A cool multimedia player from the CDDB company.

Platform : Windows 2000, Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows ME, Windows NT

Type: freeware

Manufacturer: Gracenote

Size: 2.3MB

Rating: 5

Verdict: This is a great player. Well worth a look.

System Requirements:
Internet Explorer 4.0 or higher required for Gracenote browser.

Anyone who plays music on a PC knows the CDDB service - the world's largest database of audio and CD song titles, licensed to MusicMatch, RealNetorks and many others.

You would expect a player produced by these guys to come with some nice features, and they don't disappoint. Along with the funky, colourful design and plethora of skins, the player incorporates the full CDDB service and offers complete playlist control and a graphic equaliser for tweaking the sound output.

These latter features come in small pop out windows, which can be hidden when not needed, keeping the interface uncluttered and useable. The default skin offers three different sizes to suit all needs: Runt, Retro and Kong.

Visuals are provided for those who like them, but they can be turned off if you don't. A nice feature is the ability to control the player from within the system tray - just configure the various mouse buttons to activate certain tasks.

CD Ripping and encoding is supported, along with batch tag editing. A music browser allows artist information to be retrieved from the internet and displayed in the player.

File support is pretty comprehensive, including ASX, CDA, MP3, WMA, OGG, AVI, WMV AND WAX among others. Playlists are also supported.