cbsoundman
Member
Posts: 105
Registered: 4-10-2003
Location: St. Louis, MO USA
Member Is Offline
|
|
posted on 5-4-2005 at 02:34 PM
|
|
|
Replacement?
I would hate to start a post like this but, I am afraid I should.
It seems to me that Audiosoft was maybe a project some college students put together, did a great job at it, and maybe they all got jobs somewhere
else. I can't think if it were something else that they would have been MIA for so long from their own web site.
So, I pose this question:
What software would be a good replacement for this product?
Personally, I do not want to switch. I think this is a great product but, without updates and code fixes, I believe I should start searching for a
replacement.
Audiosoft, if you are out there, PLEASE prove me wrong. Please tell use that the product is not dead and that you are still working on it.
The DJ at the club I work as an audio engineer (mix live bands) uses OTSDJ and from what I understand is used by a lot of radio stations. However, it
does not have the interface like eJukebox that seems easy for the average user to come up, search for a song, and then play it.
|
|
|
rlailey
Member
Posts: 143
Registered: 7-30-2004
Location: Saturn Recycle Bin
Member Is Offline
|
 posted on 5-4-2005 at 09:58 PM
|
|
|
Open Source
jhlurie came up with a good idea about an Open Source eJ - http://www.audiosoft.net/forums/viewthread.php?tid=1197 .
I'm happy to kick off an Open Source Jukebox based on eJ with a modular design so we can all work on different bits.
I'm happy with the eJ design which is better than others I've traulled the Internet for. However, reliability and functionality can be improved
with the initial eJ 3.97 design.
Any developers out there interested? .NET languages or JAVA all welcome.
|
|
|
Sloan
Junior Member
Posts: 67
Registered: 7-15-2003
Location: Charlottesville, VA
Member Is Offline
|
|
posted on 5-5-2005 at 02:52 AM
|
|
|
just wanted to throw this link you guys way.. none of the software is as good as eJukebox but many of them are still in development. I'd recommend SK
Jukebox for certain users, depending on the type of interface youre looking for.
Jukebox Software
|
|
|
stsirois
Member
Posts: 156
Registered: 3-11-2003
Location: Rochester, NH USA
Member Is Offline
|
|
posted on 5-6-2005 at 07:20 PM
|
|
|
I'm surprised neither myHTPC or Meedio has been mentioned in this post or on the Jukebox site at all. myHTPC is freeware, but older and unsupported.
Meedio is the payware (I got it for $20) & much more robust version of myHTPC. Either one will let you build a Medio (audio or video) Jukebox to
your liking, but Meedio has many more options in my opinion. There are already 200 (mostly free) plugins created for Meedio including many different
themes (skins) that can be applied. Here are some Meedio jukebox-related screenshots:
http://www.meedio.com/maid/plugins/{669DA236-C83D-4BDB-B849-9068FD178F31}/Screenshots/ss2.jpg
http://www.meedio.com/maid/plugins/{669DA236-C83D-4BDB-B849-9068FD178F31}/Screenshots/ss8.jpg
http://www.meedio.com/maid/plugins/{0B6C3256-32ED-4342-A3F4-78B653FBDCC5}/Screenshots/ss2.jpg
As of 6 months ago, I was trying to incorporate eJukebox into Meedio. I would lauch Meedio on my HTPC & press on the eJukebox button that I had
created. This would launch eJ, but because eJ has such an inflexible size/resolution "feature", the corners & edges of eJ would get cut off
since I was running it on a 32" HDTV. I tried various approaches, Powerstrip included, to reduce the overscan that I was getting but it was a no go.
Meedio was fine on my HDTV since it has an overscan compensation feature built into it. This was one reason why I ditched eJukebox in favor of
Meedio.
Another reason I decided to stop using eJukebox was its lack of true support for lossless codecs. I started ripping my entire CD collection to
Monkey's Audio because I read that it was supported, but eJ only reads ID3 tags not APE v2 tags which was a bummer. Without ID3 tags, eJ would try
to infer the album & titles from the filename, which isn't good if you have your filename structure set up as (track#) song.ape. The only reason
I went with Monkey's Audio over FLAC was because APEs were supposedly compatitble with eJ. After I discovered that this was not the case, I switched
over to FLAC as Meedio can handle that codec & its tags with ease. I could have stayed with APE as well with Meedio, but a few other features
were drawing me to FLAC.
The lack of recent updates & nasty, unfixed bugs (compilation errors, unwanted writing to tags, etc.) along with a lack of true GUI customization
also led me to Meedio. I know, I know, I sound like I work for them, but I don't  . The Meedio community is huge & very much alive. Their forums are very helpful. There's even a French chapter that has produced
some amazing themes for myHTPC & Meedio.
Well, that's my story. I'm sure I'll check up on eJukebox every now & then to see if anything new has been developed. It's really a shame
since eJ was ahead of it's time when it started out, but now the competition has caught up with them & now surpassed them. Oh well, c'est la
vie!
Thanks,
Steve
EDIT: Looks like this board doesn't like the curly braces in the links to some of the pics. I turned those into direct URLs instead.
|
|
|
Fishy
Senior Member
Posts: 960
Registered: 10-19-2003
Location: Norway, Trondheim
Member Is Offline
|
|
posted on 5-6-2005 at 08:12 PM
|
|
|
hmm Happens every time I try an ejukebox replacement. I start it, play a little around and start ejukebox once again
Don't take me wrong I tried this with an open mind. The wizard was very promising, very userfriendly and intuitive. But a good wizard don't make a
good program. At the first glance what I really didn't like was the "albumlist" (named library). Probably takes one year to scroll through it with
2000 albums. Not possible to have more than one album horizontally? And way to small albumimages. A pity. 
And no popularity modes? At least I didn't see one. Only a random and playlist mode. Both ej and itunes got several playmodes. There is no
billboard alike homeview thing? I know of at least one program that has one. In addition the interface felt to "sweet" and cluttered. Probably very
nice at pubs and such, where people are too drunk to hit a smaller button. But I really don't drink enough beer to call my home a pub 
The idea of having the library, now playing and jukebox separated into different segments in the program is from my point of view a poor idea. I like
the concept that ej uses, having all visable and accessable at the same time a lot better.
Of course there where good things about this program too. Large coverimages in now playing mode is nice. I'll try it a little more, but my
conclusion so far is that I would prefer ej any day over this. This is my personal opinion of course. And we probably are looking for different
interfaces since you use a touchscreen system and I use a classical mouse + keyboard setup on a crt monitor (darn)
I have to agree with Pirk downstairs and only hope that audiosoft releases a new version soon so we can end this discussion. If not I will probably
stick with this program for quite a while anyway. At least until I reach the 32000 song limit.
-----------
Fishy
|
|
|
Pirk
Posting Freak
Posts: 3976
Registered: 3-11-2003
Location: France
Member Is Offline
|
|
posted on 5-6-2005 at 08:25 PM
|
|
|
You are right Fishy, Meedio is only some "Powder to the eyes"... (I don't know if this expression is comprehensible in English) There is none soul
in it...
Today nothing can replace eJukebox for music lovers!
|
|
|
Pirk
Posting Freak
Posts: 3976
Registered: 3-11-2003
Location: France
Member Is Offline
|
|
posted on 5-6-2005 at 08:48 PM
|
|
|
stsirois,
Thank you for the "French chapter" and your screenshoots in French too...
It exists a French site with its community for Meedio: http://www.meedio-france.com/index.html
My compatriots seem to like this product more than eJukebox!! It's odd... and it's a pity!
I would love to see a "Audiosoft-france.com" site, and its active community! 
|
|
|
stsirois
Member
Posts: 156
Registered: 3-11-2003
Location: Rochester, NH USA
Member Is Offline
|
|
posted on 5-6-2005 at 09:04 PM
|
|
|
Hi Fishy & Pirk,
Glad you guys took a look at Meedio as there is great potential there for eJ users along with current power for folks who aren't so in love with the
eJ interface :lol:.
The great thing about Meedio is that you could probably create a theme that comes very close to looking like eJ! Unlike eJ where we have to wait for
Audiosoft to make any major changes, the users have the power to create whatever's in their heads (along with some help from the Meedio power users
).
There is a free plugin called RateMee that will allow you to rate your media. A free plugin called MeeCharts will allow you to create daily, weekly,
& monthly song, artists, & album charts. You can even upload your popularity stats to Audioscrobbler!
I'm glad that eJ works, for the most part, for your needs. I could no longer stand the bugs & missing features that I needed for regular
HTPC-usage (with a remote). eJukebox was not scoring high with the wife, but Meedio was climbing her charts!
Oh, yeah, Pirk, I knew you'd get a kick out of the French Meedio community. They produce some of the greatest Meedio themes out there!
So, with Meedio, it's all in your hands to mold it to your own needs - whether it be for viewing on a normal PC monitor, or on an HDTV or Kiosk, etc.
And, at the same time, it's getting the job done on a daily basis. Those are things I really love about Meedio!
Take care,
Steve
|
|
|
CiXel
Member
Posts: 290
Registered: 4-3-2003
Member Is Offline
|
 posted on 5-7-2005 at 09:25 PM
|
|
|
I hate to do it but...
I'll throw my hat into the ring here, sadly of course.
Have you guys checked out Xlobby (Xlobby.com)
It's along the line of Meedio, but it completely free, has an active community, plugins etc. And is amazingly customizable.
I've been able to address many of my initial issues with some skin tweaking.
Multi-room audio support as well as a thin client mode makes it extremely verstile.
Of course I'll come running back to xlobby as soon as 4.0 is released, but I miss my whole turn on and hear music aspect (32000ish song limit)
|
|
|
rlailey
Member
Posts: 143
Registered: 7-30-2004
Location: Saturn Recycle Bin
Member Is Offline
|
|
posted on 5-7-2005 at 09:55 PM
|
|
|
Just tried this - their web-site is really good and this product looks like it has loads of cool features. I particularly like the way that it's
free with no ties.
I have a 3-meter projection screen which illuminates my room and by default displays eJ in widescreen. I installed Xlobby and got a black screen of
death. This is particularly bad because in this room when I get a black screen of death - I can't see!
I tried both their beta and their "beta of the day" products and couldn't get it to work atall which is a shame as I'm sure I would have enjoyed
this product. Perhaps it's something to do with PowerStrip? However it was refreshing to visit their forum with an active community interfacing
with the developers.
|
|
|
CiXel
Member
Posts: 290
Registered: 4-3-2003
Member Is Offline
|
|
posted on 5-8-2005 at 03:08 AM
|
|
|
Perhaps this is not the best forum for this But make sure you have Net
Framework installed or you could have some issues.
I use this program now on my Television as well as concurrently on my tablet pc in client mode, which lets me wander the house and control music in
any room. Very Sonos like
|
|
|
Fishy
Senior Member
Posts: 960
Registered: 10-19-2003
Location: Norway, Trondheim
Member Is Offline
|
|
posted on 5-8-2005 at 01:13 PM
|
|
|
hmm maybe it's time to switch operating system
This one looks a little interesting, linux only though:
http://gjukebox.sourceforge.net/
Doesn't seem to be cluttered with movie players, picture viewers and such. Don't know if I like that it is browser based though.
-----------
Fishy
|
|
|
rlailey
Member
Posts: 143
Registered: 7-30-2004
Location: Saturn Recycle Bin
Member Is Offline
|
|
posted on 5-8-2005 at 08:38 PM
|
|
|
Whatever happened to fJ?
gJ for Linux looks cool (although I haven't installed it as no box). I like the idea you can do everyting all on one screen like eJ without having
to switch modes from admin to 'dummy user' mode.
My home automation system links with Winamp and I occasionally view their visualisations at parties for short periods of times before throwing-up, so
I can't use this easily as it doesn't use Winamp.
gJ has a good interface
|
|
|
jhlurie
Member
Posts: 212
Registered: 3-11-2003
Member Is Offline
|
|
posted on 5-9-2005 at 04:35 AM
|
|
|
| Quote: | | It
seems to me that Audiosoft was maybe a project some college students put together, did a great job at it, and maybe they all got jobs somewhere
else. |
It still puzzles me that anybody thinks that Audiosoft was ever more than one person. There's absolutely nothing wrong with it being one person, if
the project is a priority, but it probably can't be. Really that makes the explanation for all of this much simpler--life got in the way.
|
|
|
cbsoundman
Member
Posts: 105
Registered: 4-10-2003
Location: St. Louis, MO USA
Member Is Offline
|
|
posted on 5-9-2005 at 03:13 PM
|
|
|
I never thought they were more than a few people, jhlurie.
This quiet from Audiosoft just bugs the heck out of me because there are some bugs I would love to get fixed.
These are all great suggestions on replacement software and I do not want to have to switch but, I will.
I just can't see switching to Linux, though, for one program. Besides, I work with Microsoft products all the time, anyway, for my day job.
|
|
|
Pirk
Posting Freak
Posts: 3976
Registered: 3-11-2003
Location: France
Member Is Offline
|
|
posted on 5-9-2005 at 03:55 PM
|
|
|
I also would like at least the bugs I've reported here be fixed.
The "1)" is very annoying since eJukebox stop to autoplay songs normally over 32768 songs... 
Otherwise guys, seriously, currently there is no alternative to eJukebox. None of the programs you suggest is equivalent in terms of functionalities
and ergonomics for a complete music enjoyment.
The only solution I would see would be a return to Winamp coupled with a few good plugins, as I used to do before... But now we get used with eJukebox
that would be a hell of flashback!!
Sincerely, I still hope that what is currently "on the way", large images in the Now Playing panel, be finally realized.
And so the Audiosoft business will continue! 
|
|
|
stsirois
Member
Posts: 156
Registered: 3-11-2003
Location: Rochester, NH USA
Member Is Offline
|
|
posted on 5-9-2005 at 05:04 PM
|
|
|
| Quote: | Originally posted by cbsoundman
...These are all great suggestions on replacement software and I do not want to have to switch but, I will... |
That's the thing...I definitely did not want to stop using eJukebox, but I had to for usability's sake.
Pirk, you can't be serious about your switching-back-to-Winamp comment since there's "no alternative to eJukebox". You're telling me that using
Winamp (with a few plugins) is better (from a viewing & usability standpoint) than Meedio or X-Lobby? That's just crazy talk!! I guess everyone has their opinions, but if I had the option of choosing
Winamp or Meedio or X-Lobby for viewing my media library, I definitely would not pick Winamp over the other two.
Thanks,
Steve
Steve
|
|
|
Pirk
Posting Freak
Posts: 3976
Registered: 3-11-2003
Location: France
Member Is Offline
|
|
posted on 5-9-2005 at 07:18 PM
|
|
|
Steve,
If it could be possible to have the albumlist sorted like on eJukebox, maybe I could try use Meedio (or X-lobby), at least on my TV: I love to have
the albums grouped by artist like on eJukebox. I don't think it's possible with Meedio...
Also I love to have everything accessible from a only page: the now playing album, the songlist, the playlist, the artistlist... On Meedio things are
scattered on so many different pages than you get lost!
I agree a HTPC program feels more comfortable -thanks to its big buttons- if you use it mainly on a TV sceen.
But on a normal PC it's the opposite: eJukebox is better, a lot better... indisputably!
|
|
|
stsirois
Member
Posts: 156
Registered: 3-11-2003
Location: Rochester, NH USA
Member Is Offline
|
|
posted on 5-9-2005 at 07:52 PM
|
|
|
| Quote: | Originally posted by Pirk
Steve,
If it could be possible to have the albumlist sorted like on eJukebox, maybe I could try use Meedio (or X-lobby), at least on my TV: I love to have
the albums grouped by artist like on eJukebox. I don't think it's possible with Meedio...
Also I love to have everything accessible from a only page: the now playing album, the songlist, the playlist, the artistlist... On Meedio things are
scattered on so many different pages than you get lost!
I agree a HTPC program feels more comfortable -thanks to its big buttons- if you use it mainly on a TV sceen.
But on a normal PC it's the opposite: eJukebox is better, a lot better... indisputably! |
Hi Pirk,
You can display your album covers in Meedio by artist. You just have to specify Artist as your sort parameter. Not sure if you can have it show the
Artist name headers like you have the option to in eJukebox. I'll look into that.
One of the things that I did not like about eJukebox was its tiny "Now Playing" songlist. It was illegible on a HDTV screen, & its lack of
customization in eJ was a problem for me. Anyway, by default, the currently playing song's album cover along with song, artist, & album name
show up on the album view screen. So, you're just missing the album or artist song list on the same screen. You might be able to add in a data feed
to populate an unused portion of the screen to show you the current playlist & resize it to your liking. There's a theme editor that comes with
Meedio that will let you visually customize the GUI. That's what's cool about Meedio (& X-Lobby) - they're so darn customizable!!!
Thanks,
Steve
P.S.: I'll shut up now about Meedio as I think this is supposed to be an eJukebox forum.
|
|
|
rlailey
Member
Posts: 143
Registered: 7-30-2004
Location: Saturn Recycle Bin
Member Is Offline
|
|
posted on 5-9-2005 at 08:27 PM
|
|
|
|
nordbeat.com - uses Winamp, displays everything on screen at once and has been updated 5 times this year
|
|
|
Fishy
Senior Member
Posts: 960
Registered: 10-19-2003
Location: Norway, Trondheim
Member Is Offline
|
|
posted on 5-9-2005 at 08:33 PM
|
|
|
Hmm I am fooling a little around with this one. Is it possible to make it show a albumlist in some way? With coverimages and everything? Any ok skins?
This program got some smart sollutions. But hmm.. seems to me that I'll have to find something more or less analogue to the ejukebox interface if I
am going to switch grounds.
-----------
Fishy
|
|
|
jhlurie
Member
Posts: 212
Registered: 3-11-2003
Member Is Offline
|
|
posted on 5-9-2005 at 08:37 PM
|
|
|
| Quote: | Originally posted by cbsoundman
I never thought they were more than a few people, jhlurie.
This quiet from Audiosoft just bugs the heck out of me because there are some bugs I would love to get fixed.
These are all great suggestions on replacement software and I do not want to have to switch but, I will.
I just can't see switching to Linux, though, for one program. Besides, I work with Microsoft products all the time, anyway, for my day job.
|
Not a few: one. I think it was a good project, but a personal one. It happens all of the time.
|
|
|
CiXel
Member
Posts: 290
Registered: 4-3-2003
Member Is Offline
|
|
posted on 5-9-2005 at 09:55 PM
|
|
|
Xlobby uses winamp as its backend player (though you can choose to have it use something else)
I'm still using all my crossfade and normalization plugins just as I was with EJ.
I'm playing with it more in depthly now, trying to work on a skin that is More EJ Like. And I can have it sort by albums or artist really easily, but
I can't seem to implent like EJ when it Titles the artist and then shows the albums underneath that. On the bright side, since it's not trying to
load and display EVERY cover each time, my machine doesn't hiccup and make me wait before I can access the list..
I've also got it to a point where I can assign each album a rating of zero to five stars, but I haven't been able to implement on a per song basis
(This is just in a weekend of playing with the music functions. I was previously only using it as a front end for my dvd changer)
If only I could skin pretty, I'd be all set, but it's coming along in fuctionality. At least I can load it up and have auto-play some music, more
than I can say for EJ at the moment.
I'd be happy to start using EJ again though in an instant assuming that problem remedied itself
|
|
|
Pirk
Posting Freak
Posts: 3976
Registered: 3-11-2003
Location: France
Member Is Offline
|
|
posted on 5-9-2005 at 09:56 PM
|
|
|
| Quote: | Message original : jhlurie
Not a few: one. I think it was a good project, but a personal one. It happens all of the time. |
It's still a good project! Well even I would be ready to buy Audiosoft if I was able to continue the project... Unless I rent the good programer with
it?
Seriously, let's hope Audiosoft be able to continue eJukebox: in one or several months... it doesn't matter!
|
|
|
rlailey
Member
Posts: 143
Registered: 7-30-2004
Location: Saturn Recycle Bin
Member Is Offline
|
|
posted on 5-9-2005 at 10:02 PM
|
|
|
|
...I'm a good programmer
|
|
|
Pirk
Posting Freak
Posts: 3976
Registered: 3-11-2003
Location: France
Member Is Offline
|
|
posted on 5-9-2005 at 10:05 PM
|
|
|
| Quote: | Message original : CiXel
I'd be happy to start using EJ again though in an instant assuming that problem remedied itself |
Personally I CONTINUE to use eJukebox, I still love it in spite of everything...
|
|
|
rlailey
Member
Posts: 143
Registered: 7-30-2004
Location: Saturn Recycle Bin
Member Is Offline
|
|
posted on 5-10-2005 at 11:18 PM
|
|
|
Just found this which is worth a look
http://pages.globetrotter.net/bakerywizard/partyTime_jukebox.htm
|
|
|
