1by1

1by1 is a tiny audio player. Almost a cross-platform player as it runs on Windows and Android. But you can still use it on Linux with Wine. All you need to do is to browse and load your music folders in the same way as you would do with files in Windows Explorer and play tracks directly from their locations. If you like to keep everything organized and have your music in folders rather than on media libraries or playlist management systems, this app is great.

Quick Overview of Features

Feature	Description
Directory playback	You can play your music directly from folder structures without importing
Resume play	You can return to the exact track and position where you stopped - *similar feature with other players
Multi-resume	You get separate resume points for the ten most recent folders - this is quite a unique feature
Gapless playback	You hear smooth transitions between tracks with no silence - great for playlists
Audio mixing	You can crossfade between tracks with an adjustable overlap
Built-in decoder	You can play MP3 files using Windows ACM or "mpglib" - there is no need for other extra downloads
BASS library support	You can add support for other formats such as WAV, AAC, FLAC, OGG, etc. - using the BASS library or by plugins
File management	You can perform all operations such as copy, rename, move and delete during a playback
Big view display	All details are available: such as track titles, artist info and cover art in the large display area
Portable operation	You can run the software without any installation (see the Note below) if the folder has write access

Note: 1by1 is delivered as a self extracting ZIP file. You can also unpack it manually using another program such as 7-Zip or WinRAR. So, this installer will only copy the program files and create a desktop icon - there are no registry changes. 1by1 will try to store his ini-File in the program folder. If you don't have write access in the program folder (this happened to me when using a virtual machine) the settings are stored in the folder "1by1" in your user profile. To remove it from there, you can use the "Uninstall" function in the System section of 1by1 settings.

1by1 Interface

The interface is separated in two main areas - a folder tree on the left and a file list on the right. You can navigate through folders similar to the Windows Explorer and double-click files to start playback. The "Big view" area displays current track information.

You can control the playback in two ways: using the toolbar buttons or the keyboard shortcuts.

The toolbar buttons are available in different sizes - you can switch to larger icons. To do so, go to 1by1 Settings and change them if the default ones seem too small. For example, the 2024 button set by Aurelio (available on the 1by1 official homepage - down under the "1by1 extras" allows you to use icons from small to very large for both dark and bright themes.

The keyboard shortcuts are similar to those that you use in Windows (for example CTRL+C - It will copy selected tracks to...). You can find all of them in the "ReadMe" section under "Shortcuts and external control" along with the "Global Hotkeys".

The recent 1by1 versions also added optional dark mode and DPI. It means that 1by1 can scale properly on high-resolution displays.

Audio processing is available via built-in enhancers that can boost the bass, adjust the treble and apply dynamic range compression. The Enhancer 2 system includes user presets and optional visualisation in the "Big view".

The file management functions allows you to reorganise your collection while you play music. You can copy tracks to other folders, rename files according to patterns and delete the unwanted songs. The "Compare" tool allows you to identify duplicate files across directories.

Multi-resume tracking will remember where you stopped in the ten most recently played folders. As I said, I never saw this feature until now. You can also jump between different albums or podcast series and pick up exactly where you left off in each one.* SMPlayer does this but only for the last media file.

Format Support and Audio

The standard 1by1 setup will play your MP3 files using the "Windows ACM decoder". You can switch to "mpglib" for a better MP3 compatibility. Also, if you want additional formats such as WAV, FLAC, OGG, AAC, and CD audio, you need to add the "BASS library" to the 1by1 program folder.

The audio output runs at 24-bit depth with 32-bit internal processing. The built-in audio enhancements will work in real-time without any impact on the original source. Crossfading can create smooth transitions between tracks with adjustable fade times.

Web radio streaming is also available if you use the BASS library.

1by1 also supports: Winamp 2.x plugins, M3U playlists, load Cue sheets etc.

1by1 Alternatives

Based on my quick research, here are some 1by1 alternatives:

Name	Free or Paid	The main difference
foobar2000	Free	It has more format support and advanced customisation
MPC-HC	Free	This one is used mostly for video playback capabilities (same as SMPlayer) alongside audio support
Clementine	Free	It uses a library-based organisation and it has automatic music scanning
MusicBee	Free	Like Clementine, it has a library management with advanced tagging
Winamp	Free	It used to be the most popular player - classic interface with many plugins

Final Conclusion

You get folder-based music playback without databases or playlists so if you're a fan of folder organisation - this is an excellent app. You can listen to hours of music, manage files during playback and resume exactly where you stopped. The software is tiny (probably the smallest audio player) while delivering great functions such as gapless playback, audio enhancement and multi-format support through optional libraries. If you like this player, please consider a donation to the author of 1by1.

No release notes available