Your favorite songs’ lyrics within reach

Playing music tracks on our computer has become a regular activity since the popularization of formats like MP3 and of programs like Winamp, Foobar2000 or Windows Media Player. Thanks to the internet, at the same time, some programs were developed so, in a matter of seconds, we can see the lyrics of the songs we are listening to, like EvilLyrics, MiniLyrics, Lyricsnapper and Lyrics plugin for Windows Media Player and for Winamp.

EvilLyrics is one of the most complete programs to search for lyrics. It works synchronized with many of the most popular programs, and it searches automatically. It’s true that sometimes it interprets the code incorrectly and the lyrics it shows are unreadable or it appears mixed with other type of data. On the other hand, it counts with a function that easily lets us edit the lyrics to transform it into karaoke.

Lyrics plugin for Windows Media Player and for Winamp are little add-ons for these players. As opposed to EvilLyrics, which runs on a different window, this plugin does it integrated to the window of the main program. Apart from the fact that it works ok (although it fails on some searches), the only thing it provides us with is with the lyrics of the song.

Lyricsnapper is an effective program, but which only Works in-synch with iTunes. For the rest of the music players, it doesn’t only run on a separated window, but also you have to load it separately, and it would actually work as a specialized search engine as we have to enter the data manually. Despite that, it allows us to choose among different results.

MiniLyrics is, without a doubt, the best looking one, as it does not only count with multiple skins, but it also shows us the album cover. It can be integrated to a great amount of players, and its search engine is very effective. Furthermore, it automatically focuses on the karaoke results. Either way, every time we run it, the emerging window incites us to buy, what can be a little annoying.

This is just a small list of the great amount of programs of this type that exist today. Some of them are really simple like Lyrics plugin for Windows Media Player and for Winamp which only provide us with the lyrics, or Lyricsnapper, which doesn’t even do it automatically (except we use it with iTunes). Other provide us with editing options and are efficiently integrated with many players, like EvilLyrics and MiniLyrics, giving us also the option to do karaoke through them.

Which player is worthy of your multimedia files

A multimedia player enables you to play movies, music, video clips, TV shows and any audio and video file. Multimedia players have become essential applications for any PC delivering the highest audio and video quality. Next, you´ll get to know the most popular players covering all multimedia aspects. We introduce you to Windows Media Player, Winamp, iTunes, Songbird and VLC Media Player. These players present features of their own, some of them allow users to manage their files, and others feature hundreds of plug-ins.

Windows Media Player

As with almost every type of program in the world of the PC, the influence of Microsoft Windows is strong when it comes to choosing a multimedia player. So what better place to begin talking about these programs than with the one that is installed by default on this operating system?

Windows Media Player strength lies in the use and management of multimedia files, mainly thanks to its Media Library, with which users can arrange and catalogue their files, thereby making it easier to find exactly what they want to play. What’s more, it features tools for ripping and burning CDs, together with another for synchronizing with portable devices.

This player also comes with a collection of accessories and enhancements with which you can, among other things, change various aspects of the audio output, link the program to Windows Live Messenger, and more.

Without a doubt, the weakest aspects of Microsoft’s media player are the options for playing podcasts and the lack of features it offers users for playing videos.

Winamp

Historically, Winamp has always been the most popular multimedia player, thanks to its winning combination of interesting tools, low resource consumption, and ease of use.

Nowadays, Winamp comes with various different tools for playing audio and video, podcast subscription options, playlists, m3u support, support for streaming radio, a multimedia library, and synchronization with all sorts of mobile devices.

As if all that wasn’t enough, this player also stands out for the large amount of plug-ins that can be added to it, thus achieving unique sounds, professional-standard automatic track mixing, and much more.

iTunes

iTunes is the multimedia player of Mac OS, which Apple has now ported to the Windows platform, resulting in a rather strange hybrid.
In themselves, the player’s features are good. It has multiple features for playing audio and video, supports podcasts, plays internet radio stations from all over the world, and can burn and rip audio to and from audio CDs. Plus, it features a wide variety of options for the Apple iPod and iPhone, even if the same can’t be said for other portable devices.

However, after using it for a while you can see that, despite being a great player, there’s no justification for the amount of system resources that it uses up, mainly due to the fact that it is not a program that has been designed for use under Microsoft Windows. Add to this certain other limitations and it becomes very clear that Apple launched iTunes thinking almost exclusively about iPod and iStore users, rather than the possible needs of those users open to other options.

Songbird

If by now you were thinking that there’s no player out there capable of beating the ones already mentioned, you’d be very wrong. Just as Web 2.0 continues to make headlines, Songbird could be described as a sort of Player 2.0. The central portion of its user interface features a Mozilla-based web browser, complete with tabs, that is sure to make this program a hit.

Songbird is able to play some of your favourite tracks even if you don’t have them stored on your PC since it provides you with access to sites where you can search for and play free-to-download songs and other audio files. What’s more, you’ll have a large number of online plug-ins at hand which will notably enhance and build upon the performance of the player.

It goes without saying that this program also comes with support for many different audio and video formats, along with different models and types of portable media devices.

VLC Media Player

Last but not least we have VLC Media Player, a program that may not look like much of a threat to the other players talked about here but that, once you start to use it, you’ll see just how handy it can be to have around.

VLC doesn’t have any library for organizing and administrating your multimedia files. Instead, you simply make a playlist to listen to right now or load a previously saved one. The user interface is pretty basic – and not in the least attractive to be honest – but, despite this, this program is one of the most popular media players around.

The secret lies in the large bundle of codecs that it comes with and which let it play practically any multimedia file that you can get your hands on. No matter what challenge it’s faced with, VLC responds without hesitation, consuming very few system resources whilst achieving an enviable play-back quality.

Choosing just one single player would mean missing out on the features and possible benefits of all the others, for which reason combining more than one and then making use of the features that you need or want the most is surely the best answer when it comes down to kitting out your PC.

In this way, it´s important to know which player is the most convenient according to the multimedia content we wish to play. We consider that Windows Media Player, Winamp, Songbird and iTunes are all great players with similar features and the same audio and video quality level. Only VLC makes a difference thank to the user friendly codec installation. But as we all know, the appearance in a player is also important, that´s why Winamp and iTunes are both great looking players with a wide variety of wonderful skins and great functionality.

If you are looking for a quick and easy for livening up a party, a simple music player just won´t do. To create a total mayhem on the dance floor, you´ll need a couple of loud speakers, a PC, Virtual DJ and some magic.

Virtual DJ places you right in front of an audio console to mix songs with all the advanced options that professional DJs use, but without needing a vast knowledge on the subject to make the most of it.

Let´s get started. First, add the songs to the trays. To do this, click the Browser tab and look for the song you want to load. We can also drag and drop files from the desktop into Virtual DJ playlist that unfolds upon placing the cursor on the bottom right of the Virtual DJ.

As we can see on the screen, both trays have the exact same options. Among them there is the CUE option, which is used to choose and memorize the start point where we are going to play the tracks. In order to do this, hit Play on either tray (you can also fast-forward or rewind by moving the audio specter with your mouse on the top side of the screen) and then click on the CUE button.

With Virtual DJ you can memorize up to three start points with Alt+1/2/3 hotkeys, or straight from the program interface by clicking in the HOT CUE area on any of the three buttons.

Now, there is an essential tool that any DJ uses, and that is PITCH. Without it you won´t be able to mix tracks. PITCH is used to modify playback speed enabling you to synchronize the rhythm of both songs (the final synch touch is given with + and – buttons).

However, what really makes any Virtual DJ user a professional DJ is the SYNC feature. By clicking on it, the application will automatically synch both songs to get a perfectly clean mix.

By mixing both songs, now you must lower the volume of one of them so the other keeps playing and finish the mix.

To do this, slide (towards either track) the horizontal bar found on the center of the screen, under the volume bar of each track.

In order to enable users to copy CD audio tracks to the hard driver, there are numerous converters or CD audio rippers. In this case, we will review CDex, one of the most popular audio CDs ripper and converter.

As soon as the installation wizard finishes, a simple medium-size interface will display the program window. In this way, CDex is provides and extremely user-friendly interface enabling the user to rip audio CDs quickly and easily

CDex features an automatic track CD reader which connects to CDBA, an internet CD database that provides information about albums, artists and songs about the audio tracks you extracted.

CDex also includes an embedded audio player to listen to CDs as well as to check the tracks we extracted. In addition, WAV and MP3 files on the hard drive can be converted to a Compressed Audio File (and visa versa). CDex also supports many audio file tag formats like the ID3V1 and ID3V2 tags, which can be automatically inserted as part of the ripping process. Last but not least, CDex includes an analog sound recorder to register our own sounds.

As regarding ripping features, CDex converts audio tracks –either full tracks or segments- to WAV and MP3 formats. All conversion are done quickly and with just a few clicks, but yet again CDex formats shortage is still an issue since there other massive audio formats out there. Still, CDex features Multilanguage support while other converters may not.

All in all, CDex presents itself as an easy-to-use and efficient converter when it comes to extracting MP3 and WAV files from audio CDs quickly and easily.

Torrents have been the most popular type of download since its appearance on the internet, enabling users to download huge files faster than any other P2P application. uTorrent is the best torrent client to download movies, music games and more.

uTorrent

There are numerous different types of downloads that you can make over the Internet but here we take a closer look at those that work using .torrent files.

Basically, in order to share a file, a .torrent file containing information about it is stored on a centralized server. When the file is downloaded by different users, this .torrent file collects data about the number of transfers and the number of peers who possess all or part of the file.

So, this is where the need for an application that can work with this particular system comes in. Such an application is uTorrent.
The program reads the .torrent file chosen by the user, which contains information about where to download each part of the file from according to the best available connection, thereby guaranteeing a good overall download speed.

uTorrent has all the tools needed for beginners and a large number of additional configuration options for more expert users. It features a clear push-button panel from which to control the client and a list of all the downloads, indicating whether they are in progress, completed, active or inactive.

On the right-hand side it has a .torrent search engine, a useful feature considering that, unlike other P2P networks such as eDonkey2000, this system does not include its own index of files within the client and users must find their downloads via external web sites.

To get the most out of the .torrent files you must always keep in mind the number of Seeds and Peers a file has. The more of them a file has, the faster it will download. Once you’ve found the torrent file you want, click on it, choose to open it with uTorrent and the client will take over.

It’s worth emphasizing that the client’s window always allows you to see exactly what files you’re downloading. This is especially helpful with compressed files and means you needn’t waste time downloading something that was labelled incorrectly on the web site.

The lower part of the screen displays a variety of data and statistics about the currently selected download. Here you can see all sorts of General information, such as the time elapsed, the amount downloaded, the speed at which it is currently downloading, and more. You can also get data about the Peers with whom you are sharing files, the Pieces that make up the download, and the different Files that are contained in the complete download as well as view information about the Speed of the download and consult the Logger.
Without a doubt, uTorrent is one of the best programs out there for downloading .torrent files. All that’s left then is for you to install it and see for yourself why it´s the best and most reliable torrent client.

Download uTorrent

The best music deserves to be treated with respect, and what better way than to use VirtualDJ, the professional-standard DJ program that lets us make the best music mixes imaginable. Become a professional DJ now!

VirtualDj

It’s easy to see that this is a fantastic tool, right from the start: load whatever music tracks you want directly from files on your computer.

Using the menu that appears on the left of the screen, browse to the files on the computer that you want to listen to. Simply by selecting the folder that you want and dragging the music tracks into the program window, they’re loaded into the central screen, from where you can choose which of them to mix.

With its two highly-sensitive mouse-controlled decks, VirtualDJ gives the impression of being in front of a real music mixing deck and makes you feel like an authentic DJ. And for those who already are professional DJs, VirtualDJ is the perfect tool, largely thanks to its BeatLock system. The automatic seamless loop engine and the brand new synchronised sampler will let you perform astounding remixes live, with no preparation at all. The vinyl controls will let you scratch like on a real turntable, except that with the beatlock engine your scratches will never end out of the beat.

VirtualDJ is really impressive – it can mix not just MP3 files but also those in the ACC, WMA, AVI and MPEG formats, among others.
One very nice touch is the ability to instantly view, for both decks, the structure of the songs and therefore avoid any nasty surprises caused by gaps or empty sections in the middle of the tracks. Added to this is the pre-listening tool, which lets you listen ahead in the track being played in order to be ready for anything that’s coming.

This isn’t just a program for mixing different sounds; VirtualDJ also gives you the chance to record the resulting creations to CD or broadcast them over the Internet, even allowing you to create an internet radio station from which to transmit your sounds. These are just some of the most noteworthy features included in the new version of VirtualDJ, but it also lets you work with music videos, too.

Add also several interfaces to suit everybody from the beginner to the professional DJ, the possibility to record your mixes to burn them on CDs, to broadcast on the Internet and have your own radio station, to save your CDs directly in MP3, to use a headphone to preview the songs or an external mixtable to perform in a club.

Of course, the program also allows users to customize the interface with different skins, helping you to really feel at home whilst you work.

With this program you’ll be ready to provide the music for a family event, a clubbing event, or alternatively to start up your own radio station – VirtualDJ makes the whole process fun, offering variety and, of course, quality results. This is the definitive choice for mixing different tunes, helping you to achieve a first class performance every time.

Download VirtualDJ

It´s common nowadays to have issues when transferring music files from our PC to our iPod. To make thing easier, we´ll need an application such as iTunes that will enable users to transfer multimedia files easily and quickly. Therefore, we introduce you to iTunes, a multimedia player that will enable you to copy music to your iPod with just a few clicks.

IPods are the most popular portable multimedia devices due to the handful of interesting features they deliver. However, when we plug our iPod to the PC we run into some complications, we cannot copy files using Windows Explorer as we would usually do for instance.

The solution is installing an application that features the necessary support for your iPod device so you can use it properly with your PC. That application is iTunes, Apple´s most popular application, designed to transfer music, videos and photos to the device. Once we downloaded the file and installed iTunes, connect your iPod to the PC.

First, we must add songs to the “Library” in the music tab. Once music files are there we can work with them or just play them. There are two of ways of adding tracks. You can either add tracks by dragging files of folders to the music tab, or by going to File > Add File/Folder to Library.

When having lots of audio tracks in our library, the next is to create Playlists. We can do it either by clicking on File > New Playlist Folder or by clicking on the + button found on the lower left portion of the screen. Once the Playlist is created we can rename it and drag and drop the songs we want to include in such playlist.

You can also use iTunes Music Store to buy songs or albums. iTunes Music Store has more music titles and genres available than any other music service we’ve seen. The service also offers a strong feature set, including an integrated music player, in-depth information on artists and albums, music videos, audio books, movies, television shows and games.

When you have finally organized your playlist, you can either drag and drop separate songs or the entire playlist to your iPod player. The process may take some minutes depending on the number of songs you are copying to the player.

Even though iTunes may not seem very user-friendly at the beginning, you will realize that adding music to our iPod can be done in a matter of seconds.

Following these simple steps, you´ll be able to load music into your iPod in no time. Its interface may seem a bit confusing at the beginning, but it´s very easy to master and it´s the essential complement for your iPod player.

Dowload iTunes