Media (MP3) Player.....

[Gr44]

I've been using Winamp for years and years, when I format the pc and get an OS back, one of the first things I do is download Winamp. It's become something I do on auto pilot!

For quite some time though, I've been thinking about small things that winamp doesn't have and it's starting to get annoying... so I'm looking to step away from my partnership with winamp but the question is... what?

I don't like WMP because it's far too bloated, I like the small size of winamp and I don't need to play MP4/avi's or anything - just my mp3s....

What do you chaps use?

[0iD]

As much as a pain as iTunes is, i just find it convenient. Plus i'm lazy so i stick with it.

[cptwhite_uk]

From a small app point of view, I just can't fault winamp 2.8 ...plays my wma, mp3, ogg, mp4 and all the other usual suspects. I do like WMP11's interface and ease of CD ripping.

Check the 'best free apps' thread, there's a bunch of alternatives listed in there.

[fallen2004]

Ive always used itunes but it is abit of a resource hog espece the the new one, but i got an ipod so i don't really have a choice. But i still like it, its really simple

[lodore]

on windows i use media monkey. kinda looks like itunes but without the bloat.
on linux i use Rhythmbox.

[starbuck]

Second shout for mediamonkey. Used it for years(before which I used to use winamp exclusively).
Mediamonkey makes it much easier to search through your library and winamp plugins work with it as well, so you get the best of both worlds.
You can also use it to rip and burn cds and transfer music to pretty much any player.

[jackvdbuk]

what exactly do you want from this "other" software that winamp doesnt provide? i love my winamp + bento skin.

[noTHINGface]

... Same here, winamp with Bento skin. I really like the global hotkeys, I've not seen any other mp3 players with this. I know wmp has a plugin but it doesn't work for me. MediaMonkey is also good, but I found its UI not a straightforward and overly complicated, I went back to winamp.

[format]

Use foobar - very, very customisable.

[stonecold_jpm]

MediaMonkey is great once you get used to it.

[Gr44]

Thanks VM for the suggestions... will download some tonight and give them a try ;-)

[strike-down]

I use winamp, and always will use winamp. I've found winamp to be one of the most feature packed players available. Plus the actual audio quality is better when using winamp than other media players on the market. As I've said in other threads, this is the only media player I ever used when running gigs/productions when I did work in the AV industry. Rock solid performance.

[alsenior]

You Could also try songbird. i've used it and found it very nice to use

[Lee H]

I just use WMP11 on Vista.

It does what I want it to do, play mp3's LOUD - allows me to search by genre, artist and all the playlists I had from when I was using MCE2005 still work fine

Indexing also appears to be quicker now when adding new mp3's to the collection.

[CaptainCrash]

Use foobar - very, very customisable.

Absolutely agree with this - it takes a bit of learning to get the best from it, but if you value the advanced features it soon makes every other audio player seem completely inadequate and just plain silly.

Plus the actual audio quality is better when using winamp than other media players on the market.

This isn't (or shouldn't be) the case - the player either decodes the bitstream correctly or it doesn't (eg the broken Nitrane decoder in early versions of Winamp). Any difference you can hear between players is almost certainly the result of some user-adjustable setting.

Lossy encoders however are a different story...

[strike-down]

This isn't (or shouldn't be) the case - the player either decodes the bitstream correctly or it doesn't (eg the broken Nitrane decoder in early versions of Winamp). Any difference you can hear between players is almost certainly the result of some user-adjustable setting.

Lossy encoders however are a different story...

No, it is the case. It isnt just me who has noticed it. The sound clarity from winamp (without turning on or adjusting any settings in either player that will alter the sound output) is better than WMP. Same MP3 file, Same sound card, Same speakers, different players. Go figure.