FLAC Player

This program is advertised as a FLAC Player, and one has to admit that this tool does play FLAC audio files.

But not in the smooth, practical way anyone would expect. Still, the player includes playlists support, allowing you to create your own lists and search for a specific audio file in them. The interface has two levels, allowing you to see only the playback options, or both the playback and the playlist controls.

Finding that out, though, is not as simple as it sounds. The first image of the interface you get is a black screen with nothing on it. When you move your mouse pointer over the window, the two groups of controls appear alternately for a split second. You need to stop moving your mouse to actually be able to see what controls there are and what they do. You will need to check a little box near the playback buttons to keep the two groups of controls permanently visible.

Once you have achieved that, you can open any FLAC file and listen to it. However, you will have to get rid of a little error message that tells you that your file is not in the right format. The file will play anyway, but it will leave you wondering if everything is okay. Alternatively, you can double-click on any FLAC file in your system, but that will not save your from seeing the error message again and again. I cannot tell if it was due to this faulty error message or the way the player was designed, but the program only played one audio file at a time for me. No matter how many files I opened, or how long the playlist was – it played just one track and then stopped.

Playlist support depends on TXT files that this tool creates with whatever number of files you add to the playlist window. The order of the files cannot be altered, so the newly created playlist will reflect the order in which the files are selected. The program offers you a search function to locate a specific text within a playlist. Still, the reason why playlists are supported at all - unless the one-track-at-a-time feature is nothing but a bug – is beyond me.

Strictly speaking, the program “is” a FLAC player, but with a very long way to go before being able to compete with similar audio players.