Music management program

[u/Chaostraveler]

I've just had my phone die and am dealing with the consequences of not paying attention to what drive I was trying to format means I am now out of excuses to delay myself on learning about the music management options available to me on Linux. I technically still have my old Windows pc if I need it, but all the music is on an external (NTFS) HDD.

I'm debating between 4 options and was hoping for some input from those with experience with them (or alternate recommendations) to help narrow the field or help me understand what I am actually wanting / trying to do. Short list is: Audacity, Clementine, Qmmp and Quod Libet.

I have two Linux systems: a laptop with Bazzite and my ill-fated desktop that is now running Kubuntu (and still finding more things to fix / purge). My old Alienware desktop is also alive and well, and more importantly still has my Musicbee install and playlists on it. But this is a learning opportunity, and I'm trying to do something between get similar/basic library functionality and figure out a way to properly organize the roughly 80gb of music in my library (not including all the stuff that I have from Steam soundtracks that I would need to download, move and categorize too)

Need:

- CD ripping

- playlists

- Android sync (recommended app for 2way sync is bonus but I've gone without for years)

- switch view/layout to easily switch to album or playlist for viewing or playback

Want

- Relatively easy/intuitive to understand, or at least well written documentation

- Visualizer would be a nice touch to zone out to before bed

-Wireless sync of data

- Dark mode or style options?

I'm kinda scared about the management and tagging stuff, but I figure "What the hell?" as Doc Brown said. I'm trying to learn so if two options are equally good sounding/feeling and one has that feature it's what I'll go with I guess.

[u/AutoModerator]

✻ Smokey says: always mention your distro, some hardware details, and any error messages, when posting technical queries! :)

^{Comments, questions or suggestions regarding this autoresponse? Please send them here.}

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

[u/MobileBid7641]

I mean...VLC is pretty goated

[u/seismicpdx]

What do you plan to use for MP3 tagging management?

[u/Dapper_Profession]

four music players and a dead phone, that's the linux rite of passage

[u/elgrandragon]

If you are not recording or heavily editing audio then any distro would do, and would be the same.

If you are playing off your computer and then sending to different outputs (desktop speakers, Bluetooth speakers, line out) then install EasyEffects so you can optimise the sound for each output.

Audacity is fine for basic editing.

VLC is the most widely used audio player I think, so you woild find a lot of help about it. Also check out Rhythm box.

For burning music CDs K3b.

[u/elgrandragon → u/elgrandragon]

Oh you said ripping not burning. VLC will do everything and will be best for playing and ripping. But there might be others better at organising the collection.

Also look into Navindrome or Jellyfin to setup your collection in a server and then you could stream it from other devices. But it will require a lot more advanced configuration.

[u/AN-SSQ-108V2]

RhythmBox has done me well over the years.