TechRadar Verdict

Underneath its initially unappealing interface you'll find a surprisingly powerful music player and manager that can be tweaked and tuned to suit you perfectly.

Pros

+
Flexible interface
+
Effective tagging and organization
+
Can be extended with plug-ins

Cons

-
Interface is initially unappealing
-
Steep learning curve

Why you can trust TechRadar We spend hours testing every product or service we review, so you can be sure you’re buying the best. Find out more about how we test.

foobar2000 is a powerful and flexible music player with a unique modular design and a raft of hidden features.

foobar2000

URL: http://www.foobar2000.org

Type: Media player

Developer: Piotr Pawłowski and contributors

Operating system: Windows, iOS, Android, Windows Phone

Version: 1.3.15

Its primary function is media management, and it specializes in ripping and converting CDs – copying tracks your discs for you, tagging them automatically and keeping everything neatly organised in an efficient media library - but to be think this is dismissive of the program is to do it a disservice. It might 'only' be a music conversion and playback tool, but it's incredibly well designed and adaptable.

Right from the offset, even if you don't realize it (see below), foobar2000 probably does pretty much everything you could ask of it. But one of the most exciting features of the program is that is open for developers to build plug-ins and extensions that add even more features.

As standard, there are a number of music-tweaking effects available to play with, including the all-important equalizer, but you'll also find a crossfader, a downmixing option, and a couple of resampling tools.

User experience

You might be a little taken aback by the appearance of foobar2000; it looks rather dated at first glance, and the interface is very sparse. However, once you've pointed the program in the direction of your music collection and the library is populated, it become much clearer how things work.

If you're particularly troubled by the look of the player, you can use the Theme Editor to tweak things to your liking - but be aware that this can take some time and once you've got the knack you can easily sink hours into getting it just right,

With music imported into your library, you can play your tracks by browsing by artist or album, or create a playlist. In fact, foobar2000 makes it easy to have several playlists available at any one time, with each conveniently housed in its own tab.

However, despite everything in foorbar2000 has in its favour, there's no getting away from the fact that it has something of a learning curve. This isn't a piece of software that beginners will just jump in to and feel at home in straight away. Once you have got use to the way things operate, and spent a little time configuring the seemingly endless raft of options, you can just leave the player to work its magic. Any music you add to watched folders will be added to your library automatically, ready to be worked into playlists or played individually.

Mike is a lead security reviewer at Future, where he stress-tests VPNs, antivirus and more to find out which services are sure to keep you safe, and which are best avoided. Mike began his career as a lead software developer in the engineering world, where his creations were used by big-name companies from Rolls Royce to British Nuclear Fuels and British Aerospace. The early PC viruses caught Mike's attention, and he developed an interest in analyzing malware, and learning the low-level technical details of how Windows and network security work under the hood.

Latest in Computing