mpd + client or a simple music app

Inxsible · 2008-07-11 23:07:26

I was trying to weigh the advantages of using mpd + a client (ncmpc) as against cplay

I use the mpd + ncmpc on my Arch partition but cplay on my debian + fluxbox partition.

What would be the advantages of using mpd? I do plan to connect to this machine (connected to my music system) using another machine, but I can also do that via ssh and controlling cplay which i always start with screen.

What I am trying to get at is...what does mpd give me additionally?

Stythys · 2008-07-11 23:59:59

mpd gives you a lighter weight client that uses less resources.

Inxsible · 2008-07-12 00:28:39

Stythys wrote:

mpd gives you a lighter weight client that uses less resources.

On the contrary ..mpg123 - used by cplay uses a lot less memory than mpd + ncmpc combined. Here's my ps_mem.py output

bash-3.2# python ps_mem.py 
 Private  +   Shared  =  RAM used    Program 

 88.0 KiB +  19.0 KiB = 107.0 KiB    crond
 92.0 KiB +  19.0 KiB = 111.0 KiB    init
 92.0 KiB +  29.5 KiB = 121.5 KiB    portmap
104.0 KiB +  55.0 KiB = 159.0 KiB    hald-addon-acpi
140.0 KiB +  39.0 KiB = 179.0 KiB    xinit
140.0 KiB +  89.0 KiB = 229.0 KiB    hald-addon-input
144.0 KiB +  93.0 KiB = 237.0 KiB    hald-addon-storage
204.0 KiB +  38.0 KiB = 242.0 KiB    dbus-launch
228.0 KiB +  15.0 KiB = 243.0 KiB    udevd
160.0 KiB +  85.0 KiB = 245.0 KiB    su
160.0 KiB +  86.0 KiB = 246.0 KiB    hald-runner
256.0 KiB +  55.0 KiB = 311.0 KiB    famd
300.0 KiB + 100.0 KiB = 400.0 KiB    agetty (5)
288.0 KiB + 126.5 KiB = 414.5 KiB    startx
352.0 KiB +  93.5 KiB = 445.5 KiB    sshd
412.0 KiB +  37.0 KiB = 449.0 KiB    syslog-ng
360.0 KiB +  99.0 KiB = 459.0 KiB    login
228.0 KiB + 284.0 KiB = 512.0 KiB    dbus-daemon (2)
408.0 KiB + 145.0 KiB = 553.0 KiB    htop
264.0 KiB + 292.5 KiB = 556.5 KiB    openbox-session (3)
592.0 KiB +  68.0 KiB = 660.0 KiB    ncmpc
780.0 KiB +  33.0 KiB = 813.0 KiB    mpg123
636.0 KiB + 244.0 KiB = 880.0 KiB    hald-addon-dell-backlight
956.0 KiB + 276.0 KiB =   1.2 MiB    conky
  1.8 MiB + 159.5 KiB =   2.0 MiB    hald
  1.6 MiB + 601.5 KiB =   2.2 MiB    bash (4)
  2.7 MiB + 614.5 KiB =   3.3 MiB    python2.5
  3.1 MiB +   2.1 MiB =   5.3 MiB    fbpanel
  8.7 MiB + 790.5 KiB =   9.5 MiB    openbox
  6.6 MiB +   3.2 MiB =   9.8 MiB    mpd (3)
  8.2 MiB +   1.9 MiB =  10.1 MiB    urxvt (4)
  9.0 MiB +   2.2 MiB =  11.2 MiB    pidgin
 21.6 MiB + 879.5 KiB =  22.4 MiB    skype
 38.7 MiB +   1.1 MiB =  39.8 MiB    Xorg
 53.0 MiB + 965.0 KiB =  53.9 MiB    opera
---------------------------------
                        178.3 MiB
=================================

 Private  +   Shared  =  RAM used    Program

If you check mpg123 takes about 813KB whereas mpd takes 9.8MB + 660KB for ncmpc. Of course I am not counting the urxvt which is running cplay and that's because there is another urxvt for ncmpc as well ..so I am negating those against each other - although they may or may not take the same amount of memory.

htop tells me cplay takes 1.8 % mem and mpg123 takes 0.6%
ncmpc takes 2% mem and mpd takes 2%, 2.2% and 1.5%

For some reason - mpd shows 3 instances...but i just started it once
Even when I kill all the pids of mpd and then issue mpd in the terminal - it immediately gives 3 pids to mpd. I checked using pidof mpd.

All in all cplay seems to take a lot less memory on my system.

Last edited by Inxsible (2008-07-12 00:50:47)

synorgy · 2008-07-12 00:30:56

My selling point for mpd is that I don't always have to be connected to it. Granted this is available through screen + MOC/Cplay etc, but that's just convoluted and I don't feel that using other media players through screen is part of that whole KISS philosophy.

Other than that - I like that there are graphical and commandline interfaces to mpd. I use Sonata most of the time (with global keybindings set to mpc toggle / next / prev) and when I'm coding and have screen running, I like to leave a split at the top with the SVN version of ncmpc running in it (Set to the Clock page, of course)

All in all - I don't see a whole lot that mpd can do that other command line players can do, but I like that it has all of the features that people use in conjunction with a command line player. I also like that it doesn't need a graphical front end running and that it can utilize both command line and graphical frontends.

Inxsible · 2008-07-12 00:36:13

Aha !!

That's what I was thinking that it does not offer anything that others can't do..I guess I will do a little more memory tests and see if there is any major difference and then think about which one to use.

For my case however, I plan not to put any music on my new laptop and have all my music on my external drive connected to an older machine which is also connected to the music system. All I have to do is ssh into it start a screen of cplay and then Ctrl+ A and D to get rid of the window...and the music keeps playing.

If I am not gonna keep the music player window around..it hardly matters whether its GUI or command line based.

Last edited by Inxsible (2008-07-12 00:39:23)

lldmer · 2008-07-12 00:51:58

I like to sometimes have a graphical interface to mpd (I use qmpdclient). Especially to browse my library, but I also find the graphical search more easy/faster to use.

finferflu · 2008-07-12 10:53:40

What I mainly like is exactly the separation between server and client. It offers you a lot of flexibility, plus you can listen to your music even while restarting X.

setsuna · 2008-07-12 13:41:39

finferflu wrote:

What I mainly like is exactly the separation between server and client. It offers you a lot of flexibility, plus you can listen to your music even while restarting X.

That's my thought too.

My other selling point is that you can use whatever client fits your needs, be it graphical, curses ecc.

moljac024 · 2008-07-12 15:16:32

setsuna wrote:

finferflu wrote:
What I mainly like is exactly the separation between server and client. It offers you a lot of flexibility, plus you can listen to your music even while restarting X.
That's my thought too.
My other selling point is that you can use whatever client fits your needs, be it graphical, curses ecc.

+1

Arch Linux

#1 2008-07-11 23:07:26

mpd + client or a simple music app

#2 2008-07-11 23:59:59

Re: mpd + client or a simple music app

#3 2008-07-12 00:28:39

Re: mpd + client or a simple music app

#4 2008-07-12 00:30:56

Re: mpd + client or a simple music app

#5 2008-07-12 00:36:13

Re: mpd + client or a simple music app

#6 2008-07-12 00:51:58

Re: mpd + client or a simple music app

#7 2008-07-12 10:53:40

Re: mpd + client or a simple music app

#8 2008-07-12 13:41:39

Re: mpd + client or a simple music app

#9 2008-07-12 15:16:32

Re: mpd + client or a simple music app

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