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Foobar2000 music player for Windows is not for the faint hearted. It’s for the tinkerers, the curious and the patient. If you get the hang of it, it’s pretty much the best music player for Windows. Don’t believe it? Read about the 5 features that make it so.
Foobar2000 is like Lego for music players. It’s built with bricks (referred to as panels and components interchangeably, plugins in layman’s terms) and you’re free to arrange the bricks however you please. But this also brings a challenge because an empty canvas is overwhelming.
Download foobar2000 - Sit back and enjoy all of your favorite songs in high-quality, manage playlists and more with the help of this powerful application. Hi there, I use Foobar2000 with windows to convert MP3s to flac and vice versa without issue and am trying to make it work on mac. I installed the LAME encoder but there but there is no 'convert' option in the rightclick menu in the playlist view.
We’ve already talked about the best ways to build a UI suitable to your needs in the linked article above, so today let’s focus on adding functionality and components.
How To Install Components (Plugins)
All the supported components are listed on this page but you’re free to download it from anywhere. Once downloaded, unzip the file to a destination you remember
Open Foobar2000, go to Library -> Configure and select Components from the left menu. You can either select the Install button and browse to the location of the downloaded file or just drag and drop the file to the components list. Select Apply to install the components, you should know that it will require restarting the app.
How To Configure Plugins In The Default Interface
So you downloaded some plugins to display lyrics and other stuff. How do you add them to the UI? Let me show you.
![Foobar2000 For Mac Foobar2000 For Mac](/uploads/1/2/6/5/126559240/278305970.jpg)
Go to View -> Layout and click Enable Layout Mode. This means you’re now free to move the Lego bricks around. Now go to any panel you want to switch out or add stuff to, and right-click on it.
Click on Replace UI Element and you’ll get a list of app level functions and at the end will be your downloaded components under the Utility banner. Select the one you want, click OK and the panel will be replaced.
If don’t want to replace it, select Splitter from the list. It will split the panel into half and give you a blank panel. From there right-click and add a new component just like you did above.
The Best Plugins For Foobar2000
1. Columns UI
The first recommended plugin for any Foobar2000 beginner is the one that brings a different take on the UI. Columns UI takes a columnar approach to the layout and makes it much easier to swap out or add new components. After you’ve installed the plugin, go to Layout and select Live Editing.
Now right-click on any component and you get options to switch out panels, add separators and new components directly in this menu, as you can see in the screenshot below. It’s much easier this way.
2. Lyrics Show Panel
No power user’s music player is complete without a lyrics plugin and Lyrics Show Panel is the best option for Foobar2000.
3. Audioscrobbler
Use Last.fm to scrobble your songs and discover new music? Get this plugin for Foobar2000.
4. Graphic Equalizer
Every sound system can use a bit of customization, especially the computer speakers. Get the audio output just the way to want with Graphic Equalizer.
5. Podcatcher
Podcatcher is an easy way to download and listen to the latest episodes from your favorite podcasts. You’ll have to input the RSS feed manually but once you’ve done that, you’re all set.
6. Discogs Tagger
The last thing you want in a superbly customized music player is songs without proper metadata. Discogs Tagger uses the website’s generous repository of song metadata to bring your song collection up to date with data and album art.
7. Playlist Organizer
Organize your playlists in a branched tree fashion (like folders) for easy navigation with Playlist Organizer.
Your Foobar2000
What does your Foobar2000 look like? Out of this world? Show us in the comments below.
The above article may contain affiliate links which help support Guiding Tech. However, it does not affect our editorial integrity. The content remains unbiased and authentic.Also See#Lists #music
Did You Know
Smule gets around fifty million active users in a month.
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foobar2000 Preferences | |
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Deprecated pages
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This is the Keyboard Shortcuts page. It contains information for configuring foobar2000 keyboard shortcuts.
- 1Concepts
- 2Keyboard Shortcut preferences panel
- 6Defining new keyboard shortcuts
Concepts[edit]
Keyboard shortcuts are associated with menu commands. Menu commands may include the main menu bar, context menus, and sub-menus. Several dozen keyboard shortcuts are predefined upon installation of foobar2000. Many of these shortcuts are familiar: Ctrl+S for “save”, Ctrl+P for “preferences”, et cetera. It is helpful to review predefined keyboard shortcuts by examining the preferences panel.
Keyboard shortcuts can be defined for unmodified keys, such as Z for “stop”, or for modified keys such as Ctrl+N for “New Playlist.” Possible modifiers are Ctrl, ⇧ Shift, Alt, and ⊞ Win.
Keyboard shortcuts have the possibility of being defined as “global”. A global keyboard shortcut takes action even when foobar2000 is running in the background. If foobar2000 is running, global keyboard shortcuts will control it. Users having keyboards equipped with dedicated multi-media keys may wish to assign global keyboard shortcuts to these keys.
There are no global keyboard shortcuts among the predefined keys. One can easily assign global status to one or more of these keys. Good candidates for global assignment are the volume-controling keys: Num + and Num −. Global assignments should be made carefully as they may interfere with your ability to use other applications.
Keyboard Shortcut definition procedure[edit]
- 1: in “Assigned Shortcuts” portion: select (highlight) current shortcut or add new shortcut
- 2: in “Action” portion: select (highlight) menu “Action”
- 3: in “Key” portion: select (highlight) keystroke field, press keystroke combination.
- 4: optionally enable 'global hotkey'
- 5: press 'Apply'
Keyboard Shortcut preferences panel[edit]
The keyboard shortcut preferences panel is where keyboard shortcuts are added, modified, deleted, or simply inspected.
A related option appears on the 'Display' preferences panel. A (normally-checked) box specifies whether shortcuts should be displayed in menus. You may wish to uncheck this to prevent menus from becoming unmanageably wide.
Assigned shortcuts[edit]
The top portion of the keyboard shortcut preferences displays a list of existing shortcuts. The list may be sorted by clicking one of headers.
Action[edit]
This middle portion of the preference panel shows the menu commands available for assignment. This portion of the panel may be ignored if you are simply reviewing keyboard shortcuts already defined.
A filter is available to speed the task of assigning new commands. This filter reduces the number of items displayed in the commands list, assuming the user enters part of the command name he is looking for. Otherwise, the filter has no effect on foobar2000's operation. Be sure to remove stray characters that might be entered in this filter—otherwise you may not be able to see the command you're after!
Key[edit]
The final portion of the keyboard shortcuts preferences panel shows the keystroke assigned to a given action. To assign a different keystroke, click in the field and press the new keystroke.
Predefined keyboard shortcuts[edit]
There are nine predefined shortcuts in a fresh installation of foobar2000 v0.9.5 and later. All predefined shortcuts are “non-global”, or local, shortcuts. These keyboard shortcuts take effect only when foobar2000 is the active window.
Modifier | Key | Type | Action |
---|---|---|---|
Ctrl | P | [main] | File / Preferences |
Ctrl | F | [main] | Edit / Search |
Alt | A | [main] | View / Always on Top |
Ctrl | N | [main] | File / New playlist |
Ctrl | W | [main] | File / Remove playlist |
Ctrl | O | [main] | File / Open... |
Ctrl | S | [main] | File / Save playlist... |
Ctrl | U | [main] | File / Add location... |
Alt | ↵ Enter | [context] | Properties |
Effect of additional plugins[edit]
Installing additional components to foobar2000 does not affect existing keyboard shortcuts. A component will not add new keyboard shortcuts, nor will it modify existing shortcuts. However, new components often add menu items to the menu structure. You are allowed to assign keyboard shortcuts to new commands effected by additional plugins.
![Foobar2000 for mac themes Foobar2000 for mac themes](/uploads/1/2/6/5/126559240/807719137.jpg)
In the event a plugin is later removed, and its commands had been assigned to shortcuts, errors would be noted in corresponding entries in the keyboard shortcuts preferences pane (i.e. top portion).
Removing existing keyboard shortcuts[edit]
Any and all keyboard shortcuts may be removed. This includes shortcuts present in the foobar2000 installation.
Should you remove a desired shortcut by accident, refer to the above table and redefine it. Alternatively, you might reset all shortcuts to their original state by clicking the “Reset Page” button.
It is recommended that you do NOT delete (or redefine) the Ctrl+P shortcut. In the event that you had disabled part of your interface, such as hiding the menu bar, you would want to open the preferences panel using Ctrl+P and restore the interface.
Defining new keyboard shortcuts[edit]
Multimedia keys[edit]
- Close other software that reacts to multimedia key (for example Winamp)
- Make sure that LibreOffice is not in focus - see LibreOffice bug number 32664).
Note: Set of instruction below applies to a particular combination of hardware (keyboard w/ media keys) and software (IntelliType Pro keyboard driver). The instructions in this section may be useful, if not specifically applicable, to your installation.
You may wish to redefine your dedicated multimedia keys (stop, play, etc...) to control foobar2000 functions instead of Windows Media Player. Here is one scenario where this was accomplished with a bit of effort.
- Problem: Pressing the “Play” media key starts Windows Media Player.Solution: Disable the Play key using the keyboard control panel in Windows. Go ahead and disable the normal functions for other dedicated media keys as well.
- Next, we assign media key keyboard shortcuts in foobar2000. We start by defining two shortcuts: Stop and Play. Open foobar2000 and call up the keyboard shortcuts preferences panel.
- Click “Add New” to define a new keyboard shortcut. Next, click in the “Key” field at the bottom of the panel. Press the dedicated media key labeled with the stop icon.
- Problem: nothing appears in the “Key” field when we press the Stop key. It appears as though foobar2000 cannot see that a key has been pressed--false: it can.Solution: Terminate the keyboard driver process using Windows Task Manager. This is brutish, but effective. There are other ways to terminate the process such as disabling the driver from loading when you logon to Windows.
- Once type32.exe is no longer active, foobar2000 can record the media key keypress. Set up new keyboard shortcuts for Stop and Play. Make these keyboard shortcuts global if you wish.
- Now, logoff from Windows, and login again. This reloads the IntelliType Pro keyboard driver. Start foobar200 and begin playing an audio track. Minimize the foobar2000 window and make a different application active. Test your Stop and Play media keys. If they work—and Windows Media Player does not intrude upon your application—you have successfully reoriented your dedicated media keys to work with foobar2000 instead of WMP.
Having a different combination of hardware and software, you may be able to adapt the steps to empower your media keys. A further enhancement to the process allows you to launch foobar2000 by pressing your Play media key:
- Remove the keyboard shortcut definition for the play key from your foobar2000 preferences. Definitions for the other media keys are left alone.
- Assign a command line sequence to the Play media key using the IntelliType Pro software. The command line is:
Foobar2000 For Macbook
- 32-bit Windows:
C:Program Filesfoobar2000foobar2000.exe /playpause
- 64-bit Windows:
C:Program Files (x86)foobar2000foobar2000.exe /playpause
- 32-bit Windows:
Foobar2000 For Mac Themes
Avoiding conflicts[edit]
Foobar
foobar2000 does not prevent you from assigning the same keyboard shortcut more than once. This is the intended design decision because it doesn't unnecessarily encumber you while redefining shortcuts. When a redundant definition occurs within foobar2000, you will see a warning below the list of definitions. Correcting this error is straightforward—scan through the list of assignments and delete the obsolete shortcut definition. The warning should disappear after internal conflicts have been eliminated.
It is possible that a Windows shortcut (or other feature) may interfere with your intended foobar2000 keyboard shortcuts. Troubleshooting this problem is beyond the scope of this wiki.
Familiarize yourself with Windows shortcut properties, as well as the particulars of your keyboard driver (such as Microsoft's IntelliType keyboard software. With this knowledge, you should be able to diagnose keyboard assignment conflicts. These conflicts are likely to stem from media key assignments. It is often possible to disable Windows' usage of media keys altogether--IntelliType permits this, for example. This allows foobar2000 to make exclusive use of the key.
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