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Okay, so people have probably heard me go on about this in the past, and to this day I still have not found an acceptable program that comes even close to what I'm looking for. And here we go again...*sigh*
For the longest time, at least since 2003 or so when I first got my Dell, I used the MusicMatch program that came with the computer. It definitely had its own share of problems--the main one being its propensity for crashing midway through a cd rip--but its cons have never really outweighed its pros. From the beginning it's been a great media player for the following reasons:
--single-window format--no multiple windows that make navigation a pain.
--multiple types of view--by artist only, album only, year only, etc....and are kept in subfolders instead of an onslaught of tracks, which are a pain to read.
--the Artist only view KEEPS the tracks in chronological and track order, unlike many other media players where it needs to be tweaked each time.
--track tagging makes sense and is easy to use.
--easy playback, playlist creating, and cd burning.
--downloading tracks from the music service was easy, and the tracks pretty much work anywhere.
There's more to this, but I can't think of anything else at the moment. Anyway, I found out sometime last month that MusicMatch had been bought out by Yahoo and as of August 31 it would be replaced by Yahoo Music Jukebox. MM services would be discontinued, though I'm pretty sure that it would still be useable after that date. An annoying popup window comes up with MusicMatch now, suggesting I change to YMJ.
Bad move.
YMJ had the following problems for me, right out of the gate:
--cataloging that made no sense
--multiple-window format and a pain in the ass to read.
--track tagging didn't translate well at all from MM, and its own tagging system SUCKS.
--slow-as-hell loading time to turn on. A good 30 seconds to a minute. And for some odd reason made Yahoo Messenger pop-up on my system tray, even though I disabled it a month ago.
--playback reaction time slow, and was automatically on repeat when I first tried it. Not good.
--I didn't even attempt the downloading service, as it was a monthly service price that was too expensive. Besides, I like eMusic too much now.
So yeah, YMJ was definitely not a good replacement for MM, not at all. I removed it from my hard drive today, and ( sent the following comments via their feedback page, hidden under this cut. )
Anyway.
I've tried a few other music players in the past, including WinAmp, RealPlayer, iTunes and Napster, and none seem to have a decent library-styled cataloging setup for the music geek like me. Nearly all of them are aimed towards the downloader and listener and not the collector--at least in my eyes, anyway--which makes listing tracks easy, if you want all your tracks displayed for you all in one go, but that's not what I want. Let's just say it: I want to stay with MusicMatch, but I need a backup incase MM doesn't work anymore.
So again, after all this time, I still ask:
Is there a music player out there that can match my standards, or am I asking too much?
Please--tell me what you use, why you like it, and if I would like it.
For the longest time, at least since 2003 or so when I first got my Dell, I used the MusicMatch program that came with the computer. It definitely had its own share of problems--the main one being its propensity for crashing midway through a cd rip--but its cons have never really outweighed its pros. From the beginning it's been a great media player for the following reasons:
--single-window format--no multiple windows that make navigation a pain.
--multiple types of view--by artist only, album only, year only, etc....and are kept in subfolders instead of an onslaught of tracks, which are a pain to read.
--the Artist only view KEEPS the tracks in chronological and track order, unlike many other media players where it needs to be tweaked each time.
--track tagging makes sense and is easy to use.
--easy playback, playlist creating, and cd burning.
--downloading tracks from the music service was easy, and the tracks pretty much work anywhere.
There's more to this, but I can't think of anything else at the moment. Anyway, I found out sometime last month that MusicMatch had been bought out by Yahoo and as of August 31 it would be replaced by Yahoo Music Jukebox. MM services would be discontinued, though I'm pretty sure that it would still be useable after that date. An annoying popup window comes up with MusicMatch now, suggesting I change to YMJ.
Bad move.
YMJ had the following problems for me, right out of the gate:
--cataloging that made no sense
--multiple-window format and a pain in the ass to read.
--track tagging didn't translate well at all from MM, and its own tagging system SUCKS.
--slow-as-hell loading time to turn on. A good 30 seconds to a minute. And for some odd reason made Yahoo Messenger pop-up on my system tray, even though I disabled it a month ago.
--playback reaction time slow, and was automatically on repeat when I first tried it. Not good.
--I didn't even attempt the downloading service, as it was a monthly service price that was too expensive. Besides, I like eMusic too much now.
So yeah, YMJ was definitely not a good replacement for MM, not at all. I removed it from my hard drive today, and ( sent the following comments via their feedback page, hidden under this cut. )
Anyway.
I've tried a few other music players in the past, including WinAmp, RealPlayer, iTunes and Napster, and none seem to have a decent library-styled cataloging setup for the music geek like me. Nearly all of them are aimed towards the downloader and listener and not the collector--at least in my eyes, anyway--which makes listing tracks easy, if you want all your tracks displayed for you all in one go, but that's not what I want. Let's just say it: I want to stay with MusicMatch, but I need a backup incase MM doesn't work anymore.
So again, after all this time, I still ask:
Is there a music player out there that can match my standards, or am I asking too much?
Please--tell me what you use, why you like it, and if I would like it.
