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MP3Toys is as easy to handle as a traditional LP/CD collection but it adds the power and flexibility of a dedicated music database and enriches the experience with content automatically downloaded from the internet Main Features
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By using album art as a central design element, MP3Toys looks different from other windows applications. But with the inclusion of interface standards like drag & drop, context menus and multi selection (with ctrl and shift keys), you will find yourself at home quickly. The interface has been designed to make exploring and playing music really quick, easy and fun. Sometimes even small details can make a big difference. Tracks for example are played with just a single click (instead of the common double-click) inviting you to explore your music. The user interface is also highly customizable. All fonts can be changed and new color schemes can be created and tested directly from within the application. The application also adapts to different screen sizes and can be used equally well in a small or big window, maximized or in full screen mode.
MP3Toys will scan your music library, identifying albums by combining the information from tags, file names and folder names. It uses any existing album art and retrieves missing covers automatically. It also downloads lyrics automatically and allows you to add artist images and web links with simple drag and drop from your web browser. MP3Toys employs a fast and reliable database which manages thousands of albums with ease, giving you complete control over your whole music library. Live file tracking: MP3Toys keeps automatically track of all changes made to the files and folders in your music library. For example, when you add new files to your collection, MP3Toys will add them automatically to its database.
The file scanner handles the complete range of existing folder structures, from folders containing exactly one album to folders containing the files from hundreds of albums.
Album Art is taken from the audio file tags and the album folder.
Missing or improved album art can be searched automatically on different web sites with a typical success rate of over 90% (for albums with correct artist/album information). Lyrics are also taken first from the audio files and if not found, searched on a number of web sites. MP3Toys employs various techniques in order to maximize the album recognition capabilities. Artist and album names for example are matched by their similarity, not their identity (e.g. Bjork = Björk). The scanner also completes missing tag information from file and folder names with algorythms derived from real world examples. Tracks can be sorted in many different ways, guaranteeing the correct sort order for essentially any special case like multi-CD albums. MP3Toys also comes with it's own tag editor, the MP3Toys-Studio. Whenever you need to change some tag information or you want to rename/reorganize your files it can be directly launched from within MP3Toys. Since MP3Toys tracks all file changes, it is also possible to use your favorite tag editor without any restrictions. and all matching artists, albums and songs (optional) are highlighted instantenously.
The powerful album filters like 'new', 'similar' or 'popular', allow you to select a specific set of albums with a single mouse click. Folder location and genres can also be used as a filter. And albums can be sorted by artist name, date added, year published, popularity, and more ... In addition, the navigation history keeps track of every step, allowing you to move backward and forward in your collection in an instant (it's just like using the backward and forward buttons in your web browser). The artist playlist will automatically display all albums of the selected artist. Allowing you to quickly select multiple albums of the same artist, or all albums of the same artist with just one click on the artist name. You want to listen to a certain group of albums, like 'Best of 70s', 'New' or 'Popular Electronica' ? Just select the corresponding album filter(s) and turn on the album shuffle mode which will play a random selection of songs from the selected albums. Or use the same albums as a starting point for a playlist. To create a custom playlist just select a number of albums or songs anywhere in MP3Toys and use the 'create new playlist' command. Now you can add more songs, albums or whole artists by drag and drop or the 'add to playlist' command.
Album and song ratings can be used to mark your most and least favored music, making it possible to find your favorites easily
or to hide songs you don't like.
As you listen to more of your music, MP3Toys will compile your personal charts which will give you another way of finding specific albums. The charts enable you to identify popular or unpopular albums and will give you the possibility to find your favorite albums which you haven't played in a while. MP3Toys also has built in last.fm support. Last.fm is a popular music recommendation and community service. You can open a free account on last.fm and it will create a profile of your music taste, allowing you to find people with a similar taste and to discover new music. The auto gain function ensures that songs from different albums will have a similar volume level. Finally, the equalizer allows you to adjust the sound to your taste. The volume control can either be shared with other windows programs for simplicity or handled privately for independent control from other applications. Last but not least, the acclaimed BASS audio library guarantees minimal CPU usage in combination with the best possible sound quality. If you want to, you can even use your favorite audio player like Winamp or foobar as the default player and MP3Toys turns into a powerful music selection and mixer interface for it. A sleep timer can configured to stop the music or to shut down the computer after a specified timeout. If you quickly want to see some information about the current track, just call up the track information window from anywhere in windows with a dedicated hotkey. It is also possible to get track change notifications automatically. The latest version of MP3Toys also supports the beautiful CD-Art display software from closetosoftware.com which adds yet another possibility to admire the album art and to control playback. Burn a selection of files with by dragging them into your favorite burn program or by using the 'Open With' command in MP3Toys. The 'Open With' command is compatible with all applications able to handle the popular 'm3u' playlist format. To copy files to an external player or any other location you can use the 'Copy to' dialog. It gives you exact control over the target directory structure, let's you create a playlist and also gives you the option top copy the album art. It also automatically detects existing files copying only missing files. Finally, all items like audio files, album art, lyrics or links can be exported to other windows programs by drag and drop.
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