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Winamp is a popular media player developed by Nullsoft that was first released by Justin Frankel in 1996. Version 5.5 was released on October 10th, 2007 marking the 10th anniversary of the software and includes many upgrades includes a new Bento skin. Winamp first gained popularity in 1997 when the new mp3 format of compressed digital music first made its appearance on the Internet.

Winamp sticker #1
MSRP $0.00
Release date June, 1997
Brand Nullsoft
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Pros & Cons15
Reviews31
Details
Buy It
Competitors7
Comments14
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Pros & Cons

ProSCORE
30 reviews
82
negative
mixed
positive
26 positive
2 mixed
2 negative

[i] How is the ProSCORE calculated?

show me!

Pros:
Do you agree?
•
Extensive plugin support
+25agreedisagree

•
Not a computer resource hog like WMP
+16agreedisagree

•
Great UI, with easy to access library, playlist, EQ, visualization, etc.
+14agreedisagree

•
Customizable with skins
+14agreedisagree

•
Shoutcast support
+13agreedisagree

•
Excellent Internet radio integration
+12agreedisagree

•
Slick look with cool visualizations
+10agreedisagree

•
Customizable visualizations
+10agreedisagree

•
Multiple sound card support: listen on your hi-fi card while Windows gets the onboard chip.
+10agreedisagree

•
Auto-Tag feature: good for roll your own mp3s and to correct these collectors items.
+8agreedisagree

•
modular design, most useless bloat can be removed
+2agreedisagree

Cons:
Do you agree?
•
Windows Only
+14agreedisagree

•
default installation includes a lot of useless bloat
+5agreedisagree

•
owned by AOL
+4agreedisagree

•
poor for most things besides listening to music
+3agreedisagree


31 people added to this review by submitting or voting on pros and cons. Add your say!
See individual votes »

Details

Winamp 1.0 - the classic look

Features

  • audio formats: MP3, AAC, Ogg Vorbis MIDI, MOD, MP1, MP2, M4A, Ogg Vorbis, FLAC, WAV, WMA, Chiptunes, and more
  • video formats: AVI, MPEG, NSV (Nullsoft Streaming Video)
  • includes many visualizations with full-screen support
  • keyboard shortcuts
  • extensive plug-in support for input/output, sound and visual effects
  • skinnable with many freely available skins
  • free access to streaming media including: Internet radio and XM Satellite radio (powered by AOL radio)
  • ripping, encoding, burning in Winamp Pro version
  • support for portable media players

Winamp 5.5 - the Bento skin (click to see full)

It is currently the second most popular media player to Microsoft's Windows Media Player. As of 2005, Winamp had approximately 55 million user worldwide. It is available in two versions: 1) a fully-functional free version, and 2) a Pro version available for $19.95 that adds extensive ripping, encoding, and burning functionality. See Winamp.com for more information and to download the player.

Submit a link

This report was started October 19, 2007 at 11:45 am by Erik
with the last edit occurring Wednesday, 9:28 PM by keatsta
This page has been viewed 7373 times, with 304 edits by 41 contributors.
See the full report history »

Buy It

Competitors

Winamp is ranked 3rd among it's competitors.  See the top picks in Media Software »
VLC media player

VLC media player

MSRP  $0.00    Released  February, 2001
Pros
  • Supports lots of codecs
  • Does not use much memory and opens quickly
  • Available for Windows and Macintosh
Cons
  • Can't select multiple objects and have them play in succession
  • Can't handle dynamic soft subtitles as well as some competitors.
  • Artifacts sometimes appear when skipping through some filetypes.
ProSCORE
38 reviews
86
Vote! (17 votes)
vote Winamp 29% vs. vote VLC media player 71%
foobar2000

foobar2000

MSRP  $0.00    Released  December, 2002
Pros
  • limited memory usage
  • highly customizable
  • Supports a wide range of audio codecs
  • Supports many tagging formats for metadata
Cons
  • Windows only
  • does not work with some media keyboards, or difficult to configure.
ProSCORE
12 reviews
82
Vote! (17 votes)
vote Winamp 41% vs. vote foobar2000 59%
iTunes

iTunes

MSRP  $0.00    Released  January, 2001
Pros
  • Easy-to-use synching with iPod device
  • Clean, slick, easy to use interface.
  • Excellent support for podcasts, mostly free podcast subscriptions.
Cons
  • Installs many services and bloatware
  • Slows down Windows
  • High startup time on Windows
ProSCORE
39 reviews
56
Vote! (28 votes)
vote Winamp 57% vs. vote iTunes 43%
Songbird

Songbird

MSRP  $0.00    Released  December, 2008
Pros
  • expandable with extensions
  • cross-platform
  • stable
Cons
  • still missing many standard features
  • internal browser is somewhat useless
  • No PowerPC build for Mac
ProSCORE
2 reviews
60
Vote! (3 votes)
vote Winamp 67% vs. vote Songbird 33%
Windows Media Player

Windows Media Player

MSRP  --    Released  --
Pros
  • Mini-player
  • has all the bells and whistles you would expect
  • Good for most videos.
Cons
  • Awful library management functions
  • Will not play licensed media without internet connection or licence
  • Bloatware
ProSCORE
19 reviews
22
Vote! (21 votes)
vote Winamp 71% vs. vote Windows Media Player 29%
MediaMonkey

MediaMonkey

MSRP  --    Released  January, 2006
Pros
  • Automatically tag and Album Art lookup
  • Auto volume leveling
  • Auto tagging
  • Audio CD ripping
Cons
  • PC Only
  • Separate for-pay "gold" version
ProSCORE
4 reviews
84
Vote! (7 votes)
vote Winamp 86% vs. vote MediaMonkey 14%
DivX Player

DivX Player

MSRP  $0.00    Released  January, 2007
Pros
  • Works with Advanced and Ultra DivX features
Cons
  • No Audio EQ
  • No Video Controls (Brightness, Color Balance, Etc.)
ProSCORE
2 reviews
33
Vote! (6 votes)
vote Winamp 100% vs. vote DivX Player 0%

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Comments

28 taps
show more
1.  avatar Erik said:

I was an original Winamp user back in 97, but, for some reason, switched to Windows Media player in 2002 (probably coinciding with when I first go XP). Last year, I switched back to Winamp and I haven't looked back.

Winamp is great for Internet radio, and does a great job at organizing you media library without mucking things up like WMP. It is also fairly fast and doesn't bog down your system.

If you're using the MS product, I highly suggest you switch to Winamp and add bookmarks to Radio Paradise and the Hype Machine playlist.
Oct 19, 2007 11:51am
2.  avatar GT-D said:

I used winamp from 1997 through till about 4 years ago or something (I cant remember when I switched now). I then switched to Foobar2000. I find Foobar less bulky then winamp even and much more customizable. Winamp I found had a hard time organizing and maintaining my music collection when it hit the 60gb mark.
With my collection almost at 125 gb foobar is invaluable for keeping it all organized into well ordered play lists.
Oct 23, 2007 10:25am
3.  avatar greedoe said:

Personally concerned that winamp doesn't control your mp3s like iTunes. if you edit a file in Itunes, it renames it and even puts it into the proper folder. Winamp seems to rely on you to do all this, while just updating the id3 tag.
Oct 30, 2007 10:47am
4.  avatar Erik said:

I actually prefer that Winamp leaves the filenames intact. I used to have Windows Media Player rename my files, and it caused many headaches. I really like the simplicity of the Winamp library..it doesn't do things you don't want it to without you knowing it.
Oct 30, 2007 10:58am
5.  avatar GT-D said:

yeah - I hate players that rename and move files. >_< foobar goes a step further, you can tell it not to update ID3 tags and just store a separate list of edits to ID3 data, as if you are seeding a torrent and edit the ID3 data it causes the torrent to fail the hash check, and stop seeding.
Oct 31, 2007 11:15am
6.  avatar dialupinternetuser said:

Does WinAmp support iPods? Then I might switch. However I do like the renaming of music in iTunes, but it pisses me off when it screws with my videos, which I keep somewhere else.
Jan 05, 2008 4:05pm
7.  avatar Erik said:

Yes, it looks like you can:

http://www.simplehelp.net/2007/07/07/how-to-use-winamp-to-manage-your-ipod/
Jan 06, 2008 10:57am
8.  avatar realraven2000 said:

Using Winamp since version 1... tried WMP + iTunes.

Pros:

The AutoTag feature is invaluable to me since I rip a lot of my mp3s from my own Vinyl collection. Visualizations run rings around the ones in Media Player or iTunes. Finally I can select the sound card without sending my windows plings and boings through my studio desk & speakers (can't do that in iTunes or media player).

I believe if they advance the Album Art download to have more control and high res images and some sort of Cover Flow interface then Winamp could be the iTunes killer.

Cons:

Only runs in windows.
Feb 05, 2008 4:00am
9.  avatar GT-D said:

Hmm, people are voting down the fact that winamp is somewhat bloated, yet no one has addressed this in the comments.

I'd like to hear what people have to say about it. It's been awhile since I used winamp, but when I stopped they were in the process of continually adding more features and a fancier UI.

I switched because I didn't want a player that spent so long loading because of my huge music collection and wasn't particularly effective at organizing it, didn't have good options for mass-tagging, included various extra features like video playback (I have a different app then that and it was pitiful in winamp) and generally had a fairly large footprint as far as system resources went.

Did Winamp really change its design philosophy in previous years?
Mar 10, 2008 10:40am
10.  avatar dialupinternetuser said:

Winamp does have mass tagging issues, but other than that I really like it. Just be sure not to install Winamp Remote, Agent, or Toolbar. They're what bloat it and take up RAM. I use Tag&Rename for my mass tagging features. It's shareware, but there's cracked versions available. *cough* www.fullandfree.info *cough.* It works nicely for me. Be sure to disable reading of subfolders so it doesn't read your music collection all at once.
Mar 25, 2008 4:15pm
11.  avatar dialupinternetuser said:

Also if you have an iPhone/iPod touch be sure to install the ml_iPod plugin which adds support for them. It also supports reverse sync, which is nice (for getting videos off other people's iPods...)
Mar 25, 2008 4:18pm
12.  avatar ekek said:

I am using both winamp & wmp I like winamp in playing music.It sounds great. Iam using mad for 24 bit input.For output plug-in Iam using T&T sorround output ,(sorry I cant remember what is the exact name) + audio burst fx and it Sounds excellent in my 5.1 speaker set-up.Iam using WMP11 skin.File management with winamp has no problem with me.
Sep 29, 2008 3:14pm
13.  avatar fractalhorizon said:

Clunky user interface compared to iTunes
Mar 13, 2009 12:13am
14.  avatar GT-D said:

Still somewhat bloated compared to Foobar2000 and other players aimed at expert users
Mar 13, 2009 12:14am
Some HTML is allowed. Your comments remain editable after you post..

Reviews

Sort by: Most helpful  •  Newest  •  Most positive

fractalhorizon

avatar
October 11, 2009
approved
reviewer
ProSCORE
64
negative
mixed
positive
7 pros
4 cons
trustedtrusted
3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

Pros

  • Extensive plugin support
  • Not a computer resource hog like WMP
  • Customizable with skins
  • Shoutcast support
  • Excellent Internet radio integration
  • Multiple sound card support: listen on your hi-fi card while Windows gets the onboard chip.
  • Auto-Tag feature: good for roll your own mp3s and to correct these collectors items.

Cons

  • Windows Only
  • default installation includes a lot of useless bloat
  • owned by AOL
  • poor for most things besides listening to music

Comments

"Clunky user interface compared to iTunes "

Competitors

fractalhorizon prefers VLC media player, foobar2000, iTunes over Winamp
fractalhorizon prefers Winamp over Songbird, Windows Media Player, MediaMonkey, DivX Player
Did you find this review helpful?
Yes
 / 
No

Erik

avatar
March 25, 2009
approved
reviewer
ProSCORE
82
negative
mixed
positive
9 pros
2 cons
trustedtrusted
have ithave it
3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

Pros

  • Extensive plugin support
  • Not a computer resource hog like WMP
  • Great UI, with easy to access library, playlist, EQ, visualization, etc.
  • Customizable with skins
  • Shoutcast support
  • Excellent Internet radio integration
  • Slick look with cool visualizations
  • Multiple sound card support: listen on your hi-fi card while Windows gets the onboard chip.
  • Auto-Tag feature: good for roll your own mp3s and to correct these collectors items.

Cons

  • default installation includes a lot of useless bloat
  • poor for most things besides listening to music

Comments

"I was an original Winamp user back in 97, but, for some reason, switched to Windows Media player in 2002 (probably coinciding with when I first go XP). Last year, I switched back to Winamp and I haven't looked back.

Winamp is great for Internet radio, and does a great job at organizing you media library without mucking things up like WMP. It is also fairly fast and doesn't bog down your system.

If you're using the MS product, I highly suggest you switch to Winamp and add bookmarks to Radio Paradise and the Hype Machine playlist."
"I actually prefer that Winamp leaves the filenames intact. I used to have Windows Media Player rename my files, and it caused many headaches. I really like the simplicity of the Winamp library..it doesn't do things you don't want it to without you knowing it."
"Yes, it looks like you can:

http://www.simplehelp.net/2007/07/07/how-to-use-winamp-to-manage-your-ipod/"

Competitors

Erik prefers Winamp over foobar2000, Windows Media Player, iTunes
Did you find this review helpful?
Yes
 / 
No

Yale

avatar
March 25, 2009
approved
reviewer
ProSCORE
64
negative
mixed
positive
7 pros
4 cons
trustedtrusted
have ithave it
3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

Pros

  • Extensive plugin support
  • Not a computer resource hog like WMP
  • Great UI, with easy to access library, playlist, EQ, visualization, etc.
  • Excellent Internet radio integration
  • Slick look with cool visualizations
  • Customizable visualizations
  • modular design, most useless bloat can be removed

Cons

  • Windows Only
  • default installation includes a lot of useless bloat
  • owned by AOL
  • poor for most things besides listening to music

Competitors

Yale prefers foobar2000 over Winamp
Did you find this review helpful?
Yes
 / 
No

dialupinternetuser

avatar
June 25, 2008
approved
reviewer
ProSCORE
91
negative
mixed
positive
10 pros
1 con
trustedtrusted
love itlove it
have ithave it
3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

Pros

  • Extensive plugin support
  • Not a computer resource hog like WMP
  • Great UI, with easy to access library, playlist, EQ, visualization, etc.
  • Customizable with skins
  • Shoutcast support
  • Excellent Internet radio integration
  • Slick look with cool visualizations
  • Customizable visualizations
  • Multiple sound card support: listen on your hi-fi card while Windows gets the onboard chip.
  • Auto-Tag feature: good for roll your own mp3s and to correct these collectors items.

Cons

  • Windows Only

Comments

"Does WinAmp support iPods? Then I might switch. However I do like the renaming of music in iTunes, but it pisses me off when it screws with my videos, which I keep somewhere else."
"Winamp does have mass tagging issues, but other than that I really like it. Just be sure not to install Winamp Remote, Agent, or Toolbar. They're what bloat it and take up RAM. I use Tag&Rename for my mass tagging features. It's shareware, but there's cracked versions available. *cough* www.fullandfree.info *cough.* It works nicely for me. Be sure to disable reading of subfolders so it doesn't read your music collection all at once."
"Also if you have an iPhone/iPod touch be sure to install the ml_iPod plugin which adds support for them. It also supports reverse sync, which is nice (for getting videos off other people's iPods...)"

Competitors

dialupinternetuser prefers Winamp over MediaMonkey, iTunes, Windows Media Player, DivX Player, VLC media player
Did you find this review helpful?
Yes
 / 
No

asatruer

avatar
June 12, 2008
approved
reviewer
ProSCORE
90
negative
mixed
positive
9 pros
1 con
trustedtrusted
have ithave it
2 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

Pros

  • Extensive plugin support
  • Not a computer resource hog like WMP
  • Great UI, with easy to access library, playlist, EQ, visualization, etc.
  • Customizable with skins
  • Shoutcast support
  • Excellent Internet radio integration
  • Slick look with cool visualizations
  • Customizable visualizations
  • Multiple sound card support: listen on your hi-fi card while Windows gets the onboard chip.

Cons

  • Windows Only

Competitors

asatruer prefers Winamp over iTunes, foobar2000, Windows Media Player, MediaMonkey
Did you find this review helpful?
Yes
 / 
No

hissy100

avatar
March 25, 2008
approved
reviewer
ProSCORE
91
negative
mixed
positive
10 pros
1 con
have ithave it
love itlove it
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Pros

  • Extensive plugin support
  • Not a computer resource hog like WMP
  • Great UI, with easy to access library, playlist, EQ, visualization, etc.
  • Customizable with skins
  • Shoutcast support
  • Excellent Internet radio integration
  • Slick look with cool visualizations
  • Customizable visualizations
  • Multiple sound card support: listen on your hi-fi card while Windows gets the onboard chip.
  • Auto-Tag feature: good for roll your own mp3s and to correct these collectors items.

Cons

  • Windows Only

Competitors

Did you find this review helpful?
Yes
 / 
No

Howlsthunder

avatar
April 1, 2009
approved
reviewer
ProSCORE
50
negative
mixed
positive
4 pros
4 cons
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Pros

  • Extensive plugin support
  • Not a computer resource hog like WMP
  • Customizable with skins
  • modular design, most useless bloat can be removed

Cons

  • Windows Only
  • default installation includes a lot of useless bloat
  • owned by AOL
  • poor for most things besides listening to music

Competitors

Howlsthunder prefers iTunes, VLC media player over Winamp
Did you find this review helpful?
Yes
 / 
No

Kerii

avatar
May 20, 2008
approved
reviewer
ProSCORE
100
negative
mixed
positive
7 pros
0 cons
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Pros

  • Extensive plugin support
  • Great UI, with easy to access library, playlist, EQ, visualization, etc.
  • Customizable with skins
  • Excellent Internet radio integration
  • Customizable visualizations
  • Multiple sound card support: listen on your hi-fi card while Windows gets the onboard chip.
  • Auto-Tag feature: good for roll your own mp3s and to correct these collectors items.

Cons

Did not agree with any cons

Competitors

Kerii prefers VLC media player, Windows Media Player over Winamp
Kerii prefers Winamp over iTunes, foobar2000, MediaMonkey, DivX Player
Did you find this review helpful?
Yes
 / 
No

yippiesmoke

avatar
November 15, 2007
approved
reviewer
ProSCORE
100
negative
mixed
positive
6 pros
0 cons
have ithave it
love itlove it
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Pros

  • Extensive plugin support
  • Not a computer resource hog like WMP
  • Great UI, with easy to access library, playlist, EQ, visualization, etc.
  • Customizable with skins
  • Slick look with cool visualizations
  • Customizable visualizations

Cons

Did not agree with any cons

Competitors

yippiesmoke prefers Winamp over iTunes, Windows Media Player
Did you find this review helpful?
Yes
 / 
No

rabidpotatochip

avatar
July 10, 2008
approved
reviewer
ProSCORE
75
negative
mixed
positive
3 pros
1 con
love itlove it
have ithave it
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Pros

  • Not a computer resource hog like WMP
  • Shoutcast support
  • Multiple sound card support: listen on your hi-fi card while Windows gets the onboard chip.

Cons

  • Windows Only

Competitors

rabidpotatochip prefers VLC media player over Winamp
Did you find this review helpful?
Yes
 / 
No
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