Entered CNET Catalog: 11/23/2004
SKU: SERVNULLSOFTWINAMP5
Manufacturer: NullSoft
Product summary
The good: Basic, efficient, and fun to use; plug-in architecture lends itself to enhancements and customizations; nag-free access to online media, including AOL's audio and video services and 20 XM Satellite Radio channels; loyal and creative community support.
The bad: Detached, multipanel interface isn't for everyone; no direct access to online music stores besides AOL Music Now; limited to 2X ripping and burning in the free version; free version lacks MP3, AAC, and WMA encoding.
The bottom line: Winamp is still a fun player for customizing your playback experience, but most users will prefer the all-in-one experience of Windows Media Player or iTunes.
Editors' review
- Editors' Choice: No
- Reviewed on: 11/29/2004
Visually, Winamp has been in a holding pattern since AOL's acquisition of Nullsoft in June 1999, although its developers make sure it keeps up with current features. The latest releases build in access to AOL Music Now (AOL's online music store) and In2TV (AOL's online TV reruns channel). They've also added native support for portable music players and free access to 20 XM Satellite Radio channels, courtesy of AOL Radio. AOL corporate expansion seems to drive much of the development but certainly not everything; a component called Shoutcast Wire lets users discover, subscribe to, and download podcasts. The paid version ($19.95) lets you rip and burn CDs at up to 48X speed, as well as encode tracks to AAC+, AAC, MP3, and WMA.
You can download the free player in any of three versions: Lite for plain music playback (only 1.2MB); Full with skins, library, and access to a variety of audio and video resources (6.01MB); and Bundle, which comes with all that, plus a sample song (8.42MB). Winamp installs quickly and is mercifully quiet about nagging for registration and upgrades.
The Winamp interface uses dockable or detachable panes, and the main ones are the Controller, Media Library, Playlist Editor, and Video playback windows. This multipanel approach takes some getting used to if you're accustomed to a player such as WMP or iTunes, and it has certainly scared away some average Joe users who felt they weren't hip enough for the room. If that's you, keep at it: Winamp provides so much for free that it's worth learning. The main Controller sits at the top and shows you what's currently playing; it provides a 10-band equalizer and tools for customizing the interface. The Media Library sits below it and provides access to local content, online audio and video files, and playlists. The bottom of this window displays album art and artist biographies accessed over the Internet. Winamp now supports portable music players and, naturally, works with CD drives for ripping and burning discs. One of the few features it's missing is line-in recording, although that won't be a minus for most people.
The Media Library panel provides free and convenient access to a fantastic variety of streaming media. This includes online radio stations (including 20 XM channels and many others from Shoutcast), streaming TV, podcasts, music videos, and even neatly categorized songs on demand. One of the latest additions is access to AOL's Music Now online store, which offers both subscription and à la carte downloads from its catalog of more than 2 million tracks. Access Music Now through Winamp and you'll see the same interface as through a browser, but streamed tracks will play through Winamp. The player doesn't offer access to any other online music stores.
We're curious to see what lies ahead for Winamp: whether there's more to its future development than simply providing access to new AOL services and whether it ever regains the popularity it once enjoyed. It deserves to, since it provides so much content for free, and is sure to keep audio and video lovers happy. For now, the Winamp community continues to create and upload new skins and plug-ins, and Winamp support responds quickly to e-mail requests when you're having difficulty.
User opinions
Select a User Opinion to view: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16out of 16 user reviews
The best general media player on the market.
Pros: Awesome "windows" browsing interface
Built-in web browsing
Amazing Milkdrop 2 visualizer included
Ability to recognize ANY mp3 player
Themes
Cons: $20 for pro version for faster CD burning, mp3 encoding
Not available on all OSes
Not integrated with any music stores
out of 16 user reviews
Outstanding
Pros: best quality player. tons of skins. no advertisements. no online store (pro to me cause i dont use it). plays all music formats
Cons: doesnt go well with some mp3 players, no good ripping without pay but i use a dedicated ripping program anyway
Appearance - Buttons are placed nicely. Display is great. There's tons of skins for this player. If willing to spend the time searching, you'd probably run into a skin that matched your PCs theme perfectly. small & still easily manageable through the over 6400+ songs I have.
Playback Quality - Doesn't get any better that I know of. (I have iTunes, WMP, and Yahoo) Plays every type of music format there is. Equalizer allows you to shape the sound however you need to.
Navigation - The search function in media library will be your best friend when you have thousands of songs and it works great. (Type enough of the artist's name and part of the song or album name for better results. If they're featured in or composed other artist's songs, you'll also see those)
Videos - I don't download videos much but from what I have played on it, it does fine. Resizes itself to whatever size the video is. Has 1x zoom (normal size), 2x zoom, full screen - the toolbar and total full screen view modes. Can get iffy and frustrating when 2x zoom and the display detaches itself.
Overall, this player is great, does everything I need it to do better than or as good as its competition and free of charge.
out of 16 user reviews
Cay you say P.O.S.? I think ya can
Pros: Eye candy, not much else
Cons: I/f is STILL annoying
Bottom line, if ya like eye candy, this player is for you. If you like quality sound with plenty of SOUND OPTIONS, go with Quintessential player or Real player Pro.
Also, expect this thing to crash every so often. Ran on XP, sp2 and had lots of issues with it crashing on start up and after leaving it up and running for awhile
out of 16 user reviews
Video: more or less; Music: the best
Pros: Support for AAC at higher sampling rate
Cons: Less fast and user friendly than WMP, mainly when playing video. At least, this is not a problem for me
This one support it, and I'm converting all my MP3s audio to AAC 96 kHz (16 bits). It's not the ideal, but this process increases significantly the overall quality of the music.
After a certain time converting and comparing your new AACs with its original source in MP3 you will conclude "My God, how can I listen to MP3s again?"
Of course, this require new equalization, but you will enjoy basses, mids and trebles like never before. This increase and even surpass CD quality if you convert direct to 96 kHz sampling rate AAC with the highest bitrate (320 kpbs).
out of 16 user reviews
Best all around player out there
Pros: Fully customizable, tons of plugins, quick, transcoding
Cons: Does not play bin/cue files, poor iPod support
I use the Pro version and on my computer, it rips CDs faster than anything else out there.
The media library is pretty decent as well, but when you've got all 2000 of your CDs in MP3 form, it can take a little while to load everything in there.
The only gripes i have are that it has poor ipod support and it does not play all my video files. Even with the iPod plugin and the new, included support, Winamp does not always connect to my ipod. Once it does, though, it's all good from there. When it comes to video, most of my files play, but i do have some stuff that I keep in bin/cue files or other weird formats. For those, I just use VLC.
out of 16 user reviews
winamp rocks
Pros: everything.
Cons: it sometime looses you playlist
the only problem I have had is it forgeting my playlist, but if you save it, you don't have that problem.
out of 16 user reviews
I've tried it all, and this works the best.
Pros: skinnable, bountiful plugins, fully customizable, plays everything
Cons: Owned by AOL
I stopped using Winamp with the release of Winamp3 which totally blew, but they re-established my following with the release of 5, and I've been a loyal user ever since. I prefer Winamp because it's a small install with a small memory footprint, has a very simple tweakable interface, with well laid buttons, and there are no online services attached to clutter my music interface, as I don't do any online music services. I prefer buying CDs used for a dollar or two on Amazon or Ebay, rather than a dollar per song.
I enjoy Winamp's interface because it is small, simple and precise, and I Have access to every feature I need without having the interface take up half the screen like Musicmatch and Windows Media Player. Musicmatch is my least favorite, followed by iTunes, then Windows Media.
The controls of Winamp seem intuitively simple which is how any program with a user interface should be.
Also, Winamp has Shoutcast, which has thousands of random and unique internet radio stations and user created playlists that can be accessed by a simple click. No matter which way you look at it, I prefer Winamp for my audio playing needs.
out of 16 user reviews
Good program, but...
Pros: A lot of plug-ins, many skins to choose from, XM radio stations, MilkDrop vizulization (see it to appreciate it), great playlist editing
Cons: unless you buy the program, ripping and burning CD's or using portable devices is pointless
out of 16 user reviews
For A/V playback and streaming media, Winamp gets it done in style
Pros: Simple yet powerful, customizable, lots of access to free media
Cons: Like Cnet said: it isn't an all-encompassing multimedia player/music shopping mall
I am still amazed that AOL owns Nullsoft- they haven't left their dastardly mark on Winamp at all. AOL has even been kind enough to grant Winamp access to its huge music and video archives, in which you can stream anything you want to for free. I use winamp mostly for music and internet radio, both of which it supports in leaps and bounds.
The Cnet review listed its "lack of access to online music stores" as a con, though I consider it a smart move: nothing annoys me more than a program throwing "related music" offers in my face when i try to play one Metallica song. Also, if you don't like the idea of detached windows, there is a skin that makes Winamp look and feel almost exactly like WMP.
I find it interesting that users rate Winamp as "Very good" and musicmatch as "mediocre" despite contrary Cnet reviews. I believe this is simply because most people just want to play music with no frills attached. In that respect, Winamp is a solid contender.
out of 16 user reviews
Surely there's something better out there
Pros: Popular, free
Cons: Uses too many resources, vulgar, no True random playing
If you go by their site be prepared to be cursed at. I guess it's their way.
Their random play feature doesn't work. I've tried it with different versions of their software with little success. I have over 800 cds which I've ripped to my computer. With that amount of songs I should go for quite awhile before hearing repeats, or at least not very many repeats. There are many songs I never hear at all. I forgot I even had some of them.
Winamp isn't bad, there just have to be better players out there.
out of 16 user reviews
Best Quality Playback and Burning software plugins with unique visualizations and user skins
Pros: Plugins with Enhanced Music Burning capabilities and playback performance.
Cons: A few homemade amatuer plugins are prone to buggs and errors; Some plugins may not be compatible with other soundcards (Soundblaster Live 5.1, Audigy etc.,)
out of 16 user reviews
The Best Player Around
Pros: Global Hotkeys that let you control winamp from anywhere in windows and even in directx games
Cons: Rarely it crashes,
Fully customisable, plays almost every audio format.
A vast number of radio stations and streaming music all for free.
Fully skinable
very light on cpu usage(When minimised uses less than 3%)
Very good Media Library.
Plugins extend functionally even further.
out of 16 user reviews
neater and quicker than the rest
Pros: It doesn't take over your screen or your resources
Cons: It doesn't make coffee
It produces playlists for my iRiver.
OK it doean't rip, but I would rather use dedicated software for that.
It has great skins and visualisations.
out of 16 user reviews
The iTunes killer
Pros: The interface, besides being aesthetically clean and appealing, is intuitive and highly customizable. Get pro for CHEAP and get great ripping & burning. Everything iTunes has - but better!
Cons: The different windows for peripheral options such as playlists, libraries, equilizers, and visualizations may be a little cumbersome for some users.
It doesn't work with online subscription services and it won't synch with your portable digital music players - but who cares? Keep listening to music and synching it with your portable players separate! With these all-in-one programs all you get is a headache. Keep it simple.
out of 16 user reviews
Best Music Player
Pros: skins, plugins, disconnected (if you want it to be), great playback, detailed artist info
Cons: default skin is not the best
out of 16 user reviews
so good i bought pro
Pros: simple powerful efective and fast
Cons: to get good ripping and burning you must get pro and you have no music store and mp3 cd burning
