Alternatives to Windows Media Player

[Matthew_84]

Audacity is overkill. Plus you have open the songs within the program which is an added hassle. I use Cubase for recording, and could have used that to do what Audacity does...

Just wanted a simple player. I think I'm done here. Going to use AIMP. It's super simple, does everything I need, excellently, and I especially like that you can keep the various windows open while tweaking EQ and stuff. WMP had become a pain in the butt with that. Anytime I wanted to re-EQ or adjust the tempo, I had to open the menu again. This is all right there at your fingertips.

Only thing I'm bummed about is that the cool looking skin is mircroscopic . Couldn't use it. Default skin works excellently.

Thanks everyone for the input.

I was one that recommended Audacity, but your post convinced me to try this AIMP software. Will get it later tonight. Thanks!

 

[mdlewis]

I use Amazing Slow Downer (https://www.ronimusic.com/) which is inexpensive, somewhat minimalist and does exactly what I think you are requesting. I have a small studio and use lots of other software for DAW's etc, recording, signal processing etc, but for practice this is definitely my main go to.

Support is excellent, as well. There are versions for most platforms, although the mobile ones aren't quite as useful as the ones on my comps.

 

[Honch]

I think we have a winner right out of the gate . Quick download, and does the same job as WMP but seemingly, so far, even better. More EQ options, and lots more you can do with the speed. Going to go play with it a bit now, see what else it can do. I want the skin in the pic, too...

Thanks.

That would be interesting to hear your verdict on slow speeding, how well the software still can track. I've heard that some slow-speeders can perform worse on MP3 files than on full range wav files, for some strange reason. Because of the "lossy" compression. It can introduce artifacts that are not masked as much. Also while I heard that most down-speeding is used by gtrds who wants to learn fast shred parts, slow-speeding can be detrimental in the bass guitars range. It would be great to hear back from you how well it performs when down-speeding bass lines while preserving pitch. It's much easier for software to do down-speeding at the middle and high mid frequencies, without altering pitch of course. On some instruments like drums cymbals, the wavery and stuttering can be too much and the idiosyncrasies and drawbacks of that programming algorithm comes forth. What I've found out with some slow-speeding software is that it's not only additional EQ that is needed, but some kind of mastering limiting and compression too, added on top to make up for volume loss.

 

[Joe Nerve]

That would be interesting to hear your verdict on slow speeding, how well the software still can track. I've heard that some slow-speeders can perform worse on MP3 files than on full range wav files, for some strange reason. Because of the "lossy" compression. It can introduce artifacts that are not masked as much. Also while I heard that most down-speeding is used by gtrds who wants to learn fast shred parts, slow-speeding can be detrimental in the bass guitars range. It would be great to hear back from you how well it performs when down-speeding bass lines while preserving pitch. It's much easier for software to do down-speeding at the middle and high mid frequencies, without altering pitch of course. On some instruments like drums cymbals, the wavery and stuttering can be too much and the idiosyncrasies and drawbacks of that programming algorithm comes forth. What I've found out with some slow-speeding software is that it's not only additional EQ that is needed, but some kind of mastering limiting and compression too, added on top to make up for volume loss.

Verdict is I jumped the gun with my initial impressions. Slow down sucks. So far of all the ones I've tried, WMP does the best job with that. Back to the drawing board for me. Will check out Classic Media Player next. Then go through this thread again...

 

[Double E]

The best program I've ever used for slowing down tracks is The Amazing Slow Downer. The free version works just fine but I paid for the full version because I liked it so much. Back several years ago the only limitation of the trial version was limited track usage from an audio CD.

Super easy to configure loops and adjust pitch if needed. All while maintaining a smooth sounding playback.

 

[Joe Nerve]

Wow... I'm getting really frustrated. None of the programs I've tried yet are able to slow things down clearly like WMP. Classic player can only go REALLY slow. The other all break up the audio. Amazing slow downer won't allow me to fiddle with the tempo in the free version - which makes no sense to me. I'm not about to drop $50 on something I'm not sure I'll ever use. I never realized how dependent I've become upon WMP. This sucks, to say the least.

I'm going to go through this thread with a fine tooth comb and see what I might have missed :/.

 

[mdlewis]

Joe - Amazing slow downer will allow me to save a reduced speed version. If you tell me the song, I could post a portion of it for you to evaluate the performance of the program.

 

[Joe Nerve]

Joe - Amazing slow downer will allow me to save a reduced speed version. If you tell me the song, I could post a portion of it for you to evaluate the performance of the program.

Thanks... but it's a compilation that runs about 10 minutes. I also don't really want to pay $50 just yet. Considering using a notebook I have that's still running an old version of windows - and just using that for learning tunes.

Also, it seems that in order to pay for Amazing slow downer you have to do it through snail mail? When closing the program, I got an order form to print and fill out. Not sure what that was all about, and didn't check it thoroughly, but it spooked me .

 

[LeeNunn]

I want to put in another vote for Transcribe!. It might not meet your criteria, but it has some notable fans including Pat Metheny and Michael Brecker. I'm pointing this out for the benefit of others who are looking for loop and slow down software. Transcribe's capability is particularly evident in analyzing rhythm, which seems just as important as pitch for bass players. The key is Transcribe's use of measure markers and automatic beat markers. In terms of identifying the pitch of bass notes, I find that raising the playback by an octave often helps even more than eq. The best software depends on the criteria.
Some extracts from Transcribe! reviews and emails from users

 

[Double E]

Thanks... but it's a compilation that runs about 10 minutes. I also don't really want to pay $50 just yet. Considering using a notebook I have that's still running an old version of windows - and just using that for learning tunes.

Also, it seems that in order to pay for Amazing slow downer you have to do it through snail mail? When closing the program, I got an order form to print and fill out. Not sure what that was all about, and didn't check it thoroughly, but it spooked me .

Yeah... I am remembering that the trial version for PC did not work for compressed audio files...just CD audio and then only the first two tracks of the CD. The obvious work around was to just burn my own audio CDs with the songs I wanted to alter listed on the first two tracks. Kind of a pain in the arse so that's why I bought the full version.

Their site has a link to buy using Paypal or Credit Card so no problem there. They are a small software company based in the Netherlands.

Here is another one to try... BestPractice I don't know anything about it other than I stumbled across it on a site called Invalid Link Removed while looking for info on ASD.

As far as the quality of the slowed audio on ASD, I will vouch for it as being as good or better than the WMP. With the added benefit of being able to create and save loop sections.

 

[mdlewis]

FWIW, I use both Transcribe and Amazing Slow Downer. I paid for both on line many years ago, which is good because I don't use checks. If you go to his site, Roni music has lots of slowed samples to hear under the "software" option.

Both allow for really slow tempos on a variety of recorded material. Amazing Slow Downer has a play list function, works off of CDs and allows the use of several different slow down algorithms to process difficult source material. Transcribe is way better when trying to figure out song layout, as is its great strength is in its ability to visually map out song arrangement as well as guess at notes and chords (its not alway so great here though). I often will take a song apart on Transcribe, notate it, and then practice against AMD. Both are great programs and are great tools. I do wish Transcribe wasn't so butt-ugly though.

Something I have to do repeatedly lately is to take older material that was sped up or reduced in speed during mastering and return it to it's home key, create a new mp3, and then use this for practice so as not to have to tune to Eb 0.25 or something.

 

[NoiseNinja]

VLC media player, it's free and contain condexes to almost all known media formats.

Seems like I didn't read OP's post properly and that OP has already been there, sorry.

Anyway that is what I use as my standard media player.

 

[Joe Nerve]

So I'm not happy, but settling into this for now...

When I have to slow down, I'm going to ipad and using Anytune, which I think is completely awesome. When I don't need to slow things down I'll be using AIMP or VLC. And I signed up for updates on Anytune, as they claim they're making it available soon for Windows. That would be awesome!

Anytune Music Slow Downer Home Page

 

[photogdude]

So I'm not happy, but settling into this for now...

When I have to slow down, I'm going to ipad and using Anytune, which I think is completely awesome. When I don't need to slow things down I'll be using AIMP or VLC. And I signed up for updates on Anytune, as they claim they're making it available soon for Windows. That would be awesome!

Anytune Music Slow Downer Home Page

Anytune is great, but they've been saying "soon for windows" for a few years now. So I do basically what you do, I use my ipad with anytune, but i do also use amazing slowdowner on my surface, on some occasions.