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#1 2004-07-10 03:49:11

punkrockguy318
Member
From: New Jersey
Registered: 2004-02-15
Posts: 711
Website

Favorite Music Player?

Hey all!  What's your favorite music player for linux?  Here are some of my opinions on music players for linux.

XMMS:  Very nice WinAmp2 clone, though I don't feel that it comes close to being as good as WinAmp2.  WA2 has movie support, and more plugins/visualazations.  The plugins for xmms are nice, but chances are you won't get them to compile. 

RhythmBox:  Very functional music player.  Never had any stability/configuration problems with this one.  It looks half decent in tiny-mode, but no theming support. 

BMP:  BMP is a GTK2 fork of xmms, which is actively being developed.  BMP is still glitchy, but when it matures it will be very nice.  BMP promises winamp plugin support in the future!

Zinf:  I've been using this a lot lately... It has a nice interface, and decent playlist support and organazation.  There are a couple themes available, and it can look quite sexy with the octapus theme!


If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.   1 Corinthians 13:2

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#2 2004-07-10 04:09:44

sarah31
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From: Middle of Canada
Registered: 2002-08-20
Posts: 2,975
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Re: Favorite Music Player?

mp3blaster or mplayer with AAC enabled.


AKA uknowme

I am not your friend

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#3 2004-07-10 05:02:32

whatah
Member
Registered: 2003-08-10
Posts: 114

Re: Favorite Music Player?

XMMS is by far my favorite player, first off, it does have quite a bit of plugins, and you don't necessarily need to compile them, you can get them in a binary format because xmms' API has not changed much over the years. Another advantage to xmms is that xmms is very skinnable, and I do not believe there are any other players on the desktop that resemble it. While zinf does have skins, i find it very unintuitive to use. Also, zinf's playlist editor is ungainly and is not something i would want to keep open on my desktop. xmms also has support for kjofol skins. You can use xmms to play videos with an mplayer plugin, however, i prefer to use mplayer on the CLI to play movies anyways. xmms also has support for most sound systems out there, including ALSA, JACK, ESD and ARTS. And finally, BMP is a gtk2 port of xmms. xmms uses gtk+. :wq

whatah

P.S. if you are looking for a good visualization plugin, try out 'xmms-iris' it has nice visuals and is a light load on the CPU.

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#4 2004-07-10 05:31:34

punkrockguy318
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From: New Jersey
Registered: 2004-02-15
Posts: 711
Website

Re: Favorite Music Player?

whatah wrote:

XMMS is by far my favorite player, first off, it does have quite a bit of plugins, and you don't necessarily need to compile them, you can get them in a binary format because xmms' API has not changed much over the years. Another advantage to xmms is that xmms is very skinnable, and I do not believe there are any other players on the desktop that resemble it. While zinf does have skins, i find it very unintuitive to use. Also, zinf's playlist editor is ungainly and is not something i would want to keep open on my desktop. xmms also has support for kjofol skins. You can use xmms to play videos with an mplayer plugin, however, i prefer to use mplayer on the CLI to play movies anyways. xmms also has support for most sound systems out there, including ALSA, JACK, ESD and ARTS. And finally, BMP is a gtk2 port of xmms. xmms uses gtk+. :wq

whatah

P.S. if you are looking for a good visualization plugin, try out 'xmms-iris' it has nice visuals and is a light load on the CPU.

xmmsmplayer is very nice!  I just made an AL package for it..

pkgname=xmmsmplayer

pkgver=0.5
pkgrel=1
pkgdesc="An mplayer plugin for xmms"
url="http://www.cse.iitb.ac.in/~nandan/xmmsmplayer.php"
license=""
depends=(xmms)
makedepends=()
conflicts=()
replaces=()
backup=()
install=
source=(http://aleron.dl.sourceforge.net/sourceforge/xmmsmplayer/$pkgname-$pkgver.tar.gz)
md5sums=()

build() {
  cd $startdir/src/$pkgname-$pkgver
  ./configure --prefix=/usr
  make || return 1
  make DESTDIR=$startdir/pkg/ install
}

Xmms-iris is also nice!  these two plugins are bringing me back to use bmp!


If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.   1 Corinthians 13:2

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#5 2004-07-10 06:52:55

aCoder
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From: Medina, OH
Registered: 2004-03-07
Posts: 359
Website

Re: Favorite Music Player?

iTunes!!!  Oh, wait, not Linux...  ummm....  Anything that supports AAC!  big_smile

(Thanks to Playfair, of course!) wink


If you develop an ear for sounds that are musical it is like developing an ego. You begin to refuse sounds that are not musical and that way cut yourself off from a good deal of experience.
  - John Cage

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#6 2004-07-10 10:44:09

sarah31
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From: Middle of Canada
Registered: 2002-08-20
Posts: 2,975
Website

Re: Favorite Music Player?

aCoder wrote:

iTunes!!!  Oh, wait, not Linux...  ummm....  Anything that supports AAC!  big_smile

(Thanks to Playfair, of course!) wink

itunes is great and that is what i mostly use.


AKA uknowme

I am not your friend

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#7 2004-07-10 15:51:41

Dusty
Schwag Merchant
From: Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada
Registered: 2004-01-18
Posts: 5,986
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Re: Favorite Music Player?

ddcd. I don't play much non cd music, but I use ogg123 for that.

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#8 2004-07-10 15:57:48

dp
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From: Zürich, Switzerland
Registered: 2003-05-27
Posts: 3,378
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Re: Favorite Music Player?

amarok


The impossible missions are the only ones which succeed.

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#9 2004-07-10 18:58:58

xerxes2
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From: Malmoe, Sweden
Registered: 2004-04-23
Posts: 1,249
Website

Re: Favorite Music Player?

itunes is evil....ogg rulez!!!!! big_smile


arch + gentoo + initng + python = enlisy

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#10 2004-07-10 19:02:51

sarah31
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From: Middle of Canada
Registered: 2002-08-20
Posts: 2,975
Website

Re: Favorite Music Player?

xerxes2 wrote:

itunes is evil....ogg rulez!!!!! big_smile

pfft...whatever, the quality of my AAC's far surpasses ogg and that is why I switched. that and the fact that i can get decent AAC support on linux but not good ogg support for the mac.

ogg quality has to improve to get me back.


AKA uknowme

I am not your friend

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#11 2004-07-10 23:48:18

dp
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From: Zürich, Switzerland
Registered: 2003-05-27
Posts: 3,378
Website

Re: Favorite Music Player?

sarah31 wrote:
xerxes2 wrote:

itunes is evil....ogg rulez!!!!! big_smile

pfft...whatever, the quality of my AAC's far surpasses ogg and that is why I switched. that and the fact that i can get decent AAC support on linux but not good ogg support for the mac.

ogg quality has to improve to get me back.

http://www.nouturn.com/oggdrop/

http://qtcomponents.sourceforge.net/

... but the trouble with macs is that they are more expensive hardware :-(


The impossible missions are the only ones which succeed.

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#12 2004-07-11 03:56:54

TheRaginAsian
Member
From: Brooklyn MI
Registered: 2004-04-05
Posts: 70
Website

Re: Favorite Music Player?

I like Muine.


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#13 2004-07-11 06:33:38

aCoder
Member
From: Medina, OH
Registered: 2004-03-07
Posts: 359
Website

Re: Favorite Music Player?

... but the trouble with macs is that they are more expensive hardware

That is a problem.  I almost cried spending $1500 on a laptop, but the eye candy just drew me in...  I'm OK now though.  I like OS X almost as much I do Linux, but it's not free!  wink

AAC's great.  I'm happy with the quality and it's much smaller than FLAC, which all my music was in, (obviously, being a lossy codec).  I need an iPod now...


If you develop an ear for sounds that are musical it is like developing an ego. You begin to refuse sounds that are not musical and that way cut yourself off from a good deal of experience.
  - John Cage

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#14 2004-07-11 08:25:58

sarah31
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From: Middle of Canada
Registered: 2002-08-20
Posts: 2,975
Website

Re: Favorite Music Player?

very unfriendly program. been there done that.

i do not really use the qt player except for its embedded web player for the rare movie clip. the qtplayer is really crappy now compared to five years ago. they really have to work on the interface it is just so unpractical now.

... but the trouble with macs is that they are more expensive hardware :-(

that really depends. when i was looking at getting a decent quality laptop i settled on the 12" g4 powerbook that had just come out at that time. when i compared around (and that is like to like not high end apple to low end pc like most dolts do) macs were very reasonable. of course it varies region to region.

i could argue some more on this point but i really don't want to because people just have the tendency to compare unlike systems.


AKA uknowme

I am not your friend

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#15 2004-07-11 10:58:58

dp
Member
From: Zürich, Switzerland
Registered: 2003-05-27
Posts: 3,378
Website

Re: Favorite Music Player?

sarah31 wrote:

very unfriendly program. been there done that.

i do not really use the qt player except for its embedded web player for the rare movie clip. the qtplayer is really crappy now compared to five years ago. they really have to work on the interface it is just so unpractical now.

ohh ... then we ran out of alternatives and the conclusion is that you were right (as always ;-) )

sarah31 wrote:

... but the trouble with macs is that they are more expensive hardware :-(

that really depends. when i was looking at getting a decent quality laptop i settled on the 12" g4 powerbook that had just come out at that time. when i compared around (and that is like to like not high end apple to low end pc like most dolts do) macs were very reasonable. of course it varies region to region.

i could argue some more on this point but i really don't want to because people just have the tendency to compare unlike systems.

that's very true


The impossible missions are the only ones which succeed.

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#16 2004-07-11 11:50:31

sarah31
Member
From: Middle of Canada
Registered: 2002-08-20
Posts: 2,975
Website

Re: Favorite Music Player?

dp wrote:

ohh ... then we ran out of alternatives and the conclusion is that you were right (as always ;-) )

well for my needs itunes suffices. some folks might be happy with those features you point out. but for me, at least for oggdrop, it was a laborous task to use it (it might be better now though). in the end itunes is easy to use feature rich and i like the quality of AACs and AAC was the first format that was easy to support with good media player on both OSes (i would note that if the quicktime player was better i may have gone for using it and oggs).

in the end i am happy as i have good quality compressed music files that i can readily use on linux, my ipod and OS X.


AKA uknowme

I am not your friend

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#17 2004-07-11 15:01:42

aCoder
Member
From: Medina, OH
Registered: 2004-03-07
Posts: 359
Website

Re: Favorite Music Player?

that really depends. when i was looking at getting a decent quality laptop i settled on the 12" g4 powerbook that had just come out at that time. when i compared around (and that is like to like not high end apple to low end pc like most dolts do) macs were very reasonable. of course it varies region to region.

i could argue some more on this point but i really don't want to because people just have the tendency to compare unlike systems.

Well, in my case, my choice was between a $600 Wal-Mart HP or a $1500 iBook, to get reasonably silimar systems.  The only real differences were looks, which the Mac won, OS, which the Mac won, but could easily be fixed on the HP with that ever-useful Arch disc one my desk, size, the iBook is smaller, and, of course CPU.  Same 'speed', differrent arch.  My love for IBM drove me to the Apple store to pick it up.

Macs are much more expensive, when compared with a similar-functioning PC, but you get your money's worth by getting a system that's not cluttered with OEM junk that must be immediately cleared out by the liberal use of cfdisk as well as a system that's much more tightly integrated than any other OS can be without quite a bit of work.

And sorry about the messy Mac ranting.  I'm just feeling very enthusiastic about my Mac.  I need something to draw me back to my PC to update Arch.


If you develop an ear for sounds that are musical it is like developing an ego. You begin to refuse sounds that are not musical and that way cut yourself off from a good deal of experience.
  - John Cage

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#18 2004-07-11 20:06:23

hyp0luxa
Member
From: Miami, FL
Registered: 2004-07-10
Posts: 70

Re: Favorite Music Player?

i was using xmms, real nice, but i recently switched to amaroK because it's playlist it better (searchable, etc...)

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#19 2004-07-12 02:04:46

aCoder
Member
From: Medina, OH
Registered: 2004-03-07
Posts: 359
Website

Re: Favorite Music Player?

I do like amaroK.  I like the way Rhythmbox handles it's library though.*cough*iTunes*cough* wink


If you develop an ear for sounds that are musical it is like developing an ego. You begin to refuse sounds that are not musical and that way cut yourself off from a good deal of experience.
  - John Cage

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#20 2004-07-14 11:33:17

mcubednyc
Member
From: New York, NY USA
Registered: 2004-03-17
Posts: 120

Re: Favorite Music Player?

I liked cplay a lot, but I use xmms because of Audioscrobbler.  Still, it's a pity there is nothing for Linux that approaches the awesomeness of foobar2000.  (That and Xnews are the two Windows apps I miss most.)

One audio app that takes away some of the pain of having to use xmms is longplayer -- it makes for some startling juxtapositions!


"No live organism can continue for long to exist sanely under conditions of absolute reality; even larks and katydids are supposed, by some, to dream." - S. Jackson

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#21 2004-10-30 14:29:44

thegnu
Member
From: Brooklyn, NY
Registered: 2004-05-04
Posts: 280
Website

Re: Favorite Music Player?

I don't have first-hand experience with AAC, but I've been using oggs for years.  One thing I noticed when I started is that mp3s SOUNDED better, because they fattened the low end on the crappy punk music I was listening to.  Add to that bad speakers, and oggs sounded worse.  But ogg sounded almost exactly like the CD, whereas MP3s sounded nothing like it.

So I'm not sure "OGGs sound bad" is necessarily a bad thing, when the music you (or I) are listening to sounds "bad".  Accuracy, to me, is the aim.  And from what I've read, oggs beat AAC.  I could be wrong.


fffft!

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#22 2004-10-30 14:34:31

punkrockguy318
Member
From: New Jersey
Registered: 2004-02-15
Posts: 711
Website

Re: Favorite Music Player?

I used to use mp3s all the time, but with the amount of music on my pc, oggs work best.  Better quality and smaller size!


If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.   1 Corinthians 13:2

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#23 2004-10-30 17:40:49

LB06
Member
From: The Netherlands
Registered: 2003-10-29
Posts: 435

Re: Favorite Music Player?

Hmm. I like amarok best with xmms on its tail.

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#24 2004-10-30 19:41:17

hyp0luxa
Member
From: Miami, FL
Registered: 2004-07-10
Posts: 70

Re: Favorite Music Player?

amaroK in X
mpg123 in CLI

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#25 2004-10-31 11:08:46

djhizz
Member
From: Bucharest (Romania)
Registered: 2004-10-26
Posts: 68
Website

Re: Favorite Music Player?

AMAROK rulez.
When i had indows (this things can hapen tongue) i tryed a lot of players...but none was like winamp.winamp 5 is now the best and most polpular player in the digital world.When i turned to linux i was surprised to see a clone of winamp (XMMS), but xmms isn't that good.Now i've discovered amarok who gives me more freedom and it is more stable than xmms.the only baf thing is that it doesn't looks so good (some skins or other stuf like that).


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