5 Features That Make Foobar2000 One Of The Best Music Players

If you back up your music collection to a library of local music files, foobar2000 will not only make it easier to do that, but it can also do a whole lot more than that. Here are some reasons why I think it’s one of the best music players out there. Before we get started, you may download the latest version for free on the official website.

1. Basic, Easy to Use Interface

If you don’t like a cluttered interface and you would rather have something that just gets the job done, you’re in the right place. In the case of foobar2000, the interface has everything exactly where you want it to be. The main window is basically a huge playlist, through which you can get to your songs and control the playlist(s). You can edit the layout to fit your needs – as shown below, a number of predefined layout options is provided. While I like this simplicity, know that foobar2000 can be customized by adding themes (you can find quite a few online).

2. Great Sound Options

The same simple approach is present when we’re talking about the sound-related options foobar2000 offers. If you have your computer connected to your audio setup, you can leave everything untouched. Or you can play with foobar2000’s DSP (digital sound processing) options until you get to the desired results. You can downmix channels to stereo and mono, use an equalizer and many other things.

3. Customization

I was talking about customization on the visual side; well, you can add tons of new components to its music player, in order to make it perform even more tasks. For example, if you need to decode DTS or write audio CDs straight from the program, there’s a component for it. The full list of available components can be found here.

With the plethora of components available for it, you’re absolutely free to make your player as complex or as simple as you want it to be. And even if foobar2000 will play almost any audio file out of the box, it has support for file types like MP3, MP4, AAC, CD Audio, WMA, Vorbis, FLAC, WAV, AIFF and more.

4. Customizable Keyboard Shortcuts

Maybe I’ve already convinced you that foobar2000 is a great player but, like many of us, you’re a creature of habit. You like the keyboard shortcuts on the player you’re currently using and you want to keep them, so that you don’t get confused. Well, foobar2000’s keyboard shortcuts can be customized with ease; just click File in the top menu and find Keyboard shortcuts under Preferences. Then, feel free to make them just as you want them.

5. File Converter

If you prefer to have your music files in a specific format (maybe for size-related reasons), you won’t need another piece of software. foobar2000 includes a file converter. Just select the file (or files) you want to convert and right-click them. Then, click Convert; you can either use the default options or last used settings, or just click the three dots and decide all of the parameters of the resulting file – file type, bit rate and even digital sound processing options.