MusikCube
Encyclopedia
musikCube is a partially open source
audio player
. Originally created as a fork of wxMusik, it has since been expanded to include capabilities not available in wxMusik. Internally, musikCube uses the proprietary BASS audio library to provide playback support.
or C++
. Besides extraneous features such as Last.fm
support and Instant messaging
support, plugins provide core functionality for playback formats or hardware support. Plugins currently exist to provide support for many popular audio codecs, including MP3
, AAC
, Ogg Vorbis, and FLAC
. Unusually for a media player, there is no support for alternative skins and no support is planned at this time. However, as of version 1.0, a theme editor dialog has been added allowing users to change the colors within their player.
Internally, musikCube uses the SQLite
database library for storing track and playlist metadata. This allows dynamic playlists to be constructed using SQL
queries, rather than the more limited graphical interfaces popular in other media players.
There is currently no support for Digital rights management
, and a bug
means that the player crashes
when it attempts to play a DRM-protected track.
musikCube is capable of streaming audio via the associated musikServer. Currently, an Android client exists, allowing music to be streamed over cellphone networks.
. However, because the proprietary BASS audio library is used internally for output support, musikCube cannot be sold or used within commercial software without paying a BASS license fee. Due to these restrictions, projects exist with the goal to port musikCube to alternative output libraries, including OpenAL
and GStreamer
.
Open-source software
Open-source software is computer software that is available in source code form: the source code and certain other rights normally reserved for copyright holders are provided under a software license that permits users to study, change, improve and at times also to distribute the software.Open...
audio player
Audio player (software)
An audio player is a kind of media player for playing back digital audio, including optical discs such as CDs, SACDs, DVD-Audio, HDCD, audio files and streaming audio....
. Originally created as a fork of wxMusik, it has since been expanded to include capabilities not available in wxMusik. Internally, musikCube uses the proprietary BASS audio library to provide playback support.
Features
musikCube is based on a modular plugin architecture, and may use plugins written in CC (programming language)
C is a general-purpose computer programming language developed between 1969 and 1973 by Dennis Ritchie at the Bell Telephone Laboratories for use with the Unix operating system....
or C++
C++
C++ is a statically typed, free-form, multi-paradigm, compiled, general-purpose programming language. It is regarded as an intermediate-level language, as it comprises a combination of both high-level and low-level language features. It was developed by Bjarne Stroustrup starting in 1979 at Bell...
. Besides extraneous features such as Last.fm
Last.fm
Last.fm is a music website, founded in the United Kingdom in 2002. It has claimed 30 million active users in March 2009. On 30 May 2007, CBS Interactive acquired Last.fm for UK£140m ....
support and Instant messaging
Instant messaging
Instant Messaging is a form of real-time direct text-based chatting communication in push mode between two or more people using personal computers or other devices, along with shared clients. The user's text is conveyed over a network, such as the Internet...
support, plugins provide core functionality for playback formats or hardware support. Plugins currently exist to provide support for many popular audio codecs, including MP3
MP3
MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III, more commonly referred to as MP3, is a patented digital audio encoding format using a form of lossy data compression...
, AAC
Advanced Audio Coding
Advanced Audio Coding is a standardized, lossy compression and encoding scheme for digital audio. Designed to be the successor of the MP3 format, AAC generally achieves better sound quality than MP3 at similar bit rates....
, Ogg Vorbis, and FLAC
FLAC
FLAC is a codec which allows digital audio to be losslessly compressed such that file size is reduced without any information being lost...
. Unusually for a media player, there is no support for alternative skins and no support is planned at this time. However, as of version 1.0, a theme editor dialog has been added allowing users to change the colors within their player.
Internally, musikCube uses the SQLite
SQLite
SQLite is an ACID-compliant embedded relational database management system contained in a relatively small C programming library. The source code for SQLite is in the public domain and implements most of the SQL standard...
database library for storing track and playlist metadata. This allows dynamic playlists to be constructed using SQL
SQL
SQL is a programming language designed for managing data in relational database management systems ....
queries, rather than the more limited graphical interfaces popular in other media players.
There is currently no support for Digital rights management
Digital rights management
Digital rights management is a class of access control technologies that are used by hardware manufacturers, publishers, copyright holders and individuals with the intent to limit the use of digital content and devices after sale. DRM is any technology that inhibits uses of digital content that...
, and a bug
Software bug
A software bug is the common term used to describe an error, flaw, mistake, failure, or fault in a computer program or system that produces an incorrect or unexpected result, or causes it to behave in unintended ways. Most bugs arise from mistakes and errors made by people in either a program's...
means that the player crashes
Crash (computing)
A crash in computing is a condition where a computer or a program, either an application or part of the operating system, ceases to function properly, often exiting after encountering errors. Often the offending program may appear to freeze or hang until a crash reporting service documents...
when it attempts to play a DRM-protected track.
musikCube is capable of streaming audio via the associated musikServer. Currently, an Android client exists, allowing music to be streamed over cellphone networks.
Licensing
musikCube, and its support library musikCore, are licensed under the Three-clause BSD licenseBSD licenses
BSD licenses are a family of permissive free software licenses. The original license was used for the Berkeley Software Distribution , a Unix-like operating system after which it is named....
. However, because the proprietary BASS audio library is used internally for output support, musikCube cannot be sold or used within commercial software without paying a BASS license fee. Due to these restrictions, projects exist with the goal to port musikCube to alternative output libraries, including OpenAL
OpenAL
OpenAL is a cross-platform audio API. It is designed for efficient rendering of multichannel three dimensional positional audio. Its API style and conventions deliberately resemble those of OpenGL.- History :...
and GStreamer
GStreamer
GStreamer is a pipeline-based multimedia framework written in the C programming language with the type system based on GObject.GStreamer allows a programmer to create a variety of media-handling components, including simple audio playback, audio and video playback, recording, streaming and editing...
.