Players

Linux offers a variety of programs for playing audio CDs and various music formats such as MP3, OGG, and WAV files. Where possible, the supported formats of the players are listed.

XMMS — An MP3, WAV, OGG, and Stream Player

XMMS is a full-blown audio player with robust jitter resistance. The application is easy to use. The button for displaying the menu is located in the upper left corner of the program window.

Figure 18.7. XMMS with Equalizer, OpenGL Spectrum Analyzer, and Infinity Plug-Ins

XMMS with Equalizer, OpenGL Spectrum Analyzer, and Infinity Plug-Ins

Select the output plug-in module with Options -> Preferences -> Audio I/O Plugins. If the xmms-kde package is installed, the aRts sound server can be configured here.

Important

XMMS automatically redirects its output to the Disk Writer Plugin if it is not able to find a configured sound card. In this case, the played files are written to the hard disk as WAV files. The time display then runs faster than when playing the output through a sound card.

Various visualization plug-ins can be started through Options -> Preferences -> Visualization Plugins. If you have a graphics card with 3D acceleration, select an application such as the OpenGL spectrum analyzer. If the xmms-plugins package is installed, try the new Infinity plug-in.

To the left under the menu button, there are five buttons with different letters on them. These buttons allow quick access to additional menus, dialog boxes, and configurations. The playlist can be opened with the PL button and the equalizer can be activated with the EQ button.

kscd — Audio CD Player

kscd is an easy-to-use audio CD player. It can be accessed from the SuSE menu under Multimedia -> CD -> KsCD. To access the configuration menu, click the tool icon. kscd can be configured to search an online CDDB server for the name and track names of a CD.

Figure 18.8. The kscd User Interface

The kscd User Interface

The Audio CD Player WorkMan

WorkMan offers a simple user interface with an abundance of functions. It is ideal for those who prefer a CD player without the KDE look and feel.

GNOME CD Player Applet

This is a simple applet that can be added to a GNOME panel. Add it by right-clicking the panel and selecting Add to Panel -> Multimedia -> CD Player.