Winamp, is it still the best?

[M31]

Right now I'm listening to my Music via Vista's Media Player, it honestly sounds OK .... Not too bad at all, actually.

But I hear from purists that WinAmp is the Daddy, its what you should use and don't ask why.

So what is actually the best Windows music player right now?

Without bias, please

[lowfat]

Sound should be the same in any audio player. Be it iTunes, Foobar, Winamp, WMP. Just use whatever one had the features you want/need.

[Sparky]

I still use musicmatch 7.5, it complains it isn't compatible with win vista but it seems to play just fine Recorder is probably the screwed up part but i don't use that anyway.

It is just what I'm used to so I never bothered trying anything else I did try MP11 and didn't like its set up.

[stevecs]

personally I used to use winamp on my windows machines but for the past year or more I've pretty much switched over to VLC for audio and video. Not as 'fat' as winamp (it's getting so bloated in my opinion) plus w/ vlc it has all the codecs compiled into it so no other crap needs to be loaded on the machine. That being said I think it's a personal choice as to what you want to use.

[HeXploiT]

Sort of depends on what "best" you're referring to. Not sure about audio quality but I still use winamp for sheer functionality and the number of plugins available.

[zanzabar]

Sound should be the same in any audio player. Be it iTunes, Foobar, Winamp, WMP. Just use whatever one had the features you want/need.

thats not true at all, it depends on what codec u are using, so with MWP and winamp u can use the same codec and they will sound vary simmilar but with somehting like real or irunes u are really loosing quality especially since itunes is based on converting things to m4a before it plays it

[CyberDruid]

I'm a WinAmp fanatic...I've been listening to it for years.

[TimoneX]

I used winamp for years and years, but now I'm on about foobar.

[xman01]

still usin the amp
just what i need and accustommed to

jus realised i've been usin it for about 10years, damn

[Battle_Rattle]

For purists it is nothing but Foobar... Head over to Head-Fi forums and see the posts there from freakishly obsessive users.

I don't have time for Fubar and the building involved in developing my own foobar build.

Foobar is BARE bones, but can be built/coded into a really slick and great sounding player. Problem is people aren't allowed to distribute one that they have built (EUL.) I think it is still this way, DIY music playing excellence.

I have Winamp with a DSP plugin.

[Freonor]

thats not true at all, it depends on what codec u are using, so with MWP and winamp u can use the same codec and they will sound vary simmilar but with somehting like real or irunes u are really loosing quality especially since itunes is based on converting things to m4a before it plays it

Most people use mp3, and iTunes only converts if you want it to. I use iTunes and am not having a double set of my music as it takes up lots of unnecessary space for less quality. VLC player is probably best as it doesn't hog as much performance as the other players and it can play ogg and flac.

[lochabar]

still usin the amp
just what i need and accustommed to

jus realised i've been usin it for about 10years, damn

Wow, me too. Never thought about how long I've been using it before. Anyway, I use a combination of winamps EQ and creatives cmss and crystalizer to get the sound I like. My roomate is a musician, and uses a combination of M-Audio sound and foobar for a media player. We both agree that each others sound systems....sound pretty damn good.

[EniGmA1987]

Songbird owns.

[TV Addict#2]

I like wimamp with 24 bit playback enabled and shuffle on to play my library
Aimp2 for playing specific folders

[SoulsCollective]

Foobar2000. Great player, very slick, offers true 32-bit output, plays anything.

[Gunlance]

Songbird owns.

I tried out Songbird and with the exception of being skinnable, I can't find a single difference between it and iTunes. So I just switched back to itunes as it's a familiar face on both my Mac and Windows computers.

[Gilhooley]

Well, if you get the MAD plugin for Winamp you don't need another player
http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/...howtopic=60454

[ripken204]

i've been using Songbird lately, I like it a lot.

[slim142]

Same as Cyber, winamp all the way
All I need are 3 plugins, MSN Listening plugin, Chronotron 3.5 and DFX 9.107

[bazx]

lol i am still using winamp280 at work most days

easy to use

[Silverion77]

Winamp or Foobar2000

[RADCOM]

It's really funny how many people still use winamp, does it still whip the llamas arse Legacy from back in the Win95 days I guess. I think I've used them all at some point and I can't discern any real differences in sound quality. VLC is pretty much a one stop shop although the media player that comes with a creative sound cards is also good, as is media player classic. My personal favourite was Jet audio because one version looked like a marantz hifi stack. Still on my dung pile is Realplayer closely followed by Quicktime. It's not that they are bad players of their respective files types; it was the pain they caused on trying to remove them or diassociate them with every file type on your desktop Grrrrrrrr

[SoulsCollective]

Wow, thread revival. VLC is ok for audio playback, but fares badly at high-def video playback. I no longer use anything except MPC with CCCP for video, and Foobar for audio. If you don't think player can make a difference, you really need to try Foobar and explore the range of DSPs etc available.

[3Z3VH]

Most players allow you to swap out codecs, so performance isn't a concern unless their GUI is coded poorly. You really should just go with the one that gives you a layout that works for you, and all the features you want.

Some people like a light, no frills interface, others want the oversaturated UI like iTunes that shows you cover art and has all sorts of bells and whistles. To each their own.

[PaganII]

You can play DVD-A with Foobar.