Maximize Your VLC Music Listening Experience: 6 Ways to Enhance and Streamline
VLC Media Player is one of the most popular media player software available, and its ability to play a wide range of audio formats, including MP3, OGG, and FLAC, makes it a favorite among music lovers. However, to get the most out of your VLC music listening experience, you need to tweak and customize its settings to suit your preferences. In this article, we’ll explore six ways to enhance and streamline your music listening experience with VLC Media Player.
1. Customize the Playlist Interface
The default playlist view in VLC can be quite cluttered, making it difficult to navigate and browse through your music library. To customize the playlist, go to Tools > Preferences > Playlist. From here, you can change the playlist layout to a more compact view or add columns for album artwork, genre, and song duration. You can also set the playlist to use a grid view, similar to iTunes or Windows Media Player.
2. Adjust the Audio Settings for Better Sound Quality
Out-of-the-box, VLC’s audio settings are limited, but you can tune them to your liking with a few tweaks. Open Tools > Preferences > Audio, and adjust the following settings:
- Set the Output module to Audio output for all streams to hear audio through your computer speakers or headphones.
- In the Audio codec preferences, select the codec and bit rate that best match your music files.
- Experiment with the Effects tab to add Equalization, Reverb, or other audio effects to enhance your music listening experience.
3. Get the Most Out of Visualization Plugins
VLC ships with a range of built-in visualization plugins, but you can also download and install third-party plugins for more customization options. Visualizations can add a immersive touch to your music listening experience, making it perfect for parties or relaxation.
To access the built-in visualizations, go to View > Visual effects, and select from various options like Spectrum, Balls, or Marqeurize. You can also search for and install more plugins from the VLC Visualization website.
4. Create Playlists and Search Functions
VLC Media Player doesn’t come with a built-in playlist organizer, but you can easily create your own playlists or search for specific songs with a few keyboard shortcuts.
- To create a new playlist, go to Playlist > New Playlist > Save. You can then add songs to your playlist by dragging and dropping files or using the Ctrl+A (Windows) / Command+A (Mac) shortcut to select all.
- To search for songs, press Ctrl+F (Windows) / Command+F (Mac) and use the search bar to look for specific artists, album titles, or song lyrics.
5. Expand Your Music Library with Hotkeys
VLC Media Player allows you to customize various hotkeys to streamline your music listening experience. Under Tools > Preferences > Hotkeys, you can assign shortcuts to various tasks like play/pause, stop, next track, and previous track.
Create custom hotkeys for commands like:
- Ctrl+B (Windows) / Command+B (Mac) – Play/Pause
- Ctrl+N (Windows) / Command+N (Mac) – Next Track
- Ctrl+P (Windows) / Command+P (Mac) – Previous Track
6. Explore the VLC Equalizer
The VLC Media Player comes with a basic equalizer that can boost or cut specific frequency bands to enhance your music experience. To access the Equalizer, go to Tools > Effects > EQ.
- Use the slider controls to adjust bass, treble, or midrange frequencies to balance your music to your preference.
- Experiment with Presets like Music, Rock, or Soft to quickly adjust the Equalizer settings for different types of music.
By exploring these six ways to customize and enhance your VLC media player experience, you can elevate your music listening enjoyment and make the most of this powerful media player. Whether you’re a musician, music enthusiast, or simply a music lover, VLC Media Player is capable of delivering a rich audio experience that’s tailored to your preferences.
