Foobar2000

Foobar2000 is "...an advanced freeware audio player for the Windows platform. Some of the basic features include full unicode support, ReplayGain support and native support for several popular audio formats." This player is the choice media player for audiophiles and music lovers alike, for its customizablity, plugins, ease of use, and support of any audio formats you like.

Links:
 * Foobar2000 Homepage
 * Plugins/Components
 * Themes

Installation
The beauty of Foobar2000 is that you can do whatever you like with it, leave it completely default (which still works great) or customize it to your own liking. Every aspect of the player is customizable, you can move panels, add various pages/tabs, and theme it as much as you'd like. You can really make it your own, if you are willing to take a little time to play with it and it is well worth it.

First, head to the Foobar2000 Download page, and download the latest stable version. You can try the beta if you want, but I generally suggest going with the stable version. The installation itself is very straight forward but there are a couple things I'd like to go into a bit:

The program is update regulrarly, and an update is as simple as downloading the latest installer and pressing "Update."
 * 1) One of the first pages will ask you if you want a Standard or Portable install, I would go with Standard unless a theme you are trying to install specifiacally says to use a Portable installation, which many do.
 * 2) Go with a Full install, the extra addons are very helpful, especially the Online Tagger and File Operations.
 * 3) Make sure "Run Foobar After Installation" is checked, then click finish. You're done!

Set-Up (DefaultUI)
On the first launch, you will get a screen much like this. You can play with the options a bit and find what seems appealing to you. Foobar will automatically show a preview of what the player will look like as you click different options. You can select different colors and playlist layouts, as well as the main layout itself. Once you are happy with a style, click "Ok" and you will be able to use the player for the first time! You can either just drag & drop folder or files into the main playlist for guick listening, or go into Preferences (File>Preferences or Ctrl+P), click Media Library and add the folder containing your library. This will automatically update your library as you add music into the folder. At this point, you are good to go and ready for some listening, but I can't suggest going through the Preferences pane enough. If you become comfortable with the preferences pane, your customization of the player will become much easier.

Advanced Set-Up
More to come soon...

How do I scrobble to last.fm with Foobar2000?

 * All you need is the foo_audioscrobbler plugin, don't forget to put your log-in information into the preferences pane!

Well, how do I install a plugin/component?

 * Easy, all you need to do is extract the files (if it's compressed) and place the foo_* file into the Components folder in the installation directory. You will need to restart Foobar to active the plugin.

How can I have a search bar like in iTunes?

 * As you can probably guess, just another plugin! Typefind_Panel

Can I manage my iPod?

 * Sure can, iPod Manager can even sync with some iPod Touch/iPhones. I've never used it so I can't offer much help beyond that.

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