TrackRate

TrackRate is a desktop music player built for people who own their music. Rate tracks on a 10-point scale from anywhere in the app — even with the window minimized — and let those ratings shape your shuffle. Tag your library by genre, mood, or anything you want, then filter, sort, and build playlists based on what you've actually listened to and how you felt about it.

Most players store your library. TrackRate helps you know it. Rate tracks 0–10 with global shortcuts, four shuffle modes use those ratings to surface favorites, push discoveries, or balance both. A two-phase tag quiz walks you through your whole library systematically: artist by artist, album by album. Tags auto-switch EQ presets. The Mixer generates playlists from weighted tag recipes. Play counts, an album and artist browser, and multiple isolated databases round out the curation toolkit. On the audio side, Native Output gives you direct hardware access — shared or exclusive — across Windows, macOS, and Linux, with configurable buffers and bit-perfect playback.

TrackRate is available for Windows, macOS, and Linux. There is no mobile version. The app is not in any app store, so macOS and Windows may show a security warning on first install — see the installation instructions on this page.

No. TrackRate is for local music files you own — purchased from artists, AI-generated, or existing collections. It is not a streaming service and does not integrate with streaming platforms.

Those are audiophile platforms built around signal processing and distribution — upsampling, DSP filters, streaming service integration (Tidal, Qobuz), and in Roon's case, sending music to speakers across your home over a network. Most run on a subscription model. A different category entirely.

TrackRate plays audio on the machine it runs on, through direct hardware access with bit-perfect Native Audio Output. It does not integrate with streaming services, podcasts, or any online content — by design, and with no plans to change that. It is built for music you own, and it is a one-time purchase.

Beyond playback, it is a full library curation toolkit: rate every track, auto-switch EQ presets by tag, drive shuffle with your ratings, and build playlists with a weighted Mixer that blends ingredients like genre, artist, year, and rating by percentage. None of that exists in those tools.

All three are well-established players with loyal followings. There is no reason to switch just for playback.

Where TrackRate is different is the curation layer. A 0–10 rating scale with global shortcuts — rate a track without touching the app. Shuffle modes driven by your rating distribution — surface favorites, push undiscovered tracks, or balance both. A Mixer that feeds tracks by blending weighted ingredients: 40% jazz, 30% a specific artist, 20% tracks from the 90s, 10% random — each dial set by percentage, playing continuously in that balance. Tag-driven auto-EQ that switches presets automatically when a track plays. LUFS auto-leveling, gapless playback, crossfade with curve control, frequency analysis, multi-database, and a full file sync tool. None of this requires plugins or manual configuration.

For AI music producers, it handles the full curation pipeline — rate generations, tag keepers, then copy, move, or export by metadata pattern. Premium adds a sync tool that mirrors your library structure to a target folder by pattern, keeping it in lockstep as your collection evolves.

For desk workers who have outgrown streaming playlists, TrackRate includes worldwide internet radio — thousands of stations, switchable with a keyboard shortcut even when the app is minimized.

TrackRate also runs identically on Windows, macOS, and Linux, and has a free version with no time limit.

MP3, FLAC, WAV, OGG, OPUS, M4A, AAC, AIFF, WMA, APE, MPC, TTA, DTS, AC3, MP4, and WEBM. If your collection uses any of those, it will load without conversion.

Yes, with one important note. If the OS can see the drive, TrackRate can scan and play it — there is no special network requirement. The common pain point across all music players is startup validation: when the app launches, it checks whether every tracked file still exists. If your NAS is offline or your USB drive is unplugged, most players remove those tracks from the database or flood you with missing-file warnings.

TrackRate has two ways to handle this. The cleanest is Disable Folder — right-click any folder in the tree and disable it. Those tracks go invisible to the entire app but stay intact in the database. Startup validation skips them entirely, and re-enabling the folder restores everything instantly with no re-scan. Alternatively, you can turn off startup validation in settings — but be aware that playlists, mixer recipes, and shuffle pools may then reference tracks that are no longer reachable, so use that option only if you understand the tradeoff.

All your data — ratings, play counts, tags, databases — is stored locally on your device. TrackRate does not upload your library or listening history to any server.

Yes. The free version is fully functional — it includes the rating and tagging systems, play counting, lyrics and album art fetching, rating-aware shuffle, playlists, EQ, audio effects, and all file management tools. Premium adds mixer mode, internet radio, unlimited databases, gapless playback, crossfade, auto volume leveling, Native Audio Output, frequency analysis, and all additional themes and visualizers.

The free version is a complete, fully working player — not a limited demo. Premium adds specific features on top of it. Install the free version first and use it. If you want those extra features, upgrade. There is nothing locked behind a timer.

Install the free version and try it. No registration required, no time limit. If it runs well for you, premium will too — it is the same application with additional features unlocked.

Yes, up to 3 devices. You can deactivate a device at any time to free a slot. If you plan a major hardware upgrade — replacing motherboard, CPU, and GPU all at once — deactivate first so the license fingerprint updates cleanly.

For the free version — click Download again and enter the correct email. For premium — click Download Premium again, then use the Resend link instead of entering your email. Paste your payment token and enter the correct address. Your download link and license key will be resent immediately.

Native Audio Output bypasses the standard OS audio pipeline and sends audio directly to your hardware. The default path in most players goes through the system mixer, which may resample your audio and share the device across all apps. Native Output skips that — TrackRate talks directly to the device, which means lower latency, no resampling when your sample rate matches the hardware, and the option to lock the device for bit-perfect playback.

Shared mode gives TrackRate a direct path to your audio hardware while other apps continue playing normally. It removes the overhead of the OS mixer but does not block anything else. Exclusive mode locks the device entirely — TrackRate is the only app sending audio. Other apps are silenced while it is active. This is what enables bit-perfect output, since nothing in the chain can alter the signal.

Any device your OS already recognizes — USB DACs, external audio interfaces, built-in audio chips, HDMI output. No special drivers are required. The built-in setup wizard probes your device at runtime and shows only the sample rates and buffer sizes it actually supports, so you will know immediately whether your hardware works before committing to any settings.

On Windows and macOS, yes — while Exclusive mode is active the device is locked and other applications cannot play audio. On Linux, TrackRate gets direct hardware access but the platform does not enforce a hard lock, so other apps may still reach the device depending on your audio stack.

No. TrackRate uses the audio APIs built into each operating system. No ASIO drivers, no third-party installs, no configuration outside the app. The setup wizard handles everything.

Yes. TrackRate supports importing M3U, M3U8, and PLS playlist files. Export your playlists from your current player, then import them into TrackRate. Ratings can also be imported from a CSV file or the TrackRate ratings JSON format, with a diff preview before anything is applied.

AI generation produces a mix of keepers, mediocre tracks, and outright failures. TrackRate lets you rate everything quickly — global shortcuts work even when the window is minimized — then filter by rating, tag the ones worth keeping, and export or move them. Use a dedicated database to keep AI output completely separate from the rest of your library.

Yes. Create a separate database for podcasts or samples and keep them fully isolated from your music. Rate and tag them the same way. The filtering and sorting tools work identically regardless of what kind of audio you put in.