Jump to content

Best MP3 Players for Win9x


ScrewUpgrading

Recommended Posts

I'm trying to find a really good MP3 player. So I was wondering what you guys use.

Here are the programs I've tried, and the pros and cons:

1 by 1 Directory Player --- http://mpesch3.de1.cc/1by1.html

Pros: Simplicity, very small memory overhang, quick. You don't have to fiddle with playlists or anything. Most importantly it can handle every kind of MP3 I throw at it.

Cons: No playlists, tacky looking, not many features.

BS MP3 -- http://sites.google.com/site/bsprograms/the-programs/bs-mp3

Pros: small, doesn't need any installation, low memory usage. Very basic.

Cons: I don't think it can handle every type of MP3. I'm not sure it supports "variable bit rate" encoded files. No playlist ability.

VU Player --- http://www.vuplayer.com/vuplayer.php

Pros: nice interface, intuitive, more features than the above programs. More versatile. Seems to work with all my MP3 files. You can make playlists!

Cons: Uses more memory than the other programs.

Neutrius -- http://www.softpedia.com/progScreenshots/Neutrius-mp3-player-Screenshot-8450.html

Pros: uses very little memory, nice clean layout, "cool looking," has the ability to make a playlist and use skins. Overall pretty good.

Cons: biggest drawback is that it doesn't handle all MP3s. It's from 2006 and is no longer developed, which is a shame. Specifically, I don't think it handles "variable bit rate," or perhaps files with over 256 bit rate without an error.

What I used to do is convert the "problem" file to a .wav using CDex, then convert back to a normal bit rate (128-256) mp3.

... overall, I like the feel of Neutrius the best, but 1 by 1 is easily the most convenient and it's up-to-date.

How about you guys? What other programs are out there?

==================================================================

As a side note, the best MP3 downloading website I've come across is MP3Skull

http://mp3skull.com/

You can find almost anything on it. Plus, it's one of the few places that works with javascript disabled.

Oh yeah, if you like classical music, check out:

http://www.classiccat.com/

^ tons of free music

Edited by ScrewUpgrading
Link to comment
Share on other sites


I'd like to add a few words about 1by1 - my favorite player. First, it supports playlists (*.m3u playlists), though this support is not obvious, as it's more folder-play oriented. There is the Toggle Playlist View button on the toolbar (or use SHIFT+F5). After clicking it you will see two tracklists - the current directory list and the playlist. You can switch between directories and drag tracks from the current directory list to the playlist. To create a playlist file, select the tracks in the playlist, right-click them, and select "Create playlist file with selection(s)" from the shortcut menu. Playlist files are displayed in a directory tree, so, to open a playlist, just select it in the tree. You may need to click the "(list order)" column header to sort the tracks in playlist order (the fourth column in the grid by default). As for me I like placing each album in a separate folder and listen to music by albums more than mess about with custom order playlist (though I've created some with 1by1), so this player I like the most.

Hmm, no mention about Winamp :)

I can also name Quintessential player, Foobar 2000, AIMP, XMPlay. Before 1by1 I have used KMPlayer for playing music, though it is intended for playing video. It's nice as an audio player too, though it requires KernelEx, does not support gapless mode (1by1 supports it, though it's not perfect), and, as I know, is incompatible with Revolutions Pack.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well, I'll be darned. You're right, it does have a playlist. :)

I hit the "toggle playlist" button on the top. And then I dragged some files onto it. But when I highlighted them and tried right-clicking there was no option for saving/creating any playlist. :(

I didn't see any options for saving a .m3u file....... but, at least when I closed the program and re-opened it, my files that I dragged onto the playlist, they were STILL in order. So that's pretty cool. Since I keep all my MP3 files in one huge directory, I can then just drag and drop files to the top and change my "playlist" whenever I want.

So thank you, this is pretty much what I was looking for, it's really sweet now. Now it feels like Neutrius, playlist wise I mean, nice and simple.

By the way, I don't know if you are, but are you using 1 by 1 with Kernel-Ex? That might explain why you're capable of saving an .m3u list.

I looked but that option was nowhere to be found.

I tried Winamp before, but I didn't really like it. I'll give those other programs a shot though, never heard of them.

Edited by ScrewUpgrading
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I use 1by1 and Quintessential Media Player (QMP). The latest (and perhaps last) version of QMP seems to me to be very stable and tightly-coded, using relatively few resources. It's the sweetest-sounding player for music I've ever used, and has a surprising breadth of features (including MP3 / OGG encoding, for example).

In case QMP interests anyone, they might benefit from adding MP4 and FLAC format support from the input plugins available. There's also an Audioscrobbler plugin for QMP.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I didn't see any options for saving a .m3u file....... but, at least when I closed the program and re-opened it, my files that I dragged onto the playlist, they were STILL in order. So that's pretty cool. Since I keep all my MP3 files in one huge directory, I can then just drag and drop files to the top and change my "playlist" whenever I want.

So thank you, this is pretty much what I was looking for, it's really sweet now. Now it feels like Neutrius, playlist wise I mean, nice and simple.

By the way, I don't know if you are, but are you using 1 by 1 with Kernel-Ex? That might explain why you're capable of saving an .m3u list.

I looked but that option was nowhere to be found.

What version of 1by1 are you running? As mentioned in the "Last Version of Software for Windows 98SE" thread, versions 1.73 and up broke some features for 9x, including the ability to save playlists. You'll need to go back to 1.72 to enjoy some of these lost features.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've been using nearly exclusively Winamp 5.35 with WMP 6.4. WMP is for instant start and listen purposes, Winamp for everything else, main reason is because it can play various synthesized sound modules via plugins such as VGM, NSF and HES files.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm using version 1.75

The files I drag onto the playlist are there every time I re-open the program. There's just no option for saving it as a m3u file, but I don't mind.

Before Mozart informed me, I wasn't aware that 1 by 1 could make a playlist at all, so I'm happier with it now.

1 by 1 and Trout are exactly the simple, efficient type of MP3 players I was looking for.

Edited by ScrewUpgrading
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I mentioned XMPlay in another thread ... been using that player for several years ... crisp, clear sound ... lots of nice skins also.

http://www.un4seen.com/xmplay.html

XMPlay v3.6

XMPlay is an audio player, supporting the OGG / MP3 / MP2 / MP1 / WMA / WAV / AIFF / CDA / MO3 / IT / XM / S3M / MTM / MOD / UMX audio formats, and PLS / M3U / ASX / WAX playlists. A load more formats are also supported via plugins. When XMPlay was first released in 1998, only the XM format was supported, hence the name "XMPlay".

Plays the way nature intended

# 32/24-bit & multi-channel output

Take advantage of supporting hardware for ultimate quality

# Gapless output

Gapless playback of all supported formats, crossfading

No installation

UnZIP where you want and go!

...

Edited by duffy98
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

XMPlay is great, thanks. At first, I wasn't too big on XMPlay's layout, but once I found the right "skin" it helped a lot. My favorite skins are "Go" "JFGreu" "Windows Classic" "iXMplay," and "flatline."

My three favorite are:

1. Trout

2. 1 by 1

3. XMPlay

Edited by ScrewUpgrading
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...