musicostick

Last week we talked about the advantages of carrying your music with you on the go - not on an MP3 player, but on an ordinary USB stick.

Accompanied with a portable audio application, you would be able to play your music anywhere, anytime; be it at home, at work, or even at your grandmother's place.

We already showed you how to do a custom portable Winamp install, making it fit for any portable storage device, but this time we'd like to focus on native MP3 players that are portable. That is, audio application that can be put on your USB stick without messing around. Some of these are adapted to run on portable media, others simply work.

CoolPlayer+ Portable

This one is, if we may, a 'real' portable application. Based on the original CoolPlayer, PortableApps has modified the application and repackaged it as a portable app. With 1.5 MB and over 2 million downloads to date, CoolPlayer+ Portable has proven itself both a lightweight and a fit candidate.

best mp3 player portable

Apart from audio playback, CoolPlayer+ Portable supports MP3 to WAV conversion, internet audio streaming, and even regular Winamp plug-ins. With CoolPlayer+ Portable, you've got slick looking music playback, but also a whole team's worth of extra horsepower if, and when you need it.

1by1 [No Longer Available]

Who said we don't listen to our readers? This application was recommended in the comments section of the portable Winamp article.

1by1 is an audio directory player. This means that instead of keeping a music library, 1by1 just browses your music folders. On the left side of the screen, you're able to browse through the different folders on your USB stick. For the sake of usability, it's best to drop all your MP3's in one folder,or otherwise arrange by artist.

best mp3 player portable

No overly fancy cacophony and useless tools, 1by1 is still an incredibly light application and will occupy near to no memory resources. Nevertheless, it's as versatile as one might hope for. Add the retro, high contrast look, and we're all set to go.

Songbird Portable

Songbird is an audio player by Mozilla, the guys that have been entertaining us with Firefox. Although deemed buggy in some its earlier releases, Songbird has evolved to an incredible media player. Like its browser counterpart, Songbird also has great extendability. With numerous add-ons available online, you can adapt Songbird to your every need. You won't meet a more personalized audio player soon.

best mp3 player portable

Like the first application mentioned, Songbird Portable is also modified and repackaged by PortableApps. Unlike CoolPlayer+ Portable however, Songbird takes up a noteworthy amount of space; up to 65MB on your USB stick. With smaller thumb drives, this is something you might want to avoid.

In the end, you'll have to decide what you're looking for. If you want an extensive media management suite with lots of bells and whistles, you might deem it worth the extra space.

These are only three applications and perhaps we missed your favorite one. Do you ever use portable audio apps? Tell us which ones in the comments section below!