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Topic: What's the most user-friendly media player software? (must play FL (Read 41566 times) previous topic - next topic
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What's the most user-friendly media player software? (must play FL

Reply #50
Hopped in here to recommend MusicBee, but looks like someone already beat me to it. It's rather new so may not have all the esoteric features some other players have, but it's not from a lack of trying from the author's side. He's been working really hard & puts out beta releases often.

It's got some handy features for newbies like when new tracks are found by the folder monitoring mechanism those tracks appear in an inbox so they can be easily tagged & what-not before being permanently added to the library.

It should be on your short list of players to look at, krabapple.

What's the most user-friendly media player software? (must play FL

Reply #51
As for more anecdotal evidence, my wife uses fb2k+foo_upnp to play our music on her laptop all the time, without incident.

Isn't this comment a bit sexist? 

What's the most user-friendly media player software? (must play FL

Reply #52
Hopped in here to recommend MusicBee, but looks like someone already beat me to it. It's rather new so may not have all the esoteric features some other players have, but it's not from a lack of trying from the author's side. He's been working really hard & puts out beta releases often.

It's got some handy features for newbies like when new tracks are found by the folder monitoring mechanism those tracks appear in an inbox so they can be easily tagged & what-not before being permanently added to the library.

It should be on your short list of players to look at, krabapple.



it is, thanks, along with Media Monkey and Songbird.  VLC, not so much (I have tried that ). Heck I could even install both of them AND f2k and then walk my friend through all three, and let him pick which one feels 'right'.  Think I'd better bring a few beers along for that.

So far I notice no one recommending Winamp (which back in the days before Foobar, was one I used fairly often.)  Any particular reason? I see it does handle flac files nowadays, which it did not when I was a user.





What's the most user-friendly media player software? (must play FL

Reply #53
So far I notice no one recommending Winamp (which back in the days before Foobar, was one I used fairly often.)  Any particular reason? I see it does handle flac files nowadays, which it did not when I was a user.


Please see post #4.

What's the most user-friendly media player software? (must play FL

Reply #54
The feature that you seem to be struggling with here is the Library Viewer Selection Playlist. When it was created, it was enabled by default. Now it is disabled by default, for the very reasons you are showing right now. The setting can be changed at Media Library > Library Viewer Selection Playlist > Enabled.



Actually I'm not dealing with the Library Viewer Selection Playlist here; I'm using an Album List Panel that I have permanently in my GUI, not the *other* Album List  that pops up when I select Menu-->Library-->Album List (the latter is the one that creates a playlist called 'Library Viewer Selection').  I think my problem actually comes from this: the two Album Lists do not work the same way.  Each has its own settings.  The popup AL allows Ctrl-click selection of multiple items,but  the Album List Panel, as best I can tell, does not.  Moreover with 'auto send to playlist' enabled' in AL Panel settings (as it is in my config),  the AL Panel sends a clicked item from the Panel  to a 'Library View' playlist (not 'Library Viewer Selection').  Clicking another AL Panel item replaces the first selection, it does not add to it.  Very frustrating.  Just disabling 'auto send to playlist' renders AL Panel all but useless to me as currently configured.  What it seems I need to do is disable 'autosend to playlist' and then change the double-click action to 'add to playlist'.  Then I can add items one at a time to a growing playlist.

(tried it) Ahh, that works...double clicked items are added sequentially to the Default playlist without overwriting.  But it would still be nice to be able to select multiple items in AL Panel at once then send them all to playlist.  Can that be done?


Quote
But a comprehensive non-jargony help function/resource is still needed...as are help buttons that actually bring up help when you click them
This is wiki content. If you are confused by part of it, you could request a change or even change it yourself. I'm kind of a jargony guy, as are a lot of us. If you could give help improving documentation, I'm sure we'd all love it.


I would love to have the time to do it.


Quote
"NG Group" is not a Default UI term. The queue is functionality most users do not need but some users want. Playlists are well-understood and playback queues are well-understood by those that want them. WMP also has this functionality.


Sorry, meant 'NG Playlist".  And as for playlist vs playback queue, I think it's optimistic to expect a naive user to knows the formal term(s) to articulate the functionality he/she wants, and their definitions.  I usually 'learn by trying it' in such cases.  In the case of queues, I learned that whatever a playback queue is in f2k, there seemed to be a limit to the number of tracks I could add to it, so I left it alone.  I'm still not clear on what the purpose of it is, vs a playlist.

What's the most user-friendly media player software? (must play FL

Reply #55
So far I notice no one recommending Winamp (which back in the days before Foobar, was one I used fairly often.)  Any particular reason? I see it does handle flac files nowadays, which it did not when I was a user.


Please see post #4.



Thanks, I should have reviewed the thread again rather than rely on memory.

What's the most user-friendly media player software? (must play FL

Reply #56
Actually I'm not dealing with the Library Viewer Selection Playlist here; I'm using an Album List Panel that I have permanently in my GUI, not the *other* Album List that pops up when I select Menu-->Library-->Album List
So you're using Columns UI? You realize that it's somewhat different in user-interface than what's installed by default, right?

But it would still be nice to be able to select multiple items in AL Panel at once then send them all to playlist. Can that be done?
Using the Default UI, yes. And you don't have to use "Send to Playlist" or anything. You can simply drag and drop.

I would love to have the time to do it.
I wish I could grant you that time.

Sorry, meant 'NG Playlist".
Still, Columns UI. Doesn't exist in Default UI.

I'm still not clear on what the purpose of it is, vs a playlist.
I've argued quite passionately that there is little purpose, but some people disagree. There are a few edge cases where it's handy, apparently. I just make playlists and play them. It's there mostly because users coming from other software want it, and it allows a few little tricks like setting up a switch between playlists.

What's the most user-friendly media player software? (must play FL

Reply #57
Well, I never create playlists. I don't have the time or interest to do it. I thought musicip was pretty cool because it did an ok job of creating playlist on the fly, but anyway...

Maybe that is one reason I haven't really like fb2k. Is it playlist centric? I do like the iTunes/winamp columns to sort through the library and find songs I want to play.

I would consider myself an advanced PC user, and usually go back and try fb2k about once a year. It is getting better, but its not user friendly.

I use mediamonkey the most. I think Helium Music Manager is a good product as well.

What's the most user-friendly media player software? (must play FL

Reply #58
Thanks, I should have reviewed the thread again rather than rely on memory.


I've been running Winamp on my music player HTPC, and based on the comments here I decided to give MediaMonkey another try.  I tried it a couple of years ago, and either it's been improved a lot, or I just didn't "get it" the previous time I tried it.  I am really liking the way this thing works.  Configuration seems somewhat easier yet more flexible than Winamp.  The Steve Monks kernel streaming Winamp plugin works with it too, so I get my gapless, bit-perfect playback.  Also, it appears to have pretty powerful tag editing.  I like that you can run it "un-skinned", as I much prefer standard Windows appearance to skinned applications.  I may end up switching over now.

Edit:  I just discovered another good thing about MediaMonkey.  Winamp with the kernel streaming plugin, when configured for gapless playback, has a bug.  It was discussed in this forum a while back.  If you press the "stop" button in the middle of a track, then play another one, a buffer does not get flushed, and left over remnants of the data from the stopped song will briefly play before the new song starts.  This problem doesn't seem to occur with MediaMonkey.  I think I'm hooked .

What's the most user-friendly media player software? (must play FL

Reply #59
Rather than repeating the same line of arguments that Canar has used (which I agree with almost completely), have you looked at musicbee?
I can't say I've used it extensively, but for a brief time its development sparked my interest as something to recommend for people who try fb2k and for whatever reason don't like it (however dumb their arguments ).

It seemed to pretty much be an iTunes that plays FLAC.


In case that somebody wants to give MusicBee a try, I would recommend the weekly updated beta releases instead of main download link (stable). They are full of new features implemented by user requests. I've never seen such fast development and bug fixing.
Highly recommended.

All suggested players can't handle embedded cue sheets AFAIK, foobar can


But you're not sure, right?

What's the most user-friendly media player software? (must play FL

Reply #60
Another easy to use player is AIMP2. You find it at http://www.aimp.ru/. It has a wide codec support, including flac.

What's the most user-friendly media player software? (must play FL

Reply #61
I've tried to start a pool about the favorite music player/organizer but it appeared that I don't have rights to do it.
The last such pool is from 2003 (total Foobar domination) so maybe it would be interesting to see what's the situation now?
I've sorted the suggestions in this topic by popularity, maybe this list can be used in the pool?


Foobar2000: 9
MediaMonkey: 9
MusicBee: 5
Songbird: 4
WinAmp: 3
iTunes: 2
J. River Media Center: 2
MusikCube: 1
Windows Media Player   : 1
Helium Music Manager   : 1
Amarok: 1
AIMP2: 1


What's the most user-friendly media player software? (must play FL

Reply #62
i use foobar myself, but  also have media monkey installed for when others are using my pc. A large amount of my rips are to flac images tho and media monkey as well as songbird( last time i tried) did not seem to support them out of the box. Do any of the other players mentioned offer this now?

What's the most user-friendly media player software? (must play FL

Reply #63
MusicBee

What's the most user-friendly media player software? (must play FL

Reply #64
I was too humored by the flames getting tossed back and forth between the VLC and f2k "fanboys" along with the 3 or so simple 1 liner MediaMonkies (one of which was me and my 2 cents). See this thread progress into what is has has been crazy but I'm glad some of the opinions helped out- thats what counts

What's the most user-friendly media player software? (must play FL

Reply #65
This is crux of the OPs question.

Quote
Is there a really easy-to-use alternative to F2k?


A really good answer to this question is Spotify

In fact if your mates are so lazy they cba to do it themselves and think you are so gullible you'll do it for them it gets you out of an onerous  heldesk support responsibility. It's also very good advice.

Someone else has professionally ripped, tagged, filed. secured and normalised pretty much every tune you already own plus a few more. The interface has been state of the art, best practise nailed. Album art automatic, its fast enough to preview tracks like you would with a stylus in a vinyl shop, almost any functionality available via 3rd party plug ins, light footprint, Gush Gush etc etc. You can even take it with you to any PC with the software installed!!

I know I'm being more than a trifle supercilious here. The OP asked for FLAC and quite clearly intended his friend to use his own local music. Also Spotify is Europe only atm and even then there is sometimes a waiting list for the Free service. Still think it warrants a mention though. Particularly for the type of consumer in question.

I have been collecting music in all formats now for nearly half a century and was initially sceptical and only tried it as a gimmick and because it was free but now 6 months down the line it's just too good an idea and totally what people want that even if Spotify itself fails a similar global juke box is an inevitability. All the music. None of the hassle.

What's the most user-friendly media player software? (must play FL

Reply #66
I've made a poll here because this discussion fascinates me.

Edit: and I split Squeller's post off to that poll, as it is related.

What's the most user-friendly media player software? (must play FL

Reply #67
So far I notice no one recommending Winamp (which back in the days before Foobar, was one I used fairly often.)  Any particular reason? I see it does handle flac files nowadays, which it did not when I was a user.


I think that the lack of recommendations for Winamp is not a sign that there is anything inherently wrong with that player. I think everyone just figured if you knew about foobar2000 then you most likely already knew about Winamp. It's near ubiquitous. *EVERYONE* knows about Winamp.

In case that somebody wants to give MusicBee a try, I would recommend the weekly updated beta releases instead of main download link (stable).


Thanks for pointing out the beta releases. I meant to do so in my original post, but forgot.


Another easy to use player is AIMP2. You find it at http://www.aimp.ru/. It has a wide codec support, including flac.


I recommend that anyone who wishes to try AIMP2 to proceed with caution. The last RC build I tried out (downloaded directly from www.aimp.ru) set off my firewall as the AIMP2 executable was trying to contact a web site called 007guard.com, a known malware propagating web site. i'd have written it off as a fluke except the subsequent RC build had the same behavior. I haven't tried the final release yet to see if this damnable behavior remains.

What's the most user-friendly media player software? (must play FL

Reply #68

I think mediamonkey is one of the easiest to use.

While I freely admit that I'm a MM fanboy, I also openly admit that its not perfect and that I use a number of other tools in conjunction with it (dbpoweramp ripper, musicbrainz tagger, foobar for some of its unique/advanced features, cuetools, etc).

What's the most user-friendly media player software? (must play FL

Reply #69
FWIW, I went with Media Monkey.  My friend seems happy with it so far.