SnackAmp Music Player

deya · 05. Apr 2011, 06:09 PM

Does anyone use SnackAmp? I can't recall coming across it before, searched around a bit but can't seem to find any decent reviews. Looked on here, Gizmos, can't find any mention of it. It seems it's been around for a good while but went a few years without being updated, then this latest version was released in December last year.

I decided to download and try it and it's a good audio player, very small and light, 5MB installed and almost zero CPU use when playing. The player has a fairly basic GUI, but not unattractive, it's got plenty of options and the sound quality is good. You can use it on Windows and Linux.

It does a lot more than just play music, it's more of a jukebox, so it's best to read the Website if you're interested, which is here. Summary, screen shots and user manual are listed at the left of the page so you can learn about it there. It's hosted at sourceforge.net, download is here. The read me info file page is here.

I only installed it at lunchtime but I've been playing stuff on it all afternoon and it sounds great. If anyone's using SnackAmp it would be good to hear your thoughts on it.

deya · 08. Apr 2011, 04:19 PM

Okay, I've had some more time to tinker around with SnackAmp now and I'm getting to really like it. The sound it produces, without having to change any settings, has a lovely tone to it and the stereo quality is good. I've changed the UI settings, removed the window decorations and it looks much better, very bright and clear although you can alter the transparency to suit. No skins though.

One feature that I really like is being able to select various icons to display in the task bar - play, pause, prev, next etc. So it's easy to control what's playing without needing to open the player to switch tracks. It's a very useful feature - for me at least.

I've not done much in the way of organinsing playlists or tagging, just loading folders and playing them. It's capable of doing much more in that department than I'm using it for at the moment. But it's been playing for hours on end and not crashed or anything, and CPU remains at zero.

The one thing SnackAmp isn't is basic, you couln't call it that, and there are many things it can do which I haven't tried yet. I've not tried streaming with it and haven't enabled the server options. Using the preferences takes some understanding at first, maybe even a bit overwhelming for some, it's kind of like a mini foobar. I'm finding myself having to use the manual more for SnackAmp, discovering more things each time I read it so you need time to get to know it. It does a heck of a lot for a small player though.

One more thing I like about it, you can set it to cut out the silence at the beginning or end of ripped mp3's that you sometimes come across. But the main thing is the sound, for me, and playing my music through it sounds great. Plenty of volume but no distortion at all and, as I mentioned before, a lovely tone. I'm keeping it.

MidnightCowboy · 08. Apr 2011, 05:34 PM

You've managed to get me interested in this now

Today I only have an EDGE connection. Apparently the whole of the city is out (cable) because of a fire somewhere but as soon as my broadband comes back up I'll take a look. Thanks for the details.

deya · 08. Apr 2011, 09:42 PM

There seems to be a flurry of activity with some of the audio players I use at the moment, foobar keeps being updated, new betas. Even 1by1 has updated twice in as many weeks with lots of improvements, Tapin's updating regular again, which is nice to see after the Spider got canned. I was just searching around for something new to try, I've never come across SnackAmp before, even though it's been around since 2001 according to the release history. Before I tried it I uploaded the setup.exe to VirusTotal, scanned it with everything I have here, all came up clean.

It just sounded good from the start, no changing settings. It doesn't play CD's - just audio files. I think most people know how their favourite songs should sound, so you can tell a good player from a not so good one. SnackAmp has a lovely, rich sound. No distort, it doesn't sound what I'd call 'tinny' or have too much bass, it's nice and punchy. I mean, even with foobar I have to change the pre sets sometimes because things don't sound quite right to me, but with this I don't feel the need to do that.

I opened a 1.50GB folder in it, it loaded in a snap and played without a hitch, no lag. Only difference I noticed was CPU spiking at one per cent, that's the first time it's moved from zero. I like small and light, not the ones that want to take over everything on your PC. SnackAmp doesn't alter your file associations on install, although you can do it manually from the prefs - if you want to.

I'm just hoping the developer, Tom Wilkason, keeps improving it after what seems to have been a bit of a lull. I noticed on the overview page, under things to do it says "Built-in Podcast downloading and database updates" - podcast downloading through such a small app would be nice.

Took a bit of tinkering with to get it looking right, it has the Windows border round the UI set as default and I noticed with it like that it wouldn't minimize to the tray how I wanted, and it looked a bit ugly. So it's best to look at the 'visual settings' part way down the "User Settings' page. See "No Window Decoration" - and you have to re start the player after you apply any changes.

Anupam · 27. Sep 2011, 11:21 AM

I installed SnackAmp today, and tried it out. Although, I like the sound, but overall, I found the player quite queer.

First, the volume control is very queer, and quite different from the normal ones. It controlled the system volume when its volume is changed. I changed that setting via Preferences, but still, the volume control option remains weird, and irritating. Can't get a hang of it.

Player control is clunky too. I tried maximizing it, and then resizing it, and the window behaved strangely... not returning to its original size, but would stay in maximized mode.

I agree that with Windows decorations removed, the player appears much better, and looks good... but then it appears too packed, and there is no resize option. Also, the maximize option goes away when windows decoration is removed.

Overall, the player is quite clunky for me. I like things kept simple and easy. Its a different kind of player, and that way, some may like it, but I feel that its still got a lot to improve on.

Anupam · 27. Sep 2011, 11:23 AM

OK, I found that it can be resized from the right side only. Still, my thoughts hold.

05. Apr 2011, 06:09 PM	#1 (permalink)
deya Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: UK Posts: 528	SnackAmp Music Player Does anyone use SnackAmp? I can't recall coming across it before, searched around a bit but can't seem to find any decent reviews. Looked on here, Gizmos, can't find any mention of it. It seems it's been around for a good while but went a few years without being updated, then this latest version was released in December last year. I decided to download and try it and it's a good audio player, very small and light, 5MB installed and almost zero CPU use when playing. The player has a fairly basic GUI, but not unattractive, it's got plenty of options and the sound quality is good. You can use it on Windows and Linux. It does a lot more than just play music, it's more of a jukebox, so it's best to read the Website if you're interested, which is here. Summary, screen shots and user manual are listed at the left of the page so you can learn about it there. It's hosted at sourceforge.net, download is here. The read me info file page is here. I only installed it at lunchtime but I've been playing stuff on it all afternoon and it sounds great. If anyone's using SnackAmp it would be good to hear your thoughts on it.

08. Apr 2011, 05:34 PM	#3 (permalink)
MidnightCowboy Site Manager Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: South American Banana Republic, third bunch from the left Posts: 9,250	You've managed to get me interested in this now Today I only have an EDGE connection. Apparently the whole of the city is out (cable) because of a fire somewhere but as soon as my broadband comes back up I'll take a look. Thanks for the details. __________________ Knows nothing and cares even less

27. Sep 2011, 11:21 AM	#5 (permalink)
Anupam Moderator Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: India Posts: 9,484	I installed SnackAmp today, and tried it out. Although, I like the sound, but overall, I found the player quite queer. First, the volume control is very queer, and quite different from the normal ones. It controlled the system volume when its volume is changed. I changed that setting via Preferences, but still, the volume control option remains weird, and irritating. Can't get a hang of it. Player control is clunky too. I tried maximizing it, and then resizing it, and the window behaved strangely... not returning to its original size, but would stay in maximized mode. I agree that with Windows decorations removed, the player appears much better, and looks good... but then it appears too packed, and there is no resize option. Also, the maximize option goes away when windows decoration is removed. Overall, the player is quite clunky for me. I like things kept simple and easy. Its a different kind of player, and that way, some may like it, but I feel that its still got a lot to improve on. __________________ Anupam

27. Sep 2011, 11:23 AM	#6 (permalink)
Anupam Moderator Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: India Posts: 9,484	OK, I found that it can be resized from the right side only. Still, my thoughts hold. __________________ Anupam

Thread Tools
Show Printable Version Email this Page
Display Modes
Linear Mode Switch to Hybrid Mode Switch to Threaded Mode

08. Apr 2011, 04:19 PM	#2 (permalink)
deya Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: UK Posts: 528	Okay, I've had some more time to tinker around with SnackAmp now and I'm getting to really like it. The sound it produces, without having to change any settings, has a lovely tone to it and the stereo quality is good. I've changed the UI settings, removed the window decorations and it looks much better, very bright and clear although you can alter the transparency to suit. No skins though. One feature that I really like is being able to select various icons to display in the task bar - play, pause, prev, next etc. So it's easy to control what's playing without needing to open the player to switch tracks. It's a very useful feature - for me at least. I've not done much in the way of organinsing playlists or tagging, just loading folders and playing them. It's capable of doing much more in that department than I'm using it for at the moment. But it's been playing for hours on end and not crashed or anything, and CPU remains at zero. The one thing SnackAmp isn't is basic, you couln't call it that, and there are many things it can do which I haven't tried yet. I've not tried streaming with it and haven't enabled the server options. Using the preferences takes some understanding at first, maybe even a bit overwhelming for some, it's kind of like a mini foobar. I'm finding myself having to use the manual more for SnackAmp, discovering more things each time I read it so you need time to get to know it. It does a heck of a lot for a small player though. One more thing I like about it, you can set it to cut out the silence at the beginning or end of ripped mp3's that you sometimes come across. But the main thing is the sound, for me, and playing my music through it sounds great. Plenty of volume but no distortion at all and, as I mentioned before, a lovely tone. I'm keeping it.

08. Apr 2011, 09:42 PM	#4 (permalink)
deya Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: UK Posts: 528	There seems to be a flurry of activity with some of the audio players I use at the moment, foobar keeps being updated, new betas. Even 1by1 has updated twice in as many weeks with lots of improvements, Tapin's updating regular again, which is nice to see after the Spider got canned. I was just searching around for something new to try, I've never come across SnackAmp before, even though it's been around since 2001 according to the release history. Before I tried it I uploaded the setup.exe to VirusTotal, scanned it with everything I have here, all came up clean. It just sounded good from the start, no changing settings. It doesn't play CD's - just audio files. I think most people know how their favourite songs should sound, so you can tell a good player from a not so good one. SnackAmp has a lovely, rich sound. No distort, it doesn't sound what I'd call 'tinny' or have too much bass, it's nice and punchy. I mean, even with foobar I have to change the pre sets sometimes because things don't sound quite right to me, but with this I don't feel the need to do that. I opened a 1.50GB folder in it, it loaded in a snap and played without a hitch, no lag. Only difference I noticed was CPU spiking at one per cent, that's the first time it's moved from zero. I like small and light, not the ones that want to take over everything on your PC. SnackAmp doesn't alter your file associations on install, although you can do it manually from the prefs - if you want to. I'm just hoping the developer, Tom Wilkason, keeps improving it after what seems to have been a bit of a lull. I noticed on the overview page, under things to do it says "Built-in Podcast downloading and database updates" - podcast downloading through such a small app would be nice. Took a bit of tinkering with to get it looking right, it has the Windows border round the UI set as default and I noticed with it like that it wouldn't minimize to the tray how I wanted, and it looked a bit ugly. So it's best to look at the 'visual settings' part way down the "User Settings' page. See "No Window Decoration" - and you have to re start the player after you apply any changes.