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#1 2003-02-06 16:17:32

Adrian
Moderator
From: London, United Kingdom
Registered: 2001-09-04
Posts: 642
Website

Re: Good MP3 player? - *Not* Winamp3

Can anyone here recommend a good MP3 player for Windows? I've been using Winamp 3 up until today, when it died on me, and I've just uninstalled it. I was never too happy with it - it was incredibly bloated and its only saving grace was the Media Library, which didn't work properly and didn't really make up for the lack of a whole load of other Winamp 2 features.

Currently I'm using Winamp 2.81, but I'm still missing the Media Library, broken or not.

So, what I'm looking for is a free or moderately cheap mp3 player that does not take up too much system resources. It should have support for multiple playlists and preferably a nice media library that lets you sort by artist, album, etc. I don't care about visualisations or skins or whatever, it just has to work well.

Any suggestions?

Editor of [url=http://www.newmars.com]New Mars[/url]

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#2 2003-02-06 16:20:29

soph
Member
Registered: 2002-11-24
Posts: 1,492

Re: Good MP3 player? - *Not* Winamp3

quicktime and musicmatch work well.  both are free, unless you want an upgrade.  real one is ok, and free.

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#3 2003-02-06 16:22:56

Josh Cryer
Moderator
Registered: 2001-09-29
Posts: 3,830

Re: Good MP3 player? - *Not* Winamp3

XMPLAY XMPLAY XMPLAY!

I love that thing. It's only about 250k, is a standalone executable, and has practically the same kinds of features as Winamp3 (except it has Sonique-style visualizations, which I've asked be changed so that Winamp visuals could work too, which should happen eventually).

At first the playlist may seem small, but click on the info button, and extend it, there ya go...

http://www.xmplay.com

foobar2002 or whatever it's called is also considered good (it's even smaller than xmplay), but it doesn't have skins, playlists aren't very good, and is just, well, intended to be un-bloatware.

Google for it, heh...

Some useful links while MER are active. [url=http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/home/index.html]Offical site[/url] [url=http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/MM_NTV_Web.html]NASA TV[/url] [url=http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/mer2004/]JPL MER2004[/url] [url=http://www.spaceflightnow.com/mars/mera/statustextonly.html]Text feed[/url]
--------
The amount of solar radiation reaching the surface of the earth totals some 3.9 million exajoules a year.

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#4 2003-02-06 16:35:31

Adrian
Moderator
From: London, United Kingdom
Registered: 2001-09-04
Posts: 642
Website

Re: Good MP3 player? - *Not* Winamp3

Thanks for the suggestions. I had a quick look at XMplay, but I couldn't tell whether it had a Media Library equivalent... I've just realised that I could always just use Windows Media Player, but then that doesn't minimise to the system tray (yes, it bothers me) so that's not my first choice.

One of my friends used Realplayer, which seemed nice except for the fact that it's bloated and installs huge amounts of spyware on your computer. Not something I want to have to put up with.

I actually have an iPod for music on the go, so that's not a problem.

Editor of [url=http://www.newmars.com]New Mars[/url]

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#5 2003-02-06 16:48:08

soph
Member
Registered: 2002-11-24
Posts: 1,492

Re: Good MP3 player? - *Not* Winamp3

musicmatch or quicktime are good bets.  they have other functions too.  musicmatch can burn cd's for you.  and it organizes your files well.  and you can get radio stations.

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#6 2003-02-06 17:13:03

Josh Cryer
Moderator
Registered: 2001-09-29
Posts: 3,830

Re: Good MP3 player? - *Not* Winamp3

You can play Windows Media files with XMPlay, yeah... one thing I should note, is that it doesn't have multiple playlists, yet. But I believe they're slated for the next release (you should check the forums over there, lots of activity).

And yeah, I use the system tray too (and it's a prerequisite for a player). With XMPlay, you must right click on the minimize button to minimize it to the tray. Somewhat intuitive, but perhaps also annoying, since with Winamp, you could keep it always minimized to the tray.

But really, I'm confident XMPlay will get better. It has already sufficed to replace Winamp 2.6 for me. smile

You can listen to ogg and mp3 streams with XMPlay, mind you. I listen to WOPN pretty often. smile So if you want to listen to radio stations with it, you should be able to (as long as it's shoutcast or ogg).

And soph, not everyone has a really fast system with lots of memory. And some of us are bloat phobes, and desire software that is very minimalist. big_smile

QuickTime sucks! tongue

Some useful links while MER are active. [url=http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/home/index.html]Offical site[/url] [url=http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/MM_NTV_Web.html]NASA TV[/url] [url=http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/mer2004/]JPL MER2004[/url] [url=http://www.spaceflightnow.com/mars/mera/statustextonly.html]Text feed[/url]
--------
The amount of solar radiation reaching the surface of the earth totals some 3.9 million exajoules a year.

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#7 2003-02-06 18:22:50

soph
Member
Registered: 2002-11-24
Posts: 1,492

Re: Good MP3 player? - *Not* Winamp3

heh, i built my own PC for $500...yes, i guess it would qualify as a really fast pc (athlon 1800+ and 384 ddr), but musicmatch certainly fits the bill!

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#8 2003-02-06 18:23:51

soph
Member
Registered: 2002-11-24
Posts: 1,492

Re: Good MP3 player? - *Not* Winamp3

on another note, i just burn my mp3's to cd's and listen to them on the stereo i got for my bday...

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#9 2003-02-06 18:31:10

Josh Cryer
Moderator
Registered: 2001-09-29
Posts: 3,830

Re: Good MP3 player? - *Not* Winamp3

I burn my MP3s to CDs too, and listen to them on my DVD player... it's much more efficient than making music CDs (more than 200 mp3s per CD).

I just find it annoying that people create programs that are like 5MB and serve few functions. For example... I use an FTP client which is 72k, and the nearest competitor for size and options is a meg. smile

It's just annoying...

Some useful links while MER are active. [url=http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/home/index.html]Offical site[/url] [url=http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/MM_NTV_Web.html]NASA TV[/url] [url=http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/mer2004/]JPL MER2004[/url] [url=http://www.spaceflightnow.com/mars/mera/statustextonly.html]Text feed[/url]
--------
The amount of solar radiation reaching the surface of the earth totals some 3.9 million exajoules a year.

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#10 2003-02-07 11:28:40

Adrian
Moderator
From: London, United Kingdom
Registered: 2001-09-04
Posts: 642
Website

Re: Good MP3 player? - *Not* Winamp3

I just downloaded Windows Media Player 9 - to my utmost surprise, it is actually a decent piece of work. Multiple playlists, automatically updated playlists based on a load of parameters, good queuing system, nice interface. Pretty good. Only problem is that it doesn't minimise to the task bar. Oh well. I suspect that Musicmatch Plus is a bit better (in some ways, at least) but it does cost $20.

Editor of [url=http://www.newmars.com]New Mars[/url]

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#11 2003-02-07 11:43:07

Josh Cryer
Moderator
Registered: 2001-09-29
Posts: 3,830

Re: Good MP3 player? - *Not* Winamp3

I would make one of my wagers, but I won't. smile

But I expect XMPlay to beat all the Audio Players, with features and things like that, in the coming releases. Keep an eye on it. I bet 3 will be really good (and non-bloated!).

Can't believe they're up to WMP9, though.

Some useful links while MER are active. [url=http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/home/index.html]Offical site[/url] [url=http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/MM_NTV_Web.html]NASA TV[/url] [url=http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/mer2004/]JPL MER2004[/url] [url=http://www.spaceflightnow.com/mars/mera/statustextonly.html]Text feed[/url]
--------
The amount of solar radiation reaching the surface of the earth totals some 3.9 million exajoules a year.

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