Alternative to Winamp?

Oriel

Hi folks,
I'm getting really annoyed with Winamp of late, so I'm looking to change my mp3 player now.

Things to bear in mind:
- I keep all my mp3 in the playlist (rather than just loading an album at a time like).
- I always have it running, so I want something that will run in the background (i.e. not sitting in task bar, not even in the system tray if possible *)
- I HATE mp3 ID tags, so want to stay as far away from those as possible.
- I don't really want it for MP3 ripping.

Any ideas for a good alternative?

Cheers,
S.


* At the moment I'm running winamp with a fantastic old plugin gen_dot.dll. Basically displays at tiny box in the any corner of the screen, and just clicking in the box brings winamp to the front. You can change the size and colour of the box and which corner of the screen you want it to be in. That way, I have no taskbar and system tray bollocks.

Dun

Originally posted by Sinecure
That way, I have no taskbar and system tray bollocks.

You can always turn that off in Winamp - Preferences -> Options - Display -> Show Winamp in: None

Don't think anybody would convince me to use a different player to Winamp 2.91. First thing that goes in after a clean install.

Lump

WIndows MEdia PLayer


John

Civilian_Target

Same. Winamp 2 = Bees Knees

Mutant_Fruit

i hope to god no-one said windows media player...

My recommendation is Foobar2000. Very small, very customisable, and damn funky.

The jpg file is slightly discoloured, as jpg is kinda crappy, but it gives a good idea what foobar can look like.

And you can make a little box 1 pixel wide, and 1 long, which when you click on it makes foobar appear, if you want. This can be done using Foo Looks (a plugin).

zAbbo

Does winamp2 have "Media Library", which is essential for any music collection with over 100 songs

Pacifico

Window Media Player is class. Especially if your listening to CD's . Does it play MP3's BTW?

Edit : <-- Post count:eek: :eek:

Civilian_Target

Originally posted by bazH
Does winamp2 have "Media Library", which is essential for any music collection with over 100 songs

yes, but what you'd really be wanting is "The Godfather"

http://users.otenet.gr/~jtcliper/tgf/

Brilliant piece of kit, renames all your MP3 files to a standard format you determine, checks the tags against the filename and against freedb.

mr_angry

Winamp3. Seriously.

Winters

Just out of curiosity, what Winamp are you running?

I used to always run 2.91 but since 5 came out ive been sitting on that. Its great, the Media Libary is much better then the ond version in 3 and before. Allows you have have thigns listed in Albums etc. You can also just hide it in the prefiences so as to only have it in the taskbar or system try or both or not even to see it at all.

Also, why do you not like mp3 ID tags?

Lump

Originally posted by Mutant_Fruit
i hope to god no-one said windows media player...

My recommendation is Foobar2000. Very small, very customisable, and damn funky.

The jpg file is slightly discoloured, as jpg is kinda crappy, but it gives a good idea what foobar can look like.

And you can make a little box 1 pixel wide, and 1 long, which when you click on it makes foobar appear, if you want. This can be done using Foo Looks (a plugin).

Did you read any of the replies... I mentioned it, second post..... I was however joking :P



John

Mutant_Fruit

i suppose i should have put " " after that... because i did read those replies .

I also forgot to mention that you can use APE tags with your mp3's, and they are actually the method Foobar prefers in reading track information. So, once you ape tag all your mp3's, you can delete the id3 tags (why you'd want to i don't know though).

D

Why do some people perfer earlier versions of winamp?

PiE

They were quicker and less resource-hungry than the newer versions. Though why anyone would prefer 2.x over 5.x is beyond me.

tuxy

they load faster

Civilian_Target

Winamp 5.01 kept crashing my PC. Should really try 5.02 but just couldn't be bothered. Winamp 2 has served me well for over 3 years, it does everything I want, it's stable and if it ain't broke.....

seriously, why would you upgrade if you don't use visualizations, only play MP3s and OGGs?

mike65

Wierd what some ppl want...I use v2.81 and have done for er years. It does what it says on the tin.

Mike.

Dr_Teeth

I really like Apple's iTunes, it's worth a download for sure.

Its ripping/burning/organising/tagging etc features are superb. Just make sure you turn on the 'Browser' panel (Ctrl-B, or select 'Show Browser' in the Edit menu). The interface is simple, uncluttered and very intuitive.

Oh and the Music Store is good fun, you can't buy anything using it in this country yet but you can still browse through all the songs and play 30 second snippets of each, which is nice..

Teeth.

Creamy Goodness

Originally posted by Sinecure

- I HATE mp3 ID tags, so want to stay as far away from those as possible.

just a thought but have you tried

preferences >> plugins >> input >> nullsoft mpeg audio decoder 3.0 >> title/tags tab >> read ID tags

gets rid of the tags

RE*AC*TOR

I'm using apples itunes as well - its superb - don't think anything can shake a stick at it.

Winters

I used to use iTunes a bit but stopped, because its evil. It takes every possible file it knows and more and will constantly set itself to palying it. Thats very annoying I have to say.

It does have its advantages, such as setting a standard volume level for all the music. And also iPod support, but a plugin for Winamp has sorted that out for me and I now have iPod supprot in Winamp 5 Media Libary. Pity I dont actually have an iPod for it though...

mr_angry

I seriously think Winamp3 is the option you're looking for.

1. Its practical for keeping all your tracks in one playlist.
2. It has the Media Library and the Playlist Editor has up/down buttons which were left out of Winamp5 for some retarded reason.
3. You can have multiple playlists open at one time (Once again, I dunno why Winamp5 did away with this - it was the best feature)
4. You can use all the modern skins.
5. You're already used to the Winamp windows and the proicedures for managing playlists. You wont have to learn a completely new interface.

It makes sense. People just whinge about Winamp3 saying that it uses too much memory (no more than Internet Explorer most of the time), and that it crashes (I've had about 5 crashes in 2 and a half years of using it). I've had at least as many crashes using Media Player and Sonique, and I use them a fraction of the amount I have used Winamp3.

dregin

I like BS Player. It's available free here

Stark

There was an updated plugins package for Winamp3 that solved many issues. After I installed it, I had no more problems with Winamp3.

(Still prefer Winamp5 though).

Mutant_Fruit

(I've had about 5 crashes in 2 and a half years of using it

Has winamp3 really been out that long?

mr_angry

Originally posted by Mutant_Fruit
Has winamp3 really been out that long?

I was using beta versions since they first came out. I'm sure the official release was only about 15 months ago.

Oriel

Originally posted by Winters
Just out of curiosity, what Winamp are you running?

Was running 2.9, then 3, now 5.
Like I said that wee plugin for the dot is good enough for me to hide it from the taskbar and tray.

Also, why do you not like mp3 ID tags?

I just like to have all my files by "Artist - Album - TrackNumber - TrackName".

I'm sick of files called "00001.mp3", but shows up as "Queen - A Kind Of Magic" in winamp or something like that.
Also, I know what year it was released and what genre it is. I just don't want to store this extra info.

As for a media library, I just prefer to have all my mp3s listed in the one window - winamp is great for that, all you need to do is press "j" to get straight to the search function.

Dun

Originally posted by PiE
Though why anyone would prefer 2.x over 5.x is beyond me.

Smaller memory footprint is great, but it's mainly because the Media Library in 5.x has always crashed while importing for me. 2.91 works like a dream, and has the global hotkeys and Media Library, and that's all I need.

Slutmonkey57b

get Mp3Tag http://www.mp3tag.de - will convert all ID3 tags to filenames for you, whatever format you want. And vice versa. In batches. And connects to freedb.

Never thought I'd use a tag utility but it's dead handy.

Dempsey

Originally posted by mr_angry
I seriously think Winamp3 is the option you're looking for.

Go for winamp5 before getting winamp3. winamp3 was the biggest load of pi$$.

Civilian_Target

MP3tags not great. What you be wanting is

The Godfather

daveyjoe

Another vote for iTunes here!

Best music software for organising, creating playlists, ripping and burning CD's.
Especially good if you've got thousand's of songs in your library (like me).