Author Topic: Musicbee lite (external app optimized for playing)  (Read 9796 times)

lnminente

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MB is a very good media player for creating playlists and managing our media and it doesn't uses too much memory for that, but there are times we only want to listen a big playlist for hours, and having an external program optimized for playing could be very convenient to reduce memory usage.
Maybe something programmed in C and with a very simple interface like the classic compact player. We could set a toolbar button in MB which would close MB and send the now playing list to the MB player lite.

That could be done with any actual program, but the nice thing here would be passing the playcounts to the library and if possible being able to rate the files.

What do you think people?

Pingaware

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The memory usage doesn't bother me, but I can see the attraction for a lot of people, particularly those who want an instant play time (see here and here). So I think it's a very reasonable suggestion, though maybe quite a large project.

+1
Last Edit: July 05, 2013, 01:35:33 PM by Pingaware
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Iasc

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if possible without a massive amount of effort a +1 from me.

greenday1987

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This would require a lot of coding I would think and MB as it is uses very little memory from what I've noticed. My machine only has 3GB of memory and I never notice and slowdown during use.
-1 from me as I suspect the efforts involved would outweigh the benefits that would only be for a smallish part of the userbase imo
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Steven

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i really dont get this - i would think the average memory consumption for MB is around 50-70MB, more if you a large collection but less for a lot of people. Most computers these days have 4GB - 8GB+ so its just a tiny fraction. Next to no CPU usage when just playing music.
I dont see what value i could add over and above whats already offered from the myriad of small players available.
So my view is its not a good use of my time compared to doing other features

lnminente

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Well, i have a 2gb laptop with 256mb reserved for the graphics card, and every byte counts. Two kingston sodimm cards of 2gb DDR2 800mhz cl5 for not losing dual channel are 80-90 euros for a six years old computer... :s And from my experience with my dusk.mod for small screens i think some people with netbooks could find benefits too.

My physical memory used goes from 930mb to 1013 (without counting MiniLyrics) while the process manager says it takes 60mb at restart. I compare it with 1by1 which also uses the bass library and takes only 17mb. That would be a 83-17= 66mb of safety in case the browser takes more memory and starts using the swap file slowing down the pc.

I dont see what value i could add over and above whats already offered from the myriad of small players available.
The value of increasing playcounts for having real statistics which is the reason why i keep it only as a player for hours.

Because just using the classic compact player layout and still keeping with the .net would not produce many benefits or yes?

I made a mock up starting from classic compact player:


I'm asking for the minimun efforts for this, not skinnable, not needing to show the album cover, just player controls, an actual playlist which could show just filenames, no times, no artist, no track titles, no time for other tracks. It should increase playcounts and showing rating for the playing song being able to modify it. Maybe another basic player could be forked to just add the playcounts increasing  ::)

Zak

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I compare it with 1by1 which also uses the bass library and takes only 17mb.
1by1 probably isn't using .NET which might explain MusicBee's additional overhead. Even a "MusicBee lite" using .NET and connecting to the MusicBee library would probably use as much memory as the current version.
Bee excellent to each other...

lnminente

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Then my suggestion moves to make it in c and write a log file with played tracks, wich MB could load at the beginning for updating playcounts.

Any developer with c skills could do it contacting Steven for loading the log file?  ::)

lnminente

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In fact i'm seeing 1by1 has the capability of logging the played files to a text file, having the following format:

<Path>\<Filename>
<Artist>Tab<Album>Tab<Title>Tab<#Track>
<Length>Tab<Start time>Tab<Played time>Tab<Date>
\n

1by site: http://mpesch3.de1.cc/1by1.html

Zak

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I'm asking for the minimun efforts for this...

Then my suggestion moves to make it in c...

One of these things is not like the other.

In fact, one of these things is the exact opposite of the other. It would be easier for you to buy a new laptop.  :P
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psychoadept

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In fact i'm seeing 1by1 has the capability of logging the played files to a text file, having the following format:

<Path>\<Filename>
<Artist>Tab<Album>Tab<Title>Tab<#Track>
<Length>Tab<Start time>Tab<Played time>Tab<Date>
\n

1by site: http://mpesch3.de1.cc/1by1.html

It sounds like a plugin that would update playcount based on 1by1's text file is really what's needed.
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greenday1987

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/Thread imo
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lnminente

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@ZaK: Naaah! Buying a new laptop will not save the world :P :D Minimal efforts for Steven with MB, not for any other with c skills :D

@Greenday you don't like changes heh :D

@Scampbll: Yep, that would be easier and great

VX

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This would require a lot of coding I would think and MB as it is uses very little memory from what I've noticed. My machine only has 3GB of memory and I never notice and slowdown during use.
-1 from me as I suspect the efforts involved would outweigh the benefits that would only be for a smallish part of the userbase imo

I share this point of view.

However, taking into consideration this post:
Another big thing that bugs me since my switch - long time between clicking a file in explorer and actually playing it. I am fairly certain, that one of the admins here, on this forum, explained that it is a matter of DLL hook existing in Winamp. This would be really nice, because sometimes I just want to quickly check up files/compare, even when they are not in my library
If you want to use MB as music player (not as music manager) executed from windows expolorer, then its a bad choice. MB startup time cant be reduced significantly because MB is a .net application and must be compiled every time it starts.

I would recommend you to use MB as music manager and for playing from windows explorer to use some lightweight player without managing/organizing capabilities, eg. Windows Media Player Classic - Home Cinema.

I would recommend to use Boom Audio Player in this case.
The player is small (2,13MB), extremely light on the resources and portable.
The app was created by the Foobar author. More info here: http://perkele.cc/software/boom
IMHO it's much better than 1by1 as it has very convenient navigation options.

It'll never replace MusicBee but it could be a perfect addition to MB for those who need 'MusicBee Lite'.

lnminente

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Thanks for your contrigution VX, i share the same opinion about startup time with Venthe, that's why i suggested some months ago splitting MB between the GUI and a faster loading kernel in C. One of the reasons was also changing skinning without restarting but that's another history...

My favorite is still 1by1 wich is lighter and more configurable, but one thing where Boom Audio Player stand out is in the support of ReplayGain :)