14 DAY TRIAL // There are literally zillions of programs which deal with audio extraction from CDs, tag editing or format/quality conversion: some are really excellent and totally free, while others suck big time and do this while asking 30 bucks just to get you annoyed and late. Of course it's a free market and everybody is free to try and create software the way he/she wants or feels like, but I can't help feeling a bit awkward when I happen to step on quite average (if not even mediocre) code sold for "the big bucks" and compare it to similarly-priced or even freeware programs which totally rock! After all, I should be glad because there is more code available to choose from, so everybody will be happy in the end by this huge amount of programs will actually meet any needs anyone might think of in what audio-related software is concerned.
Simple solution meeting simple needs
Audio Player and Converter is a piece of code strictly made for the small needs one may encounter in everyday home-tasks; basically, it is more a file format converter than a player, despite its name. Being designed quite simple and easy to understand, the Audio Player and Converter makes an almost perfect tool for the beginners or for people with little (or even almost no) PC-operating knowledge at all. When it comes to simply converting some audio files from one format to another or to ripping the content of a certain audio CD directly to a format the usual applications such as Windows Media Player can't export to, the Audio Player and Converter seems more than simply OK; and especially if the user is not a die-hard fan of endless tweaking and innumerable setups, the mentioned piece of code looks even more appealing. And since we are at the "appeal" section, let's take a look at what the eye sees when first time running the Audio Player and Converter.
The Looks
When I looked at Audio Player and Converter for the very first time, I thought it had an XP-themed GUI. As I installed it on my PC to see what's going on, things were much clearer: the Audio Player and Converter is actually so XP in the way it looks that it really seems like a natural extension of the OS rather than a standalone application.
It consists of a main window whose size can vary between 2 square centimeters up to fullscreen, with no skinning options and no color schemes other than the possibility to change the coloring of a header inside the software. Technically, the Audio Player and Converter is a piece of software with little (if any) graphic identity: as I have already said, it looks so Win XP-native that one might easily mistake it for an OS feature.
Apart from this, the design is quite "aired" and eye-comforting, with no futile graphic elements to hinder or annoy the user; the upper part of the main window houses the few menus, the middle area (which, by the way is the largest - as seen in every similar software) displays the tracklist with the items to be processed, while the lower part of the GUI is the place where some direct-access command buttons have been placed and where the playback controls (play and stop only) and the extremely XP-like seekbar reside as well. Nothing out of the "traditional path" but at the same time a very nice feeling of neatness and familiarity comes out of the Audio Player and Converter' GUI; it is just a bit 3D (in the case of some buttons or icons) and the colors are bright without being punchy - as a matter of fact, the whole interface is very simple and intuitive at the same time and even the right-click menus have small but nicely colored icons explaining better what every click would do.
The rest of the menus are also clear and very easy to understand, as access to different data or options is made by the help of very handy drop menus, slider bars and/or checkboxes. While having everything doubled by significant text, the Audio Player and Converter makes indeed a very easy to use piece of code, with a rather "light" interface but whose capabilities remain fully functional and tweakable. I'll give a very good mark for the GUI of the Audio Player and Converter as it truly deserves it for simplicity and real ease of use.
The Works
If by now, in what the looks are concerned, the Audio Player and Converter has managed to get nice scoring, when it comes to the functionality, it begins to show better the fact that it has been designed to meet small needs; after I gave it a rather serious spin I can tell that Audio Player and Converter works nice but is still a long way behind other similar programs which not only are offered for free but also work better, faster and are loaded with a lot more features and options.
The first thing which confused me was that the Cancel button does not work when needed: after I have right-clicked on a track and the new menu had opened, I tried to close it down by pressing Cancel, as anyone would have done, I was quite amazed to see that this was a dead end and the buttons would not respond. OK and Apply were the only solutions left so I chose OK; nevertheless, this is not OK and I hope it will be fixed in a future updated version. The lack of CDDb or FreeDB communication is truly a handicap for an audio CD ripping software as it forces the user to enter the titles himself and this isn't just boring as it is time consuming and sometimes even annoying. No donut for the Audio Player and Converter at this chapter, sorry!
The next thing that disappointed me were the playing capabilities of the Audio Player and Converter: exactly as I was telling you in the first lines, it's more the converter than the player, as the program would not play the full extent of the tracklist you have created for processing, but only one song at a time. "It's OK" you'd say, "it's the way similar softwares behave" and you would be completely right but then... where from the "player", may I ask? It's not that I am being too harsh or excessively precise, but I usually like my softwares to actually be and do what their name says it would: a player would play and a converter would convert, I guess you all agree with me. Unfortunately, the Audio Player and Converter plays way less than it converts, hence my little rant.
Having said that, I can further say that the present software is rather nice, because it can handle WAV, MP3, WMA, OGG and APE files as well as switch between them and their particular settings and presets with much ease as it is a rather fast-processing piece of code.
No batch tagging capabilities are available in this version of the Audio Player and Converter and in my humble opinion the developers could consider embedding such features in the next versions of the program. Even so, tagging is fairly easy; tagging-access is made with one or two mouse clicks, once you have reached the proper section, things are dead simple and I am 100% sure a child could edit the tags in just seconds. And this is one very good thing!
Drag and drop is supported for multiple files only and should you try and drop in one or more folders you'll be disappointed, as you'll see nothing happening; either use the drag and drop or use the classic Add Audio Files menu. One more nice thing about the Audio Player and Converter is that - no matter if you plan to process files already existing on your hard drive or CDA tracks on a CD - the program will let you customize the order of the items. Basically, there are 2 arrow-buttons which will move the selected item(s) up or down, according to your needs and wishes, thus allowing you to create custom preset lists containing your fav tracks, should such need be! List-printing options complete the not-so-extensive amount of features the Audio Player and Converter has to offer.
The Good
The best things about the Audio Player and Converter are the simplicity and nice functionality of the GUI, as well as the overall ease of use of the code.
The Bad
For the price that Audio Player and Converter sells for I would have expected a lot more of a "power tool". If Audio Player and Converter wants to somehow make a statement in the market, the FreeDB is a total MUST!
The Truth
Audio Player and Converter could be one of the leading choices for a more decent price; the way things are now... it's up to the users themselves to judge this further on.
Take a look at the screenshots below, please:
