Some call it pure nostalgia, others say it's a matter of familiarity, but the point is that Winamp hasn't gone anywhere. While its owners flirt with the idea of making it "more or less open source", many fans out there decided to take it to the next level: a real player. One of those fans is Rodrigo Méndez, who just presented Linamp. The device includes a touchscreen, network support, metadata retrieval via MusicBrainz, and CD playback using an external drive.
"Winaaaamp! It really whips the llama's ass!" You can't help it: the song just played in your head. Every MP3 we downloaded from the web at the turn of the century went through Winamp in one way or another. The initial version dates back to April 1997, and its 27-year adventure (beyond a natural loss of popularity) isn't over yet.
In fact, there are enthusiasts convinced of Winamp as a standalone player. In March we explored Raspinamp, which uses Qmmp under Linux, but today we come across something even more advanced: Linamp, a design inspired by old Aiwa equipment. Its creator, the Mexican Rodrigo Méndez, explains its functions:
Linamp: A Nearly Perfect "Real" Winamp
Rodrigo designed the casing in OnShape, but decided not to follow the 3D printing route 100 percent; he limited it to the front part, and the rest was produced in metal, via PCBWay. As expected, the heart of Linamp is a Raspberry Pi 4 with a 32 GB SD card, and on the software side we find DietPi, with a custom interface written in C++ with Qt Widgets. Some things were left on the drawing board (such as skin support and the equalizer; Bluetooth and Spotify are on the way), but we can't deny that the interface looks great, and all the proportions seem correct.
Linamp supports the main audio formats (MP3 and FLAC leading the way), metadata extraction via MusicBrainz, CD playback with the help of an external drive (this requires an additional power source, as the Raspberry Pi's USB is not enough), file loading over local networks with SMB, dynamic playlist editing, and a touch control for volume and balance. Even the analyzer works wonderfully. Would you like to build one? Link below!
Access the project: Click here
