Clementine is a cross-platform software tool which enables you to listen to music from your HDD, library, audio CDs or the Internet, as well as manage it, edit tags and view lyrics.

Analyze track information and artwork

The installation process runs smooth and does not bring any surprises, while the interface boasts a modern and minimal design. It consists of a menu bar, several shortcut buttons, a navigation panel and a pane to display your playlist.

You have access to playback controls, a volume and mood bar, and customizable waveform. Furthermore, you can view track information such as length, bit rate, sample rate, size, file type, play count and your rating, as well as complete tags automatically or manually, look for cover art on several websites (Amazon, Discogs, MusicBrainz etc.), load it from a specified URL or from the hard drive (PNG, JPG, BMP, GIF etc.).

Enjoy online streams or offline files

It is possible to listen to music from removable devices, cloud solutions (Google Drive, Dropbox, Skydrive etc.), radio stations (SKY.fm, Last.fm, rockradio.com etc.) and other online sources.

An equalizer can be brought up and used, as well as the presets it comes with, visualizations can be displayed and chosen from a long built-in list, while songs can be converted from one format to another, with support at import and export for FLAC, OFF, MP4, MP3, OPUS, OGG, WAV and WMA files.

This program enables you to automatically detect and remove duplicate files, repeat track, album or playlist, shuffle songs and use a powerful search tool, so as to find music on your computer or the Internet.

A few last words

Taking all of this into consideration, we can safely say Clementine is a very useful piece of software and a very good replacement for the discontinued Winamp. It presents a myriad of options, has a good response time, a minimal usage of CPU and memory, and the interface is intuitive.

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Play music Music player Audio player Player Play Playlist Transcode

PlayIt Live

A live playout system that allows users to run playlists manually or automatically - provides instant one-touch players, a pattern creator and custom templates.

PlayIt Live is an audio software application designed specifically for helping DJs play songs manually or automatically by setting up playout rules and patterns for a unified sound.

In order to use the program, you are required to create an online account which can be set up by following the steps displayed in the primary panel.

Intuitive and interactive working environment

The tool lets you switch between two different player modes, namely Decks (emulates a classic chart machine) and Live-Assist (reveals a small number of playing options with a queue of tracks).

The user interface in divided into several areas which offer quick access to the track list, notification bar (displays messages if tracks are invalid or other important data), playout log (found only in the Live-Assist mode for revealing the list of track items to be queued), and master controls (available in the Live-Assist mode for activating the manual, semi-auto, or auto audio session).

You can also make use of QuickCarts which represent one-touch instant players built specifically for helping you apply additional sound effects (jingles).

Playing capabilities

PlayIt Live gives you the possibility to load tracks into the workspace using the drag-and-drop support or the built-in file importer which enables you to select how to add new songs (individual files or folders), analyse the silence in tracks for setting the appropriate cue in and out points, as well as choose the folders (and include subdirectories).

Additionally, you can edit the audio files before importing them into the primary panel in terms of artist, title, out cue, genre, and other details. What’s more, you can filter the songs by name or duration, manage the playout using the Play, Pause, Stop, and Eject buttons, as well as build up track groups and create a new category made up from different groups.

Last but not least, you can enhance the program’s functionality with the aid of plugins, set up playout policies for not playing the same audio file or artist for a user-defined time, assign the rules to a group, as well as activate the Playout Pattern option for selecting the way tracks are played.

Bottom line

All in all, PlayIt Live proves to be a reliable automated playout system that comes bundled with a powerful suite of features backed up by an intuitive interface, and is suitable for rookies and professionals alike.

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Playout system Live-assist player Automated broadcast Playout Live-assist Playlist Broadcast

fmedia

An audio player that also bundles a recorder and a converter, whose aim is to provide a versatile playback tool that requires low resources.

fmedia provides an audio player, converter and recorder into a single package, having the extra advantage of requiring low system resources. Its footprint on the CPU and memory consumption is low, so as to allow continuous playback at all times.

Create multiple custom playlists

While its interface might seem a bit rudimentary, the application does come with a few commands and features that make it worth a try. For instance, you can use it to create and manage several playlists at the same time, opening each one in a separate tab. On the downside, although playlists can be saved, it is impossible to rename the tabs, so as to know what each playlist contains.

fmedia ensures compatibility with some of the most popular formats, including MP3, OGG, OPUS, MP4, M4A, MKV, AVI, WAV, FLAC, and more. Furthermore, the player can open URLs. Playlists can contain any number of music files and, for each of them, fmedia displays the artist name, the title, the duration, the album, the location, and other metadata.

Convert and record audio with ease

Aside from music playback, fmedia also allows for audio recording and conversion. The first function enables you to record audio and save it as a FLAC file, with a few predefined settings, such as the sample rate, the format, the audio channel to use, the gain level, and the codec to use. To change these parameters, you must use the console app.

It is also possible to convert sections of audio files with fmedia. You get to see the default values of parameters such as the input interval, the bitrate, the output quality, the compression rate, the gain level, the channels to use, the sample rate, and so on. Unfortunately, you cannot modify these settings in the GUI, but only pass the desired values as parameters when using the console version.

A player, converter and recorder that requires further improvements

fmedia can decode various audio formats and comes with simple playback control and support for multiple playlists. Aside from the reduced resource usage, these are its utmost features. On the other hand, some functions (e.g., opening a folder, changing conversion and recording parameters from the GUI) did not work during our tests. Needless to say, there is work to be done to enhance the application and turn it into a real competitor to other similar tools

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Audio player Audio converter Audio recorder Player Playlist Recorder Converter

Plexamp

Enjoy your Plex Media Server audio library with the help of this lightweight player that promises an advanced recommendation system.

Designed with Media Plex Server users in mind, Plexamp is a straightforward audio player that proposes a new approach to your music collection, what with the advanced search and discover features it puts at your disposal.

Before anything else, it is worth pointing out that, being a Plex client, the application obviously requires a valid Plex Media Server account in order to start exploring your music library even in offline scenarios.

An audio player aimed at Media Plex Server users

Sporting a lightweight user interface, Plexamp comes up with limited playback controls. Nevertheless, it does enable you to resize it, with options such as “Nihilist,” “Hipster,” “Regular,” and “Roo” being available for you to try out. Still, we have noticed that, when in playlist mode, you are actually unable to click the first two tracks. That is because, with no top bar, you need to click this area in order to drag the window.

In any case, you may want to know that, once you are able to browse your music library in Plexamp, you can start enjoying one of the features its developers are most proud of. We are referring to its search and discover tools that allow you to get results depending on what you listen to most often.

Sports a basic set of playback controls

As for the available playback controls, it is worth pointing out that you can play, pause, skip, or shuffle songs. On the other hand, you cannot adjust the volume, so you will need to resort to your system volume controls for that.

Anyway, the app compensates for this by offering support for any audio file format. Aside from that, a visualizer is integrated so that it complements your audio experience and puts considerable emphasis on matching the album art feel.

For a plus of convenience, hotkeys can be used, which means your interaction with the audio player should be hassle-free.

A minimalist Plex Media Server companion

On an ending note, Plexamp is a tiny app that works as a Plex Media Server companion that helps you fully enjoy your music library. The program is all about minimalism and should be handled pretty easily, so you may want to give it a shot.

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Plex client Plex player Plex playback Plex Player Audio Client

Audirvāna Studio

Enhance your audiophile experience, with this refined music player that offers support for multiple input sources, such as radios, streaming services, or, local files.

Be it that you’re a passionate audiophile, music enthusiast, or you just take great pride in your audio experience, having the right tool for the job makes no exception for such purposes. There are countless audio players and managers out there, and their inherent complexity can make the choice even more challenging. Audirvāna Studio at offering users an elegant solution for managing and playing their audio content, through a comprehensive set of features that facilitate the playback of both local files and streamed content.

Elegant interface, which carries a wide range of subtle accents, which bear a highly functional character

Having initialized Audirvāna Studio for the first time, we were impressed by its looks, which are shifted towards the more minimalist, subtle side of things. This, however, does not impact legibility at all and all tools and features are quite easy to identify and access.

We especially enjoyed the collapsible categories from the side-panel, which allow users easy toggling between local music files, streaming services, as well as between different views, for individual tracks, albums, or artists.

Add your local audio tracks, or, if you prefer to, browse the impressive radio or podcast collection

Although cumbersome at first, adding your first local music tracks is done via the settings menu, and we believed this to be quite unusual, especially considering that there aren’t any easier methods of adding data, such as drag-and-drop.

Onto the included library of radios or podcasts, these come prepared with an intuitive selector menu, for region, country, as well as genre, making the entire task of choosing a preferred radio station or podcast, a breeze.

Solid audio player that manages to offer one step further in terms of audio content management and streamed content playback

Although it features an unusual way of importing local audio files, this audio player and music library manager manages to impress through its elegant design, accessible features, ease-of-use, and overall handling efficiency.

Filed under

Music Player Radio Player Music Library Studio Player Radio Streaming

Music Player

Listen to your music from your computer, YouTube, or Soundcloud through this player, able to add various exciting effects to your favorite songs.

Countless ways to listen to your songs exist, and whether you want to stream something or play locally, there's something for everyone. But what if you wanted to add certain effects to your music, like a reverb filter of some sort?

You're not able to do that with popular streaming apps, and locally it would take some not-too-convenient steps to apply the effects. That's where Music Player comes in: listen to your songs, either from your computer, YouTube, or Soundcloud, and alter them to your liking.

Cross-platform, stylish interface, and easy-to-access controls

There's not much to innovate when it comes to the design of a music player, yet this app features quite a stylish, almost cartoonish design that manages to be eye-catching while remaining functional. Thanks to the cross-platform capabilities, you can access this app on macOS just as well as on Windows.

You can upload your songs from your computer, or you can insert their YouTube or Soundcloud links, and the app will recognize them. If they happen to have cover art, it will show on the main layout.

More than that, if you add a song from YouTube or Soundcloud, then alter it by adding effects, you have the ability to download the new version right to your computer.

The various effects grant you the power to revitalize your favorite songs

What is meant to separate this app from the others is the pitch-shifting, time-stretching, and reversing features, which it can introduce into your music in real-time.

As such, while listening, we wanted to lower the pitch of a song. It was an already gloomy song, and that just made it even more so. We also stretched its runtime a bit, turning it into an atmospheric, droning piece, which we looped via the app.

More adjustments can be made through the EQ and FX menus, which serve to change the audio filters and effects, respectively. There is also a MIDI Synth section, which can be used to customize the controls of your synthesizer.

In conclusion

Music Player is a promising app, and the features it offers are surely enticing. Unfortunately, navigating through it was sluggish, the program especially seeming to have issues processing links from YouTube or Soundcloud.

It took a good amount of time before the songs would appear — upwards of 30 seconds — and manipulating our music via the provided effects also had a considerable delay.

Filed under

Music player Music effects Play song Song Music Player Reverse

Spotify App

A user-friendly application that you can use to listen to songs from your computer as well as find new ones in a very large online library.

With a presence of over 10 years on the computers of home users, Spotify is one of the most popular music streaming services out there. Used by millions, its desktop client allows one-click access to DRM-protected content, allowing you to discover music that might become your favorite.

User-friendly GUI

To use the Spotify application, an account is required. Alternatively, you can also connect via your Facebook account.

Once logged in, you are greeted by this elegant, black-themed interface that comprises the audio player, along with playlists and your personal library. The latter includes recently played songs, albums you like, artists and podcasts you enjoy listening to.

Organized online music library

Spotify can and will offer suggestions based on the music you already listened to, making recommendations of albums and individual songs.

You can also browse its huge library, as the Spotify servers bundle millions of tracks, all neatly organized in different categories to help you quickly find what you are looking for. You can look for songs by genre, listen to podcasts or newly released singles or albums. Exploring featured music charts, you are sure to find a beat that will get you addicted. Furthermore, Spotify lets you know about upcoming concerts and events, be them virtual or live.

Listen to music and radio stations

The built-in music player in Spotify comes with the standard button set, allowing you to easily pause and play a song, or jump to the next or the previous title. As you might expect, shuffle and repeat functions are available as well.

Aside from music from the Spotify servers, it is possible to listen to online radio stations using Spotify. Just like before, Spotify does offer its recommendations to help you quickly find a station that you will enjoy.

Find out friends’ preferences in Spotify

Spotify is one of the top music streaming services out there and for good reason. It offers access to all kinds of genres and hundreds of hours of playback, all via a user-friendly and simple interface in Windows. Not just that you get to listen to the best music, but you can also connect Spotify to Facebook and find out what they are playing.

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Audio player Music player Music library Player Music Library Playlist

J. River Media Center

Search, import and organize all of your media files as well as enjoying them in multiple view types with this powerful multimedia workstation.

Using your computer as a main tool for playback can leave you with a hard time trying to find a media file. Luckily, with the help of specialized applications such as J. River Media Center you are able to organize all media files on your computer and fully enjoy them.

Make the interface suit your style

Running the application for the first time manages to impress, first with the visually appealing interface, then through the amount of features you discover. In terms of visual elements, it sports a modern and fresh look, with various skins you can choose from and even customize.

Visualization is also neatly designed, as it puts several 3D animated frequency spectrum composed of pictures you insert, and a breathtaking amount of common ones.

Scans and imports your media files

If you've put your operating system's media folders to good use the application has no problem identifying items you wish to add to the library. You can rest assured that nearly any known audio, video and image format is supported by the application.

Create and organize media libraries

A side panel lets you quickly navigate through available categories such as now playing, audio, images, video, podcasts, playlists and a few more. You are able to carefully create and manage libraries in which your media files are stored.

Multiple view types available

Several view types are put at your disposal, one more attractive than the last. You can switch to a mini view, display, theater and cover, each suitable for a certain type of media. The most interesting of all is the theater view, which brings a whole new interface you can easily navigate through by connecting a remote control and using 5 buttons at most.

Various tools to work with

Amongst its abundance of features, you can also rip tracks from CDs or even burn custom ones, convert audio files to various formats, edit tunes and even go online with the help of an integrated browser.

A few last words

To sum it up, J. River Media Center is a powerful multimedia workstation that is definitely worth keeping on your computer if music is more than a means to pass the time. There is a lot more that can be said about what the application can do, but the true magic is being surprised with every click you press.

Filed under

Audio player Media center Video player Music Organizer Media Collector

Download Hubs

J. River Media Center is part of these download collections: Play MP3, Play MPL, Play SHN, Open MPL

AIMP

A lightweight but powerful media player that ensures a high-quality playback of your favorite songs and radio stations with many customizable elements.

IMPORTANT NOTICE

There are a lost of players on the multimedia market, each struggling to provide the most useful features. AIMP is one of them, and comes equipped with a pretty interface and a handful of functions that might convince you to keep it around.

Lightweight and easy to user

Considering you have used the computer for playing songs or movies, then you should not encounter any difficulties in accommodating with the application's clever design. Additionally, it can further be enhanced with various skins that can be downloaded from the Internet. Unfortunately, there is no direct link and you have to manually look up skins over the web.

The installation process takes you through only a few steps, being simple and straightforward, without no other necessities or offers. In terms of functionality, it takes incredibly little space on your hard disk drive and the amount of system resources used is not something to worry about.

Supporting various music file formats

The first post-setup operation is to determine whether or not the application plays specific formats by default and which. You find that the list of association options is pretty impressive, with elements like MP3, AAC, FLAC, MAC, M3U, OGG, OPUS, RMI, TTA, WAV and WMA being only a few.

An integrated media converter

One of the most useful features is the converter. It runs in a separate windows which is easy to use. However, it is only capable of converting to several formats, but the list can be extended by installing modules and plugins.

Moreover, you can enable an option that creates a dedicated explorer context menu entry so you can easily manage files and play, add to playlist, edit tags or even convert to another format.

Create and manage playlist

It is needless to say that an aspect that keeps this player's popularity up si the playlist manager. Just like any media player worthy of being installed on a computer, you are able to add your desired items to a list that can be saved for later use. In addition, you can toggle shuffle and repeat for an enhanced experience.

For even more customization, an integrated equalizer gives you the possibility to adjust frequency sliders and get the effect you want. Unfortunately, it is strictly limited to your configuration, with no included presets or option to save.

To end with

Taking everything into consideration, we can say that AIMP is a proper alternative to the already existing industry giants. It comes equipped with all it needs to live up to expectations, and even though it may not be perfect, it still deserves at least a try.

Filed under

Media player CD ripper Tag editor Player Playlist Radio Ripper

Download Hubs

AIMP is part of these download collections: M3U Player, APE Players, AAC Player, Play MP3

rekordbox

A straightforward and intuitive software for bedroom and professional DJs who are looking to manage music libraries before and during a performance.

As a DJ, apart from having an excellent sense of rhythm and taste in music, you also need to have a well tailored music library. Very rare, if not almost gone, are the days in which your favorite DJ would show up with a couple of cases of CDs or vinyls load them, and start the party.

Today, software solutions such as rekordbox are developed in order to help you better manage your music library to the point where you can create playlists before a show and during one, sort tracks by BPM, genre, a personal rating and even key.

Designed for Pioneer gear and fit for DJs of all levels

rekordbox is created to work its magic with Pioneer DJ players and offers support for all the new and popular devices. It’s not really a virtual DJing tool but rather your aid when it comes to searching for tracks on your computer, creating playlists based on certain criteria, setting cue and loop points, as well as loading them into the players.

Like most apps of this type, rekordbox displays a graphical user interface which should be intuitive to all kinds of DJs, enabling them to quickly and effortlessly managing their sets. Its main window is comprised of the classic panels for track playback and waveform visualisation, cue/loop functions, file browsing and link status.

With rekordbox, everything you need is in plain sight, easily accessible and since multiple tracks can be analyzed in a matter of seconds, it’s a great solution for live performances.

Analyze and adjust beat patterns

rekordbox automatically analyzes each track you add to the library and besides BPM, it also shows you beat placement, making it easy for you to sync up the songs. Additionally, it enables you to adjust beat patterns prior to performing so you can accurately place cue points, loops and effects where you need them.

A handy music manager

With the above to consider and a lot more to discover, it’s safe to say that if you're looking for a reliable and intuitive audio library manager then you can certainly try rekordbox.