Alternatives to iTunes

March 29, 2012 10:25 AM

What's the best non-intrusive MP3 playing software on OSX?

I really just hate iTunes and it's ilk (i.e. all media players ever) for trying to 'manage' my 'library'.

I'm looking for something like Foobar2k, or old, classic Winamp. I like Quod Libet, but it's a bit crashy on OSX. I would consider MPD if there was a good frontend suggested. I'm not looking for VLC, I'm not a huge fan of the interface for file lists.

Thanks for your suggestions!

posted by wrok to computers & internet (7 answers total)

Recently.
posted by mykescipark at 10:35 AM on March 29, 2012 [2 favorites]

Trying out Cog, which looks like what I want.
posted by wrok at 10:41 AM on March 29, 2012

Cog is old and doesn't seem to be actively supported. I'd tread carefully if I were you.
posted by tommasz at 11:02 AM on March 29, 2012

I use songbird and it does the job fine. Looks like itunes but does not secretly reorganize your files for you.
posted by a womble is an active kind of sloth at 12:30 PM on March 29, 2012

I'm using Cog, and while it is old and isn't actively supported, I love the freakin' heck out of it.

Sole disadvantage: no built-in album art viewer. You can pop the file information box, which will float there with the album art in it, but it's kinda dumb.
posted by Shepherd at 1:32 PM on March 29, 2012

Just popping in to say: iTunes can be told to never ever touch your library's file system.

There is a single checkbox in the advanced preferences called "Keep iTunes Media Library Organized".

Uncheck it (before you import anything) and nothing will ever happen to any of your files at all.
posted by Aquaman at 3:59 PM on March 29, 2012 [2 favorites]

I hate itunes.

I like Foobar2000, running on WINE, installed via homebrew, on top of X11.
posted by yaymukund at 12:24 AM on March 31, 2012