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Wiki > Main > WhyRockbox
---+!! What is Rockbox? Why should I use it?

Rockbox is an open source firmware replacement for a growing number of digital audio players. It has been in development since 2001 and receives new features, tweaks and fixes every day to provide you with the best possible music listening experience. Rockbox aims to be *considerably more functional and efficient* than your device's stock firmware while remaining *easy to use* and *customizable*. It is a goal to not only offer a wide range of functionality, but where possible make sure that this functionality is presented in a consistent manner that is easy to learn and use. It is written *by users, for users*.

Another top priority of Rockbox is *audio playback quality*. Rockbox, for most models, includes a wider range of sound settings than that device's original firmware. A lot of work has been put into making Rockbox sound the best it can, and improvements are constantly being made. All models have access to a large number of plugins, including many *games*, *applications*, and *graphical demos*.

You can load different configurations quickly for different purposes (e.g. a large font for in your car, different sound settings for at home). You can even *customize your While Playing Screen* to display only and exactly what you want to see when your music is playing. In addition, Rockbox features a *wide range of languages*, and all supported models also have *the ability to talk to you* - menus can be *voiced* and filenames *spelled out* or *spoken*.

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---++!! Key Features of Rockbox

|  *Feature*  |  *Archos models*  |  *iriver models*  |  *iPod models*  |  *iAudio models*  |  *Gigabeat models*  |  *All Newer Targets*  |
| Support for over 30 [[SoundCodecs#Current_status][Sound Codecs]], including Ogg Vorbis and FLAC |  MP3 and [[PluginWavplay][WAV]] only  |  %Y%  |  %Y%  |  %Y%  |  %Y%  |  %Y%  |
| [[GaplessHowTo][Gapless playback]] |  %Y% _(with lame -nogap)_  |  %Y%  |  %Y%  |  %Y%  |  %Y%  |  %Y%  |
| 5-band fully-parametric equalizer, and crossfeed |  _Not possible_  |  %Y%  |  %Y%  |  %Y%  |  %Y%  |  %Y%  |
| High-resolution volume control, 64-100 levels (model-dependent) |  %Y%  |  %Y%  |  %Y%  |  %Y%  |  %Y%  |  %Y%  |
| Ability to create your own [[CustomWPS][themes]] or use [[http://themes.rockbox.org][user-uploaded]] ones |  %Y%  |  %Y%  |  %Y%  |  %Y%  |  %Y%  |  %Y%  |
| Advanced crossfading |  _Not possible_  |  %Y%  |  %Y%  |  %Y%  |  %Y%  |  %Y%  |
| <nop>ReplayGain support (volume normalization) |  _Not yet implemented_  |  %Y%  |  %Y%  |  %Y%  |  %Y%  |  %Y%  |
| Cuesheet support |  %Y%  |  %Y%  |  %Y%  |  %Y%  |  %Y%  |  %Y%  |
| [[AlbumArt][Album Art]] Support |  _Not possible_  |  %Y%  |  %Y%  |  %Y%  |  %Y%  |  %Y%  |
| [[PluginJpeg][JPEG image]] and [[PluginViewer][text-file]] viewing |  %Y%  |  %Y%  |  %Y%  |  %Y%  |  %Y%  |  %Y%  |
| [[PluginDoom][Doom]]! |  _Not possible_  |  %Y%  |  %Y%  |  %Y%  |  %Y%  |  %Y%  |
| [[PluginMpegplayer][MPEG]] video support |  _Not possible_, but %BR% [[PluginVideo][custom video playback]]  |  %Y%  |  %Y%  |  %Y%  |  %Y%  |  %Y%  |
| Real Time Clock (RTC)  |  %Y% _(Recorders)_  |  %Y% _(H3x0, modded H1x0)_  |  %Y%  |  %Y% _(X5(L), M5(L))_  |  %Y%  |  %Y%  |
| Customizable [[DataBase][Tag Database]] |  %Y%  |  %Y%  |  %Y%  |  %Y%  |  %Y%  |  %Y%  |
| [[UnicodeGuide][Unicode]] support |  %Y%  |  %Y%  |  %Y%  |  %Y%  |  %Y%  |  %Y%  |
| Advanced On-The-Go playlist creation |  %Y%  |  %Y%  |  %Y%  |  %Y%  |  %Y%  |  %Y%  |
| [[LangFiles][Multilingual Interface]] - 30 supported languages and counting |  %Y%  |  %Y%  |  %Y%  |  %Y%  |  %Y%  |  %Y%  |
| Optional [[VoiceHowto][spoken interface]] |  %Y%  |  %Y%  |  %Y%  |  %Y%  |  %Y%  |  %Y%  |
| Many [[PluginIndex][plugins]] - games, apps, and demos |  %Y%  |  %Y%  |  %Y%  |  %Y%  |  %Y%  |  %Y%  |
| Open Source, so Rockbox is *constantly* improved |  %Y%  |  %Y%  |  %Y%  |  %Y%  |  %Y%  |  %Y%  |


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---++ Learn More About Rockbox

Sounds good, no? Check out the [[BuyersGuide][Buyer's Guide]] for information on player availability, pricing, and so on. Want to learn more about Rockbox before diving in? The [[http://www.rockbox.org/twiki/bin/view/Main/WebHome][wiki]] and the [[http://forums.rockbox.org/][technical forums]] are good places to get your feet wet and the [[http://www.rockbox.org/twiki/bin/view/Main/ProjectGlossary][glossary]] might help you understand the common terms a little better. If you run into problems along the way, chances are that your questions can be answered by searching the Rockbox [[http://www.rockbox.org/manual.shtml][manual]] or taking a look at the port page for [[TargetStatus][your player]]. Have fun!

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r59 - 08 Mar 2012 - 02:52:32 - MichaelGiacomelli