Linux Mint Forums

OK, can someone help me with what SHOULD be a simple matter but somehow isn't. [I am not quite on Linux Questions for Neon yet!]

For the record I am using Neon LTS with KDE 5.8 but all the following applied to Mint 18.2 which is still running on my trusty ASUS N2840 just in case Neon fails on me.


All video is played on VLC which is perfect for my work and play. So video is fine.

In terms of playing pure audio though... because I change sound tracks to video or even watch anime with subtitles to music MP3s, I want to play MP3 audio files with a different media player... I want VLC and another player running without interacting with each other.

...at which point it all breaks down. Nothing does quite what I want.

This are my requirements which appear to be simply impossible to meet!

1. An MP3 player that dies when I click the 'close' button.
(That rules out 'Amarok' which stays resident in the system tray, carries on playing every MP3 I have ever loaded up EVER and must be killed with serious firepower!)

2. The player does not require setting up a playlist but will just play the MP3 file I double click on!
(I do not do playlists. Instead, I just occasionally create 'albums' by merging tracks in Kdenlive and rendering.)

3. The player will allow me to replay the last file by letting me click the 'play' button when the file has finished playing
(Kaffeine, to my astonishment does do not that!)

4. The player will play and pause by pressing the 'Space' bar or some other really OBVIOUS keyboard shortcut.
(Again, Kaffeine fails! I think it's gotten broken.)

Now it gets fiddly...
5. The player should have its own independent volume control.
This is so that I can cut sound off in VLC player when seeing what music fits which scene but keep volume up for the MP3 - I do a lot of this kind of thing when I not living/working 2017 - but then, when I try another MP3 I have lost sound! I put the sound back up and then I get volume altered in VLC player! Usually the player also alters the system volume control and I have to wrestle control with the KDE volume controls with BOTH device and application volume settings.
You see how something so simple gets so complex?

A CLI program will not cut it either. Not with the media work I do. Does not impress students or potential converts (and I am getting converts now!) either.

I have tried Kaffeine, gnome media player, SMplayer, Amarok (by default before uninstalling FAST!) and I forget what else... Nothing fits the bill. I am tired of downloading media player after player and ending up with the same problems.

So, is there a player out that will just does what I want? It's not that complex!!

Thanks in advance.

Try Audacious. That's my player of choice and seems to do MOST of what you want.

It doesn't do 3 unless you clicked 'STOP' during the song in question. The player moves to the next song once the current one finishes. This is standard behaviour for just about any video/audio player, on a computer or otherwise, that I know.

MintBean wrote:Try Audacious. That's my player of choice and seems to do MOST of what you want.

It doesn't do 3 unless you clicked 'STOP' during the song in question. The player moves to the next song once the current one finishes. This is standard behaviour for just about any video/audio player, on a computer or otherwise, that I know.

Done some tests and .... yes! It's looking very good. Deeply appreciate the volume control.
This looks like a hit! Will have to see over time, mind.

But thanks! It's a good recommendation so far!

Glad you like it.

If you want something unobtrusive have a look at mpg123 in the repositories.
I use this to play mp3s in the background while I am doing other things.

No gui, no interface, just pure audio without tying up your resources.
You can command line it, or set it as a context choice.

I use it in many scripts to audibly report progress in the form of this example:
mpg123 /home/me/Music/effects/zoom.mp3

qmmp is a very good and adaptive audio player. i rightclick on a folder and open with Qmmp. one thing though is in menu/settings/plugins go to bottom and select Simple User Interface

Another vote for Audacious. I also use it to convert my old music CDs to Ogg format (it supports many formats).

A vote for Clementine if you need strong library functions.