[justjill3]

I have read a lot of posts, but I'm confused. I am not too concerned about photos. I DO want playlists. WMP vs. Winamp vs. DoubleTwist vs. MusicMonkey. Which do you think will best meet my needs? I do have some DRM music.

[Dacsoft]

I am interested in hearing the opinion on these also by somebody who is using them.

[Rhody]

I tried using WMP 11 today and I can't for the life of me get album art to stick to individual songs.

[dfine1966]

I have read a lot of posts, but I'm confused. I am not too concerned about photos. I DO want playlists. WMP vs. Winamp vs. DoubleTwist vs. MusicMonkey. Which do you think will best meet my needs? I do have some DRM music.

You do mean MediaMonkey, not Music Monkey, don't you.

Here is MediaMonkey's webpage.

MediaMonkey » Free Media Jukebox, Music Manager, CD Ripper & Converter

[mabmarc]

Itunes is still possible with the help of this 3rd party app:

http://www.salling.com/MediaSync/windows/

But if you don't like iTunes, the Pre Podcast father (Dieter) has said that Doubletwist is what he uses in recent podcasts.

[PookiePrancer]

DoubleTwist gives you the advantage of choosing which library, iTunes or WMP, you want to sync with. The only problem with the others you ask about is that the Pre seems to like iTunes-format playlists, and nothing but DoubleTwist supports that (though I haven't checked out Salling's Media Sync plugin for iTunes). Now, somebody else wrote in another thread here that DT will not sync iTunes playlists made up of songs from different albums/artists.

My iTunes library of 6000 songs (not purchased from iTunes) is organized by a playlist for each album. It's basically a huge library of dance remixes, so every album is by various artists. My playlists sync perfectly with DT using "media sync" on the Pre, including album art; it's awesome.

DoubleTwist's developers are apparently working to make even playlists from different albums sync properly. It also converts your videos to proper format and resolution for Pre. No other program that I know of outside of iTunes will do that for you.

So...give DT some time to mature, and I think you'll be happy with it.

[Milenkod]

How about the older version of iTunes? You'd be out of luck with DRM material...but it seems the simplest solution.

[Superjudge]

I have been using Media Monkey for a few months and like it a lot. I have never been an itunes fan. As a matter of fact, I hate the way it manages my music so i have used other things from Winamp and WMP to avoid itunes. I really like Media Monkey except for the fact that their free version only burns CD's at 2x speed and limited search options. It cost $20 to upgrade to the full power version and yet they limit the amount of upgrades you can do with that version unless you pay even more money for that service($40). Its kind of a rip off in that way but it an effective program and it is much better than itunes in how you can get your music into it. All you do is click on the folder where the music files and tell it to add the folder to your library. No need to have to make special itunes files(m4p) or even import files into the program. It will just play them from the location on your computer. I really like that. It also will play flac files although not shorten files. The free version is great as long as you have a decent burner that can burn at the speeds your cd drive can handle.

[EeZeEpEe]

Its kind of a rip off in that way but it an effective program and it is much better than itunes in how you can get your music into it. All you do is click on the folder where the music files and tell it to add the folder to your library. No need to have to make special itunes files(m4p) or even import files into the program. It will just play them from the location on your computer. I really like that.

FYI you don't have to make "special" iTunes files. It handles old mp3s just fine. Also you can uncheck Oragnize music library so you can play and keep music in it's current location. Personally I like that iTunes copies and keeps it organized. That way I know all the files are in one location and not all over the place.

[sivan]

I'd go with the ones not requiring you to sign up for anything.

[foamfiller]

i use media monkey - only problem i have is it saves multiple pics for multiple songs from same album, creating multiple files. maybe there's a setting that fixes that, but I haven't really gotten that into it. other than that it works great with pre.

[Superjudge]

FYI you don't have to make "special" iTunes files. It handles old mp3s just fine. Also you can uncheck Oragnize music library so you can play and keep music in it's current location. Personally I like that iTunes copies and keeps it organized. That way I know all the files are in one location and not all over the place.

You have to import files into itunes even if you still keep the file in their original location. In Media Monkey, you just choose the folder that contains the files and it will include it in its database of files that make up its library. If you move your file, its much easier to relocate with MM as opposed to itunes. I've lost my library many times with itunes and have spent hours getting itunes to find them. I just gave up. No matter how many times I pointed itunes to my new itunes library, it would never accept it. With MM, it only takes minutes. Itunes also makes you do it song by song from my experience but maybe there is an easier way but I couldn't just point to folder and have it reconnect with the every song in the folder. Yeah itunes works fine but if you actually want to have control over your music, then MM is much more powerful program imo. As far as keeping things organized, just create a folder for your music and rip everything into that folder. MM will grab it all when you want it to. I personally keep separate databases for my studio albums and my live "bootleg" recordings. MM isn't perfect by any means but I find it to be a better alternative to itunes.

[archcommus]

Winamp. It is infinitely customizable and it just works.

[EeZeEpEe]

You have to import files into itunes even if you still keep the file in their original location. In Media Monkey, you just choose the folder that contains the files and it will include it in its database of files that make up its library. If you move your file, its much easier to relocate with MM as opposed to itunes. I've lost my library many times with itunes and have spent hours getting itunes to find them. I just gave up. No matter how many times I pointed itunes to my new itunes library, it would never accept it. With MM, it only takes minutes. Itunes also makes you do it song by song from my experience but maybe there is an easier way but I couldn't just point to folder and have it reconnect with the every song in the folder. Yeah itunes works fine but if you actually want to have control over your music, then MM is much more powerful program imo. As far as keeping things organized, just create a folder for your music and rip everything into that folder. MM will grab it all when you want it to. I personally keep separate databases for my studio albums and my live "bootleg" recordings. MM isn't perfect by any means but I find it to be a better alternative to itunes.

Oh I see what you're saying. That's why I let it organize and don't move files around. lol.

[justjill3]

Everybody, this is great. Please keep sharing your experiences. I am still not decided. (Darn it!)

[chrissurra]

DoubleTwist is the easiest I use a mac and it puts pics, movies and music all in one program instead of 3. I still use itunes or drag and drop on my windows box

[justjill3]

You do mean MediaMonkey, not Music Monkey, don't you.

Here is MediaMonkey's webpage.

MediaMonkey » Free Media Jukebox, Music Manager, CD Ripper & Converter

I certainly did mean MediaMonkey. Thank you for the correction. Now tell me your opinion on the best program or service to use.

[justjill3]

Itunes is still possible with the help of this 3rd party app:

http://www.salling.com/MediaSync/windows/

But if you don't like iTunes, the Pre Podcast father (Dieter) has said that Doubletwist is what he uses in recent podcasts.

Thanks, I'll look into Salling.

[justjill3]

DoubleTwist gives you the advantage of choosing which library, iTunes or WMP, you want to sync with. The only problem with the others you ask about is that the Pre seems to like iTunes-format playlists, and nothing but DoubleTwist supports that (though I haven't checked out Salling's Media Sync plugin for iTunes). Now, somebody else wrote in another thread here that DT will not sync iTunes playlists made up of songs from different albums/artists.

My iTunes library of 6000 songs (not purchased from iTunes) is organized by a playlist for each album. It's basically a huge library of dance remixes, so every album is by various artists. My playlists sync perfectly with DT using "media sync" on the Pre, including album art; it's awesome.

DoubleTwist's developers are apparently working to make even playlists from different albums sync properly. It also converts your videos to proper format and resolution for Pre. No other program that I know of outside of iTunes will do that for you.

So...give DT some time to mature, and I think you'll be happy with it.

Thank you SOOOO much on such a detailed response. This is the kind of info. that I was hoping to collect.

[justjill3]

How about the older version of iTunes? You'd be out of luck with DRM material...but it seems the simplest solution.

Thanks, I will consider this. I must confess that I am not a fan of Apple's level of control.

I have been using Media Monkey for a few months and like it a lot. I have never been an itunes fan. As a matter of fact, I hate the way it manages my music so i have used other things from Winamp and WMP to avoid itunes. I really like Media Monkey except for the fact that their free version only burns CD's at 2x speed and limited search options. It cost $20 to upgrade to the full power version and yet they limit the amount of upgrades you can do with that version unless you pay even more money for that service($40). Its kind of a rip off in that way but it an effective program and it is much better than itunes in how you can get your music into it. All you do is click on the folder where the music files and tell it to add the folder to your library. No need to have to make special itunes files(m4p) or even import files into the program. It will just play them from the location on your computer. I really like that. It also will play flac files although not shorten files. The free version is great as long as you have a decent burner that can burn at the speeds your cd drive can handle.

Again! Another great response. Would you believe I am charting them so that I may sit down later and do an item by item comparision. I am so tired of downloading app after app, trying to find the one that best meets my needs?