OK, I half way expect to be flamed but I would like to know. Why do the majority of the people here (99% according to one post) dispise MusicMatch? I think it is a poor encoder and I use LAME and EAC to encode my CDs but its organization of my music files (at least with 8--have not tried ealier versions) is done better than any other program I have tried. I played around with Music Jukebox or Media Center or whatever it is called and a slew of others, and I was not happy with them. Do you only hate it because of its encoder? Is there something that I am completely oblivious to regarding to its decoder/playback? Thanks for your time and response and of course your patience.

McCade

The encoder is not that bad. It seems to not be the best one, but it is not a bad one.
The biggest problem is probably the cd extraction.

A lot of people don't like the fact that MusicMatch phones home whenever you use it.

Also it is very bloated, slow, and the GUI can be hard to use. There are better choices out there.

Not sure about the decoder, bet someone has done tests on that.

Like Gabriel said, the built in Fhg codec can produce acceptable results...And I think it is the only good thing on MMJB!
Since I only use EAC for ripping purposes, I found a good and fast alternate to Lame(specially on my old box), by putting cool edit mp3 filter(Fhg also) on EAC's folder.

I only use it as a player occasionally because of its Dolby Headphone plugin, and I find it very annoying that it has a non-standard Open window, in which I can't type the path of the file I'd like to open, so I have to browse through countless folders before I get to it........drag and drop is really the only way to use the program.

main complaints off the top of my head:
0) horrbly bloated interface (that was version 6, no clue how bad it is now)
1) encodes to MP3, which I do not touch anymore unless absolutely necessary
2) lack of support for the formats that I use (ape, flac, ogg-vorbis, etc) - feel to correct me if i am wrong, not planning on DLing it this century in any event.
3) I HATE EYE CANDY - give me a simple clean interface with easy customisable keyboard shortcuts. You can probably guess what the only audio player I use is.

MMJB is awful, putting it nicely! The GUI is cluttered and fat, the design feels like it was put together carelessly, compatibility with portables and accesories makes things buggier, it crashes a lot, i'd rather listen to someone scratching their nails on a chalkboard than listen to an mp3 on this crap, ripping sucks its burst and fHg encoded, and last and of course least its for idiots that don't dare to touch anything else.

1. MMJB crashed my computer and it would not reboot; I had to reinstall Windows XP. OUCH!

2. The Fraunhofer codec is one of the best codecs around, but MMJB uses a MODIFIED version of the Fraunhofer Codec!

3. MMJB is the ONLY reason that I have not purchased an iPOD.

4. MMJB IS AWARD WINNING CRAP!

Ouch, indeed! You had to *re-install* XP??? In a year I' ve done some pretty harsh an intensive stuff on my XP platform, and I've never even locked up the PC! Occasional application crashes with otherwise graceful exits, but never the desktop or kernel folding on me, and I could never imagine having to actually re-install the OS.

<<For reference, a "normal" moment on my PC is EAC doing a secure rip, while FLAC encodes four files at a time, while WaveGain works on a directory-full of other files, while I surf the internet in three or four browser windows, while I run a huge table sort in Excel for work, while I listen to music in Winamp3.>>

I know your's is only one report of that kind of problem with MMJB, but I'll be wary to try it out now. And I was considering it, since I'm always on the lookout for a better media manager. Oh well...maybe I'll spend that time window downloading MarbleJongg instead, and be thankful for dBpowerAMP / Winamp3 / PhatNoise Music Manager...

Winamp 2.9X also has a Library function.