Spider Player

[Anupam]

Spider Player was first suggested to me by MC. Before that, I had seen Spider Player being mentioned on download sites, but never really gave it a try, because I thought it just might be another music player. Also, it had a pro version, besides the free one... that also made me think that it might not be good enough.

But, MC told me that Spider Player had great sound quality. I was not convinced because I had seen that being claimed by many music player, but in the end they all sounded the same. Still, on MC's suggestion, I gave it a try, and surprisingly, the sound quality of Spider Player is really good. I have been using Spider Player since then for listening to music.

Just today, Panzer on the main site, shared this news on Spider Player by its developer. For some reason, the developer has decided that Spider Player won't be developed any more. While its a sad news, but good news is that he has made Spider Player a freeware, and has released a key, using which you can unlock the pro features. I did that and indeed the pro features have been unlocked. The announcement is on the main page of Spider Player site, and the key is given there.

The feature list is also amazing :

http://spider-player.com/features

I hope people will be interested in trying this excellent music player.

[deya]

Thanks for posting this, Anupam. Shame it's no longer being developed because it's a good player. I've used the free version for a long time and although it had it's limits Spider Player has always been good enough for me to listen to music with.

I agree about the sound quality, depending on the quality of your speakers. The only problem I've had with Spider is the radio station guide. It sometimes doesn't connect to the server [for me] and the station list won't load, re starting the program usually corrects it though. And the station list isn't as easy to navigate as it is with some other players, genre etc.

I copied the key into the program and it went to the Pro version, no problem, so I'll have a play around with it when I've got the time. One of the best things about Spider is how light on resources it is, much better than the big all in one stuff. Shame it's come to the end of the road though, but I'll still keep using it.

Thanks again.

deya

[torres-no-tan-magnifico]

Many , many thanks Anupam for the link, I have just installed and am using the player with the Pro features enabled; the sound quality is indeed excellent!

[Ritho]

I wonder why the developer is not opening the source, then it does not have to be the end of the road for spider player. I have seen so many projects simply dropped that could be turned over to a community effort.

[Anupam]

Ritho, that's a very good idea. Maybe you can suggest this to the developer through mail?

I haven't used any other feature of Spider Player apart from listening to music of course. I will explore the features later now that the pro version is unlocked. Going by the feature list, there are some pretty good features, like ripping, audio type conversion etc.

And yes, Spider Player does run light, and feels light too. Really sad that its development is going to stop.

[jim]

Where do you insert the key for the Pro features?

Edit: OK found it.

[deya]

For anyone who wants to try Spider Player there's a Wiki here. Use the links for tutorials, options etc. It's all very easy to follow and well illustrated.

The page for directions on how to enter the key are here.

I just ripped a couple of CD's with Spider and it did a good job, reasonably quickly as well. I still use Audiograbber for ripping and that hasn't been developed for years, still works perfect though, so no reason for Spider not to be the same. It's well worth the download.

[MidnightCowboy]

Originally Posted by jim

Where do you insert the key for the Pro features?

Answers by PM only please

Pleased this is getting a good reception and yes it's a real shame that something like this has to die, at least as far as development goes.

[garth]

I've just been giving this a bit of a workout having never tried it before, and i gotta say i'm initially impressed. My current benchmark is PotPlayer because as far as audio goes it's as good as most dedicated audio players i've heard recently. As i've stated elsewhere i'm not a fan of mp3 audio, and for a number of reasons. However, i have a couple of mp3's on this machine so they're what i used.

Straight away i detected something that rarely exists in mp3 audio (compared to vinyl and then cda respectively), and that is separation. In order to create a good or realistic soundstage there must be separation between instruments, and this is true of all the instruments, including vocals and percussion. When i'm testing something like this i'm not initially listening to the track as a whole, i'm picking out one instrument for comparison....usually Hi Hat cymbals first: if a Hi Hat sounds flat and harsh, nothing else is going to sound right because the harsh sound then dominates the soundstage.
Snare drum next, because the snare is for me a good measure of how the middle frequencies are being represented, and if the snare sounds flat and lifeless (like a shed door banging), then the same applies to all the mid frequencies generally speaking. When you can actually hear the acoustic qualities of a snare drum, the depth of the drum itself and that sharp "crack" you would expect from a "rock snare", then you are hearing the instrument separately from the others, hence "separation". On both counts so far, Spyder player is superior to PotPlayer.

I apply the same principles to every instrument, and then i listen to the track as a whole to get a more general impression of the overall quality.
At the weekend i will give Spider Player a more thorough workout, and at volume, testing different file types and different music genres (but not rave music...never rave music), but as far as it goes right now i'm happy to declare this music player a winner.
Thanks for posting Anupam

[Anupam]

Thanks for the information deya .

Garth, you sure know a lot about music. Maybe you should take up the BF Music Player and Organizer category which is empty right now . But seriously, there are so many music players out there. How do you judge them? By sound quality, and features. When I see a new music player, I want to try it out, but I would not know how to judge it, because they all sound the same to me, unless you have got the ear for it.

Its amazing how Spider Player has excellent sound quality, because I have read at many places on the net that most of the music players out there only claim to sound superior, but in fact, there is no difference, and they all sound the same. I have found this to be true. It was a real surprise when I heard sound quality on Spider Player, and you immediately tell the difference.

Am glad everyone is finding this interesting. But well, real credit goes to the guy who introduced me to it, and that's MC.