One of the latest crazes on the internet is MP3 music. Of course in order to listen to MP3s, you need to have a player. That's where WinAmp comes in. I've tried them all: from UltraPlayer to Sonique, none of them compare to WinAmp. I've been using WinAmp for over year now, and I am continually impressed with each new release.

WinAmp supports all the major audio formats: MP3, wave files, MIDI, CD Tracks, and more. Because of WinAmp's plug-in architecture, you will find a wide array of plug-ins available from their website. From visualization plug-ins to plug-ins that allow you to output your MP3 files to other formats.

Another neat feature is WinAmp skinning interface. When you first install this program, you may find its user interface a bit plain. But the thousands of skins available at their website will allow you to transform the look of WinAmp into almost anything you like.

Of course what good is WinAmp if it doesn't sound great. Well, fortunately the guys from NullSoft have not forgot about this. I found WinAmp's sound quality to be equal or better than any of the other players I've tried. And if you like tinkering, WinAmp features a ten band graphic equalizer and built-in pre-amplifier.

The only thing new users may find difficult is WinAmp's lack of complete documentation. After using this program for over a year, I still find new features and shortcuts that I never knew existed. Of course, for the normal user, most of the features are not needed, so I guess that is why some of them seem to be hidden away to avoid clutter.

Along with its easy to use play list editor and Shoutcast support (so you can listen to music broadcast over the web), WinAmp is clearly at the top of its class. The makers of this product, NullSoft, are not sitting still though. You can expect a new version 3 of WinAmp by the end of the year. And if we judge by their past performance, you can expect WinAmp 3 to take audio players to a new level.



Recommended: Yes