.


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## micropage7 (Jun 28, 2012)

Millennium said:


> Just trying AIMP3. Impressed so far - thanks for the recommendation.




hope you enjoy it

sometimes you prefer one thing than another coz you feel its the right player for you
so if you wanna try other, thats ok
just find what player that you need


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