Cog
A free and open source audio player for macOS that plays a very wide range of formats.
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About Cog
Cog is a native macOS audio player with gapless playback, CUE sheet support, a graphic equalizer, a spectrum visualizer in the toolbar, global hotkeys and Last.fm scrobbling. It also plays HTTP livestreams and HLS, reading live metadata from Shoutcast and Icecast streams.
Other features include HRTF binaural output, head tracking with AirPods, and speed and pitch control. Cog requires macOS 12 and updates itself. A cross-platform version called XPCog, for Windows, macOS and Linux, is in early builds.
Strengths
- Gapless playback and embedded CUE sheet support
- Plays a very broad range of formats, plus livestreams and HLS
- Equalizer, HRTF and AirPods head tracking
- Frequent releases with automatic updates
Limitations
- macOS only; the Windows and Linux version is still early
- Requires macOS 12 or later
Details
- Pricing
- FreeFree and open source, supported by donations.
- License
- Open source, license not stated
- Developer
- Christopher Snowhill (kode54)
- Platforms
- macOS
- How it runs
- Downloadable app
- Account
- Not required
- Works offline
- Yes
- Best suited for
- Mac users with large or unusual audio collections who want a native player
- Categories
- Media players, Audio tools
- Last verified
- Added
- Provenance
- Facts checked against the developer's own pages and store listings, 1 sources on file.
Alternatives to Cog
Compare allSoftware that can replace Cog for an important use case, and what changes if you switch.
Swinsian
A macOS music player and library manager with wide format support and advanced tag editing.
Swinsian is also a native macOS music player, but it is paid and closed source, and it adds library management, batch tag editing with regex, smart playlists and a duplicate finder.
VOX
A music player for Mac and iPhone aimed at high-resolution audio files such as FLAC.
VOX is a freemium, closed source player aimed at lossless and Hi-Res files, with iPhone apps, Sonos and CarPlay playback, and paid cloud storage for your own library.
Audacious
A lightweight open-source audio player descended from XMMS, with optional Winamp Classic skins.
Audacious is a lightweight open source audio player that runs on Windows, macOS and Linux, with Winamp Classic skin support, an equalizer and bundled plugins.
Audirvāna
Play a local music library and supported streaming services from a desktop application.
Audirvāna is a paid, closed source desktop player for Windows and macOS that combines a local library with supported streaming services and offers audio output configuration.
Harmonoid
A cross-platform music player and library manager built on mpv and FFmpeg, with a Material Design interface.
Harmonoid covers desktop and mobile platforms with mpv and FFmpeg playback, and adds a tag editor, Last.fm scrobbling, ReplayGain and crossfade, though its license terms are unstated.
Quod Libet
Organize and play music with flexible metadata tools.
Quod Libet is an open source GPL-2.0 player for Windows, macOS and Linux built around library management, with flexible metadata searches and plugin support.
Museeks
A simple, cross-platform music player for playing a local music collection on the desktop.
Museeks is a simple open source music player for Windows, macOS and Linux, with a deliberately limited feature set and pre-1.0 version numbering.
Dopamine
A simple desktop audio player for playing and browsing a local music collection.
Dopamine is an open source desktop player for Windows, macOS and Linux with a clean interface for local music, offering fewer advanced options than Cog.
Similar software
Related functionality, not necessarily a direct replacement.
VLC media player
A free player that opens almost any video or audio file, disc or stream without installing a codec pack.
IINA
The mpv engine wrapped in a macOS app that actually looks and behaves like a macOS app.
Elmedia Player
A macOS video and audio player with native Apple Silicon support and AirPlay and Chromecast streaming.
cmus
A small, fast console music player for Linux, macOS and other Unix-like systems.
Super Audio CD Decoder
A foobar2000 input plugin that plays Super Audio CD ISO images and DSD audio files.
musikcube
A terminal-based music player, library and audio streaming server for Windows, macOS and Linux.
