Hi, looking for recommendations and or thoughts on open source software for Windows, specially for audio, video and media playback?

I’m currently using VLC for most video files, but don’t really enjoy using it for my music collection. I’ve been looking into the following so far:

  • Audacious
  • Kodi
  • Clementine

::edit:: Forgot use case! I’m mainly looking for something to play my local MP3 collection, with metadata intact as I’ve spent years making sure it all correct thanks to mp3Tag. Playlists are a bonus, visualisations would be nice, but it’s mainly for an album at a time from my harddrive while I work or read.

Thank you!

For Context: Am in the process of replacing Office365 and Windows default apps on my personal laptop with open source due to the intrusive Copilot etc. I am also looking at the eventual move back over to a Linux OS down the line.

  • ClipperDefiance@lemmy.worldEnglish
    3·
    4 days ago

    I wouldn’t recommend Clementine since it’s unmaintained. You might want to consider Strawberry instead, which is an updated fork of Clementine.

    That having been said, I actually use Audacious because I like using old WinAmp skins.

  • idkicarus@lemmy.world
    2·
    4 days ago

    I can’t recommend Musicbee enough: https://www.getmusicbee.com/. It’s completely free, extremely customizable, updated consistently, has healthy ecosystem of plugins, and has a helpful community if you have questions about using any of its features.

    Mediamonkey is also a good choice, but once I found Musicbee I transitioned and never looked back: https://www.mediamonkey.com/.

    Edit: I forgot to add that both options support playlist and visualizers. Musicbee even has smart playlists that can update automatically based on custom rules you set up. (If you want that feature in Mediamonkey, then you have to pay for a license.)