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Winamp player free to download
There are at least twenty MP3 audio players, but none of the players come anywhere close to matching Winamp which is free to download.
The latest rage in 'net audio' continues to be MPEG Audio Layer 3 stream technology (MP3 for short). This is the latest official MPEG standard to be released from the ISO/IEC standardization body (MPEG4 is in the works) and is by far the most powerful member of the family. MPEG Audio Layer 3 utilizes a combination of extremely complex methods to attain high compression ratios while preserving CD-quality audio.
While it might not sound overwhelmingly impressive at first glance, when you take into account that without compression it takes approximately 175 Kilobytes to store just one second of CD-quality stereo sound, the full benefits of MP3 and the older MPEG standards quickly become apparent.
MP3 Audio Compression in a Nutshell
Audio files encoded with MP3 can have their original sound data compressed by a factor of 12 without noticeable degradation in sound quality. As with any 'lossy' compression scheme there is some degeneration in quality with MP3, but in this case the loss is unnoticeable to the human ears.
Without getting too technological, the effects of MP3 are made possible by "perceptual coding" techniques that address the perception of sound waves by the human ear, so that even though some information has been lost through the compression process, you won't be able to notice it upon playback. The result is high-quality stereo audio that sounds as good on your computer as it would on your CD player - and without the need for a 20+ Gigabyte hard drive.
Introducing Winamp
There are at least twenty MP3 audio players currently available, and while some offer better performance (like Audio Active), none of the players come anywhere close to matching the multitude of features, ease of use, and overall functionality of Winamp.
The completely freeware Winamp plays Layer 2 MPEG audio streams as well as the newer Layer 3. The latest releases of Winamp also offer support via plug-ins for additional audio formats like Windows Media Technology 4.0 (WMT4), AAC digital audio, CD audio (direct/indirect modes), WAV, RealAudio, AU, VOC, and AIFF.
Less-intensive users might be able to get by with a basic MP3 player like WinPlay3, but those audiophiles out there who need quite a bit more out of their players will appreciate the abundance of features in Winamp that you won't find elsewhere. And believe me, even if you've never been that interested in music, once you experience the full range of capabilities offered by MP3 and Winamp, you'll quickly find yourself becoming an initiate audiophile.
Superb Set of Features
Winamp's exclusive audio features range from basic capabilities like fast forward and rewind functions, repeat and shuffle options, an intuitive interface, and Windows tray bar support to more advanced features like a ten band graphical equalizer with preamp, user definable presets (with automatic memory options), a full-featured play list editor, and built-in visualization tools.
When using the visualization tools you have the option of 'watching' your music with either an oscilloscope (a device that displays your music in wave patterns similar to the oscillation of an electrical current) or the visually stimulating spectrum analyzer (displays your music in a graphical spectrum of colorized bands).
Plug-ins and Skins Support
The built-in visualization capabilities of Winamp are impressive by themselves, but if you want to go a level beyond and watch your music really dance, Winamp's support for plug-ins is the key to your dreams. The Plug-ins section of the Winamp Web site features tons of plug-ins from windowed and full-screen visualization plug-ins to input and output plug-ins for enhancing Winamp's audio capabilities.
The plug-ins are updated regularly, so be sure to check the site for the latest releases. Regardless of whether you decide to go with the built-in visualization tools or one of the many plug-ins, Winamp offers some serious 'candy for the eyes' to go along with its excellent audio capabilities.
Another cool customization feature is Winamp's support for skins. Skins are custom designed interfaces that slip over the default Winamp interface. Skins retain the same set of features as the default interface; they only change the look and feel of the interface. You can create your own skins or download from the hundreds of skins available in the Skins section of the Winamp Web site.
MP3s Everywhere You Look
The only real downside to Winamp is that the client includes just a single demonstration MP3 audio file of its own. On the other hand, finding and downloading MP3 tunes has become a simple affair. You'll definitely want to check out MP3.com, mpeg3.com, the Nordic Downloadable Music Site (NDMS), and mp3.lycos.com.
The Bottom Line
Someday soon we'll probably all be buying our CDs and sound files over the 'net' and listening to them using MP3 and Winamp the technology is that good. If you haven't tried out Winamp yet, you really don't know what you're missing. This amazing technology is simply too wild to describe in words so wild in fact that you'll just have to try it out for yourself.
Pros: Free, outstanding CD-quality audio, excellent MP3 compression, superb features.
Cons: Doesn't include any sample files, would be better with browser plug-in capabilities.
Source: BonusGambler.com Editors' Choice
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