Which media player (for audio)?

97tbird · Jan 20, 2006

Guys,

Sorry for all my pc related "?"s these days

I listen to music while working on my PC sometimes, and I still have the ancient RealPlayer 2.0 version.
I thought about upgrading, and it seems like the new RealPlayer 10.0 is infested with ads, ads, and more ads, etc, that it's a real resource hog and that it's a PITA...doesn't sound good.

Is there a small, good quality audio player that one can get (free is best) that does the job in XP, and doesn't put a bunch of ads and pop ups?

ALSO: When I play the music that I've stored in "my music" file (i have XP), they automatically open with RealPlayer and play...is there anyway I can "import" all the files in "my music" to the windows Media player? I tried several things, but doesn't seem to work. I can only save tracks in Media player when I put in a CD, and save from it.
my version is "9 series" 9.000 something. (don't have the updates after 2002)

would be great if someone can let me know.
Thanks a bunch.

ToyotaNSaturn · Jan 20, 2006

I'm partial to WinAmp. No ads unless you click on the 3rd party video links.

To import all your files into WinAmp, open the program, then just drag the top-most level folder (usually the "My Music" folder), and drop it on the WinAmp playlist and it will import your files.

Pablo · Jan 20, 2006

TNS - thanks for the tip - since I was "re-accessorising" my "new" PC - I had the same question. Hate Real(anything). And MS MP sucks.

I used to use WinAmp for Win 3.1 and forgot all about it! I may even do the $19.95 thing.....maybe not.

97tbird · Jan 20, 2006

Thanks T&S; I'm reading about it on download.com right now...expert reviews seem pretty good so far. it's only 5.27 MB.

does it have an equalizer? The version available for free is Winamp Full 5.1
is that what you have, too?

another important "?":
i just right clicked on one of the files in "my music" folder, and checked properties, and it says "file type" is "Real System Media". If I get Winamp, and drag and drop those files to it, will WinAmp be able to play "real" type files?

97tbird · Jan 20, 2006

Dang:
I just read this on Winamp FAQ:

"Does Winamp 5 support QuickTime or Real Audio/Video?

No, Winamp 5 currently does not support the playback of either of these formats"

or am I getting it all wrong, 'cause T&S said he was able to drag and drop his My Music folder ....?

T-Keith · Jan 20, 2006

Winamp is good. If it's only available in real player, drop it. Realplayer has almost always been spyware. Older versions wouldn't let you uninstall it.

97tbird · Jan 20, 2006

Thanks. will try

GeaugaFletcher · Jan 20, 2006

Go with Foobar2000. It plays everything, comes from the Linux community so there's NO spyware (etc) and doesn't chew up all your system resources.

www.foobar2000.com

WinAmp is a bloated hog now. I remember when it was the "cool" mp3 player.

97tbird · Jan 20, 2006

it looks like JetAudio 6.0 is the only one which can play all formats, INCLUDING all Real and wma and mp3 formats, and this is the only one which CNET gave 5 stars, and it won the "best Juke Box" award, too...hmm...it's bigger, though.

and it DOES look like i have all the crap in the my music folder in Real Audio format, not MP3...so WinAMp is not gonna play the, either...and the extentions look like too much work...JetAudio seems more attractive right now...despite the 15MB. I think I'll try it.

I'll let you guys know how it works out very soon...

Pablo · Jan 20, 2006

Is JetAudio 6.0 free?

Right now if something is "REAL" it's not on my PC!!!

(that's why I didn't have an issue with WinAmp)

Virtuoso · Jan 21, 2006

Audio? Winamp.

Quattro Pete · Jan 21, 2006

97tbird, I've been using XMPlay as an audio player for years now. It's pretty simple and doesn't take up a lot of space, no spyware, no adds, and it's free.

http://www.un4seen.com/

It supports a lot of formats out of the box, and for others, like Real Audio, you can download a plug-in. Not sure about Quicktime, though. Most of my files are either .mp3 or .ogg.

I don't know how good of a juke box it is though.

NJC · Jan 21, 2006

Winamp.

97tbird · Jan 21, 2006

QP:

I checked the link. Thanks.
When I went through the list of plug-ins, though, I didn't see a plug-in for Real formats

Did I miss it?

-----------------------------------------------
Pablo:

Yes, the JetAudio basic is free.
(you have to pay for MP3 encoding, it looks like

for just the MP3/MP3 Pro encoding, the extention pack is only $8.00
(in my case that doesn't matter, though

I only need something which can play Real-crap)

You can read all about it at www.download.com
Just type in "jetaudio" in the search-box, and then you can read all about it: prof. and user reviews.

What I find good about it is that it seems to be 100% ready to use as soon as you download it, and no need to for plug-ins and extentions for Real-formats.

Here's the manufacturer link:
http://www.cowonamerica.com/products/jetaudio/

[ January 21, 2006, 05:47 PM: Message edited by: 97tbird ]

Quattro Pete · Jan 21, 2006

quote:

When I went through the list of plug-ins, though, I didn't see a plug-in for Real formats

Did I miss it?

It's the TARA plug-in, I think:
http://support.xmplay.com/Plugins_input.html#TARA

But then it says "RealPlayer *MUST* be installed for this plugin to work," which is exactly what you're trying to get rid of, I guess.

zombie_tech · Jan 21, 2006

Not sure about the plugins for realmedia or quicktime but for handling what program plays a file the easiest option and least destructive if you have Windows XP is to go through explorer and find the file you want to play, right-click and choose "open with". XP will automatically show the programs it knows that can handle the file format.

example

Not the Autorx Frank · Jan 21, 2006

itunes is free.

ToyotaNSaturn · Jan 21, 2006

I believe WinAmp 5 added the ability to play WMA audio files. I don't know if they have plug-ins for QT or Real formats.

The "My Music" folder is exclusively MP3 and WMA files, so I didn't run into any issues importing or having WinAmp play the formats on my systems.

Real has some great technologies behind it, but man, when did they go from a technology company to an almost-spyware company?

ToyotaNSaturn · Jan 21, 2006

97tbird, you can change the association of any file via Windows Explorer. Open up My Computer, then click on the C: drive. Click on the Tools > Folder Options > File Types tab. Peruse down and look for the MP3 and WMA extensions. For each file type extension, choose WinAmp (or any other program of your choice) to associate these files with.

Note: When you disassociate a file type with Real Player, the next time you open Real, it will nag you to "fix" those associations. Just ignore Real's plea to re-associate itself with these file types.

zombie_tech · Jan 21, 2006

Go with Winamp. There are also a number of third party plugins that add support for other formats.

Which media player (for audio)?

Similar threads