Do you play MP3's on your Computer? If so What program do you use?

avelanchefan

I have always used WMP as my default media player. I have tried Real player, but really did not like it, and have used Nero's player but found it to be a little to bloaty for me.

Any ways I belong to another website, and they have a chat channel that is used with the mIRC program. Well a few of these fellows are in the UK and they dj as a living, so they decided to start a dj channel. I found it to be pretty cool, and you get to here some different music that you may never have heard before, the other cool thing is they let a certain number of people DJ, so you get a real good variety of music.

Any ways to listen to whoever is dj'ing you pretty much need WinAmp (http://www.winamp.com/) to listen to them. Well today I was just playing my own MP3's and I am hearing things that were completely missing in WMP. I not sure what WinAmp is doing, but I cannot believe the clarity complared to WMP. Anyone else use it?

Face

Foobar2000, v0.9.5, Kernal Streaming ASIO output.

Jstas

Winamp...it really whips the Llama's ****!

Been using it since 1996 and nothing come close IMO. There are lots of other good players but Winamp is just easy to use and doesn't make a nuisance of itself.

brijenjas

+1 for Winamp

m00npie

Face wrote: »

Foobar2000, v0.9.5, Kernal Streaming ASIO output.

What he said.

Refefer

Winamp spent a whole helluva lotta time optimizing their mp3 codec for best performance/sound quality. I'm not at all surprised you're hearing things that you never heard before while using WMP.

Serendipity

I use my HTPC to play MP3's. I don't know what the codec is, it came with the computer.

Gaara

Face wrote: »

Foobar2000, v0.9.5, Kernal Streaming ASIO output.

I don't usually play MP3s on my pc, but when I do its the same as above, only ASIO4ALL instead of Kernel Streaming. Easy to use, sounds great, and I love how you can save playlists and then play them on a Squeezebox.

engtaz

OMNifi with SimpleCenter. To Carver M4.0T to Polk Monitor 5A's.

engtaz

avelanchefan

Refefer wrote: »

Winamp spent a whole helluva lotta time optimizing their mp3 codec for best performance/sound quality. I'm not at all surprised you're hearing things that you never heard before while using WMP.

Yeah I am still in awe over the quality of it. I had also heard good things about foobar, but right now I think I will stick with WinAmp.

cfrizz

I use WMP. Sounds fine to me.

bluzrip

Another Foobar user. My music PC has an M-Audio 2496 soundcard. Coaxial cable out to a Musical Fidelity DAC. Sounds better than expected with hi-bit MP3's.

avelanchefan

cfrizz wrote: »

I use WMP. Sounds fine to me.

cfrizz,

seriously try out winamp or foobar, and let us know if you hear a difference. I would like to know if you did.

Hi-Buy

Winamp for me.

License2ILL

I'll try it it's been years...use to be a big fan and remember it "whippng the llama's ****" lol. yea I dont know what's wrong with me ever since WMP 9 or 10....I been happy with it's console that I've totally forgotten it's not the only player.

Face

avelanchefan wrote: »

cfrizz,

seriously try out winamp or foobar, and let us know if you hear a difference. I would like to know if you did.

The difference is slight, and if it's not set up properly(ASIO drivers), she may not notice a difference.

I'll still take Foobar over Winamp any day. I find the interface and customization much simpler IMO. Plus it's less bloated.

adam2434

I do flac, not mp3, but another vote for Foobar.

I use the stock form and appreciate the simplicity and light weight of the program.

The stock version's interface is very plain and no-nonsense. That's fine with me though, as I don't stare at the GUI when I listen to music.

AsSiMiLaTeD

Eff WMP, I use both Winamp and FooBAR...

cfrizz

Thank you Face. You just saved me from wasting time.

How many of you don't use WMP because you remember how bad ALL media players were in the beginning, or simply don't use it because it is the evil empire of Microsoft?

Times change, the entire media players group has made huge strides in improving the sound of each player. As for Microsoft, life is too short to be worrying about who has the monoply is whatever segment of a certain business.

So long as a program is included with the OS, it works & is easy to use, I'm going to use it!

Face wrote: »

The difference is slight, and if it's not set up properly(ASIO drivers), she may not notice a difference.

I'll still take Foobar over Winamp any day. I find the interface and customization much simpler IMO. Plus it's less bloated.

bobman1235

I use iTunes, which I know isn't popular around here, but it just makes things easier with the iPod and also I listen to a lot of podcasts and I think Apple has the market cornered on that one.

bluzrip

A recent discussion in Stereophile (Feb 2008) talked about problems with iTunes in its latest version. It would appear that it is only an issue if using USB to connect a DAC to your MAC running OSX. Rather than iTunes 7.5, the makers of the Benchmark USB DAC recommend older versions. (Careful that iTunes doesn't upgrade itself!)

Refefer

I can't stand iTunes personally: it's just way too bloated for my tastes. And it loads up all sorts of crap in the background that I don't want/need.

AsSiMiLaTeD

I could care less about who owns WMP, I just don't like the interface as much as Winamp. I find Winamp to be a much simple interface and doesn't use as much system resources.

Face

cfrizz wrote: »

Thank you Face. You just saved me from wasting time.

How many of you don't use WMP because you remember how bad ALL media players were in the beginning, or simply don't use it because it is the evil empire of Microsoft?

Times change, the entire media players group has made huge strides in improving the sound of each player. As for Microsoft, life is too short to be worrying about who has the monoply is whatever segment of a certain business.

So long as a program is included with the OS, it works & is easy to use, I'm going to use it!

I've always hated Winamp and used WMP before Foobar. Sound quality aside, I found WMP9 a decent interface. After upgrading to 11, I couldn't stand it anymore and moved to Foobar.

Jstas

Polkmaniac wrote: »

I could care less about who owns WMP, I just don't like the interface as much as Winamp. I find Winamp to be a much simple interface and doesn't use as much system resources.

DING!


Not everything is so idealistic.

I'll add to Polkmaniac's sentiments the fact that I've been using WINAMP since about 1996. I think I said that already.

On top of that, while WINAMP does have some holes in it, WINAMP is usually patched pretty quickly. But it has no where near the number of security holes and exploits that Windows Media Player has. Also, when Nullsoft patches WINAMP, it doesn't take out the rest of your OS like some of Microsoft's Hotfixes have done.

People use things other than "what comes with the OS" because honestly what comes with the OS doesn't work, is usually loaded with crap apps you don't need and/or will never use and recently, Windows Media Player has been crippled by DRM friendly packages that will just render the player useless. It used to be a pretty tight competition between WINAMP and Windows Media Player but ever since WM9, WINAMP has stood head and shoulders above it. Add to that the ability of newer versions of WINAMP to rip MP3's without the worry of DRM and it uses a pretty robust compression engine. Also, it has a wide user base and there are tons of plugins available for WINAMP to play and/or create music and movie files for almost any format except those which are proprietary.

WINAMP is awesome because when it came out, it filled a need that was there and no one else was stepping in. It's easy to use and surprisingly easy to integrate into other things. I set up 3 different cars with mobile PC's and used WINAMP and a simple keypad interface to control the music selection long before it was cool. On top of that, it is constantly changing to keep up with the times.

Can't really say that for Windows Media Player. Nobody wants to touch that thing anymore, especially not the new version in Vista. Hopefully this service pack due out will fix all the issues with it.

cfrizz

Ehh. For the small amount of use I use it for it works fine. All extraneous crap is promptly deleted or simply clicked off not to install when I have downloaded the new version. I have a small learning curve to figure out what they have changed around & then I'm all set.

Since I don't plan on upgrading to Vista, I don't have to worry about that.

I like the convenience of 1 stop shopping. It works just fine for me.

License2ILL

The new version is the best yet...the GUI is lovely....it's what's made me forget about winamp....it seems to play just fine.......I'm only gonna try winamp for kicks and for old time's sake....
the new WMP's have been the best.....and can get to rippin a cd rather quickly.....while playing it mind u.
It can organize your junk in several different formats as well.
Strawberry aid visual is awesome. I like Winamp...but Bill Gates has got his crap together more than ever before.

Jstas

If you want to rip MP3's, lookup CDex. It's my favorite ripper, it's easy to use and uses LAME as the compression engine. Very good IMO.

jcaut

Winamp or Foobar here, usually Winamp. I hate resource-hogging applications. Winamp is more bloated than it used to be, but so am I.

noimposse

Anyone else tried MediaMonkey?

Its supposed to use ASIO and has a music library interface similar to itunes.

Ive been using it for a few months now and have been enjoying it. The default skin on the newer version is pretty fugly, but its easily changed.

Systems

OtsJuke. You can try for free. I found this years ago and still use it to the day. I now use the Ots AV DJ Pro. http://www.otsav.com try this link.


Chuck