Aqua-Soft ForumsHey all. I've been using iTunes since pretty much forever now, but lately I've noticed it becoming increasingly sluggish, so I'm looking for speedier, less memory-intensive alternatives to it. Or perhaps even ways to reduce the memory that iTunes uses. I've heard of programs like Winamp and Foobar but never used them, so I'm not sure where to start. One thing I want to keep hold of is the iTunes Library view, as it makes it so very easy to scroll through artists/albums. Any help is appreciated ;D
iTunes alternatives/lowering iTunes memory usage
I'm just as interested as this guy is.
*waves hand at Simon.*
As one of the cooler board members would say, "I can't be arsed" to update my iTunes 4.9 
.
-NC
P.S: Simon, we've got an iTunes forum, y'know!
Winamp 5.2 improved its ability to sync with portable mp3 players, so it should be a decent alternative if all you want to do is control your iPod library. IMO, Winamp is also a better music player than iTunes, mainly due to its plugin support. I don't use the Media Library, so I can't tell you about it.
Foobar is pretty good, but I think it's a little TOO customizable, as in customizing your install can be an exercise in confusion if you aren't a true power user.
I recommend Winamp. If you don't like that, and/or don't like Foobar, then the iTunes Multiplugin has an option where you can reduce iTunes' active memory usage merely by minimizing it. Of course, its memory usage comes right back once you open it back up, but if you use an iTunes control widget, well... there you go.
I had been a iTunes Fan for a while... Yes It has the best of the Best Library management System. But Now i prefer Foobar, its good. It has so many options and eat lot less memory, i just love that 
Multi-plugin reduces RAM iTunes uses to about 4-8mb when minimized to tray and around 15-20 when maximised. Works great for me
OK, so I'm taking Foobar for a spin. Minimized it takes up 2MB of RAM, compared to iTunes' 11MB. Plus the whole thing seems a lot faster. That said, I can see this is going to be a "Miranda" kind of program; lots of plugins and confusion to get it working and looking how I want. Is there any plugin or something that I should look for to devide my music up by artists ala iTunes Libary view? Or perhaps even skin the thing? Thanks ladies ;D
@NC "P.S: Simon, we've got an iTunes forum, y'know!" - Yeah, but we wouldn't want you feeling left out with nothing to do
This is untrue - installing the multi-plugin changed nothing - how would it?The memory itunes uses is depends mostly on the size of your libary. That is why my itunes uses 43MB of RAM.
Have you seen my RAM usage? No.
Do you know what multi-plugin can do? No.
Do you have access to my computer? No.
Before making accusation make sure you have all the facts.
I have 43gb of music in my library which i think is enough to put some stress on iTunes.
And i suppose you haven't noticed a lil option "Enable memory saving when minimized to tray" option in iTunes?
Multi Plugin makes iTunes release memory when it is minimized to tray... but it still sluggish on playback.
Winamp 5.1x with ml_ipod plugin or 5.2 without uses about the same amount of memory with Media Library open but frees memory when ML is closed and provides better sound quality and doesn't lag playback.
Multi Plugin makes iTunes release memory when it is minimized to tray... but it still sluggish on playback.Winamp 5.1x with ml_ipod plugin or 5.2 without uses about the same amount of memory with Media Library open but frees memory when ML is closed and provides better sound quality and doesn't lag playback.
What do you mean by "sluggish playback"?
I think he means pllaying music while iTunes is minimized... BTW thank's for telling about that memory saving option, didn't know that so far.
Is there any plugin or something that I should look for to devide my music up by artists ala iTunes Libary view? Or perhaps even skin the thing? Thanks ladies ;D
For skinning try out Foo looks,
unless you just wanna change the buttons, there's an option in columns ui for that.
also did you get 0.8 or 0.9 rc, because almost no plugins work for 0.9..
Just use Quintessential Player. It's the best I found so far , it has a lot of features and only takes about 3mb of ram. Also plays ogg files, a big plus in my opinion.
It's very customizable also, I have a skin which makes the player look like an iPod and love it!
Quintessential is a good player that I used for several years and loved. Slow development pace though. I don't really like how iTunes keeps bulking up, but I'm going to stick with it until I just can't bear it.
A bit OT but in response to above post, this is a great skin for Winamp, the Ipod Nano
http://www.winamp.com/skins/details.php?id=146259
Even makes you scroll using the mouse pointer around the wheel, awesome!
Shame there's no album art tho...
What do you mean by "sluggish playback"?
I mean that it lags on playback.... when I open new tabs in firefox, or resize some window or something like that.... looks like iTunes doesn't have enough processor time.... but that is strange for an mp3 player to lack processor time on Athlon 1400 Mhz, isn't it? At least, neither Winamp nor WMP nor nothing behave like that. And I'm a bit confused with that behaviour, because it doesn't change even if I set highest priority for iTunes process.
I mean that it lags on playback.... when I open new tabs in firefox, or resize some window or something like that.... looks like iTunes doesn't have enough processor time.... but that is strange for an mp3 player to lack processor time on Athlon 1400 Mhz, isn't it? At least, neither Winamp nor WMP nor nothing behave like that. And I'm a bit confused with that behaviour, because it doesn't change even if I set highest priority for iTunes process.
Some people have this problem with DirectSound output in iTunes (maybe it has already been fixed in the lat versions, but I didn't hear the native iTunes output for quite a long time so I don't know).
You can disable DirectSound in iTunes by goping to the QuickTime control panel applet and selecting Safe Mode.
You can use the Foobar2000 passthrough instead too.
You can disable DirectSound in iTunes by goping to the QuickTime control panel applet and selecting Safe Mode.You can use the Foobar2000 passthrough instead too.
Oh thank you. That helped. Now we'll have to wait for Apple to fix DS output and implement a good DSP module
...One thing I want to keep hold of is the iTunes Library view...
I remembered this being mentioned on the forums a little while back; I don't know if it's lighter than iTunes but maybe you can let us know 
Edit: Actually, songbird may still be too feature incomplete for a total replacement just yet (no portable player support).. but they just released a new version about 10 days ago; may be worth checking out as a novelty.
For library like support with foobar, you could try Autoplaylist manager.
http://www.foobar2000.org/beta/components.html
Just have a query like "%_length% GREATER 0:01"
Some pretty hawt links going on here people, I'll check them all out. Thanks ;D
MediaMonkey is pretty good. J.River media center has an impressive feature set but it can be a bit sluggish too.
im not sure, but i find that winamp idles at 15mb ram, however i find that acceptable because of the plugins that i use, it sounds better then any other media player, and even with multiplugin i feel itunes cant compare.
it also looks good
btw: unbeliever what the hell do you listen to to get 43GB of music :confused: ive been listening to music for ages and have just topped 8GB (not that i want more)
im not sure, but i find that winamp idles at 15mb ram, however i find that acceptable because of the plugins that i use, it sounds better then any other media player, and even with multiplugin i feel itunes cant compare.
There is a plugin for iTunes called Volume Logic - it is a DSP and makes iTunes sound almost as good as Winamp with Enchacer... The only drawback is that VL is a commercial software.
As for memory - Winamp with ML open takes almost as much memory as iTunes with Multi Plugin. But iTunes' library is ways much ergonomic than winamp's...