Every time we update this guide, we download the newest versions of the best programs and use them as a typical consumer would. During testing, our reviewers note how easy each program is to purchase and download, and we test its features to evaluate whether the software makes notating easier than doing it by hand. MediaDrug is a free mp3 music software solution and it will stay that way. All future updates and new versions of the program (PC, Unix and Mac) will also be available through our website free of charge.
- Best Program For Downloading Movies From Internet
- Best Program For Downloading Youtube Videos
- Best Program For Downloading Torrents On Mac
- Best Program For Downloading Free Music
- Best App For Downloading Music Mac
So you’ve got the gear, but do you have the software to lay it all down with? You can’t paint without a canvas. Perhaps you’re looking to switch to a more popular, supported digital audio workstation? Some say its all about the musician and that the recording software doesn’t matter…we agree, but to a certain extent. Give somebody like DJ Premier or Danger Mouse a vintage Boss drum machine and they can probably still make a hit. However, in our opinion you need the proper software to give you the full capabilities of the song you’ve worked so hard on building inside of your head — something to really transfer those ideas into a reality. You also need to optimize your workflow to simplify the process of making music so you don’t even have to think anymore — you can just create. With that being said, picking the best DAW can be dependent on a few factors. Let’s review the top 10 best digital audio workstations out today and help you pick which DAW is best for you.
What is a digital audio workstation (DAW)?
A digital audio workstation is essentially a blank piece of paper and the necessary paint brushes for an artist to create their works of art on. All you need to bring is some sounds, your talent, and most of all, your creativity. A DAW is a computer program designed for editing, recording, mixing and mastering audio files. You can record your various instruments, MIDI controllers and vocals, lay down the tracks, rearrange, splice, cut, paste, add effects, and ultimately finalize the song you’ve got cooking for the world to hear.
Professional, semi-pro and home studios use DAWs as their backbone for making music if their main focus is to have a digital setup. Aside from those who use real instruments, we do know of some well-known musicians who still use analog setups, such as drum machines and synthesizers with real mixing boards and the like, but a majority of people nowadays are strictly computer-based or at least have a hybrid studio to incorporate both (why not?). This trend only continues to grow as technology advances. Aside from a computer or laptop for music of course, a DAW is the most important piece of production gear you’ll need to get the ball rolling for those masterpieces waiting to be created.
How to choose your production software
To us, choosing your DAW is like picking which soda to drink. Either way you go, it won’t necessarily be wrong especially in this day and age. As you can see in the comments, this decision brings much debate (rightfully so, and we’re glad it does since it allows us to continue to evolve and learn about music production as a whole — keep them coming). However, taking into consideration your personal needs is very crucial. Here are some important aspects to keep in mind during your search that we recommend.
- Your budget – We always list this first in our music equipment guides because it’s a pretty big given, but it’s always something to think about. Our opinion and mind state is to think of this as an investment. Typically a 4-5 year and beyond one (like buying a car), so you’re going to want to get it right. We’ve been using our DAW now for more than 10 years! Why fix what isn’t broken? With that being said, there is always free music software out there you can check, but we do recommend that if it takes saving up a few more hundred dollars, it’s worth it to wait. You want to think long-term, but before you do drop that money most of these companies offer free trials (which we’ll provide).
- What is your experience level? If you’re starting out, you don’t want to get too crazy in terms of a DAW, such as going with Pro Tools right away (they have entire school programs created for this software after all). You want to start with something that you can easily understand and use in order to get your music-making skills going. In that case, we’d recommend our newly published best beginners music software guide. Getting an expert-level software from the start can not only take months to learn but also be daunting, ultimately discouraging producers from continuing to sharpen their craft. Don’t get us wrong, if you’re the type to want to go big right away, be our guest. However, as stated in our beginners recording equipment article, we do recommend starters begin with something a bit smaller. On the other hand, if you’re a bit more experienced and you’re looking to take a step up, going the extra yard and getting an expert-level software such as Pro Tools may be hard at first, but an ultimate investment when thinking of the future. Which brings our next point.
- Mac or PC? The ever-popular debate of Mac or PC for music production will always be a relevant one. If you already have your music computer, great. Otherwise, you’ll of course need to invest in a powerful enough rig to support the DAW that you end up choosing after reading this article, which will always entail you choose your operating system afterwards. If you want our opinion — it doesn’t matter. We’re more if Windows types of people, whereas our friend we just worked with a few weeks ago says Mac only. This is entirely subjective. What will really come down to the choice is if you don’t have your OS yet and have already picked software to use. Some software come Mac-only, whereas others (and most, for that matter) work with both. We’ll let you decide this one!
- Think about the future, too – If you are a beginner, take the previous bullet-point into consideration, but keep the long-term in mind as well. Starting with a beginner software is great for right at the beginning, but it may get boring after your first year or two and you need to keep in mind that you’ll eventually be good enough to use more functions of the software. For children or youngsters, starting at a beginner-level is most recommended, but if the DAW you chose at first has a low ceiling, you’ll eventually have to make a switch and learn an entirely new software (it’s what I did with Acid Pro…I had to eventually move on to Ableton which took me some time to learn — although I did understand the universal basics of music software, so it wasn’t too bad). We’d go with something in the middle – a software that will take some time to learn, but will ultimately offer some valuable advanced features down the road when you’re ready. Although in the end, even the “beginner” programs could last you quite a long time (well-known musicians still use software considered to be ‘entry-level’ such as FL Studio).
- Do you perform live? A few of the software we list are more optimal for performing live, such as giving us some easy integration with MIDI controllers, VST instruments, control surfaces and other live performance-specific gear and features. Live performance gear gets a bit more tricky and you’ll want to make sure all of your tools flow well together. Regarding software, there are some more live-tailored features in some DAWs, such as saving presets, matching the interface with what you’ve got in front of you, etc. Some are just more geared to live performances, while others being for when you’re deep inside of the studio well-past midnight. Ultimately however, any software is fine for performing live.
- Stick with what you’ve chosen –The more familiar you become with software you’ve picked, the quicker and easier you workflow is, the more confident you become, and ultimately, the better your music sounds. Think you’ve learned a DAW to its fullest? Learn it again. Look into hot keys, extensions, etc. You want to be able to immediately put an idea into play to keep that work flow going. Join message boards or subreddits about the software to brainstorm with others. The more you know about your software, the easier it is to get those thousands of ideas circulating in your brain during your production onto the piece of paper. It’s an investment, but once it’s as smooth as butter, pumping out that music becomes even more beautiful as times goes on (it almost becomes second nature, such as driving a car). Don’t fix what isn’t broken.
- Relax! It’s 2018 — the digital age is here, and most of the production software out there is up-to-date and very popular. Either way you go with the 10 we’ve listed, you’re getting lifetime support, huge communities with message boards, and YouTube tutorials on any of the software you choose. You can’t really go wrong with one or the other, even if you’re a beginner. So don’t panic. There are also many similarities with software so if you do end up switching to a different DAW later down the road, it won’t be completely foreign.
Our picks for the top 10 best music creation software
Below is our list for top 10 best DAWs out there. Take into consideration the level you’re currently at, where you plan on being for the future as well as the overall capabilities you’re looking for. Visit their website or the purchase link we provide for more information. We also tried to throw in the free trials and a few video overviews. We hope this guide has helped continue your music creation journey — keep the questions and comments coming at the end of the guide, we’ve really enjoyed the discussions throughout the years.
If you’re looking for some smart device DAWs instead (some, but not many, home studio artists are starting to go with this route due to convenience, although we still don’t recommend it right now), check out our best music making apps article since we made a separate guide altogether for that subcategory.
Ableton Live
Recommended level: All levels
Operating system: Mac or Windows
Best Program For Downloading Movies From Internet
Free trial | Full versions (Live 10 Intro | Live 10 Standard)
Tutorials | Forum | Video
Since it’s introduction in 1999, Ableton Live has been steadily growing as a very popular DAW and for good reason. We know we’ve gotten scrutiny for listing it first, and everybody is entitled to their opinions. However, we feel this is the best digital audio workstation for most of our readers. Here’s why (and just a few reasons, considering it would take days to explain the power of this) — you’ve got the standard multi-track recording (an unlimited number of audio/MIDI tracks for songs) and cut/paste/splice features, but what’s especially great about this software is the seamless MIDI sequencing software and hardware. We’ve had so many fusses with our MIDI controllers getting mapped to our sounds through the DAW (back when we used Acid Pro in 2005-2010), but ever since the switch to Ableton it’s been extremely headache-free. Another huge plus is the included sound packages included. Although this really depends on your preferences and whether or not you have your gear and sounds up to speed, it comes with 23 sound libraries (about 50 GB of sounds), so you can make music right out-of-the-box (great for starters).
To finish off our description for the beloved Ableton, this thing is the absolute best music software for performing live with. We’ve experienced very few glitches (the biggest fear of performers…it can make or break a set). What’s even better is that Ableton has paired up with some brands to create gear specifically for the program, often matching interfaces with the software for easier pairing and remembering of sounds. Although this is an extremely simplified summary of the software, you can’t go wrong with Ableton Live, regardless of your “level” (how do you even categorize that?). We recommend trying it first to see what it’s all about — you then have two versions (intro for about a hundred bucks or standard for half a G — try intro first before you go all the way up).
FL Studio
Recommended level: Beginner and up
Operating system: Windows only
Free Trial | Full Version
Tutorials | Forum | Video
This is one of the best DAWs for those looking to start out and get their feet wet in the music making world. FL Studio by Image-Line has been out and about for quite some time, being one of the most popular software to date. It’s got your standard protocol with pitch shifting, correction, time-stretch, cut, paste and the works, but it’s interface is especially well-suited for the beginner. It’ll take a little bit of reading to start going, but once you’ve got the hang of it you’re good to go. There are plenty of YouTube videos out there dating back to 2005 giving tutorials for pretty much any feature you need explained. Their latest version includes over 30 synth software for out-the-box usage, so if you’ve just purchased a controller and want some sounds to start fiddling with you don’t have to spend much money.
You can use MIDI keyboards, record into it with a microphone, do your standard editing and mixing — it just gives you what you essentially need in music software with a simple interface. There are some advanced features as well, so once you become familiar with it you can delve further into these to attain a solid learning curve for the future, too. It’s very user-friendly, especially with adding some virtual instruments and playing them on MIDI. Another perk is it works great with PC or Mac. The retail price is also a lot lower than others out there, so it’s definitely budget-friendly. We’d recommend getting this if it’s for somebody younger as well. What made this program famous in our opinion and still does is the fact that 9th wonder uses FL Studio today (if anybody is a fan like us).
Apple Logic Pro X
Recommended level: Medium to expert
Operating system: Mac only
Full Version | No free trial available!
Tutorials | Forum | Video
This is an amazing digital audio workstation, particularly for those with a Mac (not compatible with PC). What stands out with Logic Pro is the interface — very advanced to help with the music making process by including track consolidation (track stack), instrument layering, an intuitive mixer for plug-in control, and a “score editor” to allow you to create your own MIDI (comes with nine MIDI plug-ins that help you transform the sounds, such as chaining multiple plug-ins together, scale velocity, etc) tracks with only a mouse (most programs have this). It has a “virtual drummer” feature which features an interactive drum set for visual implementation of drums for some fun playing and natural sounding kits. Also has an arpeggiator that’s better than a lot of software out there — it’s programmable too.
This thing is just jam-packed with features, synths, plug-ins, and not to mention a great interface for easy learning. Even if you’re a beginner, although not recommended, you can probably get away with using Logic — it’ll just take some time to learn it. Just remember, it’s worth sitting down for even a month or two to learn the basic ins and outs of this and you’re good to go for years. Logic Pro isn’t going anywhere any time soon, and their community is huge for any questions that may arise. Another plus is it comes with a sound library and loop collection with some pretty fresh out-of-the-box effects as well, so if you’re looking for some sounds for your controllers/pads this is a plus.
It’s only usually priced around $200 retail, so it’s pretty easy on the wallet compared to others. Just remember this only works with Mac. It’s stated to give Pro Tools a run for their money — I’d recommend grabbing it if you’re just a step below Pro Tools and don’t want to spend the money or take months or *gasp* take a class to learn it. If you want an easier interface that’s geared more towards beginners, you can read further until you get to Garageband — Apple’s more simple digital audio workstation that’s free.
Avid Pro Tools
Recommended level: Expertprofessional
Operating system: Mac or Windows
Free Trial | Full Version
Tutorials | Forum | Video
What’s there to really say about Pro Tools by Avid? Or how about, what isn’t there to say? If you’re looking for the mixing and mastering industry standard (which is now debatable, I see from our comments over the past few years), this is the software to get. Ask any professional producer or sound engineer and they’ll say that anything else in the DAW world is just a waste of time. However, a lot of them say this after becoming certified in the program — as we stated before, there are entire school programs dedicated to Pro Tools. If we really wanted to describe this software to you it would take us 100 articles, but here’s a bit of a breakdown: It gives you the standard ability to compose, record, mix, edit, master, etc. What’s advanced is it has its own Avid Audio Engine which gives you a super fast processor, a 64-bit memory capacity for sessions (never lag, freeze, etc), its own latency input buffer to help with that annoying delay, and built-in metering. Change the tempo with time-stretch of any track, and there’s something called Elastic Pitch that’s a bit like autotune in the sense of ‘correcting’ harmonies. Also comes with 70 effects and plug-ins: reverb, compressors, EQ’s, channel stripping, the works — merely anything you can think of, Pro Tools has. I can’t even begin to list everything it can do.
We also know some pro musicians who use Pro Tools only for mixing and mastering and having an additional DAW to make their music from scratch. It’s compatible with both Mac and PC, although with Mac it works a bit better (was originally created strictly for this). Please note that we’ve heard a lot of reviews out there state that it’s very buggy on Windows, so use with caution. If you go big with Pro Tools, you’re set for life. Just know it takes hours, days, weeks or even months of learning it. But once you do, it’s not only the best music-making decision for you, but perhaps a future career prospect as well. We’re not sure if it’ll ever go away.
Propellerhead Reason
Recommended level: Slightly above beginner to semi-pro
Operating system: Mac and Windows
Free Version | Full Package
Tutorials | Forum | Video
Reason by Propellerhead is slightly less known in the music software community, but is one of the most stable as far as we’ve learned. Pretty nifty since you can drag and drop among the interface (such as synth patches and effects straight into the sequencer), has a relatively fast system as many have stated, and most importantly, the workflow is exceptional for those within the middle to semi-pro range. It’s not too complex but not that simple either — in our opinion right in the middle. However, I’ve heard that some of the plug-ins offered by Reason are a bit out-of-date as compared to other DAWs like Fruity Loops.
Reason has a very solid mixing console, better than a lot out there besides Pro Tools or Logic. This is also a great DAW for those recording guitar or bass since it includes amp and speaker plug-ins from Softube. These are nice for adding effects and presets to your riffs and it works well with both PC and Mac. What’s pretty nifty is the software’s ability to cut and splice audio files automatically…although I’m a bit tedious when it comes to this, it’s nice to get those files chopped before you start digging in. Pretty accurate most of the time but others I have to clean them up a bit…ultimately it doesn’t hurt. Lastly and just for some more FYI, it supports all MIDI hardware so you’re pretty good to go in terms of essential features within a workstation. Nothing too huge like Pro Tools in a sense of mastering or more advanced effects features, but for half a grand retail, Reason is really giving other DAWs a run for their money.
Apple Garageband
Recommended level: Beginners only
Operating system: Mac only
Full Version (free)
Forum | Tutorials | Video
Garageband by Apple is an extremely popular DAW, especially among beginners. Extremely suitable for those in the starting stages of music, particularly younger ones or those who merely want to lay down some tracks and make some cool tunes. However, I have some friends who tour nation-wide that still use Garageband just because of its simplicity and ease of use for recording. We’d go with this over Fruity Loops in terms of starting from scratch as your first DAW if you’re on a Mac.
What’s also special about this software is its got the very user-friendly interface that helps you visualize what you’re making — keyboard, synths, and percussion. It offers some pretty solid presets for vocal and guitar recording as well, although nothing too out of the ordinary. It does have a few good amps and effects for the guitar or mic. As a cool little additive, if you’re looking to learn how to play piano, it’s got a nice built-in lesson function for both piano as well as guitar. It maps out the chords and explains what they are to help you get a better understanding of music theory. It supports your standard USB keyboard and gives you some loops built-in to mess around with (you can buy more through their app store), and there’s something called “Smart Controls” which is basically an interactive control of plug-ins — knobs, buttons, sliders, etc with images to really visualize what you’re doing behind the scenes.
Just an overall solid digital audio workstation for beginners, especially because it’s free. The way they monetize off of the software is basically purchases for more plug-ins, effects, and others; however, you can get away with what it comes with. A nice little touch is it’s compatibility with iPads if that’s what you’re looking for, a trend we’ve seen increase lately.
Steinberg Cubase
Recommended level: Semi-pro to expert
Operating system: Windows or Mac
Free Trial | Full Version
Tutorials | Forums | Video
You’d be surprised at how many people use Cubase music software. Steinberg has their signature key, score and drum editors included in the workstation. The Key Editor lets you manually edit your MIDI track in case you need move a note over here and there. You get your unlimited audio and MIDI tracks, reverb effects, incorporated VST’s, etc. Although it’s seen as a bit of a trend from these DAWs, ultimately trying to separate themselves from the competition, Cubase has one of the biggest sound libraries that come with the box. You’ve got something called the HALion Sonic SE 2 with a bunch of synth sounds, Groove Agent SE 4 with 30 drum kits, EMD construction kits, LoopMash FX, etc. Some of the most powerful plug-ins within a DAW. We recommend going with Cubase if that’s what you’re particularly looking for.
Some just say that it’s a bit expensive and very hard to learn — but as stated previously, once you learn it, you’re good to go for a very long time. I’d recommend going with Pro Tools or even Logic Pro if you’re going to be spending a lot of time learning a software, you might as well make it one of the more popular ones. If you buy it from Amazon you already get the eLicenser. It’s around $400 retail. Watch the videos on the Steinberg website to see what’s new in the latest version.
Cockos Reaper
Recommended level: Semi-pro and up
Operating system: Mac and Windows
Tutorials | Forums | Video
Reaper by Cockos has lost a bit of popularity with the emergence of Ableton and Logic Pro, but it still holds strength as far as a dedicated DAW goes, and is actually more useful for those mixing or mastering needing flexibility. You download the software and get it for 60 days and then have to pay to download a license to keep it going. We feel this is a great strategy for both the brand and user since it allows us to try it out for an adequate amount of time without having to drop some dough. Reaper is pretty unique when it comes to comparing to other DAWs out there. It’s coded by a smaller group of individuals aimed to give us the mere essentials of a DAW without a bunch of features we probably we won’t ever use. You can drag and drop your VST’s and FX, map your MIDI controllers seamlessly, cut, paste, split and edit individual tracks, plug-in support for a majority of creators. This is basically an open-source, nitty-gritty software.
It supports most audio interfaces, plug-ins and effects. When downloading Reaper, you really have nothing to lose since you get to try it for 60 days before buying. If you’re shopping around and serious about your research, we say to give it a go since you get 60 days of full usage for free. Who knows? It may be the DAW for you, or perhaps some software to add to your toolbox when it comes to finalizing tracks after you complete the recording process (many popular producers do this).
PreSonus Studio
Recommended level: Beginner to semi-pro
Operating system: Mac or Windows
Free Version | Full Version
Tutorials | Message Boards | Video
Best Program For Downloading Youtube Videos
Here we have a very stable music software by a brand we love, PreSonus. They include Studio One DAW in a lot of their products, such as their AudioBox iTwo audio interface we recently reviewed. This isn’t just a little add-on to products, however — It’s a full on standalone workstation giving you drag-and-drop functionality, unlimited tracks, MIDI, VST, buses and FX channels, as well as mastering integration (not necessarily on Pro Tools level), a Melodyne feature, and some nice reverb effects that sound very smooth (some of the best reverb some have heard). It’s stated to be a bit easier in terms of workflow as compared to more popular DAWs, such as Logic needing a few more extra steps to achieve a certain function you need. The interface isn’t that impressive in terms of aesthetics but I’d take workflow over looks any day — pretty standard.
The 64-bit sound engine gives you studio-quality recordings. It basically has all of the essentials and we see it competing against a lot of the other more known DAWs out there. It’ll take a bit to learn the mastering tools but if you need a software for that this can get you by if you are trying to avoid Pro Tools. It’s compatible with both Mac and Windows and starts around $400 retail. Check out their nice little package called the PreSonus AudioBox Studio which gives you Studio One (Artist version, not Pro), headphones, a mic, audio interface, and necessary cables. Otherwise, go with something more popular.
Acid Pro 8
Recommended level: Beginner and up
Operating system: Windows only
Free Trial | Full Version
Tutorials | Forum
Last but not least, this thing will always be our baby. When I first started making music in 2001, I had an old version of Acid Pro when it was still made by Sonic Foundry. I got so accustomed to it I continued to use Acid Pro 4.0 until early 2010 when I finally made my switch to Ableton. There were pros and cons for sticking with the software for so long, one pro mainly being that I knew it like the back of my hand. If my friends were ever over making music and wanted something done, I could merely press a hot-key and had it complete, getting some ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’ here and there. The downside was that it was a bit buggy when it came to MIDI incorporation and other more-advanced features that are available with DAWs nowadays. Their latest version is actually very stable and we recommend this for beginners until even semi-pro like we were for the past decade.
Acid Pro (now owned by Magix) just does what you want in an essential-based manner. There’s the recording ability, loop audio tracks, and MIDI support. It’s got a pretty solid sound series loops (3,000 sounds) and comes with about 90 VST’s to mess around with using your MIDI controller. The time-stretch works pretty well too, something I’ve used quite a lot if I need to slow down or speed up a sample or track I’ve recorded. It’s downloadable and very cheap, so if you’re looking for a budget-friendly DAW and one that has been around for decades — this is it.
More gear reviews and guides in the realm...
For Mac users, iTunes is the undisputed king of media managment and playback. Every new computer comes with it pre-installed, and if you have an iPod, iPhone, or iPad, then you’ll need it for syncing media and backing up your device locally.
There are valid reasons to dislike iTunes though. The rise of Spotify and other similar services have made iTunes less useful or event obsoleteSpotify Your Music Collection: The End Of iTunesSpotify Your Music Collection: The End Of iTunesSpotify is no longer content to just compete with radio, now they're competing with the idea of even owning music.Read More. Another big issue is the lack of ownership in digital mediaThe End of Ownership: Netflix, Spotify, and The Streaming GenerationThe End of Ownership: Netflix, Spotify, and The Streaming GenerationStreaming media is convenient, but you're giving up something important: ownership of digital media.Read More. But perhaps most pressing of all is the fact that iTunes is bloated and slow.
Yes, you can hack iTunes for better usability8 iTunes Hacks For Improved Functionality8 iTunes Hacks For Improved FunctionalityiTunes is a rich and feature-packed music management application, but that doesn't mean there's not room for improvement. Some simple changes and additional features can make the application even better.Read More but it’s not enough for everyone. Unless you’re absolutely tied to the iTunes ecosystem and have no choice but to use it, you may want to consider switching to one of these alternatives.
Tomahawk
If you want a modern cross-platform music player that’s feature-complete and smooth as cream, then Tomahawk may be the one for you. We mentioned it as one of the best music players for Linux4 Linux Music Players That Deserve Your Attention Now4 Linux Music Players That Deserve Your Attention NowWhich Linux music player is the best? We compare four excellent music players you may not know about.Read More and that’s certainly true for OS X as well.
The real draw of Tomahawk is that it aims to be an all-in-one solution for all of the various music services available on the web. Why juggle half a dozen different apps and sites when you can consolidate all of them into TomahawkUse Too Many Music Services? Consolidate Your Music With Open-Source Social Player Tomahawk [Cross-Platform]Use Too Many Music Services? Consolidate Your Music With Open-Source Social Player Tomahawk [Cross-Platform]Some users may wonder whether they should stick with music streaming services and ditch downloading songs to their local drives, or simply rely on the streaming options, because let’s face it, music streaming services are...Read More? It’s just easier that way.
Tomahawk supports plugins that let you “plug into” different media networks, including Spotify, YouTube, Google Play Music, Deezer, and even Amazon Music (which is actually better than we expected it to beWhy You Should Give Amazon Prime Music a Second ChanceWhy You Should Give Amazon Prime Music a Second ChanceThere are several reasons why you might want to give Amazon Prime Music a second chance. It certainly deserves much more credit than it's currently getting. Read on to find out why.Read More). Spotify support, for example, lets you sync playlists into Tomahawk.
If you’re going to use Tomahawk, we recommend going with the nightly release because it’s the most up-to-date and has the most cutting-edge features. The downside is that it may be prone to bugs and crashes. If you only need basic functionality, the stable release may be better.
Vox Player [No Longer Available]
A lot of Windows-to-Mac converts tend to ask about any good music players that are similar to Foobar2000. Unfortunately, at this time, no such alternative really exists. Vox Player is probably the closest we’ve got, but more so for its minimalist design than its resource usage.
Indeed, Vox Player can be quite greedy at times with CPU and RAM, sometimes even on par with iTunes! But it’s a nice alternative to tryStop iTunes From Taking Your Media Keys Hostage: Use Vox InsteadStop iTunes From Taking Your Media Keys Hostage: Use Vox InsteadStop iTunes from launching, and use your media keys with a program you don’t hate. Here’s how.Read More because it doesn’t have much feature bloat.
Vox Player comes with all you’d expect in a music player and it’s fast. Not only does it support FLAC playback, but it can also play high-resolution audio files if you’re into that. Music management is clean and straightforward, it has built-in internet radio, and you can also connect it to SoundCloud and Last.FM. There’s a lot to love about it.
One other feature to note: Vox comes with a 14-day trial of Loop, a cloud music storage service. With it, you can easily keep Vox for Mac in sync with Vox for iOS, and music you’ve stored in the cloud can be downloaded to either device for offline playback. Loop usage is optional.
For apps similar to Vox for high-resolution files, take a look at this list of the best hi-res music players for MacThe 5 Best Hi-Res Music Player Apps for MacThe 5 Best Hi-Res Music Player Apps for MacIf you're an audiophile who prefers high-resolution audio, iTunes simply won't cut it. So here are the best hi-res music player apps for Mac.Read More.
Clementine
If you’re looking for a feature-packed but lightweight music player, then you really can’t go wrong with Clementine. This nifty application is all of the power that you need without any of the excess. It gets updated about once a year, which is nice as well.
Music management is probably Clementine’s top selling point. It comes with a cover manager, queue manager, playlist management tools, music format transcoder (with FLAC support), CD ripping tool, and an advanced tag editor for batch editing music files.
Out of the box, Clementine can integrate with about a dozen different internet services, including cloud storage services (Amazon Cloud Drive, Dropbox, Google Drive, to name a few) and music streaming services (Spotify, SoundCloud, Last.FM, Subsonic, plus more).
It’s not the prettiest application, and it’s plainly obvious that it’s based on Qt4, something you’ll recognize if you’ve used Qt4 applications before. You can tweak the appearance a bit, but nothing major so you’re stuck with the clunky default interface. It’s not that bad, but it does leave a lot to be desired.
Nightingale
Do you remember Songbird? It was an open source music player released back in 2006 that drummed up a lot of hype and anticipation due to its potential. It was shut down in 2013, but by then users had already forked the code and created an alternative called Nightingale.
So if you were a fan of Songbird and want something similar, or if you want a lightweight open source music player that still gets updated, then you really ought to give this one a try. It will likely be everything you expect it to be.
Key features include a skinnable interface, advanced library management, gapless playback, replay gain, built-in web browser, and extensions that can add even more features like integration with certain web services. It can also play DRM audio locked by Apple FairPlay and Windows Media.
The one big downside to Nightingale is that development has slowed down since 2014. Yes, it will still work just fine and the important functions are all there, but if you run into any bugs or if you’re looking forward to some other features, fixes will be a long time coming.
Quod Libet
Quod Libet has a funny name — it means “whatever you wish” in Latin — but don’t let that turn you away. This open source music player, which was designd to be cross platform from the get-go, was released back in 2004 and continues to receive regular updates to this day.
Not many people have ever heard of it, which is a shame. It’s a simple piece of software and nothing about it will blow your mind, but it’s intensely practical and easy to use. The simplicity of it makes it the closest antithesis to iTunes currently available on OS X.
And it’s packed with features: supports for all kinds of media formats (including FLAC), smart replay gain, ratings-weighted random playback, Unicode tags, built-in Internet radio, configurable user interface, advanced library management, and so much more.
Which Music Player Do You Use?
Best Program For Downloading Torrents On Mac
I know there are lots of valid reasons to keep using iTunes. I don’t want to say it’s terrible and everyone should switch away, because it isn’t. I still use it to manage my podcasts, so I do realize that iTunes has a role to play even despite the bloat and what not. And if you’re using Apple Music, you have no chance but to use iTunes for playback on your Mac.
But if you deal with a lot of downloaded MP3s and streamed songsThe Pros And Cons Of Streaming vs Downloading MP3sThe Pros And Cons Of Streaming vs Downloading MP3sI've been a long-time user of streaming music services – from Pandora, to the now defunct online music locker Lala.com, and now as a monthly subscriber to Rdio.com. If you have a computer and a...Read More from lots of different locations, maybe one of these alternatives might actually play out better for you. It’s much more convenient than bookmarking several different internet radio sitesWhich Internet Radio Sites Have the Best User Experience in the Browser?Which Internet Radio Sites Have the Best User Experience in the Browser?Exploring the web players for various Internet radio services to see which ones offer the best experience in the browser. What good is a great radio selection if the player is frustrating to use?Read More, for example.
Which music player do you use on OS X and why? What’s wrong with iTunes? We’d love to hear from you in the comments down below!
Best Program For Downloading Free Music
Explore more about: iTunes, Media Player, OS X El Capitan, Streaming Music.
Best App For Downloading Music Mac
Vox music player has good sound, but I'm cancelling my Premier membership because: (1) I don't know how to use it (2) There is no manual or even the skimpiest set of operating instructions (3) Their 'technical help' is a joke. I can't recall ever having received less useful 'help.'
I appreciate the list but I have no idea how the author can defend anything about iTunes. It is the most poorly designed, unintuitive, and user-unfriendly program I have ever used. I'm looking forward to trying Clementine and/or Quod Libet and eradicating iTunes from my life.
So far, Quodlibet is working fine for me. I have my music on two different external hard drives, and all I want is a player that will play those files and do nothing else. Cog was great when it was working, but the version I had developed some glitches recently, and when I replaced it with a newer version, I no longer had a player that would list the tracks. Everything else I've tried has either not had gapless playback even though they claim to (Pine player and Musique), or skips to the middles of tracks or even skips over tracks (Songbird) or seems set up more to organize your already organized collection before playing anything than just simply playing whichever track or tracks you tell it to play, you know, like a player!! (Nightingale).
iTunes I dabbled in briefly when I first bought my Mac, and backed out of quickly when it was clear that it simply wanted to take over my computer and then the world. (Hypberbole.) Other alternatives I've not even bothered to try--the ones who loudly proclaim all the fancy ass organizing and synching capacities they have. That's great if you're into that kind of thing, I guess. I just want to play the 26 individual tracks of Rachmaninoff's 'Paganini Variations,' without any hiccoughs,* delete those tracks from the player when I'm done, and then play the six tracks of Zimmermann's 'Requiem.' And so forth. Period.
Cog did that exceptionally well. I will still keep an eye on them, I suppose. For the moment, though, Quodlibet plays whatever I tell it to play, let's me delete those tracks when I'm done, and accepts the next track or tracks to play without any whinging. At the moment, I'm content.
*In my recording, each variation gets its own track, ranging from :18 to 1:26 in length. That's a lot of hiccoughs to sit through in less than half an hour.
I am looking for an alternative to iTunes as I am fed up with running out of space on my devices. I thought that iCloud would provide the solution but you can't use it for music unless you subscribe to Apple Music and that won't play anything you haven't purchased through iTunes so all the music that has come from other sources needs to have a different player. I have been adding music to my library since the late 1990s so there is a lot! You also have the problem that my original Apple ID was not an email address as it didn't need to be but when they insisted that you had to have an email address as your Apple ID I was not able to simply change the original Apple ID to an email address I had to have a new one. I have also subsequently had to change my email address due to it being hacked and so have yet another Apple ID as I again could not change my existing Apple ID. Apple was such an elegantly simple system at the beginning and now they seem to be making it more and more obtuse and costly.
With constant iTunes upgrades over the past few years the access to my music was encumbered. Old iTunes accounts through other email addresses were dumped. Support was taken away for not going on iCloud. Also, I tubed the use of an iPhone and they locked me out of my iTunes account.
How's that?
Hello Community!
I found this article over a year ago after it was posted. Thanks for this.
I am a professional dancer and have more than 200gb of Arabic orchestral and dance music (which most is not on iTunes Store) and I cannot have it on my iPhone, also have about 100Gb of classical music organized according to my own organization criteria (iTunes also have classical music messed up).
I haven't find yet an ecosystem (doesn't matter if its payed) that allows me to be off the cloud, on my Mac and my iPhone, with the music organized the wat I want it.
Any suggestions?
Thanks in advance!Google Play Music - free version. Upload your stuff there
Hi,
I'm surprised that no one mentioned cog which is much lighter than above.
(BTW deadbeef for mac is available at https://f.losno.co/deadbeef_osx.zip )VOX the BEST for me! iTunes does not support high-resolution music files. https://vox.rocks/mac-music-player
HI Bi!
I loooove Vox. Using it on my iPhone and Mac! And if you also use WALTR to transfer files – then you don't even need to launch iTunes.I tried VOX, it completely sucks!
You have to either sign up, or pay for services just to get your library into it. Its a completely backwards move forcing users to submit to their ways.Its a shame as the software looked so promising, but it looks like they have just recently done this after getting lots of users onboard and used to their product, then they push out an update and make them pay.... Its a really shitty move....
That's unfortunate... you should try Voltra! You have to create an account but it's free + full featured and they're not annoying with the premium offering. I have been using it for months now and I really like it.
Does it have playlist managment?
I have a lot of CDs, first cuts from jazz recordings that, in several cases, are pretty rare. ITunes wants for force me into buying, frankly, from their usually inferior selections. I do not care about social media, I do not care what some teenybopper thinks is popular, I think ratings are stupid and adolescent. I know wht I like and that's what I want to hear. I just want to play back those recordings without iTunes wanting to 'fix,' 'rearrange,' or otherwise do my musical thinking for me. I HATE iTunes!
Already last year after an Itunes update the whole library was gone. After reassembling most of it it became scrambled and mixed up. Today it wouldn't random correctly and many songs on albums are missing and albums split into many same albums with a part of the songs. I have no idea how that happened as I not update anymore.
Itunes just sucks and I am afraid there is no alternative. Tried TOMAHAWK today : not worth the download. VOX is just not right, no correct display and quite basic. Not know what to do.try clementime
Great to find alternatives to iTunes, however a sad state of affairs that few tell you before downloading that old 'problem' that it's not compatible with anything before V10.9.
SO ! not much use wasting time downloading only to find 'not compatible with your current operating system' iMac is now beginning to suffer the same constraints of continual updates as MS-Windoze. I will soon be driven back to my LINUX as per my 7 year old laptop with UBUNTU.
SO MUCH FOR COMPATIBILITY.Amen! I am having ro re-upload from CDs because of all those dimwitted upgrades!!!
why? the mp3 should still be on your computer? you should just point to the file where it is. in mac use finder search or in console 'find / -iname mp3'
I cam to your article because I was using iTunes and it kept trying to connect to the iTunes store, but my computer is not online so it couldn't do it. So then it left me with a message that it couldn't connect to iTunes store and then stopped working. It simply sat there and wouldn't respond to any buttons at all. so I quit the program permanently and came to look for an alternative.
it would seem that the main function of iTunes is just to lock you into using the iTunes store and making big bucks for Apple.
It was never a great program, now it is just unusable. there has to be something better out there.iTunes can't find album art works.
What is different way to get it ?What players support ALAC? Can I simply drag=drop my files to the new player and GO?
Latest iTunes is AWFUL and I can no longer even see bitrate of files and keep them apart. My 2 playlists have simply lost a couple albums. I have NO idea where they went. But I see them If I dig deep enough into that cumbersome interface.
Shame on APPLE.
Over the past couple of days 10.20.16 to last night I have imported 91. As of a few minutes ago songs 14 thru 91 are gone. What's happening? I also keep podcasts and movies in iTunes. Are the any alternatives that will handle everything?
ThanksIf iTunes does not meet your needs, here UFUShare show you the best alternatives to iTunes. Apple's software is often criticized because of its difficulty of use, lack of some interesting functions, or the time it takes to perform the actions that are requested. It is by this that in this article UFUShare bring you the top 3 best alternatives to iTunes , so you can choose the best program according to the needs and how you use it.
I've just about given up on iTunes. I'm on a 12-hour Zurich-to-Los Angeles flight, and I can't play any of my music on my iPad now, and very little on my iPhone. The problem with the iPad (probably) is that I haven't started up iTunes since being FORCED by Apple to move up to the current IOS. (Or lose all my passwords in the chain.) Then I didn't start iTunes while connected to the Internet so that Apple could 'authenticate' my ownership of the music. Mind you, this for about 1600 songs ripped from my own CDs, and 400 or so purchased from Apple. Who knows what the problem is on the iPhone. I did think to play a few bars of one of my songs while connected. But now my playlists seem to ONLY have the purchased songs available. The songs ripped from my CDs are not there! Enough!!!
Hi Denis! First of all, thanks a lot, for the time, dedication and for sharing all this info with the world.
Dennis I'm a music lover and for me to keep my music perfectly organized is a question of need and passion. I have a big amount of files (36.162 items and growing) stored in an external 500 Gb HD. I'm using the last versions of the Mac OS system and iTunes; El Capitan 10.11.6 and iTunes 12.4.3.1.
My problem is iTunes is giving me constant errors when importimg new albums to my library. An example of this is: albums separated in two, without any apparent reason. I am very careful when I edit the data of each album in the info window. I like to have all the information for each one of them, and the error factor when I do this is basically zero. I try to fix this by selecting all the tracks and editing the information of all of them together but it keep showing the albums separated; even when if you go to the HD and check out the location of the files in the iTunes media folder they are all in one folder organized by artist as you could expected. Another example is: tracks duplicated and separated from its original album. One more time, only in the iTunes window, not in the iTunes media folder where they are perfectly stored.
This is driving crazy man... lol
I will appreciate deeply any help or advice that you could give me.
And one more time thanks a lots.Greetings
Daniel.
Album Artist field needs to be One name
When you import tracks, drag them into a playlist and work from there instead of tracking stuff down in the main library. All the tracks will be in one place and easily editable.
Daniel: yes, similar issues; and my collection is a bit large as well. iTunes arbitrarily separates tracks, ignores the tracks' names that I fill in--because my recordings are sometimes rare and not in their crappy database. I am going to continue to look, as iTunes, in my book is beyond juvenile and useless! Good Luck!
Dennis Thank you for your help. Yet as a novice how do I get into the metadata editor? Thanks in anticipation
Have all of my music on Google Drive. Tomahawk does not support Google Drive. Neither does Vox, Nightingale or Quod Libet. Clementine DOES, but cannot read WAV, AIFF or M4A files, which is all I have, and will require me to reconvert everything to FLAC. Which I could do, but CloudConvert on Google Chrome has a very limited free option and I have a lot of music.
Thoughts?
i would love to know the answer to that question if you have found the solution yet please?
How about Sonora ? it's still working, u can get on github :)
There's no mention of the awfulness of the Vox app. Why is that? Requiring users to sign up for the Loop service in order to use Vox prevents even the least evaluation of that software. And then it makes it seem like you have to pay for Loop for 24 months at $9.99 to use it. What's sketchy about all this is that there's no documentation of these things on the Vox site. You learn about it only after download and running the program.
That Vox requires you to upload music is bad in so many ways. It's bandwidth hogging and by default would delete music on a Mac on upload. Vox could wipe out your local library if you do what it asks of you at installation.
Perhaps they have changed the install since your comment, but I was able to install and use Vox without signing up for Loop. It's not super-obvious, but on the stage of the install process where it asks you to register for Loop, there is a 'Skip' button. I clicked this and got Vox installed and running without any interaction with Loop.
So far Vox seems decent enough, though you should be aware that Vox does not have it's own music library, so if you don't use Loop, Vox will be working with your iTunes library.
I have an extensive music collection (over 150Gb, so far) and I've been using iTunes for a long time. I do not download any music from the iTunes store. My music is copied from my CD collection. The problem is that iTunes only seems to store my music on my computer. I have everything copied to an external hard drive and would rather use that for storage and playback, rather than sacrifice space on my computer's hard drive. Any solutions out there?
The easy thing you can do is go into the iTunes preferences and then to the advanced tab. From there you can select where you want the iTunes library to be. This is the location where it'll store any info about your library and the album artwork. If you uncheck 'Copy files to iTunes Media folder when adding to library' it will just link to the files where they were original located before you added them, i.e. your external drive.
If you like the way that iTunes organizes your files you can always switch the location of your library to your external and then when you add files it will just add them there. I hope this helps. If you just want to start fresh with a new library hold down option while you click on the dock icon to open the app and a dialogue will open allowing you to start a new library wherever you like.
As someone with a nearly 2TB music collection I understand the need to run it off of an external source.I'm attempting to arrange a similar setup. I'm using dBpoweramp Music Converter to rip my CD collection in uncompressed AIFF onto my 2T external HDD. When I try to playback the files using iTunes as my music manager, iTunes automatically copies the tracks, (converting to ACC, I assume?) into my music library, (currently located on my local HD).
I don't want to duplicate my music library, either on my local HD or on my external HD, nor do I want iTunes to 'possess' my music and make it unavailable to me outside of iTunes. So, I'm looking for a music manager to play tracks directly from the AIFF files via Mac OS X.
No, it's just making exact copies. Go into your iTunes Preferences go to the Advanced tab and uncheck 'Copy files to iTunes Media folder when adding to library'
Thank you, Dennis! I made the change to preferences. Then attached my external drive, and selected an album to play via iTunes (via Add to Library). It started playing right away. All seems great!
Stopped playback, ejected the external drive, closed and reopened iTunes. The album and song titles are still listed (that threw me) but the song files are not on my local drive! Viola. That was easy!
Most grateful for your quick reply. Cheers.
What I hate most about itunes is its lack of filing. I may be dumb or simplistic but no one including Apple has been able to explain how to file my music by Artist - period. Whenever you have an album of duets, tribute to, or again a cd of Grammy Award Nominees they are all over your library. If there is a reason for that or a work around I'm all ears.
Yeah theres an easy fix. Select all the songs on an album and then right click and select get info. Then in the metadata editor where it says album artist Type in the main artist. This will group all the tracks together under a single artist while still keeping the original artist intact. i.e. Artist feat Other Person.
Or click on the Compilation checkbox to have it filed as an Album instead of By Artist.
Only problem with doing it that way is that it places the files in a separate 'Compilations' folder, and in your library puts the album down at the bottom under the compilations section rather than just the main artist.
I use all Apple devices, but am so aggravated with iTunes messing up my music with its many flaws. Either my Last Date Played or Play Count gets messed up, or songs go missing or Apple released yet another iTunes update that messes everything up. I am looking at Tomahawk right now.
Yeah theres an easy fix. Select all the songs on an album and then right click and select get info. Then in the metadata editor where it says album artist Type in the main artist. This will group all the tracks together under a single artist while still keeping the original artist intact. i.e. Artist feat Other Person.
Sorry hit the wrong reply button.
How does one get the amazon plugin? I don't see any info whatsoever on their website or in the app.
For me, personally, the best feature of Clementine is that it allows you to manage your library the way YOU want, based on its almos unique (at least for mac apps) folder-based option. I hate it when you have to follow the criteria programs impose on you... I don't always want to see my music organized by album or artist or whatever, but prefer to organize it myself into folders. This also allows me to keep files that don't always come with all the meta info software would need to label it properly. It's a shame Clementine is so ugly, but hell does it give you back some degree of controll over your own files. This is a feature I always missed since I totally migrated to mac, and that was present in the normally so-maligned Windows Media Player in its newer iterations.
There is a saying, something like: if ain’t broken don’t try to fix it.
That, and having two computers, both Apple, an iMac and a MacBook Pro makes sense to keep iTunes and not to try something else.Trouble is it isn't working any more! I have had a Mac desktop for over 25 years, an iPhone since they first came out (iPod previously) and an iPad for 5 years. At the beginning they all worked really well together now with continual updates I seem to have less and less space on my devices even though I haven't added anything!
I am not ready to switch from iTunes to any other music player.
It has many more advantages than disadvantages especially for a Mac user.I use Vox, but I will be taking a look at Clementine.