简体中文
EnglishWhat Is Tauon and What Kind of Music Player Is It?
Updated
Tauon is a desktop music player for music you already own, available for Linux, Windows and macOS under GPLv3. It is not a streaming service: you import your local files once, then organize and play them through a playlist-first interface. It fits you if you keep a music library on disk and want a fast player with smart playlists, synced lyrics and visualizations, without ads, tracking or an account.
Who it is for
Tauon suits listeners who:
- Own their music as files (FLAC, MP3, Opus and similar formats) rather than relying on a streaming catalog.
- Want the playlist, not the album page, to be the center of the app.
- Prefer a player with no account, no ads and no tracking.
- Use Linux, Windows or macOS on a desktop or laptop.
It is a poor fit if you mainly stream music or need a mobile app; the site describes a desktop player only.
How the playlist-first model works
The core idea is: import your library once, then slice it with search, folders and smart playlists.
- Import your music folder into Tauon.
- Search and filter the library to narrow it down.
- Save the result as a smart playlist using short codes that filter, sort and shuffle your library.
The practical benefit: instead of rebuilding queues by hand, you define a rule once (for example, a genre plus a year range, shuffled) and reuse it. The site presents smart playlists as short codes rather than a visual rule builder, so expect to learn a small syntax.
Main features at a glance
| Feature | What it does |
|---|---|
| Playlist-first library | Import once, then organize with search, folders and smart playlists |
| Smart playlists | Short codes that filter, sort and shuffle your library |
| Custom layouts | Build the window from widgets or pick a ready-made view |
| Gallery | Browse albums as a grid of cover art next to the playlist |
| Synced lyrics | Show, fetch and write time-synced lyrics |
| Tag editor | Batch edits plus MusicBrainz lookup by audio fingerprint |
| MilkDrop visualizer | Classic MilkDrop presets powered by projectM |
| Format support | FLAC, Opus, Ogg Vorbis, MP3, AAC, ALAC, WavPack, APE, TTA, DSD, CUE, MOD, SPC |
| Lossless and gapless playback | Supported for the lossless formats listed |
Two features worth calling out:
- Fingerprint-based tagging. The tag editor can look up releases on MusicBrainz by audio fingerprint, which helps when files have missing or wrong metadata. Batch editing means you can fix many tracks at once.
- CUE sheet support. If you keep album images with CUE files, Tauon can handle them alongside individual tracks.
What it does not include
Based on the site, Tauon has no ads, no tracking and requires no account. It is distributed under GPLv3, so the source is open and you can inspect or modify it. The site does not state pricing; it offers a "Support development" link, which suggests optional support rather than a paid tier, but treat cost and licensing details as something to confirm on the download page before committing.
How to decide
Choose Tauon if your music lives in local files, you want playlist-centric organization with reusable smart playlists, and you value an account-free, ad-free player with strong format coverage and a tag editor. Look elsewhere if you need streaming integration or a mobile client. To try it, download the build for your platform from tauonmusicbox.rocks and import a folder of your own files to test search, smart playlists and tagging against your actual library.