Best Media Player...?

by **Elephone** » Fri Oct 18, 2019 7:55 pm

Hello. I'm wondering if there's a great media player to use as a default (that's better than Windows Media Player).

Ideally, I'd like it to be able to change speed/pitch/tempo flexibly, reverse audio and show the waveform (so you can flick to what look like changes or sections).

I know this sounds like a wave editor job, but I want fast auditioning of tracks in a folder, like WMP, and the convenient buttons rather than drop down menus. Not bothered about sync'ing between devices and all that type of functionality.

I thought it'd be better to ask on here because you all must use something to have a quick listen to what's what, and find you'd like a few more options than just 'play'.

Thanks

by **James Perrett** » Fri Oct 18, 2019 11:44 pm

You've pretty much just described Reaper's media explorer (though it doesn't do reverse play).

by **Arpangel** » Sat Oct 19, 2019 8:42 am

I'm a Mac owner and have to suffer the devils own work f*****g I Tunes.
I just import multiple media into Reaper on a single track, you can reverse it, do anything you want, only takes a minute.

by **Dynamic Mike** » Sat Oct 19, 2019 9:45 am

Take a look at foobar 2000. Plenty around here seem to use it. Lots of add-ins available but requires a bit of setting up to get just what you want visible. Plays pretty much any file format you can think of too.

by **mammy** » Sat Oct 19, 2019 12:53 pm

ACG player

by **Martin Walker** » Sat Oct 19, 2019 2:54 pm

Dynamic Mike wrote:Take a look at foobar 2000. Plenty around here seem to use it.

I'm one of them, and use foobar on a daily basis (it's currently playing back albums from my digital download collection, but has also been pressed into service to audition more unusual music formats including Gameboy, Megadrive, and General MIDI).

I'm also using its WASAPI driver for bit-accurate playback via Sonarworks Reference 4 for the best possible sonics in my small studio.

Martin

by **Elephone** » Sat Oct 19, 2019 4:12 pm

Thanks

by **OneWorld** » Sat Oct 19, 2019 8:24 pm

Arpangel wrote:I'm a Mac owner and have to suffer the devils own work f*****g I Tunes.
I just import multiple media into Reaper on a single track, you can reverse it, do anything you want, only takes a minute.

What I don't get about the devil's media player is how much room the cursed thing takes up

by **ConcertinaChap** » Sun Oct 20, 2019 7:19 pm

Never used iTunes in all my years of Mac use. Currently and for some time I've used VLC but I've just installed the Mac version of Foobar2000 to see what that's like.

CC

by **Martin Walker** » Mon Oct 21, 2019 11:06 am

ConcertinaChap wrote:...I've just installed the Mac version of Foobar2000 to see what that's like.

Do give it a chance CC - at first I found the set up preferences a bit impenetrable, but that's largely because it offers so many 3rd party 'components' that you can install:

https://www.foobar2000.org/components

Once you get up to speed and have installed all the compents you find useful, foobar2000 just works beautifully, and I'm extremely happy with it. Here's how mine looks currently:

Martin

by **miN2** » Mon Oct 21, 2019 12:22 pm

Martin Walker wrote:
https://www.foobar2000.org/components

Once you get up to speed and have installed all the compents you find useful, foobar2000 just works beautifully, and I'm extremely happy with it. Here's how mine looks currently:

foobar.jpg

Martin

Ooh, a Tipper fan! :thumbup:

I tried foobar once. I thought it was too busy and contained way too much stuff for my needs so went back to the devil. I like the devil though, but maybe i should give the foo another shot!

by **Hugh Robjohns** » Mon Oct 21, 2019 12:51 pm

Hmmm...

Just tried to download foobar to try it out. It sends me to a microsoft download site which requires me to log into a microsoft account.

As it happens, I have one associated with my Win10 laptops... but it won't let me associate my Win7 PC and download/install the files to that...

Do the Illuminati know of any way to associate a win7 machine with a MS account, or is this a cunning MS plot to ensure obsolescence and force unwanted upgrades?

H

by **The Elf** » Mon Oct 21, 2019 3:25 pm

I also found Foobar too complex and fussy. VLC is quick and simple.

by **The Bunk** » Mon Oct 21, 2019 4:02 pm

James Perrett wrote:You've pretty much just described Reaper's media explorer (though it doesn't do reverse play).

Unless I've not understood, you could actually download the music / piece into Reaper and then "reverse" it in the Item Properties window...

by **James Perrett** » Mon Oct 21, 2019 4:14 pm

The Bunk wrote:
James Perrett wrote:You've pretty much just described Reaper's media explorer (though it doesn't do reverse play).

Unless I've not understood, you could actually download the music / piece into Reaper and then "reverse" it in the Item Properties window...

That requires you to drag the file into Reaper's main window first. With Reaper's Media Explorer you can just click on the file and it will play automatically and show you a waveform overview where you can quickly go to any part of the file and even select a region to loop it.

If you want to preview another file you just click on it and it replaces the previous file.

by **OneWorld** » Mon Oct 21, 2019 4:45 pm

The Elf wrote:I also found Foobar too complex and fussy. VLC is quick and simple.

Same here with Foobar. Apart from VLC I use SMPlayer, it's a portable app, like VLC plays anything you throw at it and there's a 'stay on top' setting which I find quite useful

by **ConcertinaChap** » Tue Oct 22, 2019 9:53 am

The Elf wrote:I also found Foobar too complex and fussy. VLC is quick and simple.

That is a concern. VLC, as has been said, plays anything, a statement that is also true of video (e.g. transport stream files from my PVR play beautifully in VLC) so VLC will remain on my machine. Does anyone know if Foobar2000 components work on Macs? The website is unclear on this.

EDIT: no, you can't. There is no option on the menu for installing components and as components are implemented as DLLs I wouldn't expect them to work on Macs anyway.

CC

by **John Willett** » Tue Oct 22, 2019 1:10 pm

ConcertinaChap wrote:
The Elf wrote:I also found Foobar too complex and fussy. VLC is quick and simple.

That is a concern. VLC, as has been said, plays anything, a statement that is also true of video (e.g. transport stream files from my PVR play beautifully in VLC) so VLC will remain on my machine. Does anyone know if Foobar2000 components work on Macs? The website is unclear on this.

EDIT: no, you can't. There is no option on the menu for installing components and as components are implemented as DLLs I wouldn't expect them to work on Macs anyway.

CC

I have found, certainly for video, that VLC is my No.1 choice - it can diaplay the correct aspect ratio of whatever I play through it - others can't. :thumbup:

by **Elephone** » Tue Oct 22, 2019 5:14 pm

Hugh Robjohns wrote:Hmmm...

Just tried to download foobar to try it out. It sends me to a microsoft download site which requires me to log into a microsoft account.

H

I never had this problem. I just downloaded it directly from the Foobar website.

Looks pretty complex. Not sure how it'll work with my albums with them being in different formats (MP3 or FLAC). The waveform is too close up (by default anyway) to be of use for navigating to different areas of audio.

I was thinking of something more like WMP, but with a long window showing the waveform (like SoundCloud) with a few buttons underneath that allow you to stretch/re-pitch, and reverse the audio (useful for certain kinds of music making).

The main purpose in my case is to audition bits of audio (drum hits, etc) and quickly hear what they sound like re-pitched, stretched, reversed.

Since Reaper is my DAW of choice, I'll try Reaper Media Explorer I didn't even know was there!

by **Zukan** » Wed Oct 23, 2019 8:31 am

I'm a VLC, iTunes, Media Player kinda guy. In other words, whatever is available a click away.

VLC serves me the best if I had to be honest.

SOUND ON SOUND

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Best Media Player...?