Audio Software for your Laptop

March 2009
M	T	W	T	F	S	S
« Feb		Apr »
	1
2	3	4	5	6	7	8
9	10	11	12	13	14	15
16	17	18	19	20	21	22
23	24	25	26	27	28	29
30	31

Friday, March 20th, 2009 @ 10:19 pm | Review, Software

Due to a few experiences with my computer today, I decided to talk about audio software. I can’t think of anyone who can go without music – and the few people that do seem to still use the same kinds of programs albeit for different purposes. If you aren’t listening to the most recent pop album, you might be listening to podcasts or language lessons. And given the recent popularity of the iPod and its myriad various incarnations, the audio player you’re probably using is iTunes.

Using iTunes isn’t a bad thing, but I wouldn’t call it good either. If you aren’t super tech saavy, it’s probably the best option – it syncs right away with iPods, it’s overall a solid player, and it has more than a few helpful features. The biggest problem though is that, in my opinion, since so many people are forced to use iTunes, it has gradually become an increasingly inferior product. It’s not horrible yet, but it’s showing signs. With each update it seems crashes become more common, and every now and then I have some sort of critical problem (like the one which caused this post). The biggest problems are threefold – increasing slowness, Genius, and Quicktime. The first goes almost without saying (and I bring part of it upon myself by having a massive library of songs). As for Genius, I still fail to understand how it adds to the iTunes experience, especially considering how I virtually never buy music from the iTunes store. Quicktime isn’t so bad, but it’s annoying that it’s required for iTunes to work right. Again remember though, this is the best option in my opinion. It’s a straight-up requirement if you want to use an iPhone, so keep that in mind.

A second option is Mozilla Songbird. As with all Mozilla products, the customizability is fantastic. Unfortunately it’s still very much in development – it runs slow and has lots of errors still. I think if you are around “intermediate level” this is a good option for you. It also has an integrated web browser, which might appeal to you. I personally still enjoy using Firefox though, so for me this isn’t really a feature which holds any weight.

There are plenty of other options like Windows Media Player and Realplayer, but to my knowledge none of these support iPods. In this case sometimes programs can be used to add support, but a preferred option may be to manually manage your iTunes. Playlists are a little challenging, but for the iPod shuffle the operation is simple enough. I’ll follow up with a post about manually managing your iPod – it’s a good idea to know how to do this in case you suddenly start having synchronization problems.

Well, I hope I gave you some useful information. I know most of you are dedicated to one particular player or another, so if you want to discuss the various merits of players I failed to mention or if I didn’t give your favorite player enough credit, please enlighten me!