Good MP3 software for Mac? And iTunes help!

[k.i.t.t.o.]

Hi, I'm a new Macbook user coming from Windows XP. OS X is pretty cool so far, and everything is fine and dandy except one thing -- I can't seem to find a decent software player for my MP3s! I'm basically looking for something similar to Winamp, where I can play & shuffle my MP3s straight off the HD , create playlists, etc, all while having the program fit in the corner of the screen as I surf the web. Any suggestions is appreciated!

As for the issue with iTunes, I can't seem to play any of my MP3s without iTunes making a second copy into the program first. I have about 12 GB of music, so you can imagine that this would kill a lot of unnecessary HD space. What can I do to have iTunes play my MP3s off the HD without it copying the songs into the program??

Thanks for the help!

 

[beige matchbox]

iTunes -> Preferences -> Advanced

And turn off the organized and copy files tick boxes

 

[Nermal]

Are you aware that iTunes has a "MiniPlayer", accessed by clicking the green circle in the top left corner? You can configure it to sit on top of all other windows in the Advanced preferences.

 

[k.i.t.t.o.]

Thanks for the quick help, fellas. Now I can breath a little easier.

 

[kuwisdelu]

Yes, for the "fit in corner of screen" option, just use the green "zoom" button or hit "Cmd + Ctrl + Z" to toggle back and forth.

If you have Quicksilver (free program), you can set up triggers to control iTunes even when it's hidden, though. I have mine set up to Play/Pause and Skip when I hit Ctrl + Option + Space and Ctrl + Option + Left/Right. Quicksilver does some other nifty things, too.

Are you one of those people who still likes to organize all your music in folders yourself? I used to do that on Windows, but it's much easier to let iTunes do it. I just drag songs into iTunes now, give them the right tags, and iTunes takes care of all the organization; then I just delete the original. I'd hate to organize 17GB of music manually But I can understand if you don't want to break that habit, or find it useful to do it manually for your own reasons. Fortunately, it's easy to turn off under the Advanced options pane. Btw, you can do the same thing with iPhoto if you use that, but I find it easier to let it organize my pictures for me, anyway.

 

[k.i.t.t.o.]

OK, Quicksilver sounds pretty nifty, so I'll definitely look into that.

Heh, yup, you guessed it -- if given the choice between organizing my files and allowing a program to do it for me, I'd choose to do it myself. It's a bit insane, but the peace of mind I get from it is worth the work. As for iTunes, I've been using it for the past couple of hours and it's serving its purpose well enough -- I just wish that there were more player buttons on it!

 

[McGiord]

The keep folder organized has nothing to do with the copy, you can still have that active and disable the copy files to the library, if you want to keep your songs/media in different folders/locations.

Also you can Change the iTunes Music Folder location to the folder where yo have all, and then just drag it to iTunes so iTunes can index it properly and will take a while to organize it by Artist, Disc, Songs, compilations, etc...check sound volume and gapless, is a long process if you have a big library but it's worth to keep it in good shape.
________
extreme q vaporizer

 

[alanmccornack]

I'm in the same situation!

I've had my iMac for about a year, and won't be buying any more PCs. That darn iTunes, if you add a song (in order to play it), and later take it off the list, iTunes happily erases it from my external drive! Unacceptable!

I use a couple of Panasonic SV-MP010 (1GB) and SV-MP020 (2GB) for music on the go. On PC or Mac, they just show up as a drive I can copy to. At home, I just want the iMac to play some songs from my huge collection. I don't want it (mis-)managing (especially actually deleting) my precious music. I do file management from Finder.

I have resisted buying an iPod, because I do not want to let anyone control my music or encode it in some way. I, too, am looking for something like Winamp - just a player. I'm currently trying Songbird.

http://www.songbirdnest.com/

Floola runs from an iPod, and so won't help me, but might interest you. Here is the link:

http://www.floola.com/modules/wiwimod/