CNET Editors' review
ALSong is an innovative music player that lets users view lyrics to thousands of songs as they play. Although the program's design could be better, its unique features still make it worthwhile.
ALSong's interface is fairly intuitive (it's set up much as any media player is), but we didn't love that several of its features open in different modules. The media player opens in one window, the playlist in another, the lyrics viewer in yet another--things get cluttered pretty quickly. We were also irritated by the small text used throughout the program; anyone whose vision isn't what it used to be is likely going to have a hard time with it. At least the tiny buttons are all equipped with mouse-over tool-tips so you can see what the not-entirely-obvious icons mean. Although the interface made us a little grouchy, we thought the program's main feature--its lyrics viewer-- was pretty cool. The program connects to a database that contains, according to the publisher, over a million songs, and the program automatically finds and displays them when you play an MP3. If lyrics aren't listed for a particular song, users can submit them to the database themselves. The program's built-in Help file is thorough and contains plenty of screenshots. Overall, we liked ALSong for its features, but its interface could use some improvement.
ALSong is free. The program installs politely but leaves a folder behind upon removal. We recommend this program to all users.
Publisher's Description
From ESTsoft:
The ALSong Live Music Lyrics MP3 Player lets you read live song lyrics synchronized to the music while you listen to your MP3 music. With over 1,000,000+ music lyrics available, you can easily search to find lyrics, or enter your own song lyrics. For creative individuals (that means you!), musicians and music bands, the ALSong Album Designer lets you create visually expressive digital mixed music albums for the ultimate cool playlist or to distribute your music to your fans. Upload ALSong Albums to your web site, shared storage, burn them to CDs, or save them on a USB key to take the party with you. Complete albums of free music downloads are available at the ALTools web site for ALSong from various musicians. If you want to spin your music as an Internet DJ or run your own web radio station, connect with ALSong and broadcast your web radio station for the world to listen. And if listening to web radio is more your style, there are lots of web radio stations for you to choose from, and even other ALSong broadcasters playing live for your listening pleasure. Second langauge learners can get audio help to improve their listening skills and comprehension in the ALSong Language Learner. Change the speed and key of the music and set convenient loop points to listen to the same thing over and over. With the most convenient Playlist around, finding your favorite song in a playlist of thousands of songs is a snap. View your playlist as collapsable trees and even add virtual folders to further organize your playlist. The song finder utility takes one click to find your music and is always available in the playlist. Support for popular music file formats and CDs keeps all your music playable.
Version 1.9 adds Record Sound and Advanced Sound Effect features.
What's new in this version: Support Vista Add Record Sound and Advanced Sound Effect Fix some bugs
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All versions:
4.2 starsout of 17 votes
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Current version:
4.8 starsout of 5 votes
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My rating:
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Results 1-5 of 5
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"Best player for small resources"
Version: ALSong 1.9
Pros
Small zize !
Fast, autostart !
Good library !
Fast search !
Nice look !Cons
Thei shuld hace a lirics catch
Summary
Best song player I ever recomanded for small size easy to use, fast auto start. It works fine on limited resources computers and it starts before windows log-on !
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"Great program and use it all the time"
Version: ALSong 1.9
Pros
Scrolling lyrics are awesome! There's no way to remember so many song lyrics and this makes it easy
Cons
I would pay $100 or more for a way to store the lyrics on the computer with the scrolling timecode so it can be used offline. A different EQ for each song that can be saved offline would also be a great feature.
Summary
Can't beat the price but would like to see a paid version that offers the features I mentioned.
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"ITS fanatastic! :X"
Version: ALSong 1.9
Pros
i love desktop lyric its so good
Cons
!so lovely so ease to use! so kind! :X
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"awesome worked just liked it was suppose to"
Version: ALSong 1.9
Pros
did everything that it was suppose to, there was no lag its great
Cons
none that i can think of
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"This Software is very useful"
Version: ALSong 1.9
Pros
Lyrics available of most of the songs.
Cons
Cant view the lyrics if offline to net.
Summary
Please make a improvement in the software so as to make the lyrics available while being offline. Or else save the lyrics in the software.
Results 1-5 of 5
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