The Download Blog

All eyes may be on Apple this week as the Cupertino, Calif. company is set to release its iPhone 3.0 firmware and iPhone 3G S phone. But unless you number among the 10 percent of smartphone owners who actually has an iPhone, there's little reason you need iTunes, especially to organize your digital music. MediaMonkey is an excellent freemium jukebox that handles large collections especially well. Just updated to version 3.1, its ID3 tags, CD and DVD, and full-featured encoder are just the beginning. A $20 upgrade gets you, among other things, on-the-fly file conversion to your personal media player of choice.

Other alternatives, like the free, open-source Songbird and aTunes, are also definitely worth your time and attention. CNET Download.com Editor Seth Rosenblatt explains what differentiates them here.

IM fans, jot this down

After three years of development, Cerulean Studios has finally flung open the doors to Trillian Astra beta, the latest in its all-in-one chat application. We shared our viewpoints on Trillian Astra while it was still in closed beta (here and here); now it's your turn to tell us what you think. Oh, and if you're still opening multiple IM applications to talk to different groups of friends, waste no time downloading Trillian Astra beta now to get the feel of multinetwork instant messaging.

For better or worse, buying an iPod also means committing to Apple's iTunes software. Apple's seamless combination of hardware, software, and online store has made it many fans, but for some folks, the iTunes way of doing things feels unbearably confining.

If you love your iPod, but can't stand being tied to iTunes, there are some compelling and capable Mac and PC iTunes alternatives that can sync with your iPod. Depending on your iPod model, you'll probably still need to keep iTunes around for firmware updates, video purchases, games, and some advanced features (calendar syncing, for instance), but there's no reason you can't sync your music and podcasts using a different program.

Each of the following media jukeboxes has its own set of advantages and disadvantages. This list isn't meant to be comprehensive (by all means, add your own suggestions in the comments section), I'm just taking an opportunity to highlight my personal favorites. Also, every application listed here is free, so there's no reason not to try them all and see what sticks.

Media Monkey is a control freak's dream come true.

Media Monkey
http://www.mediamonkey.com/
(Download Media Monkey from Download.com)

Ideal user: File hoarders, control freaks, meticulous taggers, boutique format users (FLAC, Ogg), people with messy collections.

Pros
• Ideal for large, scattered collections
• Advanced tagging features and auto tagging
• Supports iPhone 3G and iPod Touch 2G
• Copy songs from iPod to computer
• Album art lookup
• Skinnable
• Podcast catcher... Read more

If you're looking for a jukebox with excellent tag support, the capability to download album art, customization options, and portable MP3 player syncing, don't settle for second banana. MediaMonkey is one iTunes alternative that you'll go ape over.

Mac users may have it easy with iTunes, but Windows fans should look elsewhere for solid features, a customizable interface, and device syncing support that doesn't devour resources. That's why there's MediaMonkey, which juggles excellent library-management tools with skins, plug-ins, autotagging, links to the Amazon.com MP3 store, track encoding, podcast catching, and more.

Upon first launch, the program scans your drive for supported digital media files to add to the library. Files are sorted based on their ID3 tags, and the helpful Auto-Rename and Auto-Tag From Filename features keep untagged tracks from falling through the cracks. Party mode locks down your library while still allowing people to request songs. Third-party plug-ins are available from the site if you want to tinker with the playback and encoding engine or add additional sound-processing effects. Throw $20 at the Monkey to get advanced features such as sleep, scripting, previewing, and on-the-fly file conversion when syncing with a portable device, but all the best features come in the free version.

At least on the PC, iTunes' performance has been less than stellar. Sure, it set the standard for jukeboxes early on, but most of that was probably tied to its then-exclusive ability to sync with the ubiquitous iPod. Now that device syncing, and especially iPod syncing, is a must-have feature, iTunes' other flaws are standing out like a mohawk in Mecca.

MediaMonkey provides a slick look, deep customization, and excellent playback.

(Credit: CNET Networks)

Swinging in to the rescue on one heck of a lengthy vine is MediaMonkey 3. The latest free version of this Windows stalwart, which has been beating its chest since the beginning of the decade, showcases some great new features married to all the solid basics that you expect from your daily-use jukebox. The end result makes it a wonder that more people aren't using the Monkey for their boogie sessions.

iTunes is notorious for being a memory hog, for being a poor podcatcher, for having weak tag support, and for being stodgily uncustomizable. On all four counts, MediaMonkey takes big bites out of Apple.

As a WinAmp user, the feature that most impressed me was the tag support. WinAmp's tag support is overly complicated where MediaMonkey makes it a dead-simple procedure to accurately tag. Once you've selected your track or album, hit CTRL-L and the Monkey searches Amazon.com for album art, track names, and basically every field you could want attached to a song. Check boxes help you easily eliminate songs and discrete attributes from being changed, so it's quite easy to grab just the artwork, for example, without changing your tag for the track titles.

Tagging and downloading album art are easier than strumming an A chord in MediaMonkey.

(Credit: CNET Networks)

MediaMonkey's interface is modular and customizable. Users can move around, show or hide, and skin pretty much every aspect of what you look at when you're looking at it. Drag the playback controls around, so that they live above or below any other module, in any of the three columns that make up the UI or across all of them. Hide the Now Playing playlist as you need it, maximize it to your heart's content. Shrink down the album art panel, blow it up to absorb your attention, or hide it completely.

Longtime Windows users especially will appreciate the tree-based navigation, but don't worry about getting lost in your own intricate jungle of folders. Right above it lives a row of quick buttons to help you navigate your way around. Conveniently, they're all linked to hotkeys, and because this is MediaMonkey and not iTunes, you can remap those keys however you like and change the display so you only see the ones you need. These nodes collapse the tree and highlight the Now Playing folder, which great for searching, playing, searching for something else but jumping back to what you are still listening to. Other nodes include one for your Podcasts, and one for Shoutcast and Icecast Internet radio. You can also use the node to focus on Artist, Album, Genre, or any other criteria you've set up.

It should be noted that WinAmp's high level of customization for creating playlists is free, while the more advanced choices, such as beats-per-minute, remain reserved for MediaMonkey Gold, but for the features I use the most, the Monkey was a far better match. The Monkey also supports WinAmp plugins, playlists, and even uses the same audio engine.

MediaMonkey lets you customize how your MP3 player syncs.

(Credit: CNET Networks)

MediaMonkey also supports extracting audio files from your portable devices, great for, backing up your player to a secondary hard drive or transferring your collection onto a new computer. Other features that the Monkey has include multiple device support, so you can sync your MP3 player and your MP3-playing cell phone separately, an extensible visualizer, an Auto-DJ function that works like a "smart" shuffle playlist, and, cliched as it may sound, more. Plug-ins give the Monkey the superpowers, like the ability to videos. DSP audio plugins also boost the not-insignificant built-in audio equalizers, bolstering the Replay Gain and MP3 Gain tech that comes included. Support for scripts and an online database of user-written scripts truly make MediaMonkey extensible enough to satiate even the hungriest of music gorillas.

On Macs, iTunes is still the standard, but MediaMonkey 3's intuitive layout, deep level of customization, device support, and all-out attention to sound quality make it the one you should be going ape over.

(Credit: CNET Networks)

I get my music from several places. Over time I've ripped most of the CDs in my collection and have also bought songs on iTunes. Though file sharing is tempting--and fairly popular judging by our Most Popular list--I've only used those applications a couple of times over the years for long lost remixes. I guess I try to stay legal out of respect for the musicians, but this article isn't about the legality of file sharing.

The problem is, when you get your music from a lot of different sources, you end up with strangely tagged tracks and artist information which completely messes up your library. Particularly if you have a large music collection, you'll find duplicates of songs you forgot you had, partial downloads of songs, and songs you had forgotten you even added to your library because they were tagged in such a way they show up at the bottom of your list.

One way to remedy this problem is to go through and switch each of the tags yourself. iTunes lets you switch each tag manually, but you have to go through each song one by one to change the information. Fortunately there's a group of programs which let you batch tag and convert multiple songs so your audio files stay organized. Though it takes some work, when you're finished you'll be able to find everything easily and sort by genre, name, artist, and year, knowing all your songs will show up that fit the criteria selected.

There are free and paid versions of this type of music tagging software, and in this Killer Download I've included a little of both. As always, if you have a better alternative, let us know in the comments.

A tabbed interface makes it easy to get the tagging functions you want.

(Credit: CNET Networks)

My Mp3's has a misused apostrophe in its title, but as a free MP3 tagging editor is pretty useful. You'll be able to grab huge chunks of your library and switch all the tag types at once to lighten your load. It offers handy tools to standardize your tagging method and it lets you copy your chosen tagging method to other groups of songs to save time. The included track player was a little buggy during my testing, but most of the features are well designed and work fine.

Exhaustive tagging options in this application make it perfect for the detail-oriented audiophile.

(Credit: CNET Networks)

Mp3Tag is a shareware tagging editor ($24.95) which offers a few more features than My Mp3's. Mp3Tag lets you batch tag several audio file formats by filling in the appropriate fields, and offers a few other cool features in its multiwindow interface. Those who like to sing along will appreciate the capability to search the Web for song lyrics to attach to the file. You can also use Mp3Tag to download album art from the Web so all your music will have that nifty picture when it loads up. The included player on this application worked fine in my testing and I liked the amount of info you can edit for each song with My Mp3's.

A skinnable interface and extensive tagging options make this full-featured jukebox a hit.

(Credit: CNET Networks)

MediaMonkey Standard is probably our most popular application in this category and for good reason. MediaMonkey can be used as your main jukebox application, complete with custom playlists, album art, an excellent included player, and CD ripping and burning. The tagging system is excellent as well, with the ability to ping Amazon for album art and tagging conventions with the click of a button. A left navigation window lets you sort by any tags you've assigned which makes playlists from a specific era or genre a snap. After your songs are properly tagged, you can drag and drop conventions to other artists to get your preferred layout. It even supports syncing with your iPod. A gold version of MediaMonkey ($19.95) adds options to automatically tag new music as you add it, autofile conversion, autoplaylists, and more.

If you have a big library of music which is getting out of control, try standardizing your tags with one of these programs. Once your music is fully organized you'll be happy with how easy it is to find your favorite songs. For more on MP3 tagging, check out this post by our very own Seth Rosenblatt.

I love my Archos Gmini, but it can't shuffle worth a darn.

(Credit: CNET Networks)

I love my Archos Gmini 220. It doesn't play movies, make phone calls, or take snapshots, but it provides me 20GB of digital music and files that I can take anywhere and transfer to any computer. It also only cost me $150 two years ago and is still going strong (with the help of one critical rubber band). It's also very solid as a lo-fi recording device for live shows.

While I don't need a portable music player that massages my back or sorts my laundry, I do need one that can shuffle my tracks randomly. Unfortunately, like most portable media players, my Gmini fails miserably. While shuffling, it will often play the exact same string of songs I heard just a few hours earlier.

So what's a variety-loving listener to do? Well, I make playlists, usually "smart" playlists in MediaMonkey using the "last played" criteria. Of course, Apple's iTunes also provides similar functionality, as do a number of other free digital-music jukeboxes.

Those looking for more automation in the process should check out The Filter, a plug-in for iTunes that will automatically create intelligent playlists based on your own preferences. I've had mixed results, but Peter Gabriel supposedly swears by it.

The future of random playlists will likely happen on the Web. A number of Web sites like imeem and FineTune let you create your own mixes for embedding on your blog or home page, but they haven't yet taken the leap onto portable devices.

When you're looking for a mix of various songs, do you leave your listening choices up to the God of Shuffle, or do you use software or Web sites to help you build playlists? Tell me about your own secret tricks for great mixes in the comments.

(Credit: CNET Networks)

Last week, I had an opportunity to sit down with the developers of MXPlay, beta jukebox software that lets you mash up your music with streaming movies, letting you create your own virtual music videos.

More interesting than the mashup features, however, is MXPlay's unique playback interface. A graphical interface lets you control the location of the listening audience and the position and direction of your speakers. Letting you tweak your own "room" does create better-sounding tunes. The MXPlay folks were very happy to compare its playback sound to that of iTunes, and I must admit I could tell the difference.

That got me thinking a bit about the existing digital music players for PC. There are a ton of great all-in-one jukeboxes on CNET Download.com for managing your library, making playlists, burning CDs, and syncing your portable devices, but how do they sound when playing music?

MediaMonkey is my personal favorite music-management and playlist software, but when it comes to listening to music, I generally use Quintessential Player, which has a similar plug-in architecture as the classic free music player Winamp. A variety of plug-ins let me customize the sound for headphones or my full stereo system.

JetAudio Basic is yet another powerful free music player with customizable sound, and Foobar2000 is the geek-chic pick for playing your tunes, but what's your favorite? Which digital music software do you use when you've got a party and you need the best sound? Tell me about it in the comments.