Foobar2000 is an audio player for Windows, free, minimalistic, yet flexible in customization. At first glance, it is not very friendly to the average user, who tends to "install and forget" any software. However, in the case of Foobar, it is advisable to be patient - and the player will deservedly enter your list of "must have" applications. This article will look at the key features of Foobar and provide tips on how to customize it.
Acquaintance
The first version of Foobar came out 10 years ago, in December 2002. It is known that the developer Peter Pawlowski previously worked at Nullsoft, a company that, in turn, develops the player.
Tags also help to clean up the mess, and Foobar2000 is not silent about them. ID3v1/ID3v2 and APE formats are recognized. Tags can be changed both individually for the composition and in bulk, using the "Properties" item in the context menu. Using file templates, you can fill in data automatically: "Tools → Automatically fill values ...". As an alternative - freedb service.
Settings
Let's open the settings ("File → Preferences") and go through the main sections.
Components
List of installed components. Those marked in gray are included in the core of the program, they cannot be deleted.
I note that compared to Foobar2000 versions prior to 1.x, extension management has been simplified, it has become easier to install them (“Install…” button), remove them using the context menu. Check for updates - button "Get updates ...".
Components significantly expand the functionality of the player, we will talk about this separately.
display
Default User Interface - Foobar2000's default user interface. Along with it, Columns UI and Panels UI are popular, which are installed as extensions and are available from the Display menu.
One way or another, any interface (in my case it is Columns UI) allows you to widely customize the display - from panels to colors and fonts. The "lazy" method is to call Quick Setup, export or import presets, which, by the way, are regularly posted on .
Keyboard Shortcuts
The list of commands already has keyboard shortcuts assigned to commands, you can add new ones with the “Add New” button, selecting the action (“Action”) and holding down the desired keyboard shortcut in the “Key” field. I also advise you to activate the "Global Hotkey" option so that the combinations work when working in other applications. This will eliminate the need to open the Foobar2000 window every time, for example, to change the composition or pause the current one.
Playback
Noteworthy is the ReplayGain function. In simple words, this is a technology that allows you to play all files in the media library at the same volume. Unlike a similar and more well-known normalization function, the result does not change the original content of the file: the loudness information is stored in the metadata.
The ReplayGain settings are controlled by the "Source mode" and "Processing" options. In fact, working with them is a topic for a separate article, which, meanwhile,.
DSP Manager
DSP (English Digital signal processing) - digital signal processing. One of the well-known processors present in almost any software player is the equalizer. To activate it in Foobar2000, you need to move the Equalizer with an arrow from the Available DSPs list to Active DSPs.
Other DSPs include "Resampler" for converting the audio sample rate, "Convert mono to stereo" and "Reverse stereo channels". Other types of transformations are also available through extensions.
However, please note that the same resampler is capable of loading your processor by 50%, not to mention other DSPs. It is also believed that any converters, including an equalizer, are undesirable for sound. Therefore, as you noticed, in Foobar2000 the equalizer, unlike Winamp or AIMP, is not placed in a prominent place, but "hidden" - as a minor function.
Output
Settings for audio output to a physical device. For a standard configuration (built-in sound card, budget acoustics), there is no need to change the settings, but if you have, say, a good sound card at your disposal, you can change the settings and change the DirectSound (DS: primary sound driver) standard output. It is recommended to install an extension for sound output in a more "direct" way, bypassing the Windows mixer - for example, via ASIO, WASAPI or Kernel Streaming.
Output - sound output settings
Shell Integration
Settings for player integration with Windows: context menu, file associations, setting Foobar2000 as the default player.
Tools
Tools - Library Tree, Lyric Show Panel, etc., which were installed as modules and require additional configuration.
Advanced
This section contains settings that are minor or experimental and may adversely affect performance. On the other hand, only here you can change the transparency of the windows, the sample rate (strangely, this option is not available in the Converter) or select the tag format for MP3/MP4.
Additional Tools
converter
Special attention deserves a tool that quite conveniently converts audio files to another format of your choice. You can use it by selecting files in the playlist and selecting "Convert | ..." in the context menu. Next - specify the output format, destination folder, DSP handler (for example, resampling or converting from stereo to mono) and action at the end of the process (report generation, etc.).
Support for audio formats is partially "native" (WAV, Wave64, AIFF, AU / SND), for the remaining formats, such as FLAC, MP3, AAC, etc., you need the corresponding codec exe files, which are easy to find on the site.
In the future, in order not to waste time on settings, save them to presets (presets) in the left part of the converter window.
CD grabber
Ripping discs is not much more difficult than converting from one format to another. It is performed in just a few clicks: “File | Open Audio CD…”. In the "Drive Settings" settings, pre-specify the drive settings. Press the "Rip" button, check the song titles in the "Rip Audio CD" window, or fill in the fields yourself. Next, go to the converter settings (“Proceed to the Converter Setup dialog”), specify the output format, apply the settings and wait for the process to complete.
Components
Foobar2000 has a lot of add-ons written for it. To verify this, just open the page and read the list. Components are grouped by tags: DSP, format support, interface, visualization, etc.
Alternatively, you can visit with a thematic (read - audiophile) set of add-ons in Russian.
Let's take a look at some of the most useful components.
iPod manager- Adds iPod support to Foobar2000. Given that Apple players are not mounted in Windows as a disk and require the mandatory installation of iTunes, this extension will seem more convenient to someone.
audio scrobbler- player integration with Last.fm. Sends statistics to the server - in other words, scrobbling each song.
TagBox- advanced tag editor. The advantage over the editor built into Foobar2000 is that the list of fields can be edited as you wish, and song data can be selected from the drop-down list - artist, album, genre.
Album list panel- the list of albums is displayed by analogy with the Columns UI, in columns, which is much more convenient when searching for the desired song.
Shpeck- support for Winamp visualizations, both in a separate window and as a toolbar.
ASIO support- support for ASIO output, which provides the most direct music output bypassing the Windows mixer.
Podcatcher- subscribe to podcasts and play them directly in Foobar2000.
Audio CD Writer- recording an audio CD directly from the context menu. The extension is written by the author Foobar2000. Recording takes place by analogy with converting formats, you just need to select a playlist for recording and select “Convert | Convert” from the menu. Write audio CD…”. The only caveat - the duration of the recording should not exceed 80 minutes. This is easy to check by highlighting the tracks and looking at the lower right corner of the Foobar2000 status bar.
Conclusion
Foobar2000 does not officially support localizations. The playlist is not saved when it crashes. Alas, some old extensions are not compatible with new versions of the player. You will have to deal with this if, for example, you want to install a plugin to support a specific format, and its last version was released 2 years ago. But, as a rule, such situations are rare.
Modest interface "out of the box"? Do not forget that this is an audio player, and it performs its main functions for 5 points.
Thus, no significant deficiencies were found. Over the years of use, there was no desire to find an alternative. Foobar2000 is a lightweight (3 megabytes - it hasn't gotten any heavier in 10 years of development), free and open for developers, fast and functional player.
If you are looking for a powerful audio player, then you should definitely check out the free foobar2000 program (a great alternative to AIMP). This player is one of the best among free and paid counterparts. Why did the application fall in love with a huge audience of users? Yes, because it is light, stable, provides a lot of customization and expandability, and most importantly, provides high-quality sound.
Initially, foobar 2000 comes with only the most necessary functionality and does not contain anything superfluous, such a package is suitable for inexperienced users, but if you are an experienced user and want to get more features from the audio player, then many official and third-party plug-ins and interface options will allow you to customize the program, As you wish. Like the constructor, you can collect or change everything you need in the player.
foobar supports various lossy and lossless audio compression formats, as well as audio discs. If necessary, it will be possible to add support for new formats through the use of modules. In addition, the player can play tracks from archives, and without unpacking, by default the application works with a small number of popular archive formats, but this list can be expanded again with plug-ins.
The program interface is highly customizable, it can display the information that you want to see on the screen, for example, a list of songs, album images, several playlists, metadata, etc. And a lot of themes will allow you to choose a skin that you like or will be more like your mood, change them at least every day, bringing a fresh and interesting design to the player.
In addition, this player provides users with useful additional features and tools, among which it is worth highlighting the launch of audio streams from the network, an audio file converter and a music disc grabber, editing file meta-information (including batch), sound volume normalization, continuous playback of tracks without pauses, integration with Last.fm, organization of the music library and direct signal output to the sound card.
To enjoy really high quality sound reproduction, you need to download foobar2000. The application will give you everything you want from an audio player. The equalizer will help you choose the best sound for you, and high speed, wide functionality, excellent extensibility and the presence of the Russian language in the interface will appeal to even the most sophisticated music lovers.
Foobar2000 / Foobar is a popular audio player with a large selection of functions, the ability to customize the player individually for each user and efficient extensibility through plugins. At the same time, users appreciated the high-quality playback of music tracks, which can seriously compete with professional, paid audio programs. This effect is achieved through the use of dithering and noise shaping in audio processing.
Foobar2000 latest version can be installed as a standard program and run exclusively from a computer. There is also a Foobar / Foobar portable version, using which you can run Foobar2000 in Russian from a flash drive or other removable media. The interface of the program is made in the style of minimalism, it can be changed due to a large selection of skins, choose the colors of the cover to suit your mood or new "wallpaper" for the monitor. In addition to visual changes, the interface can also be customized in terms of the information part. For example, you can control the amount of information you want to see about each individual track. You can disable and enable additional windows - track list, playlists, etc. There can be one playlist, or there can be several, separated by tabs, between which you can switch.
Key Features of Foobar2000 for Windows 7, 8, 10:
- High quality audio playback;
- Additional features through the use of plugins and extensions;
- The ability to change the appearance of covers due to skins;
- Possibility to adjust the number of windows;
- Ability to create multiple playlists separated by tabs;
- The ability to listen to music from the local network without downloading tracks to your computer.
A very interesting feature that will appeal to modern users is the playback of music from local networks. This saves a lot of space on your computer, which could take up thousands of music tracks. It is possible to expand the already wide possibilities of Fubar 2000 Russian version through both official extensions and with the help of plug-ins developed "on the side". You can download the latest version of Foobar2000 for free in Russian via a direct link from the official site without registering on our site.
foobar2000 is an audio player that is highly customizable, low system requirements, and a simple, very intuitive interface.
This program takes up very little space on your hard drive, unlike, for example, from or.
This application provides support for almost all common audio formats and the best sound quality. In addition, it is possible to either choose one of the design themes you like, or create your own.
The user can install this utility in any of two modes - normal and portable.
Russian version of foobar2000
Russian as well as versions in other languages are available for download on the official website of the program. You can download foobar2000 rus directly from our website.
The developers of this software product provide the ability to install additional components that expand the capabilities of the application - to support additional sound formats, work with archives, completely reconfigure hot keys to control the utility, etc. It is also available in Russian.
The player uses a small amount of RAM and is able to handle large playlists perfectly. This utility also supports extracting tags from MP3 files; This software uses a new playlist format called m3u8.
This program was developed not only for Windows 7, but can run on any version of this operating system. You can download foobar2000 for free without registration very quickly using the download link.
Some features of this application:
- smooth sound playback
- interface that is very easy to set up;
- changing skins;
- work with many audio formats (AAC, MP3, Vorbis, MP4, CD Audio, WawPack, FLAC, AU, AIFF, WMA, WAW, Speex, Musepack);
- full Unicode support;
- advanced work with APEv2 tags;
- customizable hotkeys;
- replaygain function;
- an open architecture that allows you to expand the functionality of the application with the help of third-party developers (today you can find many assemblies of this utility on torrent sites);
- rip, as well as converting any supported audio CD format;
- online diagnostics, which is available from the help menu.
