Good CD playing program (1 Viewer)

[Mike LS]

I'm looking to demo some different CD playing programs.
What I'm looking for is something very close to the default CD player program that comes with Windows 2000. I use this (along with Cool Edit Pro) to create short clips of songs for customers to demo on our website (this is a work thing).
I just upgraded to Cool Edit Pro version 2 and one thing they left out of the new version was CD player controls. Because of this I have to run a CD player program at the same time as Cool Edit so I can start and stop the CD. I've been using the Windows CD player in compact mode (it has to be small and always on top to not interfer with the Cool Edit controls).
The only problem I have with the compact mode of the Windows player is that there are no fast forward and rewind controls in this mode. You have to go to full mode to get these. I need this so I can skip to the portion of the track that I need to record.
Does anyone know of a program (free or not) that has a compact mode that features FF/RW buttons as well as an always on top mode?
Below is a capture of the space I have to have the CD player in to not cover up other controls.....

Notice the CD player at the bottom left of the screen...
I would just start downloading stuff from download.com or zdnet.com but I've screwed my PC up more than once by randomly installing freeware like that over and over again.
Any suggestions?

 

[Christopher_S]

We use Cool Edit Pro 2.0 in our office. Perhaps I don't completely understand the nature of what you're doing, but you can open .cda tracks directly from the CD in CEP 2.0, just the same way you'd open any other file. Then you can edit as necessary and save in whatever format you need. It eliminates the need for real-time recording into the program.

 

[DaveGTP]

I know that WinAMP (mp3 player) can play audio CD's, and it is very customizable (you can shut down the equalizer, install skins, totally close out most of it, etc). As far as being a safe download, is very dependable freeware. You can get winamp @ winamp.com.

 

[Mike LS]

The reason I don't open the entire track and edit down from there is usually time related. It's so much faster to just play the track, then start/stop recording that way.
If it were just an issue of taking from 1:00 to 1:30 out, opening the entire track would be the best way to do it, but I have to get the meat of the track in a 30 second clip. That might be the beginning, end or anywhere in between.
Another thing is that I've just gotten used to doing it a certain way. Call me stubborn

 

[Greg_Y]

QCD Player from Quinnware is what I use.
www.quinnware.com
There are tons of different skins you can download, some big, some small. But even the small setting in the default font might be what you want. Plus there's a plugin (Alpha -- that's the name) you can install that let's the CD player become slightly transparent and thus less obtrusive on your desktop.
I also use QCD player because it has another plugin that goes right to my CD cataloging software. Pop in a CD and there's the track listing. Don't need to mess with cdplayer.ini or anything.
Great CD player, especially for free!