Foobar2000-like music player?

Question

I've been thinking about switching to Ubuntu full time, but there are still some programs left behind that I haven't found any equivalent to yet. Does anyone know of a music player similar to Foobar2000 (I've read it doesn't handle well in WINE)?

Answer 1

I like Clementine .

Exaile is an alternative. Look for Clementine in Ubuntu software Center

Answer 2

Why no one mention DeadBeef http://deadbeef.sourceforge.net/?

Answer 3

The strict fact is that there is not another like that - no more in linux than in windows after all. (I mean that Foobar2000 can be used with a such large variety of features/addons that can transform its functions and appearance according to each user's needs. Myself, I use it especially for the "facets" addon to access my media library)

Foobar2000 works in Wine and is useful for special purposes like detailed tagging, converting, or especially detailed library handling but I have not used it as default music player due to relatively high memory use with a large media library (compared to DeaDBeef, but not to other players, against which it is in fact lighter! - see bellow). Foobar2000 still holds a good chance of taking the main role: its tabbed display of playlists and other features, which all are extremely configurable makes it very attractive, especially taking into account the fact that it can be very light with a lot of addons (excepting the media library feature; also, considering improving Foobar/Wine appearance - see bellow).

• As a relative alternate I recommend: DeadBeef

(what it lacks in Foobar2000-features it compensates in being light and up-to-the-point - the most straightforward and non-bloated music player/handler I have seen until now in Ubuntu).

With File browser plugin:

With Infobar plugin:

to install it:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:alexey-smirnov/deadbeef
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install deadbeef 

Or download as .deb and install (i686 or amd64)

To install plugins, wich are .so files, they should be put into a certain folder.

On their site they say: ~/.local/lib/deadbeef/

But for Ubuntu it's: /usr/lib/deadbeefs (if the player is installed from PPA)

If the player is installed as .deb, it is /opt/deadbeef/lib/deadbeef

For the static portable version it is deadbeef-versionnumber/plugins

Considering problems of incompatibility and other issues in using the plugins, see this related answer

To convert audio files, see this question+answer.

Considering memory use, Deadbeef is much lighter than other players that might be considered foobar-like

(here it's deadbeef 0.5.5 with gtk2 gui. I guess newer versions with gtk3 might be somewhat heavier but still the lightest in that list)

But comming back to Foobar 2000 itself:

• Foobar2000 was always related in my mind to the use of a lot of addons, and as such it becomes somewhat heavy through Wine

But even in this case it looks lighter than very recommandable Ubuntu native players and it is not heavier than it used to be in Windows with the same addons installed.

And what about it's version without manually added addons and naked interface ? It looks extremely light!

But the addons even installed are not active until put to work: for example what would make Foobar2000 heavier than DeaDBeef is adding large data to media library to see in Album List or Facets addon (the image above that shows the use of 92MB of RAM is related to the use of a 270 GB media library.) Except that one, Foobar2000 in Wine is very light even with many addons.

Also, considering the looks of Foobar in Wine, a good method of improving this is:

1. enable font smoothing - fire one after the other these lines in Terminal:

wget http://files.polosatus.ru/winefontssmoothing_en.sh

bash winefontssmoothing_en.sh

(select third option in terminal)

2. install a windows msstyle file in Wine/Configure Wine/Desktop Integration

3. increase the screen resolution in Wine/Configure Wine/Graphics

It comes to smth like this (but colors and fonts are customizable):

Answer 4

Try Guayadeque.

It is an extremely customizable music player, and should support most of the features you are looking for. I'm not sure if it will match foobar2000 100%, but at least it should fill the gap :)

• The website is here: http://guayadeque.org/forums/index.php
• PPA: https://launchpad.net/~anonbeat/+archive/guayadeque

Answer 5

Maybe you are happy with audacious a lightweight skinnable player that can be extended with many plugins.

Answer 6

Wikipedia has a Comparison of audio player software which could be helpful.

Amarok seems to be a decent match functionality-wise, but it probably depends on which features are most important to you.

Answer 7

Honestly, I've been in the same position as you for years, looking for a comparable music player to Foobar2K in linux...

MPD & GMPC is good, as is gmusicbrowser... clementine is coming along nicely, but nothing can take the place of foobar for me, and thankfully with the newer builds of wine nothing has too - try installing winepulse from the ppa here https://launchpad.net/~c-korn/+archive/ppa.

Listening to Foobar 1.1.7 on Natty right now, and it runs flawlessly :)