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-------------------------------------------------------------- This story was printed from ZDNet Australia. --------------------------------------------------------------
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Software Music Players September 16, 2001 URL: http://www.zdnet.com.au/reviews/software/graphics/soa/Software-Music-Players/0,139023432,120106974,00.htm
Now that you've downloaded or ripped all those songs onto your hard drive, what's the best way to organise and play them on your PC? We audition seven software music players to find out
which is the best jukebox for your music files.
Media Jukebox 4.0
Media Jukebox 4.0Media Jukebox (download) uses RealPlayer and Microsoft Windows Media Player to play audio and video files, but it provides an interface that gives you a lot of power over your music (alas, style is not its strong point). The crowded toolbar consists of buttons that let you effortlessly import music files, rip CDs at up to 320 Kbps, use CBR or VBR encoding, write to CDs, convert file types, record digital music from any outside source that can be plugged into your line-in jack, and organise your media files in a gratifyingly large number of ways.You also get one-click access to music on the Internet -- download sites, radio sites, and TV sites, which conveniently appear right within the interface. If you have an impulse to buy the song you're listening to, click the Buy CD button and Media Jukebox searches buying sites for that song. Media Jukebox can also download your music to a wide variety of portable players, among them the Creative Nomad and the Creative Nomad II, the S3 Rio 300 and 500, and Microsoft Windows CE devices. By the time you read this, a new version of the player, with even more functionality, should be available.
MusicMatch Jukebox 5.1
MusicMatch Jukebox 5.1 (download) is one of the most powerful music players we've seen. It's a deeply configurable,
multipurpose audio and video tool. You get the standard functionality offered
by most players in this roundup: You can organise music by making and saving
playlists, and burning a CD is drag-and-drop-simple. But in many ways, MusicMatch
goes far beyond any other player out there right now.
You have myriad options when recording and encoding. You can encode at rates ranging from 64 Kbps to 128 Kbps in the standard version and all the way to 320 Kbps in the Plus version, choose CBR or VBR encoding, and opt for digital or analog recording. Another feature that sets MusicMatch apart from most players is its ability to play both streaming audio and video (RealJukebox Plus and Windows Media Player can also do this). When MusicMatch is properly configured, you can use Icecast, M3U, Shoutcast, and ASF/ASX (a Microsoft video compression format) -- and the player even offers an integrated Net radio tuner. Tagging functionality is powerful, letting you edit Artist, Genre, and about ten other fields, and it even lets you import cover art. Other features of the Plus version are the ability to burn tracks six times as fast as the standard version does, an equaliser, and an option for printing jewel-case liners.
Company: MusicMatch
RealJukebox 2
RealJukebox 2 (download) supplies all the features and functionality you need from a
software jukebox. But even though the interface seems cluttered compared with the
clean lines of Microsoft Windows Media Player 7.0, for example, you really need
to hunt for some of the powerful features.
The heart of any jukebox package is the music manager, and RealJukebox's exhaustive ID3V2 tag editor is a particularly robust one; it handles dozens of fields. Press the question-mark icon beside the search field for instructions on how to search your music library for a track, an album, an artist, or even an encoding rate. RealJukebox uses Adaptec's Easy CD Creator engine to burn CDs from within the program. You can encode in Real, WMA, WAV, or MP3 format at up to 320Kbps in the Plus version. (RealJukebox's default is to encrypt MP3 files so that they can be played on only your computer, but you can disable this feature.) You can also downsample on the fly, reducing a song's file size for better portability on a digital audio player (22 devices are supported). The free Basic version also gives you great skins and visualisations, which you can set to launch and apply automatically by playing a specific song. The Plus version adds VBR encoding, a cross-fade feature, and the ability to input analog sources for recording. One other cool touch: Real is working on a music delivery service that will send music in your favourite genre to your e-mail in-box.
Company: Real Networks
RioPort Audio Manager 3RioPort Audio Manager 3 (RAM3, download) allows you a large amount of control over your digital music library. Unfortunately, RioPort charges an upgrade fee for some features you can find for free elsewhere.RAM3's front end is intuitive and easy to configure. It searches your hard drive for applicable file formats -- MP3, WMA, QuickTime, Audio Video Interleave (AVI), RealAudio, and MPEG-2 Advanced Audio Coding (AAC) -- and imports them. If you're ripping from a disk, RAM3 provides you with a few different encoding options: MP3 or WMA, at speeds from 64 Kbps to 256 Kbps. You can then configure your files into playlists and sort them by name, size, file type, and more. Burning CDs and transferring individual tracks or playlists to a portable device are easy procedures. RAM3 currently supports all S3 Diamond Rio models, the Compaq iPAQ PA-1, and any other hardware players that use industry-standard Media Device Manager (MDM) and API-related Service Provider Interfaces (SPIs). For those concerned with looks, you also get over 100 visualisations. The standard version of RAM3 is a free download. It lets you encode an unlimited number of WMA encodes and up to 50 MP3 encodes, but you can burn only 25 CD tracks. You must pay for an upgrade that gives you unlimited burning and encoding capabilities.
Company: RioPort
Lycos Sonique 1.63
Although Sonique 1.63 (download) doesn't have all capabilities of all-in-one programs such as MusicMatch and RealJukebox
(you'll need other tools for ripping, encoding, and downloading your music to portable players),
the player does have one of the coolest interfaces we've seen. It's animated and windowless,
and at Soniques' Web site, you'll find amazingly creative skins to download. Unfortunately,
the interface is a little tough to figure out; we had to hit the Help section for guidance. Luckily,
context-sensitive on-screen and online help is exhaustive and clear.
Built-in Internet integration is another plus: Sonique helps you find music, concerts, Internet radio, and more with one click. The player supports MP3, WMA, and other file formats, as well as the many available plug-ins. You also have a lot of control over music playback: Included is a 20-band equaliser with pitch adjustment and balance control and an AE4 MPEG audio decoder. On the downside, organisation features are not the player's strong point. You can create and edit playlists, but unlike with most players, there's no built-in way to categorise music files under headings such as Album, Artist, and Genre, which is an easier way to work with your music.
Company: Lycos
Nullsoft Winamp 2.64Nullsoft's Winamp (download) has been around longer than most software audio players, and it has a large group of faithful fans. After trying out some of the player's more dazzling cousins, we concluded that it's a solid product for those looking for a simple, stripped-down player with some useful features.Winamp 2.64 supports a wide range of audio formats including MP3, WAV, and WMA. Songs are easily added and removed from playlists, and you can edit song information with an ID3 tag editor. Songs are stored by track number (for albums) or alphabetically, and you can scroll through but not search. Winamp's ten-band graphic equaliser and built-in preamplifier are strong features. You can even have the player autoload previously saved, song-specific preamplifier and equaliser settings. Unfortunately, the amplifier doesn't work with CD audio and MIDI plug-ins. With these formats, the sound data never actually passes through Winamp but goes directly through your sound card instead. For more advanced features, such as CD ripping and burning, Winamp recommends several plug-ins.
Company: Nullsoft
Microsoft Windows Media Player 7.0
Less comprehensive though more streamlined than players such as MusicMatch and RealJukebox,
Microsoft's Windows Media Player 7.0 (WMP, download now) has some useful features. Unfortunately, it lacks support for
a common open standard: It won't record MP3 files. Most users will probably opt for a more
well-rounded product.
WMP's core functionality is also limited. You won't find as many search options as in RealJukebox. You can edit track info, but just the proprietary metadata Windows Media Player stores in its internal database, not ID3 tags. A powerful tag editor is crucial when you have a large music library to search. The program doesn't use the omni present Grace note (née CDDB) service to obtain track information, relying instead on AMG -- but that's a reasonable alternative. Here's what Microsoft Windows Media Player 7 does have to offer: It plays video files (in many popular formats), so it can manage all your media files. It includes a ten-band equaliser and SRS WOW technology, which provides deep bass and a wide dynamic range. Also, an integrated radio tuner is prominently placed in the left-hand panel. And there are tons of skins and eye-catching visualisations. The player could be a versatile companion to another player.
Company: Microsoft
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