Linux NetMag
Titel: MP3-Player
URL:
http://www.linuxnetmag.com/en/issue2/m2mp3play1.html
Published at: 22.3.1999
Author: Ronny Ziegler
Translator: Andy Ziegler
The MPEG-Layer 3 music format from the Frauenhofergesellschaft
is the favorite file format in the music scene.
The whole mp3 file is as small as eight percent of the corresponding
wave file.
All without loosing sound quality.
[ x11amp | GQmpeg
| mpg123 | Sajber Jukebox |
gmp3
| freeamp | --links --]
MPEG-Layer 3, short mp3, is perfect to spread music files over the internet.
The files are not too big and you do not have trouble with a bad quality
because this format was specially designed for the internet.
These features made mp3 to a standard for internet music. MP3
became the favorite format for many users and right now the Frauenhofergesellschaft
wants to protect their encoder algorithm copyrights. This
is the part from the code which changes the wave- into mp3-files.
If a program uses this code the programmer would have to pay a high license
charge. Because many programmer were not able to pay this fee most of the
mp3-encoder disappeared.
Maybe we will have a similar problem in the future because the mp3-player
code was created by the Frauenhofergesellschaft (FHG), too. The concern
will decide if this code should get a copyright, too, and
if they are able to earn money with a code-fee.
But this can be the end of mp3 because no one will use mp3s any longer
if the players are not free. Fortunately the FHG knows this, too.
X11Amp (Screenshot)
is a clone of the WINDOWS program WinAmp. Also X11Amp
supports skins (the possibility to use different surfaces for this
program). The program has its own mp3-player and handles bad mp3-files
quite well. On the other hand it needs a lot of CPU time and other
resources. It is smart to start the program with a higher priority
so that you will have no music stops while working with other programs:
>> nice -n 0 x11amp&
Use this command if you are logged in as a user or if this nice level is
not enough start as root with -n -20.
X11Amp supports playlists
and has two different ways to visualize the music output on the screen:
Additionally the program offers the possibility to miniaturize itself.
It then only needs a few pixels and you save space on the desktop
although the most important functions are still reachable:
New planed features are e.g. the support of WinAmp skins and the integration
of an internal mixer. Also a dockable Icon for WindowMaker or Wharf
for Afterstep users are on the ToDo-list.
The X11Amp player is recommendable because of its stability,
the skin support and the good error tolerance of bad mp3 files.
Just the high system resource requirements do not fit in this good program.
Actual GQmpeg
(Screenshot)
is just a GTK-Frontend for mpg123.
In GQmpeg
the support of skins is integrated, too, but contrary to X11Amp
the forms of the skins are not limited and many nice designs have
already been created (look at Screenshots).
GQmpeg
bases on the mpg123
player and saves resources but has problems with corrupted mp3-files.
mpg123
is a textbased program and has no graphical surface. Maybe that
is the reason why it plays an important part in many other programs that
do not have an own player. They use a player which has already been installed.
mpg123
is spread around the world and the programmers concentrate on the surfaces
like GQmpeg.
The program does not need many resources and it is nearly
impossible to disturb the player while working with other programs. But
if mpg123
looses the contact it can happen that noise appears in the background
and which will not disappear once the resources are free again. It will
play normal again if you stop and restart the track or when it changes
to the next track.
It is a much more serious problem that mpg123
is not able to handle corrupted mp3-files. Other programs are more
tolerant and produce a crack but mpg123
stops the music output.
Another mp3-player is Sajber
Jukebox (Screenshot).
The program has its own player (sajberplay) and an additional QT-surface
(jukebox) which is also able to work with other players e.g. mpg123.
A mixer is integrated into the frontend, too.
The program offers a very comfortable playlisteditor and an access
on HTTP and FTP servers.
Sajber Jukebox
is available in a stable release but very "hungry". It needs much
of the system resources.
Developing of gmp3 (Screenshot)
is still in progress.
The actual version is 0.08 and has not changed since the last few months.
The surface is programmed with GTK and offers a surface for mpg123.
It owns a miniaturize option and the possibility to change among different
themes
of appearance.
Freeamp is available for Linux and
WINDOWS with an unusual design (Screenshot).
The freeamp needs few resources and owns a robust algorithm that
plays corrupted mp3s quite correctly. If the mp3-file has an ID3-tag
this one is printed instead of the file name. The program is available
for many different platforms and got a GPL.
