# Good Media Player w/ working Shuffle mode **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 6, 2009, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-media-player-w-working-shuffle-mode/516571 "2009-11-06T14:58:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Lips\_Obsession](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/bbce88/32.png) [@Lips\_Obsession](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lips_Obsession)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2009, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-media-player-w-working-shuffle-mode/516571/1 "2009-11-06T14:58:48Z")
I have searched and searched for many years for a media player to make me happy. I have a Windows PC (now running Windows 7) and have all my MP3s seperated by artist / album in folders. I started out many years ago using WinAmp. Unfortunately I discovered that when using it’s “shuffle” mode, it wouldn’t play songs randomly, but rather would play maybe 20%-40% of the songs again and again, while others would be played little, if ever. I’ve tried other programs (MediaMonkey, foobar, etc) but have never found one that I have been happy with. Looking for either a suggestion for a good alternative program, or a fix for the shuffle issue… ---
**Author:** ![Livardo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/43a26b/32.png) [@Livardo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Livardo)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2009, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-media-player-w-working-shuffle-mode/516571/2 "2009-11-06T15:11:56Z")
Do you mean to say that the shuffle feature in these programs doesn’t account for items which have been already played? That seems odd. VLC player has a shuffle feature which I use for movies, but I don’t really have huge playlists. May want to give that a try. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2009, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-media-player-w-working-shuffle-mode/516571/3 "2009-11-06T15:14:33Z")
I’ve long believed that players should have two such modes: shuffle (where no track would repeat before all had been played, like shuffling a deck of cards and then dealing through them) and random (where anything could happen next). Far too many of the players I’ve seen do “random” but call it “shuffle.” Sometimes, they will at least go to the trouble to make sure the same song won’t play twice in a row. Yay. ---
**Author:** ![phreesh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9fc29f/32.png) [@phreesh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phreesh)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2009, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-media-player-w-working-shuffle-mode/516571/4 "2009-11-06T15:19:54Z")
> [@Lips\_Obsession](#): > > Unfortunately I discovered that when using it’s “shuffle” mode, it wouldn’t play songs randomly, but rather would play maybe 20%-40% of the songs again and again, while others would be played little, if ever. This seems unlikely given the trivial nature of generating random selection. The odds of a song being repeated on a completely random selection are actually relatively high in even a relatively large sample size. I don’t have the math handy, but you’re likely just perceiving it to be non-random. I think a program that specifies ‘no repeats’ is what you’re in the market for. However, I don’t have any advice on what program may have that option. ---
**Author:** ![qazwart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/5fc32e/32.png) [@qazwart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/qazwart)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2009, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-media-player-w-working-shuffle-mode/516571/5 "2009-11-06T15:46:27Z")
Well, iTunes doesn’t play songs randomly, but it seems to which is what you’re really looking for. When the iPod Shuffle first came out, people complained about the non-randomness of the songs. They’d hear two songs from the same artist one right after each other, or they’ll hear the same tune three times in a single day. And, they would claim that the Shuffle isn’t random. But, it actually was extremely random. What Apple has done is make iTunes and the Shuffle less random. They now take into account the last time a song was played, what artist was played last, and will switch songs from the randomly selected song to another one to seem less random. For an interesting report on randomness, see this Radiolab podcast: [http://www.wnyc.org/shows/radiolab/episodes/2009/09/11](http://www.wnyc.org/shows/radiolab/episodes/2009/09/11) ---
**Author:** ![Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tastes_of_chocolate/32/3232_2.png) [@Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tastes_of_Chocolate)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2009, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-media-player-w-working-shuffle-mode/516571/6 "2009-11-06T16:51:58Z")
> [@phreesh](#): > > This seems unlikely given the trivial nature of generating random selection. The odds of a song being repeated on a completely random selection are actually relatively high in even a relatively large sample size. I don’t have the math handy, but you’re likely just perceiving it to be non-random. You would think that making a shuffle or random function would be easy, but I’ve noticed the same thing as the OP, all the way back to a multi-CD player I used to have 15 years ago. If I listen long enough, I find that there is a subset of songs that get played all the time, and another larger subset that never see the light of day. ---
**Author:** ![Wakinyan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wakinyan/32/352_2.png) [@Wakinyan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wakinyan)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2009, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-media-player-w-working-shuffle-mode/516571/7 "2009-11-06T17:00:03Z")
Agree with the OP. When I had a Creative, I definitely didn’t play songs at random; I had five hundred songs, but it played about fifity, at most one hundred on random, and once a day or so threw in one from the other four hundred. I listened to it two or three hours a day, every day in the week, and it was the same songs over and over again. Every time I turned it on (twice a day), it was most definitely not random from the five hundred. Every time I changed playlist – about once a month – I was always surprise to see this and that album, had not heard a single tune from _several_ albums during this time. It’s a little better with my iPod, but completely random – no, I don’t believe it. ---
**Author:** ![Dragwyr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dragwyr/32/2855_2.png) [@Dragwyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dragwyr)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2009, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-media-player-w-working-shuffle-mode/516571/8 "2009-11-06T17:02:42Z")
You can randomize the playlist in Media Player Classic - Home Cinema. ---
**Author:** ![Fake\_Tales\_of\_San\_Francisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8491ac/32.png) [@Fake\_Tales\_of\_San\_Francisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fake_Tales_of_San_Francisco)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2009, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-media-player-w-working-shuffle-mode/516571/9 "2009-11-06T17:32:58Z")
Well, I’ve been quite impressed with the Zune software. You don’t need the mp3 player to use it. You can set it to shuffle your entire collection (or part of it, or just particular albums) and have repeat turned off so songs never play again. I also like the ‘Smart DJ’ function it has, think iTunes has a similar thing. Basically it will play similar music out of what’s on your hard drive, creating a playlist for you. ---
**Author:** ![Lips\_Obsession](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/bbce88/32.png) [@Lips\_Obsession](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lips_Obsession)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2009, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-media-player-w-working-shuffle-mode/516571/10 "2009-11-06T19:13:53Z")
I actually have a 1stGen Zune, but have never used the software to play my music because I couldn’t get the interface into a “view” that corresponded with how I usually play my music. I like to play based on my PC’s file structure (which, for example, lets me select the artist (and thus all the “sub-folders” which are different albums) and put them on shuffle. Or the folder I have called “assorted singles” for artists for which i don’t have many songs or any complete albums. I know I have the V3 software, and think they just released V4, so I will check that out and see if it is any improvement. ---
**Author:** ![Lips\_Obsession](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/bbce88/32.png) [@Lips\_Obsession](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lips_Obsession)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2009, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-media-player-w-working-shuffle-mode/516571/11 "2009-11-06T19:15:16Z")
> [@qazwart](#): > > But, it actually was extremely random. What Apple has done is make iTunes and the Shuffle less random. They now take into account the last time a song was played, what artist was played last, and will switch songs from the randomly selected song to another one to seem less random. This might be a good fit for what I am looking for…although I _HATE_ iTunes…WAY overbloated and uses MUCH too many system resources. ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2009, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-media-player-w-working-shuffle-mode/516571/12 "2009-11-06T20:05:18Z")
Have you tried Windows Media Player? The shuffle feature seems to works fine for me. Further, if you want a “no-repeat” shuffle mode, you can make an auto playlist with all songs and then add the “Randomize Playback Order” criterion. You’ll only hear each song once that way. (I use this same feature to emulate no-repeat shuffling on my portable MP3 player.) ---
**Author:** ![Stathol](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/71e660/32.png) [@Stathol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stathol)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2009, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-media-player-w-working-shuffle-mode/516571/13 "2009-11-06T20:39:55Z")
I know a lot of people like [Songbird](http://www.getsongbird.com/), but I haven’t used it myself. I mostly just stick to either Banshee or Rhythmbox (not for any particular reason), but I don’t think there are working Windows ports of either.