14 DAY TRIAL // I feel strange having to write about a program considered dead, yet still downloaded and used by many people. On one hand, it's nice to see that a software whose development has been stopped years ago is still downloaded and people write good things about it; on the other hand, it's sad to see such potential wasted away just because someone got bored or something like that, as far as the reasons for stopping developing an excellent software might have been. It seems like only now, when things have come to a stop, do people start to realize what they had and think of how nice would a continued development have been.
For those who haven't a clue yet, it's the Sonique player, the "prodigal son" of players some years ago. Some might ask why would I review an old software and I'll just restrict to saying the "because it truly deserves!" line. In my opinion, the road Sonique had set foot time ago is only now beginning to get its deserved appreciation, in the Vista shape of the MS operating systems; Sonique may have been a bit ahead of its time with all its animated and precise GUI-elements. I cannot but weep at its grave and hope it will resurrect one day.
The Looks. The Works. The Cool.
The first thing I'll say about Sonique is that it looks like no other player; there are similar pieces of code but Sonique rules supreme by far. Its GUI is so simple yet so functional and the all-animated appearance is worth the penny (let alone that it's freeware); in fact, everything that counts in the user interface has been animated one way or another but without passing to the extreme: the moving menus and sliding "everythings" look very natural and un-forced that I grew to like the Sonique in a matter of instants.
I am sure you know yourselves lots of applications (players or other kinds) which contain animation in their interfaces and still they look bad, or eat up a lot of system resources, or have a mockery of functionality... well, it's high time you met Sonique!
I must admit it looks a bit Sci-Fi with all its moving parts, no matter if you're bringing in sight the settings menu, EQ or visualization panes. Almost each click in the GUI makes something move or slide in/out of sight - all on a sleek-design background with all sorts of technical motifs on which things move even as you focus on or de-focus the application - I repeat, without anything looking forced or over-burdened!
Sonique has had its variable size window split in three theoretical zones, each with its own special function: the main area is dedicated to the active content such as playlist, settings display, visualization, EQ or console. Actually, this is where all the action takes place and it's the main region in the Sonique's GUI, second in importance and functionality comes the bottom region which houses the rather extensive playback controls, seekbar, playback modes and track info display. Last but not least, in the rightmost side of the GUI and definitely placed in a most convenient way - the menus.
If you expected usual text menus - forget about it: Sonique has 5 menus (animated, of course) in the shape of tab-like pads, which will grant you instant access to some very nice and handy functions such as the almost semipro-grade EQ, the very interesting visualization themes, skins and generic settings. The playlist is triggered when a separate button is pressed and it allows you to sort the contents according to criteria like track number, file name, artist, title or track length.
The visualization window is detached and it can easily be fullscreened; unlike Winamp or Windows Media Player, the Sonique sports so far only two visuals but they exceed in quality everything the previous two players have to offer. It's the same with the 21-bands EQ, which, due to its variable size, can work with high accuracy so you get exactly the sound you want for your fav audio.
Overall, I must say that Sonique is by far one of the projects whose halt make me feel bad: the so-promising work done until this stage is truly a solid and extensive basis for the development of a potential future player to compete with the elite. Maybe we'll get to see it revived and smashing through the competition because it really deserves a better place than the one on the abandonware shelf it resides in now. It sounds good, it looks even better, it is free! Too bad it's dead.
The Good
An exceptional interface for a very nice piece of code. Freeware beauty with lots of options and obviously designed with a lot of care.
The Bad
The fact that it has been abandoned is the worst thing I could think of. Another bad is for those who are not bringing it back to life despite the fact that they are either able or entitled to do so, if not actually compelled to.
The Truth
The truth is dead, even buried. If you want an extremely pleasant trip "back to the future," you should download and install Sonique!
Screenshots after the break:
