# What media player do you use?



## remixedcat

I use Jriver Media Jukebox for audio and VLC for video... what do you use?


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## gorb

I alternate between foobar and winamp for my music, and media player classic and vlc for video. For streaming I use ps3mediaserver  I've tried mediamonkey in the past but it felt too bloated and I hate itunes and windows media player.


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## mpompey

Likewise I use media player classic/VLC for videos on my laptop/desktop. I use various variants of XBMC on my raspberry pi's, and Plex Server for another laptop.

I too hate Itunes but I haven't found a decent media manager to manage my 160GB Ipod Classic. I don't attempt to use Windows Media Player.


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## CSB

Yup.....VLC is the bomb.

Here's what I use:

VLC for all video files on my PC.
itunes to manage my MP3s and podcasts.
Ember Media Manager for scraping media info.
and XBMC is in all my HTPCs for my movies and TV shows.


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## Savjac

J River for music and AppleTv for movies.
They work well.


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## ShawnMc

I have a couple Dune HD Smart D1 players.


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## jplesset

MPD on Ubuntu. It's also my crossover and control preamp. Control it from a laptop or tablet.


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## Infrasonic

I use VLC for smaller videos/music and XBMC for movies. If you do want to try XBMC be sure to change the audio output to WASAPI, usually if it's left on DirectSound you'll get a slideshow.


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## GusGus748s

Has anyone tried Plex? I use to have a Dune TV303D, which I traded for some computer parts for my server. Now, I use a Dune D1 for the living room, and I just recently bought a Sony NSZ-GS7 for the bedroom.

I've installed Plex Media Server in my UnRaid server, and use the Plex app on the GS7, which automatically transcodes the video / audio if needed. It works, and I can also stream movies to iPads, iPhones and android devices via the Plex app from within and outside the network.

Plex gives you a pretty nice looking jukebox for bothe Movie and TV shows. The other plus is that it recognized properly flagged forced subtitles.


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## seanpatrick

I use XBMC for everything. It's free - looks amazing - and plays everything you could throw at it.


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## natescriven

I plug a hard drive into my Denon 991 and use the built-in interface. Plays FLAC up to 24/96. It isn't gapless though.


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## mpompey

I have a plex server running in an Ubuntu 12.04.1 vm. I mainly use it for streaming to tablets around the house.


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## ericzim

I use VLC for anything video related on the PC. I use Foobar for anything audio related on the PC. Asset and TVersity are my servers/streamers. I have tried XBMC and I liked the interface but not much else about it. That was quite some time ago, I probably should re-visit the application. I don't allow MS media center on my PC.


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## Infrasonic

Please correct me if I am wrong but if you use VLC to play BR's you may not be able to listen to the lossless audio tracks.


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## tx_polkhead

XBMC (OpenELEC) on a Raspberry Pi (HDMI connection to a Denon AVR), wired access to the music library on the living room computer. Video looks good to great, audio sounds fair to good. Considering an external USB DAC to improve audio quality in which case I'll go network > RPI > DAC > RCA's > vintage stereo (HK 730 Twin and Polk Audio RTA 12's).


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## ericzim

Infrasonic said:


> Please correct me if I am wrong but if you use VLC to play BR's you may not be able to listen to the lossless audio tracks.


Confirmed DTS and Dolby AC3 core only here so far with VLC. Cyberlink PowerDVD 12 supports lossless but I only use my PC for ripping BRs and DLNA streaming. VLC is only used in my case for preview using A/5 over S/PDIF (PC equivalent of bit streaming). The Onkyo connected to the PC doesn't support HD audio codecs.


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## BrazenRain

For videos I use XBMC and am planning on configuring it to use an external player, namely media player classic.
As for music, Google Play, since that's where I create my playlists. I only have a handful of lossless files so the 320kbps limit doesn't really get in the way. I'm also looking into emulating a chromecast so it acts as a media server.


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## NBPk402

I use XBMC for music, music videos, and movies... I use WMC for tv recordings.


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## prerich

I use JRiver....for everything - Live TV, recordings, music, BD, you name it! XBMC is nice and free - but I bought JRiver around version 16 because of its audio capablities and I haven't looked back since. It's my favorite media player period (still not perfect though...they need to put a small window so you can observe the channel you are playing while you go through the menu). Other than that - It's all I need. :T


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## flyimages

I use foobar with wasapi plugin, i love winamp, but for some reason the wasapi addon for winamp crashes.


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## bambino

PS3 for all. Guess call me old or old school but every format I throw at it amazes me.:T


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## remixedcat

How do you all like Jriver?


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## Savjac

Like programs, there is a learning curve to get it done right, but no worse than any other. Once done it is a wonderful addition to be used as a music, video server, mainly for PC for now. They do have a version for the Mac and it works but is still a tad clunky, although the latest update has the program working better.

It will play almost any file out there, is infinitely adaptable and can provide almost any information you need, want or can study. If you have an Apple device such as the iPad, iPhone or Ipod touch, then the software can be controlled by any of these devices very well. It is actually a very well laid out app for these devices although it is not free. I think it is $ 9 or so but very well worth it. :TT


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## prerich

remixedcat said:


> How do you all like Jriver?


JRiver, IMHO is the best thing to happen to HTPC software!!!!


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## RTS100x5

remixedcat said:


> How do you all like Jriver?


Though JRIVER costs a few dollars its by far the best media player....it does EVERYTHING including tagging , coverting , ripping, streaming, burning etc ....I especially love the audio features #1 being that it converts all my music files -in whatever file extension- to 5.1 / 96k / 24 bit on the fly.... and thats just getting started....it does have an issue with THEATER VIEW on some machines .... I use it for playing and streaming any type of files...
HIGHLY recommended


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## GusGus748s

RTS100x5 said:


> Though JRIVER costs a few dollars its by far the best media player....it does EVERYTHING including tagging , coverting , ripping, streaming, burning etc ....I especially love the audio features #1 being that it converts all my music files -in whatever file extension- to 5.1 / 96k / 24 bit on the fly.... and thats just getting started....it does have an issue with THEATER VIEW on some machines .... I use it for playing and streaming any type of files...
> HIGHLY recommended


That sound pretty good. Too bad the wife wouldn't let me build a NUC PC for that :hissyfit:


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## RTS100x5

GusGus748s said:


> That sound pretty good. Too bad the wife wouldn't let me build a NUC PC for that :hissyfit:


Sorry to hear that.... I was just looking at the Intel NUC's on Newegg 

PS - If you guys running JRIVER REALLY wanna see where your audio files can go ...reach out to the WWW and get a copy of IZOTOPE OZONE 5 and run it in your VST plugins .....

I also have a new free VST plugin for sub bass harmonics .... send me a PM and Ill email it to you...


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## proteus

I use foobar2000 with various plugins.
I believe that it is one of the best music player.
I also added the "dirac live" and everything is really special :sn:


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## prerich

How much is Dirac Live in USD?


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## Harro

I use XBMC for everything. I stream from my NAS and have a plex server running on it for streaming to my tablet , iphone and laptop when out on the road.


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## antoninus9

I use MediaMonkey and Windows Media Player 12 for listening to music, but use MediaMonkey exclusively to manage my FLAC library. For ripping I use db Poweramp.

For video I like both VLC and ZoomPlayer.


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## proteus

prerich said:


> How much is Dirac Live in USD?




389 Euro


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## GusGus748s

Dune Media Smart D1. I'm not thinking of building an HTPC with one of the Intel NUC mini PC.


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## chaluga

I have a dune d1 as well. Only thing I would upgrade to is the oppo 103d. Might be a slight improvement in audio and darbee processing looks promising


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## GusGus748s

chaluga said:


> I have a dune d1 as well. Only thing I would upgrade to is the oppo 103d. Might be a slight improvement in audio and darbee processing looks promising


I've been looking at he Oppo's as well, but they are so expensive.


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## chaluga

GusGus748s said:


> I've been looking at he Oppo's as well, but they are so expensive.


Yeah your right. Only thing holding me back from pulling the trigger.


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## GusGus748s

chaluga said:


> Yeah your right. Only thing holding me back from pulling the trigger.


I had a chance to buy an Oppo 103 for $400, but I decided not to since I need some other stuff for my HT.


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## RTS100x5

GusGus748s said:


> Dune Media Smart D1. I'm not thinking of building an HTPC with one of the Intel NUC mini PC.


Ive been reading up on those and would love to try one out..just that the price point is still high once you add as SSD, RAM, and Windows... For that amount of $$ a better PC can be built... although you could get away with running LINUX MINT and use XBMC for free


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## chaluga

RTS100x5 said:


> Ive been reading up on those and would love to try one out..just that the price point is still high once you add as SSD, RAM, and Windows... For that amount of $$ a better PC can be built... although you could get away with running LINUX MINT and use XBMC for free


U have the wrong model. The d1 is ready to go. No ssd , ram needed.


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## GusGus748s

chaluga said:


> U have the wrong model. The d1 is ready to go. No ssd , ram needed.


I think he meant it would be cheaper or the same cost to build a PC.


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## RTS100x5

Well I meant that the PC would be about the same cost as the Intel NUC , Not the DUNE D1 ... I just made reference to the Intel because you mentioned it...And no, the DUNE Media Players do not come standard with HDD - its optional


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## GusGus748s

RTS100x5 said:


> Well I meant that the PC would be about the same cost as the Intel NUC , Not the DUNE D1 ... I just made reference to the Intel because you mentioned it...And no, the DUNE Media Players do not come standard with HDD - its optional


I agree with you. I don't think it is worth to buy a Dune for over $300 dollars now. Dune hasn't update their firmware for over 6 months now, they don't have anything new coming out, and they haven't fixed the 3D media players bugs either. Things aren't looking good for them.

I'm looking into buying another used Dune media player for my bedroom, but now I'm thinking of just pulling the trigger and getting an Intel NUC :scratch:


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## RTS100x5

remixedcat said:


> How do you all like Jriver?


Jriver is THE best Media player I have used for a number of reasons ... Although its not free it does almost EVERYTHING you can imagine...I especially like the audio tweaks and the connected media feature that allows me to play SOMAFM web radio .. Im also running IZOTOPE-OZONE5 and EDGE sub bass synthesizer VST plugins..:bigsmile::bigsmile:


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## GusGus748s

RTS100x5 said:


> Jriver is THE best Media player I have used for a number of reasons ... Although its not free it does almost EVERYTHING you can imagine...I especially like the audio tweaks and the connected media feature that allows me to play SOMAFM web radio .. Im also running IZOTOPE-OZONE5 and EDGE sub bass synthesizer VST plugins..:bigsmile::bigsmile:


I've been hearing a lot of good thing about JRiver. I'm going to look into it as well. I want to see if I can get an all in one small HTPC, which can do 2D, 3D and music. I'm not too optimistic about the 3D, but hopefully I can make it work.


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## SteveMA

JRiver for everything!!


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## Hoots

I use Media Browser 3 server and MB Theater for movies and TV on DVD 

I use jriver for music and series everything

I use my FIOS for tv and DVR


MB3 is free and great eye candy. I like how it manages extras on a disc. 

I believe XBMC requires WMC which isn't free on win8


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## Hoots

RTS100x5 said:


> Jriver is THE best Media player I have used for a number of reasons ... Although its not free it does almost EVERYTHING you can imagine...I especially like the audio tweaks and the connected media feature that allows me to play SOMAFM web radio .. Im also running IZOTOPE-OZONE5 and EDGE sub bass synthesizer VST plugins..:bigsmile::bigsmile:



JRiver is t the best at everything. They have focused on audio and have a lot of advantages there. In video red October is a strong contribution but jriver differs from XBMC and MB3 in ability to produce the best eye candy for movie and DVD TV seasons. Jriver is good at tags and metadata org but I like how MB3 manages extras and manages the actors and reviews scraped from internet. 

XBMC and mb3 seem more popular with the mostly video and eye candy focused crowd. Jriver cleat has more fans for audio than those. It is so a big difference in where each focus. I think jriver has stepped up the video offer with red October and also uses backdrops etc. I especially like the tagging ability in jriver and of course the audio features. 

The audio and workstation control of jriver keeps me using it over the other theater mode competitors for audio


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## yluko

I have always just VLC free and plays about anything.


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## Medi0gre

RTS100x5 said:


> Jriver is THE best Media player I have used for a number of reasons ... Although its not free it does almost EVERYTHING you can imagine...I especially like the audio tweaks and the connected media feature that allows me to play SOMAFM web radio .. Im also running IZOTOPE-OZONE5 and EDGE sub bass synthesizer VST plugins..:bigsmile::bigsmile:


You can run VST plugins with Jriver? Really?


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## prerich

Medi0gre said:


> You can run VST plugins with Jriver? Really?


Yes, you can!!!! It's just great!

Sent from my iPad using HTShack


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## yluko

Interesting. I should grab that then to run IK multimedia's ARC2 room correction software I use in my mixing to increase the quality. Anyone use that? It makes the bass tighter in my room.


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## Jedi940

I am a recent convert to plex. I gave it a try a couple weeks ago and was amazed at the simplicity. It does require a backend and a frontend but setup was a breeze. Everything just worked. Not to mention the cool ability to stop a show in one room and resume it in another.


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## GusGus748s

Jedi940 said:


> I am a recent convert to plex. I gave it a try a couple weeks ago and was amazed at the simplicity. It does require a backend and a frontend but setup was a breeze. Everything just worked. Not to mention the cool ability to stop a show in one room and resume it in another.



I mainly use it to stream wireless to my kids and wife's iPads. The jukebox is awesome too. If you buy the full license you can sync the files to your mobile devices for later viewing.

I believe it recognized forced subtitles too.


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## AudiocRaver

Getting ready for my first jRiver install.

Is it possible to install and start it up without the massive "GUI takeover?" Or at least with limiting the search area of the library search? It will be used for music only, and I am happy with navigating via folder structure. I mainly want it for audio processing.


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## prerich

AudiocRaver said:


> Getting ready for my first jRiver install. Is it possible to install and start it up without the massive "GUI takeover?" Or at least with limiting the search area of the library search? It will be used for music only, and I am happy with navigating via folder structure. I mainly want it for audio processing.


Which GUI are you referring to - the normal skins or theater view?

Sent from my iPad using HTShack


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## mojave

AudiocRaver said:


> Getting ready for my first jRiver install.
> 
> Is it possible to install and start it up without the massive "GUI takeover?" Or at least with limiting the search area of the library search? It will be used for music only, and I am happy with navigating via folder structure. I mainly want it for audio processing.


Are you talking about how it imports all your media? There is a large countdown at the bottom left of the screen after you first install that lets you cancel any import. You can then use Tools > Options > Library and Folders > Auto-Import to set which folder you want imported and watched. A watched folder will automatically import anything new. 

If it already imported all your media and want to start over you can select File > Library > Clear Library.


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## antoninus9

AudiocRaver said:


> Getting ready for my first jRiver install.
> 
> Is it possible to install and start it up without the massive "GUI takeover?" Or at least with limiting the search area of the library search? It will be used for music only, and I am happy with navigating via folder structure. I mainly want it for audio processing.


When listening to music I put J. River in 3D album view. It's awesome for bouncing all around the library. 

Coming from MediaMonkey it took me a few days to learn J. River, but it was worth it.


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## AudiocRaver

I guess I am referring to normal Theater view.

The process I am referring to is the first startup after install, where jRiver locates all your media, downloads album art, creates library, etc. I would like to

delay that process until I am ready to run it
limit where it goes hunting
limit to a single instance per album, not multiples where more than one artist is listed in tags or where a playlist exists
have the option of operating without all the gui, if possible, just navigating by folder structure
Is any of that possible? Am I being too cautious/picky/controlling (probably all 3)?

I use foobar2000 now and am happy with a simple text-only nav-by-folder approach. Not adverse to the jRiver gui, it looks pretty sharp, just a bit wary of the iTunes-like "take over your computer" approach.


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## alf4sounds

Hello I use iTunes and Audials11.
It is the most comfortable tool and player at moment in my opinion.
Linn's could be become next.
RG alf


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## AudiocRaver

Beg pardon, not knocking iTunes, many love it.

My preference is for at least the option of a more minimalist approach, if possible.


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## RTS100x5

AudiocRaver said:


> Beg pardon, not knocking iTunes, many love it.
> 
> My preference is for at least the option of a more minimalist approach, if possible.


Though Jriver has several themes , those themes are not customizable like FB2000 which would be nice - I like that feature alot - Within the Jriver Libraries there are a few file type selections - I admit it took a while getting used to -


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## mojave

AudiocRaver said:


> I guess I am referring to normal Theater view.
> 
> The process I am referring to is the first startup after install, where jRiver locates all your media, downloads album art, creates library, etc. I would like to
> 
> delay that process until I am ready to run it
> limit where it goes hunting
> limit to a single instance per album, not multiples where more than one artist is listed in tags or where a playlist exists
> have the option of operating without all the gui, if possible, just navigating by folder structure
> Is any of that possible? Am I being too cautious/picky/controlling (probably all 3)?
> 
> I use foobar2000 now and am happy with a simple text-only nav-by-folder approach. Not adverse to the jRiver gui, it looks pretty sharp, just a bit wary of the iTunes-like "take over your computer" approach.


I gave instructions on how to deal with the first 2 on my previous post. 

#3: This is possible if you add a criteria to a view

#4: You can use the Audio > Files view on the left side of the screen. However, it doesn't leverage the powerful database that is central to browsing media in JRiver. To me, browsing by file structure is the most difficult way of finding media to play.

If you want a simpler GUI, then you can use Theater View (CTRL+4) or Cover View (CTRL+5). The Standard View can also be changed.


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## therineel

I just use VLC and VidOn player to play videos.


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## Savjac

Good question here. I am not sure of all this but here is a link to the wiki,

http://wiki.jriver.com/index.php/Import

Once open you can click on the tabs as described and tell the program what to do or NOT do as is the case. I think there has to be a stop option on start up if nothing else like mentioned above you can clear everything. Jriver does not duplicate files, it only gets the links to the files so deleting will cause no harm then you can pick and choose....but you probably knew this already so forgive me if I am duplicating information. 



AudiocRaver said:


> I guess I am referring to normal Theater view.
> 
> The process I am referring to is the first startup after install, where jRiver locates all your media, downloads album art, creates library, etc. I would like to
> 
> delay that process until I am ready to run it
> limit where it goes hunting
> limit to a single instance per album, not multiples where more than one artist is listed in tags or where a playlist exists
> have the option of operating without all the gui, if possible, just navigating by folder structure
> Is any of that possible? Am I being too cautious/picky/controlling (probably all 3)?
> 
> I use foobar2000 now and am happy with a simple text-only nav-by-folder approach. Not adverse to the jRiver gui, it looks pretty sharp, just a bit wary of the iTunes-like "take over your computer" approach.


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## white-outreviews

Currently I use XBMC for most of my media. I use a Network Attached Storage unit to house my movies,music,tv, etc and XBMC has excellent integration for networking. 

I use to use Windows Media Player for everything! lol


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