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Product
Review
Pocket Player 2 |
| 7-12-03 - Contributing Editor Do you listen to music (or any audio) on your Pocket PC? If so, you’ve probably used Windows Media Player in the past. That’s a good program for the basics. However you might want a little more control over your music and audio files. More control?… you ask? Well… that’s where Conduits’ Pocket Player comes in to play.
I’ve tried most music programs out there today, including many free programs like GsPlayer and WinamPAQ. I like both of those programs because they can play OGG format files. OGG is a free codec for audio files. There are no licensing fees like WMA and MP3 format. The best thing about OGG is the file size. It’s comparable to WMA file sizes, but the sound quality is 10 times better. Windows Media sound quality decreases when you recode to a 64K format, however its barely noticeable in the OGG format. WMA files become very ‘tinny’ sounding at that sample rate. MP3 files also deteriorate quickly once you drop below 96K sample rate. Conversion of an audio file is simple too. One free program out there to convert files is DBPower AMP. With this program, you can quickly convert MP3 or almost any other type of file to any format you wish. Conduit’s Pocket Player is the FIRST consumer written program to play WAV, MP3, OGG & WMA format files all with one program. In the past, only Windows Media Player could play WMA files. This is a great improvement.
Conduit’s Pocket Player has been upgraded to version 2.0 and was finally released July 1st. I am totally impressed with the new application. Not only will it play most music formats, but it has better handling of audio books as well. Say for example you have the new Harry Potter Audio Book on your Pocket PC. The file is huge and you can’t listen to it all in one sitting. When you close your audio book program, it’s tough to find the exact spot where you were listening to earlier. With Pocket Player 2 that’s no longer a problem. Just create a bookmark or use the ‘Seek to last position’ indexing! The next time you open the audio file, you can quickly find where you were and continue where you left off! Isn’t that amazing? My hat is off the programmer who thought of that one.
With some music programs, the files must be saved in the My
Documents folder in order to be found. Granted that does make it
easier to find, however it can be messy. I prefer order when it
comes to my directories. Pocket Player will allow you to add
complete directories to your playlist or select file by file. They
can be stored anywhere on the Pocket PC, including CF, SD or
Microdrives. One nice option is the “Local Content” option. It will
automatically scan for all audio files and add them to the playlist,
and this includes new files, deleted files, changed memory cards,
etc. As for playlists… this program will ready almost ANY playlist
file that was created by another program, including M3U, PLS, ASX,
PLT and LST).
The program does seem to take several seconds to open on my iPAQ 3955. I assume it’s gathering playlist information upon opening. The buttons are big enough I don’t have to pull out the stylus to start/stop the music. There is a shuffle feature to flip through your music so you don’t have to listen to them in the same order each time. It appears to be completely random too. I’ve not heard the same song twice while listening to my 130 tracks on my CF card.
Okay…this all sounds good, but what makes it special? How about a 10 band equalizer that works on OGG and MP3 files. Most programs only work with MP3 formats, not this baby. It does them both. Sixteen built in presets are included for you to tinker with your sound. Add a little bass, boost the treble. It’s simple to do with the controls right on the screen. It’s amazing how good the sound can be on a Pocket PC. One of my favorite options is the Pre-Amp feature. I like to ride down the highway with my headphones in my motorcycle helmet. The road noise is enough to drown out most music players. Just crank up the Pre-amp and it becomes louder than the Pocket PC can normally produce! Just be careful not to blow the internal speaker! This little baby puts out the sound!
Did I mention the ability to play streaming audio? This program can play a variety of streaming audio, including HTTP (ShoutCast/IceCast and standard) streaming and also network share streaming. Did I mention cross-over, gap-less audio? One song fades into the next with ease using this program. It’s better than the radio! It also supports ID tags so you can easily tell what you’re listening to with just a glance. It also supports smart file caching when using Microdrives. This reduces wear and tear and helps with response time. Another great feature is the Association options. You can associate this program for all your music files and playlist extensions. You can also turn off the associations if you wish. Normally, you’d have to do that with a registry editor!
If you are familiar with Winamp, you’ll like the visualization features as well. You have the option of the bar graph or scope. It can replace the track listing on the main screen so you have a bigger graphic. There are 5 built in visualization options and more to come I’m sure. It seems to be built for expansion in mind. You can go full screen or keep the top bar active for running in the background. After one minute, it will automatically turn off the screen to save battery life. There is no need for a separate program for that feature. Oh yes…. Playing music in the background. This program works great for that. It gives you a small notification icon on the top bar (little music notes) so you can quickly access a lite version of the program to change tracks or stop the music or activate the entire application. It’s very handy when you want to change tracks quickly.
Okay…where are the problems or bugs? I downloaded version 2.0 and
only found one problem. The music would stop sometimes after a few
minutes. It could be started again by pressing play. I was informed
that 2.1 was available to download and so far so good. They have
fixed several bugs that popped up in the first release. I expected
more bugs since the application had been completely re-written.
I give this program a full TWO THUMBS UP! This program is my dream
come true!!! It’s a worthwhile addition to any Pocket PC, and I
highly recommend it! You can download the free 30 day trial here. The only nag
to the trial is the "Trial will expire after 30 days" screen
that appears each time the program is opened. Lastly, a tip: convert your MP3 music to OGG for
maximum storage use and get twice the music in the same space with
excellent quality.
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