musikCube is an mp3 player for Windows with unlimited possibilities. For one thing, it was designed with a plug-in architecture, so it is infinitely extensible. For another, the smart playlists are SQL select statements, so they are only limited by imagination (and the available data).
musikCube is an open source project written in Visual Studio. If you happen to be a Visual Studio programmer, then you can write (and contribute) your own plug-ins. If you are not a Visual Studio programmer, but you do know how to write SQL, then you can write (and contribute) new smart playlists. If you are neither, you can still enjoy musikCube as a user, taking advantage of plug-ins and playlists from others.
Embedded SQL/Smart Playlists: The track data is stored in a tiny SQL database, controlled by an embedded SQL engine called SQLite. So, as I mentioned, this means that the smart playlists are ordinary SQL select statements. The musikCube wiki (www.musikcube.com/wiki/Dynamic_Playlists) lists 30 different such select statements contributed by users.
This also means that you are free to tweak your database in any way that you like. Update, insert, and delete statements can be issued against the database via a command line tool that is available for SQLite. (You do not need Visual Studio for that.)
Cross-Platform Library: musikCube is largely based on a cross-platform library called MusikCore. The Linux sister project of musikCube is called musikBox.
External Devices: musikCube makes transferring audio between home and work easy with support for removable storage devices (any external/pen drive, or any portable mp3 player that acts as a hard drive).
Compiling From Source: If, for some reason, you’d like to compile the project from source, you’ll need Visual Studio 2003. According to www.musikcube.com/wiki/Compiling_Without_Visual_Studio_2003, the free Visual C++ 2005 Express Edition has also been used ‘with limited success.”
Only Scratching the Surface: musikCube includes a CD ripper, all kinds of ways to customize it with icons and themes, and ways to link it to the outside world (e.g. last.fm). The current version of musikCube, “1.0 Final,” is six months old. After releasing it, the developers took a break while allowing a list of new future requests to accumulate in the forum discussions. However, just two weeks ago work fired up again — beginning with the move to Visual Studio 2005. So, expect even more in the near future.
Plug-ins: Here are a few of the more interesting plugins (alphabetically):
- (various) – plugins to add support for various file formats: WAV, WV, M4A/AAC, MOD, MPC, FLAC, OGG, WMA
- I Like This! – “I Like This!” is a simple music recommendation plugin for the musikCube audio player
- iTunes Ratings Import – Imports Ratings from iTunes into musikCube
- miniPlayer – miniplayer is a minimal interface plugin for musikCube
- musiKeys – Allows the 10 global hotkeys (Play/Pause, Next Track, Prev Track, etc.) to be redefined. Great for Laptop users without a handy number pad.
- Playlist Import/Export – These plugins let you import/export playlists in M3U and PLS format
- Shutdown Timer – Shutdown Timer is a simple plugin that will automatically shutdown your computer either at the end of a playlist or at a specified time
- WinLIRC – This plugin allows you to control musikCube using a LIRC-type infrared remote control receiver and the WinLIRC software
musikCube
Latest Version: 1.0 (12/2/2006)
Platform: Any version of Windows, including Vista. (Cube & Plugins require Visual Studio .NET 2003 if you want to compile from source)
Author: Casey Langen
Price: Free (FOSS)
Download Link: www.musikcube.com
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