Is there a decent music player for mac?

RichyX

itunes isn't compatible enough and VLC player and Real have rubbish media library abilities.

Really missing Winamp since I moved to mac.

Thomas_S_Hunterson

Songbird

RichyX

Sean_K wrote: »

Songbird

Doesn't work with WMA last time I checked.

thecommander

RichyX wrote: »

itunes isn't compatible enoug

What you want to play?

dubmick

I'm guessing flac files

Thomas_S_Hunterson

RichyX wrote: »

Doesn't work with WMA last time I checked.

Look on this as an opportunity to ditch crappy WMA and stick to open formats.

Red Alert

WMA is awful format as regards compatibility. If they're ripped from CD's you are probably better off re-ripping them - quicktime can transcode but I'd say that would make them sound awful.

RichyX

Red Alert wrote: »

WMA is awful format as regards compatibility. If they're ripped from CD's you are probably better off re-ripping them - quicktime can transcode but I'd say that would make them sound awful.

All of the mp3 players I've owned and my car head unit are compatible with wma.

The only other option with most of them is mp3, which isn't great, or ogg, which I like, but the car and some of the players won't use it.

What other option is there?

cornbb

Think you're stuck with iTunes or VLC OP. The lack of a decent range of media players is one of the few things I really miss after moving to Mac. There are so many things I don't like about iTunes its not even funny I'm at a loss as to why someone hasn't developed a decent alternative, they'd clean up I reckon.

RichyX

cornbb wrote: »

Think you're stuck with iTunes or VLC OP. The lack of a decent range of media players is one of the few things I really miss after moving to Mac. There are so many things I don't like about iTunes its not even funny I'm at a loss as to why someone hasn't developed a decent alternative, they'd clean up I reckon.

Yeah, seems VLC is my best option.
iTunes has that transcode thing, but that's bound to impact audio quality so it's as good as useless.

pleasant Co.

cog? play? vox?

Are any of those of use to you?

conchubhar1

i love itunes

but i do have an ipod so...

oneofakind32

There is just no decent alternative to an ipod/itunes when you have a mac. Bite the bullet, I reckon you'd pick up a 30 gig one about 100 or so at this stage

conchubhar1

ah there is

but why mess with perfection?

Thomas_S_Hunterson

conchubhar1 wrote: »

ah there is

but why mess with perfection?

iTunes seems a bit sloppy to me. It completely locks up when it's doing anything with the filesystem (adding tracks, writing metadata etc)

cornbb

Sean_K wrote: »

iTunes seems a bit sloppy to me. It completely locks up when it's doing anything with the filesystem (adding tracks, writing metadata etc)

There are some completely stupid things about iTunes that drive me nuts. For example, when I open the application it will not remember the last thing that was playing before I quit and will just play the first thing in my library.

conchubhar1

hmm i wouldnt see much use in that function

i see why it remembers where a vid was playing - but a song would be pointless

why would you turn off itunes and then restart it and want to starting to listen to the song again half way through

RichyX

oneofakind32 wrote: »

There is just no decent alternative to an ipod/itunes when you have a mac. Bite the bullet, I reckon you'd pick up a 30 gig one about 100 or so at this stage

So just because I bought a mac I should go and buy an ipod too?
This MacBookPro is a piece of overpriced junk so I'm not really in the market for any more of their oh so wonderful form-over-function hardware.

conchubhar1

RichyX wrote: »

So just because I bought a mac I should go and buy an ipod too?
This MacBookPro is a piece of overpriced junk so I'm not really in the market for any more of their oh so wonderful form-over-function hardware.

i like to pay a high price for something without researching it, then complain

much ye?

RichyX

conchubhar1 wrote: »

i like to pay a high price for something without researching it, then complain

much ye?

I did plenty of research, months and months of it fyi.
I needed portable Final Cut Studio and sadly this was the best option.

Sad Professor

RichyX wrote: »

This MacBookPro is a piece of overpriced junk so I'm not really in the market for any more of their oh so wonderful form-over-function hardware.

What other problems are you having?

RichyX

Sad Professor wrote: »

What other problems are you having?

- only 2 usb ports
- gloss screen
- poor speakers
- location of speakers means screen must be open
- laptop automatically goes to sleep when screen is closed
- Sharp body makes it painful to use the touchpad for any length of time
- wonky fitting screen doesn't sit evenly
- only LCD I've ever owned that has had dead pixels
- noisy DVD drive not easily made region free
- volume resetting when headphones are plugged in nearly deafens me when I forget about that "feature"
- firewire 800 connection
- obscene price for the spec of the thing
- lack of delete key

Those are the ones I can think of off the top of my head.
I love the OS, it's just that my own MacBook Pro and a lot of the Mac's in college are pretty badly made imo.
I don't think there's a Mac mouse in the entire college that works properly.

conchubhar1

RichyX wrote: »

- only 2 usb ports
- gloss screen
- poor speakers
- location of speakers means screen must be open
- laptop automatically goes to sleep when screen is closed
- Sharp body makes it painful to use the touchpad for any length of time
- wonky fitting screen doesn't sit evenly
- only LCD I've ever owned that has had dead pixels
- noisy DVD drive not easily made region free
- volume resetting when headphones are plugged in nearly deafens me when I forget about that "feature"
- firewire 800 connection
- obscene price for the spec of the thing
- lack of delete key

Those are the ones I can think of off the top of my head.
I love the OS, it's just that my own MacBook Pro and a lot of the Mac's in college are pretty badly made imo.
I don't think there's a Mac mouse in the entire college that works properly.

- nope glossy only - but if you dont like that there are other laptops
-you can get a hub for more usb's
-speakers arent bad - if they are use earphones or external speakers
-location of them is crap but ye - you did research so this was known
-you can get a prog to stop it from sleeping when the screen is closed
-dont mean to be cheeky - but in general stay away from sharp things
-get apple to fix that screen - free even if out of warranty
-same with screen - are you sure that happened on its own?
-noisy mostly when you move the laptop when disk is in it - shouldnt do anyway - vlc can play all region dvds with no limit
-check the volume - takes 2 seconds max
-you knew this was a feature of the mac
- you are comparing that spec to pc - diff in reality
- is cmd backspace or right click cut/delete really that dificult???!?

college facilities - do they have perfectly running pc's - really?


im not trying to be cheeky - but if you half checked these before or asked how to fix some of them after - you would be left with few problems

Sad Professor

RichyX:

Some of them are legitimate criticisms (the glossy screen), some are nit-picky and some are just silly. None of them justify your earlier statement. You'd be hard pressed to find a computer with no issues whatsoever, no matter how much you paid for it. You could come up with a similar list for any PC notebook. If you think your Mac is faulty you should get after Apple.

Macs aren't perfect. But most of us here believe they beat the alternative. Yes, they are expensive but I think they are worth it.

RichyX

conchubhar1 wrote: »

-screen type is an option - i think - so you can choose gloss or not?
-you can get a hub for more usb's
-speakers arent bad - if they are use earphones or external speakers
-location of them is crap but ye - you did research so this was known
-you can get a prog to stop it from sleeping when the screen is closed
-dont mean to be cheeky - but in general stay away from sharp things
-get apple to fix that screen - free even if out of warranty
-same with screen - are you sure that happened on its own?
-noisy mostly when you move the laptop when disk is in it - shouldnt do anyway - vlc can play all region dvds with no limit
-check the volume - takes 2 seconds max
-you knew this was a feature of the mac
- you are comparing that spec to pc - diff in reality
- is cmd backspace or right click cut/delete really that dificult???!?

college facilities - do they have perfectly running pc's - really?


im not trying to be cheeky - but if you half checked these before or asked how to fix some of them after - you would be left with few problems

Umm, this is a current MacBook Pro, so a lot of what you said doesn't apply.
Most of the problem's I've mentioned have workarounds, I'm well aware of that so you can stop insinuating I'm an idiot. The fact is you shouldn't need to download insomnia just so you can close your laptop screen without it sleeping.

This isn't the old windows Vs. Mac debate, this is me saying I'm disappointed with Apple on the hardware front.

So, any other suggestions on the media player front?
I tried Kyaya, but that seems to crash a lot and has a poor interface.

conchubhar1

Sad Professor wrote: »

Yes, they are expensive but I think they are worth it.

the only thing is 260 difference from aliminium casing at a 40 gb increase in hard drive space and you can by a tb external drive for less than the difference

Thomas_S_Hunterson

People must be listening to some angsty **** on here.

/sticks on a bit of EST

conchubhar1

RichyX wrote: »

Umm, this is a current MacBook Pro, so a lot of what you said doesn't apply.
Most of the problem's I've mentioned have workarounds, I'm well aware of that so you can stop insinuating I'm an idiot. The fact is you shouldn't need to download insomnia just so you can close your laptop screen without it sleeping.

Unless you have a decent answer for my initial problem then kindly be quiet.

i did answer it - the points you mentioned its irrelevant if it the current one

conchubhar1

RichyX wrote: »

Umm, this is a current MacBook Pro, so a lot of what you said doesn't apply.
Most of the problem's I've mentioned have workarounds, I'm well aware of that so you can stop insinuating I'm an idiot. The fact is you shouldn't need to download insomnia just so you can close your laptop screen without it sleeping.

This isn't the old windows Vs. Mac debate, this is me saying I'm disappointed with Apple on the hardware front.

So, any other suggestions on the media player front?
I tried Kyaya, but that seems to crash a lot and has a poor interface.

you can install xp or vista through parallels, vmware or bootcamp (free? and built into osx i think)

conchubhar1

RichyX wrote: »

Doesn't work with WMA last time I checked.

you could use itunes to convert the wma

RichyX

conchubhar1 wrote: »

you could use itunes to convert the wma

With a drop in quality, not really worth it tbh.

I'm running XP through VM Ware for web dev work, but it's not worth booting it alongside OS X just to use Winamp!

conchubhar1

can you use bootcamp then - or there deffo is some option where you run both simutaneoisly and since it a new pro it shouldnt be slow either

RichyX

conchubhar1 wrote: »

can you use bootcamp then - or there deffo is some option where you run both simutaneoisly and since it a new pro it shouldnt be slow either

I'd rather be in OS X. Bootcamp can only the 9600GT gfx card anyway, which seriously heats things up.
At the moment I only have 2GB RAM so it runs a fair bit slower when VM Ware is going too.

Think I might just have to live with VLC, it isn't that bad for audio I guess.

Pyro Boy

RichyX wrote: »

Doesn't work with WMA last time I checked.

I thought this addon worked to play protected Windows Media Audio http://addons.songbirdnest.com/search?query=wma

RichyX

Pyro Boy wrote: »

I thought this addon worked to play protected Windows Media Audio http://addons.songbirdnest.com/search?query=wma

Unfortunately that's only for the windows version.

PeakOutput

conchubhar1 wrote: »

hmm i wouldnt see much use in that function

i see why it remembers where a vid was playing - but a song would be pointless

why would you turn off itunes and then restart it and want to starting to listen to the song again half way through

there is definitely use for that function

i listen to alot of audio books adn its so annoying having to write down what track your on if you want to turn off your laptop

also anyone who listens to dj mixes like the essential mix on radio one may not want to listen to the whole thing in one go

cornbb

conchubhar1 wrote: »

hmm i wouldnt see much use in that function

i see why it remembers where a vid was playing - but a song would be pointless

why would you turn off itunes and then restart it and want to starting to listen to the song again half way through

Its not so much about listening to the same song, but resuming the same playlist, album or whatever. Its a real annoyance having to navigate to where I was before instead of having to listen to the first song in my library, every time I start iTunes. Its the same with my iPhone, every time I use the iPod it starts from the beginning of my library instead of resuming where I was previously. Even my car CD player can remember where I last left off, surely iTunes should manage it too.

RichyX

cornbb wrote: »

Its the same with my iPhone, every time I use the iPod it starts from the beginning of my library instead of resuming where I was previously.

I didn't know that, I just assumed all mp3 players would remember where it left off.

cornbb

RichyX wrote: »

I didn't know that, I just assumed all mp3 players would remember where it left off.

The iPod Touch does but not the iPhone for some reason.

conchubhar1

cornbb wrote: »

every time I use the iPod it starts from the beginning of my library instead of resuming where I was previously. Even my car CD player can remember where I last left off, surely iTunes should manage it too.

hhm , mine doesnt do that
yes - it should im sure its not that dificult to add the feature i spose

zAbbo

conchubhar1 wrote: »

hmm i wouldnt see much use in that function

i see why it remembers where a vid was playing - but a song would be pointless

why would you turn off itunes and then restart it and want to starting to listen to the song again half way through

A workaround on that is to select all your songs, get info - options - remember position [yes]

You could probably write a script to automate that easily enough.

Works best with movie & podcasts played between itunes/ipod