Recommendations for iTunes replacement software with excellent built-in podcast handling capabilities.

October 9, 2008 1:53 PM

Looking for suggestions for a piece of software that I can use to manage my largish mp3 collection, edit tags for these files, use to transfer them to and fro from an iPod nano and which handles podcasts very well.

One of those jukebox like programs, that is. Free and open-source would be ideal but are not absolute requirements with the only restriction being that it be not a resource hog.

I tried the most current version of WinAmp and it seems it's become extremely bloated. It took ages to load and even then was very sluggish when it came to using it. The only other similar piece of software I've come across is MediaMonkey, which I'm trying out at the moment and while its much faster than WinAmp, it's not doing a great job with podcasts

What other software should I be looking at?

And as an aside, does WinAmp have an option/plugin to handle OPML files? I couldn't find one.

Thanks.

posted by sk381 to Computers & Internet (14 answers total)

I use Amarok but from what I know only certain types of iPods. You could also try Songbird, I've heard other open source users say they've had better luck running iPods on this.
posted by mannequito at 2:11 PM on October 9, 2008

Response by poster: I forgot to mention that I'm on WinXP.
posted by sk381 at 2:12 PM on October 9, 2008

I had songbird on my old Mac - is there no windows version of it? I've never actually owned anything powered by Microsoft. Look around.
posted by mannequito at 2:19 PM on October 9, 2008

Sorry, this doesn't answer your question as a whole, but I like mp3tag for dealing with, well, tags.
posted by mandal at 2:25 PM on October 9, 2008

I used MediaMonkey before my iPhone forced me into iTunes. They have both a free and paid version.

On re-read: Ah, you're already trying that. Unfortunately I can't help you w/ the podcast issue; I've always managed mine manually.
posted by cgg at 2:26 PM on October 9, 2008

Why isn't iTunes in this conversation? I know it's sluggish in Windows, but what isn't these days?
posted by rokusan at 2:37 PM on October 9, 2008

I suggest RockBox.
posted by sacrifix at 2:47 PM on October 9, 2008

Response by poster: sacrifix: RockBox looks interesting but it doesn't support the 3rd Gen iPod Nano, which is what I have.
posted by sk381 at 3:02 PM on October 9, 2008

Why not iTunes?
posted by timeistight at 3:28 PM on October 9, 2008

I've had a lot of people recommend the Zune software, since you don't actually have to have a Zune to use it.
posted by blue_beetle at 4:05 PM on October 9, 2008

Response by poster: iTunes slows my system to a crawl. That's the main reason I'm seeking an alternative. Plus I'm not a big fan of its UI.
posted by sk381 at 4:38 PM on October 9, 2008

Make sure you try the newest iTunes before throwing it away. I have heard some people remark on great speed improvements. I can't tell the diff -- I put up with so-so performance because I like the features.
posted by rokusan at 5:00 PM on October 9, 2008

Eags On! is a great program for retagging mp3s.
posted by mippy at 5:44 AM on October 10, 2008

jRiver MediaJukebox is another pretty good one, but I've found that I much prefer MediaMonkey. What exactly do you not like about the way MediaMonkey handles podcasts? It took a little dialing in, but it I'm pretty happy with it now.

@cgg: MediaMonkey is working on support for v2 of the iPhone software.
posted by jluce50 at 7:51 AM on October 10, 2008