JeCh's dashboard

Guys you're forgetting that there are also other operating systems, not only Windows. The ripping addon should be based on cdda2wav or something similar. – JeCh, on April 29, 2009 04:37

No, the best way is to have everything customizable as killersquirell suggest. – JeCh, on April 27, 2009 19:07

Something like this might work, but I can imagine that implementing it might be quite difficult. Would it be a big problem to copy all the files from a dynamic playlist to a common playlist a rearrange that one? – JeCh, on April 26, 2009 23:48

kazemizuhi> It's not possible to allow reorganization of songs in a dynamic playlist IMO. Dynamic playlists are generated again after each change to your library. This simply can not work together. – JeCh, on April 25, 2009 12:58

Winamp in default configuration behaves just like Songbird. It just has an addition now playing list window (which can be closed). But it has the options to change it. It also has an option to queue songs in the now playing list. That's all I ask for.

I don't want to change current default behavior. I just ask for more option which better fulfill my needs. And apparently also the need of many other users. – JeCh, on April 24, 2009 08:28

qways> Also you should add the votes for suggestion "Please add an official Playlist Pane!" to this one. This makes it the 2nd most popular feature request.

Laura Thomas> Most of the suggestions here don't separate each other out. I think I agree with more then 90% of what has been requested in this thread. I would say this: Have a look at Winamp, foobar2000 and AmaroK, the three best players out there. Take the best from each of them. – JeCh, on April 24, 2009 08:16

Dustin> Just because double click is much more comfortable then drag&drop. If you are building a playlist with many songs, then even small things like this can annoy you.

But the worst thing is, if your accidental double click erases the whole playlist you created so far.

As I and many other people already suggested many times - do it like Winamp. Double click in Winamp has 2 modes, which can be switched in preferences:
1) Copy actual filter results to playlist and start playing it.
2) Enqueue the double clicked song (or artis, genre, album etc.) to the actual playlist

Most people use the mode "2". Winamp also offers the possibility to add some songs from the playlist to queue (see the screenshot I posted some time ago). Also if I select shuffle mode, the displayed song order shouldn't change, but instead of it, the cursor should jump up and down. This would also allow to use the "playback follows cursor" mode, known from foobar2000. Unfortunately moshy already said that this would be very difficult to implement. – JeCh, on April 23, 2009 20:47

There is an addon, which implements this. Unfortunately it doesn't work with latest Songbird version.

Ryan McGoff> You can do it all in one step now. You only need to setup EAC correctly, which won't take more then 5 minutes. Then all you have to do is insert a CD and click the rip button. EAC will automatically create the correct folder and Songbird will automatically import the new music. It's just one very easy step. Just like you want it. – JeCh, on April 05, 2009 19:50

I can't agree. Songbird is great but still needs a lot of improvements in playback department. Seeking and playback is not always working correctly. EQ is missing, no replaygain scanner. All this is much more important then CD ripping feature which is unimportant for the majority of people. There are plenty of good standalone ripers which work just as good as an integrated ripper would. – JeCh, on March 22, 2009 20:34

"I actually don't want another media player to be installed on my computer." May I ask why? I don't see any reason why not install foobar2000. It is a very small program, with a portable installation mode and has no impact on the rest of your system (as any other good program). My suggestion: Use foobar2000, you won't find anything better. – JeCh, on March 12, 2009 17:17

I don't say there shouldn't be an addon to allow CD ripping and another one for CD burning. But I don't see it as a priority. There are plenty of good CD rippers and CD burners to choose from. What's the difference between clicking an icon in Songbird to rip a CD and between clicking an icon to run a standalone CD ripper?

I agree that Songbird should be able to play Audio CDs. But again is it that important feature? Songbird is made to maintain a huge collection of digital music. And it does it right. It's made for people who rip their whole collection to disc, not for people who still use audio CDs. There are standalone CD players, which do the job right if you ever need it.

The people who say that they won't use Songbird because it doesn't support ripping or burning are just foolish. Will they stop using foobar2000 because it doesn't support Internet browsing? Songbird can do it. But is it a must have feature for media player? I don't think so. And so is ripping and burning. – JeCh, on March 02, 2009 09:15

There is plenty of good CD rippers. Just look at the thread and you'll find a lot of them mentioned. You don't need to use iTunes.

I hate programs which are trying to do everything. They do everything wrong. I hope Songbird will always be a media player and it will do it right. I hope it won't try to be a CD burner, CD ripper or spreadsheet calculator. I hope Songbird will be the best media player. Nothing more and nothing less. – JeCh, on March 01, 2009 01:37

Try the 1.1 beta, replaygain should be there. It only supports volume adjustment if the RG tags are set. Scanning should come later. – JeCh, on February 24, 2009 11:43

jbeukema>
This might help: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Replay_Gain – JeCh, on February 24, 2009 11:41

Hi moshy,

thanks a lot for the new version. This a must have component for me. I see you released a new beta version. So I guess I'll let you know my thoughts and experiences after some time I'm trying it out.

Let's start with a media library. In the Now Playing List (NPL) I can see Title and Rating columns. Drag&Drop from library works correctly as expected.

Now comes the first problem. I filter out a certain artist or album, double click on a song and strange thing happens. NPL gets filled with the songs. But completely different names are displayed - the first songs from my library. If in the filter results were 10 songs, then the first 10 songs appear and after that the 1st song repeats many times. Also NPL doesn't show Title and Rating anymore, the columns get synchronized with main list.

After selecting a different filter, already correct files are displayed in NPL. But still the same columns as in main list.

No options are show for Now Playing List. But this probably isn't implemented yet, right?

If I try to Drag&Drop whole artist or album to NPL, nothing happens. Although the cursor is changed to the "+" sign, like if you add tracks.

The switching between the two modes is a little confusing, as I was afraid. A button with the current mode shown would be very useful. If I'm in the synchronization mode, I have to delete a track to leave it. It is a working workaround bot not an ideal solution IMO.

Also, if possible, as I already requested many times, please, please add the option to override double click action on track, genre, artist or album. I would like to have the double clicked items added to the end of NPL instead of start playing it.

Also the option to have the tracks in NPL sorted while in shuffle mode would be a plus for me. But this isn't a high priority thing.

Thanks a lot for your reply. I'll try to describe my habits when using a media player to better describe how and why I would like Now Plying List work. What I describe works perfectly in Winamp, foobar2000 or Amarok (both 1 and 2), unfortunately not in Songbird yet.

1) I walk through my music collection, use different filters and searches and add the music I want to now plying list (called simply playlist in other players).

2) Now I usually end up with a selection in the order I created it. But usually this is not the order I want to play it. I prefer a shuffle mode which randomly selects tracks from the list I created.

3) Sometimes during listening I decide I want to hear a certain track as the next one. So I find the track and pres "Q" (queue). The track will be played next. I can add more tracks to the queue.

4) Foobar2000 has a very nice feature which allows to simply select a track (highlight it with cursor) and it will be played next.