(based on 209 reviews)

foobar2000 1.1

Rated 50/50 by DaMiEn™ at Aug 17, 2008

Simple, easy to configure and light on the eyes. One of my favorites.

Rated 40/50 by DudeBoyz at Sep 23, 2008

First, I have GOT to give the author of this some Props for featuring Aenima by Tool in the screen shots on his web page. Anybody who recognizes the absolute brilliance of that album has GOT to be cool in my book. :) Ok, now onto the review: Interface handling is a bit better, thanks to the Quick Appearance Setup. I just chose "Album List + Properties (tabbed)" and went with that. Turned off the "Library Viewer Selection Playlist" which is under the Media Library part of the preferences dialog, and that helped make things less confusing. So basically, all the albums are on the left and you create a variety of playlists, one per tab. That part is pretty effective. It's a really good way to handle playlists. I have about 5 tabs with different mood music. Tool, NIN, Filter in one tab, Boston, Asia and other 80's rock bands in another, some Tori Amos and Sarah McLachlan type music in another, some techno stuff in another. You just save the whole bundle and when it starts up you are good to go. From a purely organizational / interface standpoint, I like the way it works with Playlists better than iTunes, Spider Player and Music Match 7.5. It may take a bit of effort to learn the nuances of the interface, but once you do, it seems to be a pretty capable app. Still a bit more confusing than it could be in terms of the interface configuration, but it is improved. I really do wish it had a "mini-player" mode like Music Match and iTunes have. It would help keep a busy desktop better organized. If I'm missing something and there actually is a way to do that, someone please let me know. Thanks.

Rated 50/50 by Earwicker at Sep 23, 2008

The best by nautical mile.

Rated 40/50 by photonboy at Sep 24, 2008

I periodically install updated versions of Foobar2000 but end up removing it. Why? I still prefer the free program WxMusik. It's similar to Foobar2000 but I prefer the layout.

Rated 40/50 by Blaxima at Oct 8, 2008

@DudeBoyz - There is a mini player option in many of the skins that were made for PanelsUI. Of course the powers that be made that component obselete so if you want the best audio player to look good then use version 9.5.2 like I do

Rated 50/50 by Diam0nd at Oct 20, 2008

Best audio player around. Changelog: 0.9.6 Media Library now automatically keeps track of any changes made to its folders; no more need to manually rescan them. Improved compatibility of file type associations with Windows Vista. No more delay when playing/enqueuing files from Windows Explorer. The installer now includes “portable mode” that works in limited user contexts and doesn't make any changes to system configuration, registry, etc. New Converter user interface. Built-in Matroska support.

Rated 50/50 by VoODoOChilD at Oct 26, 2008

Highly Customizable, eaZy on the system resources, and provides ALL the options to manage one's audio collection & for FREE! Used em all & y lie have them ALL on my system aswell :), but for my daily audio xtacy foobar is a must! Many thanks to the developers! :)

Rated 50/50 by crowbar82 at Oct 27, 2008

I just love it! PS: "Improved compatibility of file type associations with Windows Vista", finelly!

Rated 50/50 by anomoly at Oct 29, 2008

As of this latest release anyone who gives any rating less than a perfect TEN is a DB. With the completely unnoticeable auto refresh of your local music library nothing even comes close. Now all I need is a great soundcard and a rockin receiver with some Orb speakers and I'd be in music heaven.

Rated 50/50 by cmagic at Nov 2, 2008

Wow.. nice media library.. Just checked foobar updates. To be frank, I've never use ANY media library. iTunes could not read my files. Last time I used Winamp's and it simply crashed my computer when tried to catalog my 3000+ files. Now, mine reached 9000, and foobar catalog it without I ever notice it :D And, what's more? Filter.. Type anything there, and it will give you your list. Now, put regex support, and the rest can rot in hell. Since I have to use iTunes for my iPhone, I made a folder called iTunes outside my library files, but actually foobar is the only one that can fill it in so that iTunes can copy them to my phone. If anyone know how to manage iphone from foobar, I would be happy to ditch this bloated iTunes plague out of my computer. I could use its space for anything else useful.

Rated 50/50 by Ain Soph Aur at Nov 3, 2008

The usability and interface could still use some serious improvement. If you don't know what I mean, you either don't bother customizing your player, or you don't notice having to spend hours learning how to do so. ok, customizing is not easy, but if you want a very good interface, just download this one: http://br3tt.deviantart....2-0a-Released-101694696 or this one: http://dawxxx666.deviant...-INVI-4V-style-94625348 no need to customizing your self ;D

Rated 30/50 by Undesired Username at Nov 3, 2008

The usability and interface could still use some serious improvement. If you don't know what I mean, you either don't bother customizing your player, or you don't notice having to spend hours learning how to do so.

Rated 40/50 by HaST at Nov 7, 2008

I used foobar2000 for some years, until now the best player I've seen. Customizable, simple but complex, fast, great quality... But since 1-2 months I'm using Songbird with some great advantages: open source, web oriented (integrated with web 2.0 services), cross platform, extensible with extensions, translated to various languages... The new 1.0 release have great speed improvements. Foobar2000 it's a great player thought!

Rated 50/50 by anomoly at Nov 23, 2008

@cmagic Foobar has an ipod manager plugin http://fb2k.org/show.php?id=157 I am not lucky eww enough to own an ipod. (their devices still have the best screens and audio engines however)

Rated 50/50 by PRoBiSoNe at Dec 1, 2008

First comment [to individual #1] Who needs a sexy interface? Have you tried to play with the different gui styles? It looks clean and tight. You probably run the XP Luna theme too I bet! LoL!!! Second comment [to individual #2] The directory depth work fine, sees all my files. Upgrade your Windows 98/Me FAT32 system, that might fix your problem! LoL! Final comment... Foobar2000 is the shiz for audio! bar none! 5 solid stars, period! Now sit! ;)

Rated 40/50 by gehtnix at Dec 1, 2008

Great player, would rate "5", but it still has an ugly interface.

Rated 50/50 by roj at Dec 1, 2008

@anomoly: You need to get out more. Apple has some of the WORST audio quality of any of the DAPs one can purchase and is easily eclipsed by (in ascending order of audio quality): Zune Samsung (the P2 lineup) SanDisk (the Clip and Fuze) Cowon iAudio (the entire line) No One looking for superlative quality audio in a DAP buys Apple. Trendiness? Definitely. Conversation pieces? Assuredly. Quality audio? NEVER. The hardware (never mind the software) just isn't there. Back to Foobar, Thank You PP for the early Christmas present. :) FIVE stars (despite the missing automatic population of CDs for playback from freedb and the total lack of sexiness of the interface). Edit: To the twits and their inane comments about sexy interfaces: No junior, I don't run Luna. Try this: http://roj.deviantart.co...bit-Way-To-Fly-95003365 Kidz today...

Rated 30/50 by Amrit at Dec 1, 2008

Mmm, now with the auto-track of the music-library foobar doesn't find all music in my collection. It seems that it can't find music if the musicfiles are somewhere to deep in a folder structure. 3 points for this version. Still the greatest player available, and the only option as far as I know if you're using cue-sheets and different file formats, wv, mpc etc. I'll wait and see if it's fixed with a update, or I find another solution, otherwise I'll go back to the previous version. edit: Vista 64bit - AMD X2 6000

Rated 50/50 by anomoly at Dec 2, 2008

To roj: That's good to know except I was comparing PHONES not some wankers mp3 player and in that respect I am correct. When portable audio devices can easily and comfortably hold ALL my music I will probably have to get one. The only gripe I have with Foo is it's inability to play streams.

Rated 50/50 by roj at Dec 17, 2008

Undesired Username: I'm not trapped in 1990. I like skins AND usability. i'm not buying into the "anything more than a box is a waste" BS - that's stupidity and you can dress it up in a tutu and make it dance, but it will still remain stupidity. Form CAN complement function - and should. XMPlay managed it and still uses less resources then Foobar. Now that the inner functions are all but perfected, it's time for the next evolution of the package. If the same tenets that made the guts so attractive are adhered to, the shell they live in won't devolve into a bloated mess a la Winamp. Standing in the way of that is pure psuedo-minimalistc rubbish. As to the manual config, that is indeed a pain in the butt - and should be part of the badly needed interface tuneup. FIVE stars.