Name Mixer

There are an abundance of audio players out there, but not all of them fitted with the same or similar functions you’re probably used to from default options. For instance, you might not have the possibility to shuffle a playlist, which can get frustrating on the long run. Luckily, Name Mixer is the type of tool which can easily take care of this inconvenience.

On the bright side of things, you’re not taken through a setup process to ensure the proper functionality of the application, so you can take it for a spin right after download. It relies on Java Runtime Environment to function, which also means it can be used on computers which aren’t fitted with Windows operating systems.

The core function of the application is to help you create a completely random playlist by having items renamed. You get to process a decent variety of file formats, such as MP3, WMA, and WAV. Adding them is only possible through the browse dialog, which has you point at the content of an entire folder. You can filter according to the selected formats.

Sadly, the application can’t load a playlist file, and original items are modified at the press of a button. There are no renaming parameters, so it’s best to first perform a test on a few files. Note that entire names of source files get modified, and you end up not knowing what songs there are according to name.

Tags are not modified, so you can use a tool to change the name back to the original form later on, but you don’t find a function to do so here. Although replacing names with numbers does ensure randomization of playlists, it would have been a little better to simply add these numbers in front of names, so you can still tell a song by its name.

Name Mixer manages to achieve its goal of helping you randomize audio files inside a source folder. Sadly, the method of approach leaves much to be desired, and can cause a bit of frustration, especially if you want your collection of audio files to be clean and tidy.