DeaDBeeF: A Lightweight Linux Audio Player

by Daniel Meiß-Wilhelm (Leiche)

Another audio player? Yes indeed, but a lightweight player with support for many audio file types.

I use DeaDBeeF on PCLinuxOS-LXDE, and it's a great add-on for it. It is available in the PCLinuxOS repository, and is only 2,637 KB in size. Seamless and light, it allows me to configure my own hotkeys, which works great. DeaDBeeF is built using Gtk+ 2.0 libraries, and requires no KDE or Gnome dependencies to be installed. It also supports many features you expect to find in a modern audio player, including ID3 tags (various versions), a drag-and-drop interface, playback control from the command line, gapless playback, and radio and podcast support. You can go to the DeaDBeeF web site to view a full list of features.

I can even set the volume louder with the use of a hotkey, defined as "Super" (a.k.a. the "Windows" key"), and the "+" or "plus" key. To set the hotkeys, open Global Hotkeys under the Edit > Preferences menu. Click on the Add button, double click on the entry, and select the action you want. To set the key combination, click on the section to highlight it, and double click under the "Key combination" column. Now, simply press the keystroke combination you want to assign to that function. Congratulations, you just set your first hotkey for DeaDBeeF.

Also included is a built-in equalizer, allowing you to tailor the sound output to your tastes.

When you run DeaDBeeF, it will place an icon in your system tray. It will display the current song title when you hover the mouse over the icon. You can also control the volume level by scrolling your mouse wheel while your cursor is hovered over the icon in the system tray.

The DeaDBeeF player will also support automatic gain of playback volume, as well as sporting an OSD mode. You can find these items, as well as quite a few other options, under the Preferences menu.

What else can i say? Nothing, only that I like it, and that Zip-Player supports DeaDBeeF Player. Try it out. I'm sure you will like it, too.