The usual Sonic Spot recommended review consisting of the best free, value and overall software doesn't apply to the audio players. Hands down Winamp is the best of all worlds.

Note that this category doesn't include any of the jukebox-style programs. If you're looking for all-in-one software featuring an audio file player with built-in library/organizer, ID3 editor, MP3 encoder, file format converter and CD burning capabilities see Jukeboxes.

Best Overall

Winamp is a very solid player with loads of features and plug-in options. It has become so popular that many plug-ins, equipment and other software has been made to be compatible with Winamp. Files load easily and playback quality is excellent. The interface is very intuitive and is also skinable if you prefer a custom look. It also includes a built-in web browser window that connects you to Shoutcast (Internet radio), Winamp locker space (for on-line music storage and sharing, saving space on your computer) and any other site that might contain album info. It's also capable of smoothly streaming MP3s directly from the Internet.

One feature missing from Winamp that may be important is VQF file support. Currently VQF files are no where near as popular as MP3 or WAV files, but if you need to play one, you'll require another player (see K-Jofol below).

Excellent Alternatives

A couple considerations that may be important when choosing an audio player are size and simplicity, depending on what your potential use for the player might be. For instance if you have a jukebox-style player but just want something small and simple to test and convert WAVs and MP3s, the SCMPX player by CH3 is worth considering.

SCMPX is a quick download, has a small program size of about 600 KB, takes up very little screen space and minimizes nicely. Its intuitive car stereoish interface contains some nice features. Encoding is accomplished in a straight forward and efficient manner. If you're a novice and want to convert songs for your portable MP3 player or computer it is very simple and takes you right through the process. Even if your an expert, it's nice to go through a no brainier. The sound quality is excellent and also contains three different sound spectrum analyzers that move consistently with music playback.

K-Jofol is another player worth mention. Its 1.3 MB downloadable size is larger than SCMPX but about half the size of the full version of Winamp. K-Jofol is a very smooth running program and has a few nice features not offered by Winamp. Options such as a pitch bender, 32-level equalizer and VQF file playback capabilities are included. Playlist functionality is also easy to use and it has a nice docking feature that minimizes the player on the top corner of the active window. If these options sound good, K-Jofol may be the player for you. In addition K-Jofol also supports Winamp input, output, DSP and Sonique visualization plug-ins. It should be noted that there were some difficulties engaging the CD player in the latest version at the time of this witting (2000 1.0 Beta 2).