Vox

Play any music or audio track you like on a Mac. Work with various lossy and lossless formats, open different playlist types such as PLS, M3U, XSPF, and even CUE files. Process files from NAS devices or network drives and export your playlists to the desired format.

VOX just sounds better! The beauty is in its simplicity, yet behind the minimal exterior lies a powerful music player with a ton of features and support for all audio formats you should ever need. VOX was originally developed following the principles of clarity, simplicity and versatility. Thus, the minimalistic interface incorporates both essential and unique features, which let you: Listen to your music regardless of the format: Play numerous lossy and lossless audio formats; Export playlists in various formats (PLS, M3U, XSPF); Open different playlist types including M3U, PLS, XSPF and the popular CUE format used to store CD rips; Play audio files stored on NAS devices and other network drives. Rule your music with ease: Control the player from the main interface, Dock context menu or main menu controls; Automatically search for all the missing album artwork from MusicBrainz and LastFM databases; Use keyboard media keys, headphones buttons and Apple Remote to control playback (requires VOX Preference Pane); Easily add music via smart drop zones, ordinary open dialog and Finder context menu; Use equalizer with presets and custom mode, crossfade, fade on play/pause, converting music to 5.1 or 7.1 format; Preview album artwork from your Dock icon; Gapless playback support; Get system or Growl playback notifications. Focus on music, not the source: Work with different audio sources including custom Playlist, iTunes Library, online Radio and even more in the future; Keep your listening statistics up-to-date with your LastFM account by means of LastFM scribbling. Full SoundCloud integration: Easily control SoundCloud from inside VOX; Access the largest database of the worldVox is a nicely-designed program that comes as an alternative to using iTunes for music playback. This feature-rich utility works with various audio formats, allows you to listen to dozens of radio stations, and lets you control the way its player operates from your Menu Bar or by using the defined global hotkeys.

This version of Vox provides you with an additional feature: the ability to store music within Loop (an integrated music storage service). This tool is basically a cloud storage portal where you can transfer your favorite songs and play them while you're away (by using your iPhone) or from another Mac.

You can save music playlists to your local directories (M3U, XSPF, and PLS), configure built-in equalizer settings according to your needs, play the songs in any order you like (choose queue order by dragging and dropping tunes within the playlist), and much more.

Here are some other things I like about this program: it automatically downloads missing artwork, pauses playback when you receive Skype calls, and saves playing positions. What's more, the app enables you to log in to your SoundCloud account and listen to your favorite music.

Even though there are several in-app purchases you need to make in order to have access to all of its feature, I still think it's worth working with Vox. This program offers many useful features, is simple to use, and supports many audio formats.