iTunes alternative

[navaira]

I had a hunch I posted this, but I don't see a thread, so possibly I was just thinking of posting this. Apologies to moderators if it's a double.

I am looking for iTunes alternative. I want something that:
* looks good
* displays information clearly
* has albums view (cover flow style would be nice but not necessary)
* completely takes over my iTunes library (keeping playlists, ratings, etc.)
* doesn't beachball every five minutes
* has a complete search feature

Ideally also
* displays writers and producers for songs
* has a button to display lyrics (see Spotify)
* if there is an album booklet, it is available straight from album page (not opening in Preview)
* pulls Wikipedia information about album and displays it at button click

I have tried Vox, Tomahawk, Fidelia, Sonora, DoubleTwist, Enqueue, Wondershare iTunesGo and some others. None of them seem to be able to satisfy my needs. (Tomahawk ALMOST gets there but the fact it decides my one-track single is in fact an 18-track best of without the single present kinda kills the buzz.) Am I that demanding? I'm thinking of hooking up with a developer, designing my perfect app and having them code it – out of sheer desperation. I've seen a screenshot of SOMETHING a few months ago that looked perfect, but I can't remember what it was. In any case it had writer credits below titles, the font wasn't absolutely tiny and it looked really cool.

 

[navaira]

This is obviously unfinished, just some fun with Photoshop, but I would quite like an app like this...

...and yes, I am a bit obsessed with Miss Janet right now.

 

[campyguy]

Audirvana+ and its companion A+ Remote got my money.

 

[tkermit]

I'm thinking of hooking up with a developer, designing my perfect app and having them code it – out of sheer desperation.

While I would love to see that, I think you might be severely underestimating the complexity and cost involved in getting something off the ground that would both improve on iTunes and be able to find its market in competition with an established player thats's both free & (unfortunately) satisfies the needs of the vast majority of potential users . As far as I can see, Roon appears to be the only game in town at this point and they charge you an arm and a leg for their player, specifically targeting the audiophile niche.

 

[navaira]

Thanks for the suggestions! Just started a trial of Audirvana+. Roon looks really good but THAT PRICE. Ouch. I don't really need a super-beefed audiophile app, but if I could get Roon Lite that looks like that and sounds like iTunes I'd be sold. (For less than $119 per year though.)

 

[Ursadorable]

Sorry to necro this thread, but I have to ask if you found what you were looking for?

iTunes bloat is getting a little out of hand. So far the only program that even remotely comes close to sating my appetite is Swinsain. I've also tried jRiver Media Center which isn't horrible, but it's a sluggish port from the PC version.

Apple really needs to go back to it's roots and split iTunes up into separate audio, video and iOS app distribution centers. I realize they probably did this to support two platforms (Mac/Win), but wow.. it's becoming a real mess trying to find your media.

I did try Audivana, but I'm not a huge fan of their upsampling then applying digital filter(s) to your music, and the delay is preloading the entire track before playing it. At least, that has been my experience.

 

[Alrescha]

I did try Audivana, but I'm not a huge fan of their upsampling then applying digital filter(s) to your music, and the delay is preloading the entire track before playing it. At least, that has been my experience.

Any processing by Audirvana is under your control. If you tell it to upsample, it will upsample. To the best of my recollection it is not the default action.

A.

(who uses Audirvana+ with the A+ Remote)

 

[navaira]

Sorry to necro this thread, but I have to ask if you found what you were looking for?

Not yet.

I was trying to move all my music to Spotify but the way they handle local files is ATROCIOUS. They don't show up in search results except for "All songs", so you can't search out an album. If you do, you can't click on that album, just play it from "All songs". And everything else I tried is actually worse.

For Android I can recommend Poweramp but I don't think a port of this for desktops exists.

 

[SpinalTap]

In order of increased cost, try the following...

Amarra,
Audirivana+,
PureMusic.

 

[Ursadorable]

I'm giving Audirvana a 2nd look. It appears my issue lied in the face of my Bose Companion 5's, which are a USB driving audio speaker system. It's recognized by Mac OS X as a 48k output, hence Audirvana requiring the upsampling to play properly. At 44k the music plays, but too fast.

 

[navaira]

My problem isn't the sound though, it's the interface. Roon looks AMAZING but that price is murder.