Developer Builds a Winamp MP3 Player
A developer named Tim C, who is also a part of the open-source hardware company Adafruit recently built a Winamp-based MP3 player using a DIY device called the Adafruit PyPortal. The PyPortal is primarily a DIY device that comes with a display and a tiny speaker and can be programmed to show news, stocks, memes, and other content.
So, as part of his project, Tim C transformed a PyPortal device into a Winamp MP3 player that can play all your favorite songs and support the iconic user-made Winamp skins from the Winamp Skin Museum, which was created by a Facebook engineer back in 2020.
How Does it Work?
Coming to the technicalities, the device is not like your usual MP3 player. To import all your music to the PyPortal Winamp MP3 player, you need to copy the songs on an SD card and insert it into the device. Moreover, if you want the song and artist names to appear properly in the player, you will need to rename them accordingly.
The Winamp MP3 player is also capable of reading playlists. However, you will need to manually create them and configure them as .json files before importing them to the device. You can also create multiple playlists and switch between them by renaming the one you want to play as “playlist.json” on the PyPortal device.
As for the controls, this is where the Winamp MP3 player struggles. Although the Winamp skins, even the basic ones, have a lot of buttons and equalizer sliders, all of them are non-functional on the PyPortal Winamp MP3 player. Only the top portion, which lets you play or pause a song, and the bottom portion, which lets you go to the next or previous song, are functional. You can check the video below in which Tim C has explained the working of the physical Winamp MP3 player.
Furthermore, if you want to build your own Winamp MP3 player, check out the Adafruit website where the developer has offered all the instructions and components you need for the project. So, let us know your thoughts on the device in the comments below. Meanwhile, if you have a Mac, you can also try out the re:AMP media player that supports classic Winamp skins.
