Best music playing software for LARGE mp3 collections.

[4745454b]

Its time to find new software again. My wife and I have a VERY large music collection. (100GB+) We used to use Realjukebox, which stopped working well about 80GBs ago. After that we found Media Monkey which worked great. But we are finding that its dropping songs from its memory so the search doesn't really work anymore. For those of you who have large mp3 collections, what program similar to MM would you use? If none exist, what program would use you no matter what?

 

[saint19]

I use foobar, IMO is really good.

 

[4745454b]

Thanks, that one came up in her search. If anyone knows any other database type apps for playing mp3s please chime in.

 

[saint19]

Winamp is also the most used, but i don't like too much.

 

[4745454b]

Not a fan of Wamp. Its been a few versions since I've used it however. From what I remember, the ability to search isn't anywhere near good enough. I didn't say it in the first post but included in the second is that it needs to be a database type program like MM/realjukebox. It MUST have the ability to search easily from any field. It would be nice if it had an easy way to make playlists as we use that feature as well. Foobar looks interesting, but we are open to other ideas as well.

 

[ToreTrygg]

Give a shot to iTunes. As alternative I will agree to saint19 - foobar is pretty good!

 

[4745454b]

Looks like foobar might be the next to try. Sorry, I don't run "I"anything on this computer.

Seeing as the suggestions are light, is there any place we can go to compare different players? Typing in "mp3 players" provides a few to many results.

 

[4Ryan6]

what program would use you no matter what?

You can snoop around here, I'm presently using OtsAV DJ Pro, but its actually DJ software and I also use it personally all the time keeping my database straight, there is a free version but its seriously limited.

Obviously the Pro version is not free software and probably more than you're looking for, it will also convert your MP3s to the OTs format for more enhanced playback or play them back unconverted as MP3s.

If you do decide to have them converted they can be converted back to MP3, but so far I've had no reason to do that, the OTs format conversion basically optimizes each MP3 and makes for a more even playback experience.

As a DJ you need that so you don't have to constantly juggle volume for different recording levels of MP3s however as I already said you do not have to convert your MP3s anyway.

Its also video playback.

Anyhow its probaby more than you're looking for anyway, but worth every penny to me.

Check it out.


http://www.otsav.com/


Also the beatmix technology is really cool for non-stop playback, each song merges to the next for a really cool experience.

 

[dunklegend]

I use winamp, for playing songs, and Everything for searching.
It will find a song as soon as you stop typing the name, or sometimes before.

Just give it a try, it's really small, and it will find any type of files, not just mp3.

 

[4Ryan6]

My wife uses Winamp, she had to go to that when MMJB got Yahoo'd, however I asked her if she'd recommend it to others and she said no, I don't really know her reasons why she is disappointed with it, I haven't really used it myself.

My music database is much larger than hers, she is basically a newer country music fan, and I have to cover the whole spectrum of music.

 

[dunklegend]

winamp has a really cool lyrics plugin, as soon as I start playing a song, the lyrics are displayed (When the name is correct, and you're connected to the internet).
Plus it has a ton of skins and an equalizer.

Did she say why she wouldn't recommend it?

I also used to love MMJB before yahoo.

 

[4Ryan6]

She says it not as user friendly as MMJB was, but she had years to learn MMJB and as you well know it takes time to familiarize yourself with new software, when I installed it for her my first impressions of it were really good.

I liked the interface and everything I had discovered in my short use of it, I also liked the fact Milkdrop was incorporated into it, I think once she gets more familiar with it she'll like it.

 

[dunklegend]

Tell her to look for the lyrics plugin, it's really good, and even more if you like to sing and you don't know the lyrics exactly.

 

[4Ryan6]

I passed that info on to her Thanks.

 

[dunklegend]

To the OP, have you tried songbird?
I used it once and it has a long list of addons, which makes it very customizable.

 

[4745454b]

The problem with plugins is they can make the program as a whole get a bit unstable. When dealing with 100GB+, this is not a good thing. My problem with MM is that it updates the database EVERY time you load it now. Worse, not everything seems to get included. When searching for a song, it might not come up. If however you use the browse feature, you can find it still sitting on the drive. This is not a drive or computer issue, it happens on both mine and my wifes machine.

From what I've seen of Winamp, it won't do what we want. (easily) We like the database type programs that allow us to search by not only song title, but artist, album, year, etc. Wamp won't do this, not even with the lyrics plug in. DJ software is probably a bit much. I assume the pro version costs major $$$? I can take a look at songbird, I hadn't heard of it until now.

 

[manojgj]

what about jetaudio media center..

 

[4Ryan6]

what about jetaudio media center..

Never heard of that one what do you like about it?

What does it cost?

My wife cannot seem to master WinAmp? IDKW She's a great multitask-er but for years was loving MMJB and WinAmp just doesn't seem to be what she is after?

Got a link?

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

media monkey!

 

[4745454b]

i suggest you reread the first post. Been using Media Monkey, but it imports songs EVERY time it loads. It also can't find songs that I know I have in there. I agree with Ryan, details please on Jet. I've got so few possibilities that I guess I could hunt it down. Why its great would be nice however.

Foobar still seems like the best one suggested so far. I still haven't got around to trying it yet. I'm not sure if it will be better then MM or not. Seems similar enough.