android owners, which music app (and sync) do you use?

[paladisiac]

Hi all,

I just picked up a galaxy s3 about a month+ ago (32gig with 64gig external card dedicated exclusively to music). Previously, i had a dumb phone and an iTouch. I'm used to the apple way of playing music and synchronizing music. After using the s3 and many music and sync programs, i've come to a solid conclusion that apple easily has the upper hand hear. The s3 is better in many other ways, but music is my #1 priority and the s3 and its apps just haven't been as solid/stable as i was used to with the iTouch.

My dillemma is that i have all of my music in iTunes with over 100 playlists and i want to be able to synchronize from iTunes. I also want scrobbler support, good album artwork support, randomizing any album/artist/playlist -- basically everything i had with the iTouch. I also want an app that doesn't crash at least once a day. (More on that later.) I add/subtract a couple albums every 2-or-3 days, so good (and quick) synchronization is key

So i'm asking all the android music lovers out there what you use for a music app as well as a sync app? Below is a list of what i've used and what my experiences with each are. If you have tried other players than listed, or have other experiences than mine, please pipe in with what you think. Thank you.

SYNCHRONIZING:

iSyncr (paid version) - this is the best one, which only speaks to the problems of the others. iSyncr works great when initially synchronizing. But it's slow. It takes at least 30 minutes to synchronize. After initial usage, sometimes it doesn't sync all newly-added music and i have to sync twice or restart the app (or both). When removing music from iTunes, i have to choose "remove music not in selected playlists" -- but even when i choose all playlists, it deletes a few songs and/or albums each time, so then i need to resync (without the "remove" option selected) the next time. It also crashes at least once a day; it just stops playing and i have to start it again, or has to close itself. It has a wireless sync'ing option, but that's even slower, and sometimes when i use it, some playlists are dropped (so i've stopped using it).

doubleTwist (paid version) - This thing putters out about 1/3 of the way through synchronizing my music. Just stops. I restart it and it doesn't continue where it left off. I've given up.

winamp - This won't synchronize to my external card, only internal memory. So i haven't tried it.

easy music sync - I can't remember the issue with this one. I gave up on it early on.. I think it's because it wouldn't sync to my external card.

MUSIC APPS:

Rocket Player (paid version) - From the makers of iSyncr, this is the best player i've found so far. If it didn't crash at least once a day, this would be a clear winner. It incorporates ID3 artwork or downloads artwork itself or allows you to use a third party app for that. It has all the music-playing options i want, including a widget for easy home screen access. It has last.fm scrobbling support.

doubleTwist (paid version) - Ok player. Without the sync program, i haven't really touched it much.

Music Player - I think this was the S3's default music player. I have to say it's my 2nd favorite. Its problems are that it has no scrobbling support and doesn't recognize compilation/soundtrack albums well. (It seems to group by folder instead of ID3 album.) Its strength is that it doesn't crash, or if it does, it keeps playing. And it has no widget for play/pause/skip from home screen and no similar lock screen functionality. But its simple and it works well. When my iSyncr synchronizing experiences problems, this app knows where all the music is when even the Rocket Player might have an issue.

Google Play - This doesn't read album artwork well at all. It doesn't read compilations well. It doesn't have scrobbling support. It doesn't find all my music well when iSyncr has issues. It also seems to load up automatically when i hookup my S3 to my iMac via USB, which is annoying. It doesn't do anything better than Rocket or the default Music Player.

NRG / GoneMad (trial versions) - They don't recognize all my music and playlists and/or their functionality and look-and-feel don't measure up.

---

I think i've tried other music apps, but don't remember them offhand.

Please share any experiences, especially successes, that you have had. Thank you.
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fav artists NOW | ALL-TIME favs | i listen 2 more music than u so u don't have 2!

[paladisiac]

Does everyone else have ipods / iphones? Am i alone in the android forest?

For those galaxy s3 owners, beware that the jellybean release (4.1.1) farks up the MTP application, which keeps some applications from being able to make USB transfers/updates. This of course includes music applications that synchronize S3 content from either windows or a mac. Ugh.
_________________
fav artists NOW | ALL-TIME favs | i listen 2 more music than u so u don't have 2!

[paladisiac]

for those that have an android phone, i've come across another music player called "Neutron Music Player". It's interface isn't the most intuitive, but this player has the best sound quality and has a lot of features. i recommend it. There's a 5 day free trial version available to hear for yourself.
_________________
fav artists NOW | ALL-TIME favs | i listen 2 more music than u so u don't have 2!

[Jasonconfused]

You're probably alone. I have an android, but I still use an ipod for music. Not sure why. I guess I just find an ipod and iTunes to be more aesthetically pleasing.
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[paladisiac]

[Puncture Repair]

[GeevyDallas]

[Guest]

[RoundTheBend]

Hands down, google music is the best thing out there for android.

You can put up to 20,000 songs in their cloud and then just stream it on your phone. The sound quality is great.

I remember being bummed about the sound quality of phone music at first and was looking to get another ipod classic to replace my gen5 30 GB after what 6 years now...

Anyways, I uploaded music to my phone directly using some of the programs you mentioned, and noticed a big difference in how the music sounded playing directly from my phone. Sounded like garbage. Using same phone with google music, and have my entire library available anywhere I have a signal. You can also make all your music available offline, or just a few albums.

[RoundTheBend]

Google Music is free... please everyone try it out...

If you are willing to pay monthly, spotify's 30 day trial wasn't too shabby. Of course you are missing Pink Floyd, Zeppelin, and Beatles, but have almost everything else you would want.