Since a couple of months I have a new macbook wich of coarse comes with Itunes.
Being a windows guy I'm used to my old time favourite player MP3Toys. Compared with this Itunes is really horrible in every imaginable aspect. I really cannot get along with it. Specially the library is completely crap in my opinion. It's sluggish with large collections, it can not handle mixed albums unless you are willing to spend weeks to tag them manually. It sound terrible. Navigation in the program is horrible and the Itunes store is getting in the way too often. Long story short, I don't like anything of it.
I spend a lot of time looking for a good alternative that does not rely on the Itunes library. Most players for the Mac are nothing more then just another interface wich are using the same Itunes library with all of it's many shortcomings.
I have tried to run MP3Toys under Wine but that does not work very good, the graphics are pretty much messed up in my attempts so far. Still trying to het it fixend. I don't wan't to install parallels and windows just for a music player either but uptill now it seem to me my only choice.
Anyone an idea for a good music player for the Mac wich is capable of the following requirements:
* It does not rely on the I-tunes library
* It is not the 999999th I-tunes lookalike. I don't like a spreadsheet interface
* It can play FLAC, OGG Vorbis, MP3, WAV
* It can handle mixed albums
* It allows me to choose a directory as an album regardless of what is in this directory. In other words, it let's me make my own mixed albums.
* Sounds good.
* It has Lastfm support
Anyone
Being a windows guy I'm used to my old time favourite player MP3Toys. Compared with this Itunes is really horrible in every imaginable aspect. I really cannot get along with it. Specially the library is completely crap in my opinion. It's sluggish with large collections, it can not handle mixed albums unless you are willing to spend weeks to tag them manually. It sound terrible. Navigation in the program is horrible and the Itunes store is getting in the way too often. Long story short, I don't like anything of it.
I spend a lot of time looking for a good alternative that does not rely on the Itunes library. Most players for the Mac are nothing more then just another interface wich are using the same Itunes library with all of it's many shortcomings.
I have tried to run MP3Toys under Wine but that does not work very good, the graphics are pretty much messed up in my attempts so far. Still trying to het it fixend. I don't wan't to install parallels and windows just for a music player either but uptill now it seem to me my only choice.
Anyone an idea for a good music player for the Mac wich is capable of the following requirements:
* It does not rely on the I-tunes library
* It is not the 999999th I-tunes lookalike. I don't like a spreadsheet interface
* It can play FLAC, OGG Vorbis, MP3, WAV
* It can handle mixed albums
* It allows me to choose a directory as an album regardless of what is in this directory. In other words, it let's me make my own mixed albums.
* Sounds good.
* It has Lastfm support
Anyone
I'm happy with Jriver. Never used it with mac though. Yeah, it costs a few $, but free for 30 days. JRiver Media Center software
VLC might be worth a try.Your thread topic prompts me to offer this music manager for iPods that I discovered today.
I'm putting an old iPod Nano2 back into use. I previously used Anapod from Red Chair software for file management the last time I used it, but they are belly up now, and I don't want to connect to the Borg collective (iTunes) just to move files on it. So I found this little ditty:
PodTrans - Top Free iPod Transfer Software, Transfer iPod Music to Windows & Mac Computer
It works very well, and free.
I'm putting an old iPod Nano2 back into use. I previously used Anapod from Red Chair software for file management the last time I used it, but they are belly up now, and I don't want to connect to the Borg collective (iTunes) just to move files on it. So I found this little ditty:
PodTrans - Top Free iPod Transfer Software, Transfer iPod Music to Windows & Mac Computer
It works very well, and free.
Transfering files to an Ipod or any other mp3player is of no issue to me since I don't have one.
I have tried J.river in the past on my PC but only partly liked it. It's got lots of options and is pretty fast for sure but it is also very easy to het lost in navigation within the program.
And yes, I know a lot of people actually like Itunes because they have to on the mac. Besides, many don't know better and think that anything coming from Apple is the best there is. I think the I-tunes database is very old and obsolete technology. It is so very dissapointing that there doesn't seem to be any good alternative out ther that does not rely on the crappy I-tunes database.
I will have a look at j.river again. Maybe things have changed for the better. For my main music computer I will stick to windows.
I have tried J.river in the past on my PC but only partly liked it. It's got lots of options and is pretty fast for sure but it is also very easy to het lost in navigation within the program.
And yes, I know a lot of people actually like Itunes because they have to on the mac. Besides, many don't know better and think that anything coming from Apple is the best there is. I think the I-tunes database is very old and obsolete technology. It is so very dissapointing that there doesn't seem to be any good alternative out ther that does not rely on the crappy I-tunes database.
I will have a look at j.river again. Maybe things have changed for the better. For my main music computer I will stick to windows.
Vox is a nice player
Hi Sjef, for the times I do not use my Hummingboard mini-pc (the best streaming solution for me now) I use Vox player on my Macbook. Nice player that also supports flac. VOX | Feature-Rich Music Player for Mac I also have JRiver, but I like Vox more because of it's simplicity.
Hi Sjef, for the times I do not use my Hummingboard mini-pc (the best streaming solution for me now) I use Vox player on my Macbook. Nice player that also supports flac. VOX | Feature-Rich Music Player for Mac I also have JRiver, but I like Vox more because of it's simplicity.
Well, last weeks I have spent more time then I would liked to spend on the search for a decent palyer for mac Osx an have come to the conclusion that I don not like a single one of them. I have tried I-tune, Jriver, Ecoute, Sonora, Clementine, Enque, Winamp, Decibel, Tomahawk and several others I allready forgot and none of them come even close in a mile or so of what either Foobar (after a lot of time configuring it) and MP3Toys can do.
In the mean time I installed windows via parallels on my macbook just to run MP3Toys and I'm a happy camper gain. What a big big relief after all the other spreadsheet/database based music programs. I always was a big MP3Toys fan but now even more so. It is not perfect, it's not supported anymore and some functions don't work anymore because of changed api's from webhosts but still..... I'm highly dissapointed in the mac world of music players. Funny thing is I also got the best sound with running MP3Toys in a virtual windows. Worst sound of all was Tomahawk. I liked a lot of things about the program, in fact I thought it was one of the best native mac interfaces but I don't know how they did it but it sounds terrible.
But still, if anyone has a good alternative wich is NOT based on a totally old fashioned spreadsheet / Databse like interface (all the dreadfull I-tunes clones out there) I would sure try it.
In the mean time I installed windows via parallels on my macbook just to run MP3Toys and I'm a happy camper gain. What a big big relief after all the other spreadsheet/database based music programs. I always was a big MP3Toys fan but now even more so. It is not perfect, it's not supported anymore and some functions don't work anymore because of changed api's from webhosts but still..... I'm highly dissapointed in the mac world of music players. Funny thing is I also got the best sound with running MP3Toys in a virtual windows. Worst sound of all was Tomahawk. I liked a lot of things about the program, in fact I thought it was one of the best native mac interfaces but I don't know how they did it but it sounds terrible.
But still, if anyone has a good alternative wich is NOT based on a totally old fashioned spreadsheet / Databse like interface (all the dreadfull I-tunes clones out there) I would sure try it.
I like my old classic ipod interface: simple, category/ albums/ tracks it is very simple. I like multiple CD's in an album, like an opera. I have multiple instances /versions of opera's.
Most modern players are track oriented, even iTunes focusses on that and is hard to get into a normal mode.
So which player fits my need? I have not found one yet. Indeed, they are db oriented (excel oriented display is a good disqualifier ..); I have even tried to trick the iTunes by remanaging by hand the database structure, without a good result.
-- So Sjef, I follow this question of yours with interest.
Most modern players are track oriented, even iTunes focusses on that and is hard to get into a normal mode.
So which player fits my need? I have not found one yet. Indeed, they are db oriented (excel oriented display is a good disqualifier ..); I have even tried to trick the iTunes by remanaging by hand the database structure, without a good result.
-- So Sjef, I follow this question of yours with interest.
We don't have to, but it's free, very full-featured and like a lot of stuff on Mac, just works. Effortless lossless, tagged rips with artwork - yeah, a real piece of crap.
Don't know better? Sounds like you should have stuck with windoze. I'm sure me, my ten various computers, Mac, win, Linux, etc. and my forty years experience could knock your knowledge into a cocked hat, but you probably couldn't be told.
As to the iTunes database, I suspect you are talking out your ****, pal. Exactly what kind of database operations are you trying to perform that are slow?
As with most Apple apps, iTunes uses SQLlite, which is an ACID-compliant embedded relational database, arguably the most widely used database engine on the planet and Apple's implementation is as current as the latest version. Hardly 'old fashioned' and 'crappy', unless you know of a more current db?
Of course you have deselected "Share iTunes Library XML with other applications." as advised by Apple? If you need xml compatibility you are SOOL, but if you don't know whether you do or not, I'm pointing my finger at 'user ignorance'
How much ram have you got? What other apps are you running? What spec of machine?
My Pro with 1TB SSD ang 16GB runs like a rocket with my 20,000+ lossless and MP3 files.
Don't mistake your ineptitude with the failings of your equipment.
And don't mistake the ire of experienced engineers being told that they are basically fanboys without discrimination by someone that clearly hasn't got a damned clue what he's talking about.
I use windows, for what I am doing, an apple anything seems over priced and limited, if you like apple products, good for you, whatever works. Now that that's out of the way, iTunes sucks. I use jriver, it does everything, it's flexible and configurable (iTunes is not), and it does seem slower to me. I know that last part is arguable, different set ups, hardware etc. Also, jriver just sounds better (currently through an HT Omega claro halo with upgraded opamps), same machine, same card, iTunes does not sound as good. Foobar seems to enjoy a big following, I've tried it, sounded good, but the program seems stripped compared to jriver. I have not approached things seeking ultimate simplicity as some other commenters seem to be, or maybe I would be happier with another app, but I like the flexibility of the interface and output. I also suspect that many people either don't know of or just haven't tried other alternatives to iTunes. Media Monkey is pretty good, the linux apps are mostly awful, it's like they are union or something; one plays, one rips, one finds the cover art, annoying. Apple fine, but iTunes?
Comparing apples with oranges.
JRiver is a 'media centre' product, that costs more than the entire Mac OS. At $70 to play music, I would expect it to be better than the app bundled free with my OS.
'Sounds better' is subjective - what configuration? Got any EQ set?
iTunes is a slug, no doubt about it, but turning off some features can speed it up significantly. And not talking about quality features, but things like xml compatibility, sharing, library concatenation and organisation.
JRiver are pretty disingenuous on their website. They use an i7-2880, but say nothing about ram or disk. They compare import speed of 100,000 MP3 tracks, but I bet iTunes has every option turned on, because it makes JRiver look so much better.
Horses for courses. I don't need media centre software, I have Plex. I do need something that easily and painlessly stores and catalogues my CDs to my music server. iTunes does a great job. I'm not paying over NZ$100 for a piece of software to store my rips. YMMV
JRiver is a 'media centre' product, that costs more than the entire Mac OS. At $70 to play music, I would expect it to be better than the app bundled free with my OS.
'Sounds better' is subjective - what configuration? Got any EQ set?
iTunes is a slug, no doubt about it, but turning off some features can speed it up significantly. And not talking about quality features, but things like xml compatibility, sharing, library concatenation and organisation.
JRiver are pretty disingenuous on their website. They use an i7-2880, but say nothing about ram or disk. They compare import speed of 100,000 MP3 tracks, but I bet iTunes has every option turned on, because it makes JRiver look so much better.
Horses for courses. I don't need media centre software, I have Plex. I do need something that easily and painlessly stores and catalogues my CDs to my music server. iTunes does a great job. I'm not paying over NZ$100 for a piece of software to store my rips. YMMV
I use SeeDeClip4 (Google it) which ticks all of your boxes except the last(fm) one.
It does however use a web browser so I guess you could just browser to LastFM on another tab LOL.
You can play the music on the PC it's installed on or a different device.
Runs on the Mac fine (I run it on my Airbook).
There are 3 options for how much influence a directory layout has on the grouping, and how much the meta-data has. It helps quite a bit for me as I ripped all my CD's years ago to WAV - which are arranged artist/album/track but have no metadata of course.
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After trying about about 20 or more music players out there there seem to be exactly two I like, my good old favourite MP3Toys and Roon. Well, and Foobar but only after a lot of customisation. I specialy dislike every player that resembles Itunes, looks like a spreadsheet or a computer file browser so that excludes about 99 % of the players I have tried. I realy tried to like Jriver but in the end its quite terrible as well. So I bought a lifetime membership of Roon, expensive and still not perfect but I simply do not like the rest out there, so for me it's worth the money. case closed.
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