Audio players in Ubuntu. Best Music Player for Linux

VideoLan Client MediaPlayer is free player multimedia with open source code. The main advantage of the solution for Linux users is the cross-platform nature of the product. That is, you can download and install VLC in any Linux environment. Let's look at how to install VLC Player in Linux using the example of the most common distribution of this OS - Ubuntu. Upon completion of the installation according to the instructions below, the user receives features that not all players can boast of.

In addition to playing almost all file formats and types, VLC Linux can be used as a media content receiver from local network and the Internet, and even a media file converter. In a word, to all users Linux installation player is highly recommended.

Installing VLC on Ubuntu

The Ubuntu distribution is extremely popular, not least because of its simplicity. This also applies to issues of mastering the system and working with various components OS. The simplification of all operations introduced by the developers and the process of installing applications, including the media player in question, did not go unnoticed.

Method 1: Console

You can download VLC from Ubuntu repositories, but this only applies stable versions. We do everything using the terminal, as the most familiar tool for experienced Linux users.



That's all, you can use the player by launching it, for example, entering the appropriate query in the search field and clicking on the program open button.


Method 2: Application Manager

Graphical interface capabilities are gradually replacing console commands on Linux systems.

If the above method of installing the media player seems too complicated, you can install it using “ Application Manager».



Additionally

On Ubuntu this is done using step-by-step entry in the following sections:

  • System parameters;
  • System information;
  • Default applications;


And then select the item " VLC Media Player " in drop-down lists " Video" And " Audio».


Installation of the above universal solution for playing media files and other manipulations with them, gives Linux a lot of previously inaccessible capabilities. In addition, installing the player is quite simple, which should not cause difficulties even for a novice user.

I want to dedicate this review to video players in Ubuntu. There are enough players in the main Ubuntu repository that can satisfy the wishes of various users. It is these media players that we will talk about.

Totem

The first on the list will be the default one in Ubuntu - Totem. Externally, the media player may not appeal to you because it has a minimalist appearance. From myself I can only say that at the moment Totem occupies a leading position in my system. Opens DVD Video discs and works perfectly with the disc menu, plays many popular formats and much more. Since Gnome 2 it has been an integral part of it.

Main features of the media player:

  • Graphics integration GNOME Shell And file manager Nautilus.
  • Plays CDs, DVDs and VCDs.
  • Image adjustment.
  • Ability to change the aspect ratio of the image.
  • Subtitle support.
  • Supports many popular media formats (avi, mp4, dvd, etc.).
  • Soundtrack support.
  • Supports all kinds of multi-channel audio configurations.
  • Visualization when playing audio files.
  • LIRC support.
  • Playlist support.

VLC media player

VLC media player is a cross-platform media player. Supports large number popular multimedia formats(MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, DivX, mp3, ogg, mkv, VOB and others). This is a real multimedia processor on your computer. VLC can be used as a video server for streaming online. A distinctive feature of the player is that it does not need to download additional codecs, because all the necessary codecs are included in the program. You can expand the already great capabilities of the program using plugins. It is possible to change the appearance using skins. Can work with DVD Video menu.


SMPlayer is a cross-platform media player that is graphical shell MPlayer. The program is written in C++ and uses the Qt libraries. The program inherited many features from MPlayer. SMPlayer supports a lot popular videos and audio formats such as: Audio CD, DVD, VOB, MP4, MPEG-4, Video CD, MKX, multimedia files in AVI format, ASF/WMV/WMA, MOV/MP4, RealMedia, Ogg Vorbis and many others.

Key player features:

Subtitle support.

  • Adjusting the delay of audio, as well as subtitles, allows you to synchronize audio and subtitles.
  • Ability to switch audio and video tracks (both internal and external).
  • Availability of a video equalizer (adjusting contrast, brightness, hue, saturation and gamma of the image);
  • Controls using the mouse and mouse wheel, such as: rewinding, adjusting volume, increasing zoom and playback speed.
  • Speed ​​up and slow down playback.
  • Availability of built-in audio-video filters.
  • Availability of playlist.
  • Multilingual interface support (more than 20 languages).

An excellent player, in my opinion, although I was never able to properly play DVD Video with menu support.

Password

Parole Media Player is a player from the developers of the Xfce graphical environment project. This suggests that it is fast, undemanding of system resources, simple and modern, which is based on the GStreamer framework and written specifically for comfortable work in the Xfce environment. Parole supports playback of many popular media formats, including video (with subtitle support), DVD/CD. The player expands its capabilities with the help of plugins. An excellent choice for computers with weak hardware.

KMPlayer is a media player that is designed for the KDE graphical environment. It functions both as a plugin for the Konqueror browser and as a standalone video player. MPlayer or xine can be used as a back-end. KMPlayer doesn't consume much system resources. The player's interface is very simple and ideal for novice users who are intimidated by a large number of buttons and options. KMPlayer takes the best from Qt libraries. It has support for playing both local files and multimedia Internet files.

Program features:

  • Play video from a file or website.
  • You can use plugins to play QuickTime, MS Media Player and RealPlayer files.
  • Bookmark support
  • Supports recording of installed programs if necessary.
  • Plays DVD and TV.

This media player should not be confused with the creation of the same name from Korean programmers.

Dragon Player is multimedia player, main feature which is simplicity. This player“sharpened” for only one thing - playing multimedia files. The interface is not overloaded with unnecessary buttons and complex menus.

Key player features:

  • Resume Video: Starts video playback from the point where it was last interrupted.
  • Subtitle support.
  • Video image settings (brightness and contrast)
  • Can play CDs and DVDs

Kaffeine is a media player for UNIX-like operating systems, which is intended for the KDE environment.
By default, it uses the xine engine, but also has support for GStreamer. Kaffeine allows you to use binary codecs for proprietary formats. Browser plugin available Mozilla Firefox, which launches the player to play streaming content.
Main supported formats: DVB, DVD, Video CD and Audio CD.

Main features of the program:

  • Supports playlists.
  • Creating screenshots from video files.
  • Supports subtitles, multiple audio channels, DVD menu.
  • Ability to extract tracks from Audio CD.
  • Ability to watch digital TV DVB channels using a TV tuner.

xine

xine is a media player that supports numerous frontends. Uses libraries from different projects such as: liba52, libmpeg2, FFmpeg, libmad, FAAD2 and Ogle. To open encrypted DVD-Video can use libdvdcss. It is possible to use Windows codecs to play some formats that are not supported by xine itself.

Supported media formats:

  • Media: CDs, DVDs, Video CDs
  • Containers: 3gp, AVI, ASF, FLV, Matroska, MOV (QuickTime), MP4, NUT, Ogg, OGM, RealMedia
  • Video codecs: 3ivx, Cinepak, DivX, DV, H.263, H.264, HuffYUV, Indeo, MJPEG, MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, RealVideo, Sorenson, Theora, WMV, XviD
  • Audio codecs: AAC, AC3, ALAC, AMR, FLAC, MP3, RealAudio, Shorten, Speex, Vorbis, WMA

Used by the following media players: aaxine, Kaffeine, Amarok, Totem, gxine, etc.

Miro

Miro is a cross-platform media player that is primarily designed for comfortable viewing of videos on the Internet. The player allows you to connect to video channels, upload video files to hard drive computer, watch videos in fullscreen mode, etc. Miro is very easy to use and completely free. Supports a lot of popular media files - Quicktime, WMV, MPEG, AVI, XVID, etc.

  • Stylish and user-friendly interface.
  • Possibility to subscribe to RSS feeds with videos, podcasts and vlogs.
  • Large collection of TV channels and programs.
  • Organization of playlists.

Bansheee is a cross-platform player that is somewhat similar to Rhithmbox, but I like it a little more. Can decode music, supports playback from many digital devices, has support for Internet radio, podcasts, plays video files, etc. It contains in its arsenal a large number of modules, of which the following can be noted:

  • Compact mode
  • Editing metadata
  • Playing audiobooks
  • Equalizer
  • Sound menu integration
  • Audio CD and DVD support
  • YouTube Search
  • and much more.

Bangarang

Bangarang is a media player for *NIX systems that has an easy and pleasant interface. The program is designed to work in the KDE environment. Supports a large number of popular audio and video formats (provided by the Phonon library), playback of CD/DVD discs. Bangarang is distinguished by its simplicity, since the media player does not contain anything superfluous. It is possible to control via the Terminal. Support for hot keys makes control even easier; combinations can be customized.

KPlayer

KPlayer is a multimedia player based on the popular MPlayer for the KDE environment. It plays audio-video files, has a very simple interface, supports global and only related specific file settings, different elements controls, playlists, etc.

MPlayer

MPlayer is a cross-platform media player that runs on most modern operating systems. MPlayer can run on Linux, FreeBSD, NetBSD, OpenBSD, Apple Darwin, Mac OS X, BeOS, Syllable, QNX, OpenSolaris/Solaris, Irix, HP-UX, AIX and other flavors of UNIX; Microsoft Windows and Windows NT, etc.

MPlayer is unique in that the standard console version does not have a graphical interface - all control is carried out using the keyboard. IN this mode Only the window with the video file being played is displayed on the screen. But there are a very large number of graphical add-ons (GUIs) for it, such as KMPlayer, SMPlayer, UMPlayer and GNOME MPlayer.
The most functional shells today are SMPlayer, UMPlayer and KMPlayer, which in turn have a large number of skins.

MPlayer supports huge amount media formats such as: Audio CD, DVD, Video CD, multimedia files in AVI, ASF/WMV/WMA, MOV/MP4, RealMedia, Ogg Vorbis, NUT, NSV, VIVO, FLI, NuppelVideo, yuv4mpeg, FILM (. cpk) format, RoQ, PVA and Matroska, recorded with video codecs DivX, MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, Sorenson, WMV, RealVideo, x264 (implementation of the H.264 standard) and audio codecs MP3, Musepack, Vorbis, RealAudio , AC3/A52 ( Dolby Digital), AAC (MPEG-4 audio), QuickTime, etc.

You can find and install all programs in the Ubuntu Application Center.

For many people, music is a way of life. Choosing the best player for Linux is not an easy task, given the sheer number of options. Many programs do an excellent job and are equally worthy of your attention. If you Linux user, then you’ve probably already gone through the search for the best player, just like me. And you probably have your own favorite audio player for Linux.

This manual contains the best players for Linux, all of them deserve a place on this list. There is no sorting here, the programs are arranged in random order. You can try them all and choose exactly what you like best.

Now let's move on to the list of Linux audio players:

Banshe is a cross-platform player for Linux, Windows and MacOS. It can play audio, video, internet radio, podcasts, and even copy DVDs. The program also supports mobile devices- Android, iPhone, iPad. You can also play music from online sources such as Amazon, Miro Guide and Last.fm or use the audiobook app.

To install on Ubuntu use the commands:

sudo apt-get update

$ sudo apt-get install banshee

2. VLC

VLC is one of the most famous cross-platform players. It is mainly used for playing videos, but can also be used for listening to music. There is an organization function here music collection. The program's interface is very simple, but you get everything standard features music player and the widest range of different multimedia codecs, so it can play almost any audio or video format.

There are many additional settings sound effects and filters, and you can also install a huge number of plugins. In addition, there is support for various Internet sources and podcasts, and there is a search function that will help you find and subscribe to new tracks. For me this is the best player for Linux.

To install:

sudo apt-get update

$ sudo apt-get install vlc

3. Rhyntmbox

This Linux audio player is the default on the Ubuntu distribution and is often used alongside the popular Gnome desktop environment. The program has a simple interface and automatically scans and remembers audio files in your music folder, as well as playlists from other folders. Podcasts and Internet radio are supported, as well as additional services, like libre.fm and last.fm.

Installation on Ubuntu:

sudo apt-get update

$ sudo apt-get install rhythmbox

4. Amarok

Default music player in desktop environment KDE desktop. It has been in development for ten years and you can try it separately from KDE. He doesn't have much beautiful interface, but quite a lot of settings and parameters. The advantage of Amarok is its plugins, a huge number of which can be found on the Internet. There is a built-in Wikipedia search, the lyrics of the song you are listening to are displayed, as well as its author and artist, if such information is available. This would be the best audio player for Linux in the KDE desktop environment if it weren't for the mysql dependency.

The application is perfectly integrated into KDE, so it will be best used in KDE.

Installation on Ubuntu:

sudo apt-get update

$ sudo apt-get install amarok

5. Gnome Music

Gnome Music, compared to other Linux players, is a relatively new application and specifically designed for Gnome. The program has a minimalistic interface, with only the most basic functions. For music files in the local collection, album art is shown by default, if available. There is sorting by artist, song title, and playlists. There are several lists that categorize music by playback frequency, or queue for adding to a playlist. If you need simple and lightweight application Integrated with Gnome, you'll love Gnome Music. This is the best audio player for Linux in the Gnome desktop environment.

To install on Ubuntu run:

sudo apt-get update

$ sudo apt-get install gnome-music

6.CMus

CMus is music player on the command line. Terminal lovers will really like it. Although it is not the only Linux player running in the terminal, it supports more functions. The following common formats are supported: mp3, ogg, wma, mpeg, wav, flac and many others. Shoutcast or Lastcast streaming is also supported. It's easy to configure and great for systems with low memory. Playing mp3 on my computer required 5 megabytes of RAM.

Installation on Ubuntu:

sudo apt-get update

$ sudo apt-get install cmus

7. Audacious

Audacious is simple and easy best player for Linux with basic capabilities. The program simply plays music from hard drive and nothing more. You can't connect to an online store or download music from radio stations. You can easily import music or playlists, and there is integration with popular desktop environments such as Gnome and Cinamon. If you need a player with graphical interface, which only plays music, then this program is for you.

To install on Ubuntu:

sudo apt-get update

$ sudo apt-get install audacious

8. Clementine

Clementine is a fork of Amarok 1.4 and has many fewer dependencies. Ideal for systems with small quantities RAM. In addition to standard functionality there is massive support for online media, ranging from SoundCloud, Sky.fm, Jazzradio, Spotify and many others. Supported cloud storage Onedrive, Google Drive, Box. For advanced users there is a format conversion tool for mp4, mp3, ogg, flac, vorbis, opus, vaw, wma. You can change the data transfer speed and other settings. If you don't like other Linux players and you want Amarok, but you also don't like its dependencies, then this is a great solution.

Installation on Ubuntu:

sudo apt-get update

$ sudo apt-get install clementine

9. DeaDBeeF

Despite its strange name, DeadBeef is a pretty solid music player for Linux without any dependencies from Gnome and KDE, unlike Gnome Music and Amarok. It supports all popular formats such as mp3, ogg, flac, m4a and many more. You can play music from CDs or add a podcast stream in mp3 or aac formats. From others useful functions you can customize playlists, edit metadata, install plugins, play music from the command line.

To install on Ubuntu use PPA:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:alexey-smirnov/deadbeef

$ sudo apt-get update

$ sudo apt-get install deadbeef

10. Lollypop

Lollypop is another music player for Gnome, and is similar in many ways to Gnome Music. This is the most new player in this list and therefore it currently only supports basic functions, but looks very promising. There is support for playing mp3, ogg, flac, the ability to download covers for albums of music files. There is a party mode and a wonderful search function with which you can find all your songs and add them to a playlist. Besides, You can sync music from your Android smartphone.

To install on Ubuntu use:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:gnumdk/gnuppa

$ sudo apt-get update

$ sudo apt-get install lollypop

Conclusions

All the above listed best players for Linux are completely free, so you can install them all and choose which one is best for you. If your favorite app isn't here, write it in the comments!


Most of us listen to music while working on the computer simply to pass the time, to motivate ourselves, or to improve concentration (oh no, really?). But which is the best? music app for Ubuntu?
This is a question that new (and not-so-new) users ask me all the time. It's not easy to answer, but not for lack of choice!
Finding a music player for Ubuntu is not difficult at all. There is a whole orchestra of different options, some new and some old. There are also those walking in harmony with modern trends and working at their own pace.
You've probably already tried a whole choir of players, and so have we. In this post, we will introduce 6 music players for Ubuntu that we think stand out from the crowd.

1. Rythmbox.


Rythmbox is the default music player on Ubuntu, so it deserves a place on this list. It is widely used and is a reliable, trustworthy and extensible player using internal interface Gstreamer.
The standard layout is easy to navigate, and music is easy to filter using the column browser or search bar.
When you get used to the look of the player, you can add various Rythmbox plugins to customize, reconstruct, transform it appearance, which will make you feel like you're using something completely new.
Rythmbox can automatically track new music files stored in the -/Music folder. You can also set the app to search for other resources or folders if you have them.
The application allows you not only to play music, manage and sort music files, but also create playlists. It can connect to Last.fm and has built-in support for podcasts and internet radio stations. The player also boasts integration with music online service SoundCloud.

2. Clementine.


Clementine is a cross-platform music player written in Qt, especially popular among owners of large music collections.
This is because the player offers navigation of the entire tree structure, instead of columns or a “wonderful” browser. If you are a person who likes to manage your music from 'files and folders' POV, you will undoubtedly appreciate Clementine's approach to library management.
There are other reasons to use Clementine.
The player hides under its (often bulky) crust a rich number of options. Dig into the menus and you'll find everything from an equalizer to a built-in format conversion tool, from a visualizer to WiiMotes support, and an 'Android app'-integrated remote control app.
Music fans also get built-in support for viewing artists, lyrics, and other information. There is also integration with SoundCloud. Well, in short, you understand!

3. DeaDBeef

DeadBeef`` is considered a unique music player and in many ways lives up to its high title.
He is usually spoken of as Linux versions popular free application for Windows Foobar2000, but a) I’m not familiar with this player and b) DeaDBeeF (if you remove capital letters) is more than independent.
It's more of a music player, though, and stands apart from the bloated feature sets you'll find in other apps. Instead he focuses on simple playback music. The application also installs independently of GNOME or KDE and does not use a common media backend like GStreamer.
Think of it as “Punk goes acoustic” compared to the full studio versions of other players.
You won't find built-in music control features as such. Instead, DeaDBeef is based on playlist listening. Other features of DeaDBeef are support for generating user playlists, support for plugins, active mode design, basic editing metadata, command line playback and many others.

4.CMUS


There are a ton of really cool command line music players on Linux. The main difficulty is to choose those that are worth covering in this article.
I could have opted for the well-known and popular MPD, but instead I proclaim CMUS.
Music player Cmus is a C class player that has following description– 'small, fast and powerful console music player for systems like Unix on his website.
That's what he is.
Cmus can handle any media format you throw at it. and can be configured to work with a variety of sound systems with audio output, such as PulseAudio, Alsa, and JACK.
The interface is easy to navigate once you know a few main commands(check out the Cmus instructions for the best full information according to the application). As you might expect, Cmus operates primarily from the keyboard, relying entirely on hotkeys and text commands.
Other features include support for non-stop playback (a must-have for me), play queue, playlist filters, and even last.fm support. And at the same time, it is extremely lightweight: as practice has shown, it uses only 6 MB of RAM.

5. Spotify


Naturally, we couldn't help but give a shout out to one of the world's largest music streaming services, Spotify (which I know many of you use on a daily basis).
Few known fact: While Spotify requires a lot of memory, it can still play your local media files. This is not its best feature, because, I want to warn you, please note, it can completely screw up all the metadata of your tracks without any warning or signal.
But even users free accounts access a much larger variety of music than you probably have on your computer. In addition, the Linux application is quite decent, integrates well with the Ubuntu desktop (yes, there is sound menu support) and so on.

6. Audacious


The Audacious music player sits somewhere between DeaDBeef and Rythmbox, combining the lightweight nature of the former with the control-oriented nature of the latter.
This player is also worth a look, as the large number of plugins available in it will allow you to activate additional functions such as receiving song lyrics, an equalizer, and so on.
Honors.
This list is not intended to be an exhaustive summary of all players. Rather, it is a kind of springboard that will help you see what is beyond Linux player default.
A few other players worth mentioning are the electronic Harmony and Museeks, Soundnode Soundcloud app for the desktop, Lollypop, a promising (if not defective) GTK3 music player, full of Sayanora features, lightweight Quodlibet and Banshee apps, which is worth a try even though it hasn't been updated in three years.

Ubuntu has no shortage of quality music players. Even the pre-installed Rhythmbox is very good. But which of this bunch of players can be called beautiful? This is a very slippery question, since beauty is a subjective concept. In any case, below is a collection of six music players that I find the most attractive in terms of interface.

Music Player for Ubuntu : Not an ideal player if you have a huge music collection, or if you need powerful functionality like Clementine or Banshee. But it looks great, has support for last.fm, and although the scanning speed leaves much to be desired, it works.

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:nilarimogard/webupd8

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install music

Nuvola Music Player: This is an unusual music player. It is designed for people who listen mostly to streaming music. Today, among others, online music services Amazon Cloud Player Google Play, Pandora Radio, Deezer, Rdio, Grooveshark, 8tracks, Hype Machine. Instructions for downloading the Linux version can be found here. If you're using Ubuntu, you can instead simply add the PPA and install the program using the following commands:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:nuvola-player-builders/stable

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install nuvolaplayer

Nightingale Music Player: Years ago, Songbird was the music player that would be recommended to any Linux newbie. But over time, the development of the project stopped. However, in the world open source Almost no project dies as long as it has users. A fork of Songbird was created. Now it has been reborn as a more functional, sleek and enjoyable alternative called Nightingale.

Clementine Music Player: If we talk about the most sophisticated music players, the first thing that comes to my mind is Clementine. Like Nightingale, it is a fork, but this time from the mighty Amarok 1.4 - the default player in KDE 3.x. It starts up slowly, but runs quickly. This is probably the most comprehensive music player on Linux today. If you love music, you should try it. You can download Clementine for Windows, Mac and Linux. Ubuntu users can install it using the following commands:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:me-davidsansome/clementine

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install clementine