I like the simplicity and functionality of Parole when playing both audio and video media. However when I start Parole with the intention of playing audio files, I have a huge application window because a large pane is created for playing video files, perhaps also visualisation. I would prefer some sort of "mini mode" so that Parole takes up only a little of the desktop initially, increasing its window size as required when playing a video file or an audio file's visualiation. Of course it might be best if this was configurable, as some people may use Parole for viewing video files more than audio files.
Although this report is quite old, your point is still valid. Watching videos and listening to audio are two different things and in fact would demand different applications if you want to optimize each. (Parole seems more focused on video at the moment.) However there is the system-tray plugin, which I would say is a "mini-mode" as you suggested. If you meant something else, I'd ask you to reply to this bug or open a new one.