DeaDBeeF

DeaDBeeF is a music player which is, in its "About" window, described as "The Ultimate Music Player". And it is if you want a basic easy to use music player capable of playing all the common audio formats. DeaDBeeF does not any kind of music collection database features, there is no file indexing or searchable database. If you like to manually manage playlists using a file file picker or a file manager and you want a easy to use music player then DeaDBeeF may be for you. DeaDBeeF is available for Linux and macOS.

Features And Usability[edit]

DeadBeeF v1.8.3

DeaDBeeF has a simple interface with stop, play, pause, previous and next buttons, a slider showing how far the current song has played and a volume slider in a bar on top of its window. The main window features one or more playlists in tabs. Adding files or folders can be done by using the File menu. It is also possible to drag music files from a file manager.

DeadBeeF is modular with plugins for the various audio file types it supports. It supports all the common ones and many less commmon ones like SID and taa files.

The interface will use the systems GTK theme by default. It is possible to override the font and colors from Edit ▸ Preferences ▸ Appearance.

DeadBeeF can be navigated using configurable keyboard shortcuts. They are not global (active when the player isn't in focus) by default. Hotkeys can be set to be global in case you would like DeadBeeF to handle multimedia keys or other shortcuts when DeadBeeF is minimized.

There is no music database support. DeadBeeF does not index your music collection, playlists have to be managed manually using either a file manager or the GTK file picker which can be opened by going to the File ▸ Open File(s) menu (you can also Add folder(s).

Verdict and Conclusion[edit]

If you want a simple strait-forward music player, just use VLC. Else consider a capable of playing everything, DeadBeeF may or may not be for you. It is a great choice if you want a simple no-fuzz player. Elisa or a Music Player Daemon front-end like Cantata is the way to go if you want a database-oriented player which indexes your music collection so you can search it and create dynamic playlists. DeadBeeF is a plain and strait-forward player which lacks any features in that direction. If that is the kind of player you are looking for then DeadBeeF is a slim, functional, easy to use and very appealing audio player.