What is the best MP3 Player and why?

I have been using VLC for all my video files AND MP3 playback, I love how you can increase the audio volume by 200% to make those low gain MP3s sound loud and clear on my laptop.

Just wondering, is there any better MP3 player or should I just stick to VLC FTW?

 

I use iTunes just because I have an iPhone and it gets album artwork

 

I am using winamp for ages, lots of skins and add-ons, and it can handle any portable mp3 device, a must in my laptop.

 

Ok anything else guys? I hate iTunes, I have to go online and read a guide of how to copy MP3s from my PC to the iPad everytime I want to do it I can nver get this right, it is the most confusing program in the world and I am not buying an iPhone just coz I hate the how difficult it is to use iTunes and how conplex it is to update the OS on an iPhone or iPad compared to the easy and user friendly BlackBerry

But that is off topic now


going back to the subject, ever since they updated Winamp I am not liking it also and feel it is too cluttered up....

what else do you recommend guys?

PS: I don't have any portable devices

 

Wow ... to copy an MP3 to your iPad or whatever device you literally plug it in and click sync ... If you didn't screw with the settings you don't even need to open iTunes or click Sync. You just plug it in and iTunes opens automatically and sync automatically all your songs, videos, etc. Not sure how it can get simpler than plug in and wait.

 

sync?? Don't I need to first add those files to the album of iTunes? that's my problem, not the syncing, but adding the mp3s to the iTunes library is a PITA

 

You have to tell itunes to download the artwork first or add it manually. itunes opens when you pug in an ipod because it's process is loaded at startup, wretched thing. I sincerely loathe programs that automatically configure themselves to be startup items without telling you. I find itunes unwieldy, but i cope with it because i have an iPod.

Anyways here are some free alternatives, check them out and pick the one you like best.

Media Monkey
Zune player
Media Player Classic
Winamp

There is a thread one or two months old about this very topic in the windows forum, look for it as well as it contains some useful info.

 

foobar2000

 

I use itunes, works for my music, nothing difficult about it at all. Add music, then download artwork, job done. Then to put onto iphone (i'm guessing it's similar for the ipad), drag the files over to the device, nothing difficult about it whatsoever, unless you mess with the settings.

even a lot of technophobes I know use itunes as it is so simple.

I have all my music stored on my D: in one folder, aptly named Music, so to add all of my music, I simply go to file in itunes, then add folder, select my music folder and it's done, nothing can be simpler

 

Oh. To add to iTunes you just press Ctrl + O (for open) and select all of your music ... If you wanted album art work just right-click the song(s) in iTunes and click Get Artwork. I'm not supporting iTunes, I just want to point out that none of this is non-obvious.

 

Thanks, downloaded it

 

foobar2000 is the correct answer

 

the correct answer is windows media player when on a pc, itunes when on a mac.

other than that: you know of drag'n'drop? take your songs you want to sync to any apple device, and drag them into itunes. done. can't be any more simple to add songs.

i use itunes for the store (i own legal music!), other than that, windows media player on the normal pc's/laptops, windows media center on, well, the media center pc. for both video and audio, in both cases.

 

foobar2000 foobar2000
Unofficial FooBar forum: Hydrogenaudio Forums -> foobar2000


Foobar gets my choice because of it's simplicity and it is highly customizable:
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Did they already release 20TB ipod?

 

Using WMP or iTunes for audio playback is indefensible in 2011.

 

I like Winamp but I can't stand the looks, all the standard skins are so dark and ugly, and all you can download looks like ten year old, or made by ten year-olds.
Also, when you maximize/minimize it it's the most sluggish program on the computer.

I'd like something that looks like WMP12. WMP itself is unstable, if you add enough music it starts freezing up, or shuts down.
I've tried it on different computers, always the same, never happens with Winamp.

Will try Foobar, have done it before but never tried customize it.

 

I used to just use the standard windows media player but then itunes which I never liked. Usually I use media player clasic when playing music.


For now I'm trying out winamp to see if it's any good. I did try out foobar but it just annoyed me.

 

A lot of components that you can add as well which is good. Makes it even more powerful.
foobar2000: Components Repository

Think I saw that when I used it.

I tried it and just did not seem to like it.

 

I'm trying Foobar now, I like it. It looks a lot different than last time I used it.

 

The part of foobar that's annoying to me is that you have to figure out how to use it and how to put it together. I like things to function a bit better out of the box rather than require configuration. I gave foobar all of five minutes, then I moved on to try Media Monkey and Winamp. Winamp, by far, has the best playback quality (same as media player) and iTunes has the absolute worst. I would never go back to iTunes after comparing the same file.

 

The thing I like about WinAmp is you don't have to be Anal and build sub-directories of sub-directories of sub directories to organize your tunes by Album - Artist - Title - Track (or) Title - Artist - Album - Track (or) Artist - Album - Title - .... Well you get what I mean. I keep all of my music in a couple of directories and in mere milliseconds I can sort the whole collection any of those ways, or by bitrate or by last time I played it.....

 

I am agree that some of the skins are really ugly, but there are a lots which are excellent, and you have almost all the options possible on it, you just need to search, this has been always one of my favourite:

MMD3 - Winamp

 

Winamp. It's very customisable, very tweakable, and has one thing that no other player has - Advanced Visualisation Studio, best music visualiser ever. I have a great collection of presets for it, can upload if you'd like.

When installing, I recommend deselect everything you don't need (video playback support, etc.) to have a lean and fast configuration.

 

well, yes, no need to defend it. as it's perfect anyways. works, finds all my music on my whole network of system, plays it all back, sorts, filters, starts in an instant, no need to tweak, configure, no stupid skinning (i like consistency, any app that has a window theme that looks different has no high chance of survival on my systems. like winamp f.e.)

itunes is just used to access the itunes store. the only usable online store where i life. so no need to defend that. i don't download stuff illegaly, i pay for my music. there are no real other options than itunes around there (cds are much worse option, but they're the only other option at all)

 

LOL that's exactly what I'm talking about. It looks, and nearly is, ten year old. A bit like a spaceship, or a gaming control pad with a display. All those rounded corners, that feeling of a blue tinted glass in front of the play list, and buttons arranged in strange ways. I want it more simple.

I'm glad you like it, but it's not for me. Thanks for trying to help me anyway.

 

So, If you want a more simple and clean interface, how about getting the CD Art display 2.0 and implement it with winamp?

CD Art Display

Skins:

http://www.cdartdisplay.com/index.php?categoryid=2&p13_sectionid=3

If you want more, there are lots of skins on deviantART....

 

Gotta find the right skin. The Rainify for Winamp skin allows me to integrate Winamp into my desktop/rainmeter setup. Check out #6 in the attached image. I've modified the skin to remove the background from the playback panel, but it looks exactly like it were a part of rainmeter.

 

Your desktop looks awesome!

Yup, it totally looks like it is a part of it! But I prefer more "flashy" and cool things that neat and simple.

By the way I love the style and the colours that you use for the drives and the memory!

 

You prefer AVS to MilkDrop?

 

Oh yes. The presets are way more advanced. Here are some I like: avs presets.rar Unpack this archive to Winamp\Plugins\avs folder, overwriting existing files. (Alternatively, rename your existing avs folder to something else, create a new one and unpack it there.) The presets will be in the "Best" subfolder in the AVS preset menu.

 

I use and like MediaMonkey when transferring stuff to my Cowon J3.

 

I use Zune Software. I love it. It manages my music and podcasts perfectly with simplicity and editing is a breeze. I don't care about skins, I care about functionality and it has that. I also have a Zune 8GB and WP7 so thats another reason I use it. Wireless sync is byfar the most convientient thing ever!

 

Itunes: I have a mac and it goes perfectly with my Itouch

 

Foobar with DarkOne skin from Deviantart.

-> Free, lightweight, plays a lot of formats.
Also, the fact that I can search through and manage a 76GB 320kbit/s MP3 library from my Home Server over g WiFi.

 

That's why I didn't get into foobar. Too much work out-of-the-box to get it up and running.

Good luck!

 

That was the fun part for me. Customizing it to the way I like it.

 

Understandable. I have customized Winamp to the way I like it. It, however, didn't require configuration in order to work from the get go. Foobar did. That wasn't fun for me.

 

I see you got further since I slept (That's why I only replied to your PM this morning)
That's the dark one them - you get 3 options for the playlist layout.
And obviously, you will need to add the location of your library in foobar.

If you build it up from scratch, yes. If you use a theme available on the web such as DarkOne, no.

 

winamp - if you like to tinker
foobar - if you really like to tinker more.. like waaay more.
itunes - install, sync and allows more features if your using any apple related gadgets.
wmp - out-of-the box default player. I use this on any random mp3s i get to double click to open then it goes to the background as I browse the web or do work.

 

Good Ole Windows Media Player baby!!

 

WinAmp here since the very early versions.

 

I like the Zune software. Admittedly I never would have tried it if I didn't get a 120GB Zune, but I ended up preferring it. Convinced me to get a Zune pass - for the cost of a CD per month, I get:

- unlimited streaming on multiple PCs (installed one 3 home laptops and my office laptop.
- unlimited DRM downloads that are stored on laptop + Zune device (these go away if I ever cancel my Zune Pass).
- unlimited streaming on my XBOX 360.
- 10 free DRM-free downloads per month

 

I personally cant stand winamp and have been using mediamonkey lately. Never tried foobar though

 

MediaMonkey is a good compromise between accessibility and options.