ASIO4ALL
WavePad Sound Editor
The installation process is easy to follow and ends in a few seconds. The user interface is elegant and professional, yet intuitive and accessible. On the left side of the interface, there are a few links to video tutorials (for which you need an internet connection because clicking them will redirect you to YouTube), as well as shortcuts to the most important functions of the software. More features can be explored via the program’s menus.
WavePad supports all commonly used audio formats, so working with a particular one shouldn't be difficult. Effects include working with an amplifier, normalizer, compressor, equalizer, multiple chain effect, and commands like reverse, fade, speed, cleanup, and voice.
Also worth taking a look at are the speed and pitch change, telephone effect, AM radio effect, text to speech, and several others.
Audio processing takes a little time to apply changes, during which you can't work with other features of the software. Once you're done playing with the tracks, save your progress or burning the files on audio CDs and share them with your friends.
In addition, WavePad also provides the possibility to analyze sound frequencies (FFT and TFFT) and an efficient batch audio converter that allows you to convert multiple audio files to various formats.
To sum up, the time we’ve spent with WavePad was worthwhile. It’s very intuitive and easy to work with and the processing speed is maintained at a decent level.
Songbird
The user interface of the media player is eye-catching and intuitive. After you have imported files, you can access music, videos and downloads in the Library.
So, you can view the title, time, artist, album, genre and rating for each song and video, as well as the tile, artist, album, source, details and status for each download.
In addition, you can create playlists and view the highest rated, recently added and recently played songs, view artwork, as well as use the "Undo" and "Redo" buttons, a search function and an equalizer.
But you can also set a song or all of them to repeat mode, toggle between main player and mini player mode, select the interface language and theme, change the media view (filter pane, list), switch to full screen mode, zoom in and out, select the page style and character encoding, use keyboard shortcuts and more.
In the "Options" menu, you can set the default directory for music, video and file downloads, install addons, set web integration permissions, delete history, reconfigure hotkeys, allow Songbird to import music tracks from iTunes, disable JavaScript, and others.
The software uses a moderate-to-high amount of system resources and contains a FAQ page (which is incomplete). We haven't come across any problems during our tests. Since even novices can easily use Songbird, we highly recommend it.
AIMP
After extracting the files, users need to choose the installation mode they want: portable version (for removable devices) or custom version (recommended), in a single user or multi user mode. The entire pack contains main components, skins, visualizations, input plugins, additional components (e.g. audio library, Internet radio browser, the Last.FM plugin), and languages. One can choose between full, lite, minimal and custom installation.
To ensure AIMP is seamlessly integrated within Windows, users can automatically associate the software with audio and playlist formats on the PC, as well as add a menu item to the context menu of Windows Explorer.
At first sight, the overall text and graphics might seem to be a bit tiny, considering the latest trends in software technology (with big icons, text, images etc), however after spending some time using AIMP, this is no longer an issue.
The interface somewhat resembles Winamp's, so that the playlist is visible, while the actual audio player and the visualization section are in the upper side of the window. Within the playlist, users get the possibility to rate their songs according to their tastes.
Unlike other applications dedicated to audio playback, AIMP comes with an auto-shutdown feature, an alarm clock, a quick search for songs, and the possibility to add songs as bookmarks. Furthermore, users can customize the hot keys if they are not satisfied with the default ones.
The quality of sound is pretty good, especially considering AIMP supports a wide range of formats, including but not limited to OGG, MP3, WMA, WAV, and others. Typically, the software runs smoothly and the CPU usage is kept to a minimum.
In a nutshell, AIMP can easily become the favorite audio player on one's computer, due to the numerous features it brings, the intuitive interface and customizable settings.
Mp3tag
If you have a really large music collection, you sure know how important it really is to keep everything organized, no matter if we're thinking about the audio files as such or the tags that carry vital information about the music tracks.
In case you still struggle to work with those sound labels, it's probably high time to give Mp3tag a shot. Just like its name suggests, this is a software solution designed to assist you in your efforts to organize your music collection, so editing tags and filenames is its main purpose.
Mp3tag works with the most common formats, such as AAC, FLAC, APE, MP3, MP4, OGG, WMA and TTA, and has the ability to edit multiple ID3v1.1, ID3v2, APEv2 Tags and Vorbis at the same time.
Editing multiple files at the same time is as easy as pie, so you just have to select them using your mouse, in the same way you do in Windows Explorer, then use the adjacent fields in the left side of the main windows to edit the details.
You thus have the option to change title, artist, album, genre or comments with a single click, for multiple files at once. But that's not all. Mp3tag can also use those information labels to change filenames and vice-versa, which is quite handy if you wish to keep things organized in your collection.
Last but not least, the program has the option to search online for information in order to change tags and filenames, and as far as we're concerned, it does the whole thing without one glitch
All in all, Mp3tag is one of the best tools of its kind and unless you're looking for an app that also has an audio player, this one should be one of the first choices.
CodeBlocks
Code::Blocks is one of the available tools that offer everything one would need to get through all the stages of the development process. Highly customizable and extensible, this Integrated Development Environment (IDE) supports a variety of functions.
The interface is complex, yet not too complicated and, since less experienced users are not targeted by this software, it shouldn't pose any problems to programmers. With all the features and commands ready at hand, Code::Blocks can be operated with maximum efficiency from the get-go.
A neat characteristic of this IDE, apart from the fact that it can be extended through plugins, is the ability to generate them using a simple wizard. There are literally dozens of highlighting modes available, so if the developer prefers a specific language, like Pascal, C++, Haskell, Java, Perl, Python, Ruby and so on, there is an option to mark the code in that specific manner.
More so, Code::Blocks offers its users the possibility to choose the style, indentation and formatting for source code. Even the mouse movements and scrolling actions can be customized if necessary and the overall customization alternatives are quiet extensive and will require a few minutes to go through.
For code compiling and profiling tasks, the software enables you to select the preferred tool and configure its settings in great detail. Code::Blocks supports many compilers, like GCC (MingW / Linux GCC), MSVC++, Digital Mars, or Borland C++ 5.5.
Overall, the application is very well equipped for the tasks it is meant to perform and thanks to a well thought layout, its users will surely get to know all the functions and manage to use them to their fullest with minimal efforts.
Spotify
Spotify is a nice tool that lets you connect to your account either by providing the Facebook email and password or the Spotify account data. The program has a simple interface that should be easy to figure out by all users.
Thus, you may use this app to connect to the Spotify database and gain access to countless songs from labels such as Sony, EMI, Warner Music Group and Universal, along with over 20 million other users.
On top of the tracks from the Spotify servers, you can also listen to local files. These are listed by the name, artist, length, album and the date it was added. Overall data regarding the imported local files is also provided, such as the number of tracks, total length and size on disk.
The music player also comes with several buttons, including the basic Play/Pause, Next and Previous tracks. “Shuffle” and “Repeat” are also available, as well as volume controls.
All in all, Spotify is a nice program that goes hand in hand with the famous music streaming service. Less experienced individuals should find it easy to handle, thanks to the intuitive layout and its overall simplicity.
Audacity
Audacity features support for importing, processing and exporting WAV, FLAC, AIFF, AU and OGG Vorbis files. Bundled with a large array of plugins and effects, this software is ready for audio recording/playback, track mixing and audio spectrum analysis.
Audacity has a clean and pleasant user interface, with rich menus that offer easy access to all of its functions. There’s also a quick access toolbar from where you can trigger the player or the recorder.
Audacity can record multiple channels simultaneously at high sample rates from microphones, USB or Firewire devices. Sound editing can be performed via basic Cut/Copy/Paste/Delete operations. Mixing can be achieved from multiple clips, while the Draw feature allows altering individual sample points.
The rich list of Effects includes noise processing, equalization, bass, high/low pass filters, as well as amplify, fade in/out, normalize, reverse, echo and phaser filters. Additional effects can be achieved via plugins.
Audacity can also perform flawless audio analysis through an algorithm based on the Fourier transformation. Frequencies can be visualized through spectrogram views, while the Plot Spectrum allows users to analyze frequencies.
All in all, Audacity impresses through its plethora of features combined with ease of use and accessibility. The processing speed is decent, to say the least and the results are of superior audio quality.
Virtual DJ Home
Virtual DJ Home Free Edition is not a composition application, but you can use it to remix the music that's already on the market, so you can easily bring your very own touch to the latest hits released by your favorite artists.
Virtual DJ's interface is complex, organized in such a way that it allows you to work with multiple tunes at the same time and thus get the most out of your talent. From one interface, you get standard controls, pitch controls, a BPM calculator, a virtual scratch and a dynamic beat visualizer.
The application also integrates 3 band equalizers, real scratch simulation, OSC network synchronization, karaoke support, Master Tempo pitch algorithm and a BeatLock engine.
With the automatic seamless loop and the synchronized sampler, DJs will be able to perform live remixes like never before, not to mention that the cues allow for the visualization of song structures.
To make things even more interesting, the software brings a rich collection of skins, so you never get bored of its looks.
All in all, Virtual DJ Home Free Edition includes an astonishing set of mixing tools, which makes it a reliable choice for professional DJs and a good challenge for those making the first steps into the music industry.
iTunes
iTunes enables you to do anything you want with your gadgets, including backups, synchronization, contact management and, most importantly, install applications from the Apple Store. iPhone owners surely know that in order to buy and install apps hosted by the iTunes Store, they need the downloadable application which provides the necessary environment for purchasing software in a secure method.
The application will play your videos and music in a heartbeat, help you organize playlists and library items. Other than that, iTunes has all the features you'd expect in a media player, plus something special: you can easily subscribe to podcasts, TV shows and other types of content and each of these files are automatically delivered to your computer as soon as they become available.
The 'iTunes Backup' feature comes in quite handy and will allow you to save your library to CDs or DVDs. You can backup just the Store purchases, or the entire content, as you wish. There is also an option that enables you to perform an incremental backup, which means that only the items added or changed since the last backup will be updated.
With iTunes, everything is kept at hand and the seamless integration with external devices like iPods and iPhones allows you to manage everything with great ease. Of course you can use it as a media player as well, but it's best you take it for a spin to see for yourself what it can actually do for you.
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Winamp
Winamp Lite doesn't include some of the advanced features that are part of the standard installation kit, but still, the application is able to play all media formats and comes with the same user friendly interface we've seen since version 3.0.
The installation process should takes only a few moments but be advised that the setup includes third party software that can change the settings of your web browser, so pay extra care when running it.
The file association procedure is included in the initial package installation so when you start the program for the first time, the music filetypes you choose are already registered to be opened with Winamp Lite.
Among the features that are not missing, the 'Playlist Editor' will enable you to create personalized lists with your favorite songs. Also, the useful 'Equalizer' is present in the Lite version to provide you with the sound customization functions you need.
All things considered, Winamp Lite is surely set to follow the same path to success as the Full edition. Even though it sports a reduced feature pack, this version of Winamp still has the same easy to use interface with excellent support for a variety of audio files.
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