There are many media players out there,but today i will be comparing the three big dogs,
Installation And Setup
After Downloading the programs from there respective websites I installed them one by one.
Windows Media Player 11:Size:24.5mb
Total Install Time:2 Minutes
Summary: After validating you're XP Installation,it starts it's install.After its installed it will ask you various settings,if you dont wish to specify your own settings you can just use the recommended settings.Then WMP Will open open up and away you go!
I was quite surprised that it didn't ask me where my media was,yet it found all my music and movie's!
Install and Setup Rating:5/5
Winamp:Size:8mb
Total install time:30 Seconds
I was amazed at how quickly it installs!
It's not as easy as WMP or iTunes as it will ask you a few more questions.After it installs,a setup window will appear just asking you what skin you would like to use,what extensions you want to associate with Winamp and whether or not you would like to register winamp.Lastly when the program finally opens,it will ask you where you're media is located.
Install and Setup Rating:4/5
iTunes:Size:65mb
Total Install Time:5m
One thing i was let down with was all through the install process you were presented with various ad's AND it installs quicktime on your computer without asking you.Once it has installed,it will ask you a myriad of questions (Some of them useless) and then ask you were your media is.
I Was let down the fact that it found all of my music but NONE of my videos.
Install and Setup Rating 4/5
First Looks
Windows Media Player 11:
Main window
Mini Mode
Straight out of the box this player looks sexy and is VERY Easy to use (and quite fast).The library could be organized more though.I Feel this player is based upon ease of use,so this player is very user friendly.
Overall,it's a slick interface with some minor customization options.
Looks Rating 4/5
Winamp:
Main Window
Mini Mode
Winamp is focused on getting to know your music and movie collection,so it's organization of your media is VERY Precise.It uses a tab system to go in between your library,videos (if any are playing),visualizer and the web browser.Winamp is VERY Customizable,so if you don't like how it's layed out or how it looks you can change it easily! Out of the box it uses the Big bento skin,at first it's daunting but once you get to know it you will come to love it!
Looks Rating 5/5
iTunes:
Main Window
Mini Mode
iTunes doesn't look too bad with it's use of soft colors and small icons.It's very easy to use but there's nothing special to point out.
Put simply,it's pleasing to the eye but nothing more.
Looks Rating 3/5
Performance and Sound Quality
Winamp: Out of the box the only way you can customize the way winamp sounds is by using the inbuilt 10 band equalizer and pre-amp.
Resources Used:
RAM :45mb
CPU idle:00%
CPU When playing song:00% - 04%
While effective,you have to use a 3rd party plugin to get it sounding perfect.
Sound Rating (Without Plugins added) 3/5
Note:With Audio Enhancing plugins installed such as Izotope,It would EASILY sound better than the others.Windows Media Player:Microsoft have done well with the audio customization in WMP,Not only does it have a 10 band equalizer but it has SRS Wow effects (3d effects and tru bass) which sound Awesome if set correctly!
Resources Used:
RAM:20mb
CPU idle:00%
CPU When playing song:02%-05%
Sound Rating 5/5
iTunes:iTunes has the same equalizer setup that winamp uses BUT you can't get 3rd party plugins for itunes.
Resources used:
RAM:55mb
CPU idle:00%
CPU When change song:03%-12%
Sound Rating 3/5
Features:
Winamp:
One of the major features that made me fall in love with winamp is it shows artist info at the bottom of screen,you can also listen to other songs by the artist you are currently listening too! You can also listen to a myriad of Internet radio stations (According to the Winamp web site,18000 Stations to be excact) and lastly browse through online videos too.It's EXTREMELY Customizable with THOUSANDS of Plugins and Skins you can download freely off the internet! It also supports Plenty of media devices including the Ipod.
Lastly,It supports lots of different file formats:
AAC it mod nst stm
AIF itz MP1 NSV stz
AIFF KAR MP2 OGG ult
amf M2V MP3 okt flac
VLB mp3 m3u m3u8 pls
ASF M4A MP4 ptm WAV
AU mdz MPEG RMI WMA
AVI MID MPG s3m WMV
CDA MIDI mtm s3z xm
far MIZ NSA SND xmz
669 VOC b4s asx wpl
For a full list of features please see the winamp website.
Features Rating: 5/5
Windows Media Player:
Window's media player's library system makes it easy to find the song you are looking for! It Also has Some nice CD Burning options whether you want to burn an MP3 CD or a Standard Audio CD.Windows media player also supports plenty of portable devices as well and windows media player can also be used as a media server for Network attached devices such as PS3's and Xbox 360's.Out of these three players Windows media player has the quickest and easiest method of ripping CD's too.
Supported Data:
.asf, .wma, .wmv, .wm
.asx, .wax, .wvx, .wpl
.dvr-ms
.mpg, .mpeg, .m1v, .mp2, .mp3, .mpa, .mpe, .mpv2, .m3u
.mid, .midi, .rmi
.aif, .aifc, .aiff
.au, .snd
.wav
.cda
For a full list of features please see the WMP website.
iTunes:
iTune's Library is well layed out and pretty straight forward to use and is well integrated into the iTunes store.iTunes will also recommend new songs that it thinks you would like,you can preview and buy these songs through the iTunes store.Also has some really good CD Burning options as well as Decent CD ripping options.
Supported Data:
MP3, AIFF, WAV, MPEG-4, AAC, and Apple Lossless.
For a full list of features please see the Apple iTunes website.
Features Rating 2/5.
Conclusion
All in all,these three players have there good points and bad points:
Winamp:
Pro's:
VERY Good Library setup
Artist Lookups is a VERY good feature
Highly Customizable
heaps of plugins!
Sounds great when used in conjunction with a 3rd party plugin
Con's:
Daunting at first
Lack of CD Ripping options
Lack of CD Burning Options
Frequent crashed when syncing with and MP3/MP4 Player
Windows media player:
Pro's:
Sounds great out of the box
Great looking visualizers
VERY good Syncing system
Con's:
Very basic Library functions
iTunes:
Pro's:
It's Great if you OWN in iPod
Crossfading features
Playlist generators
Con's:
Only supports Apple Mp3 players
Library not well layed out for advanced functions
Lack of customization.
In Conclusion winamp get's a 5 star rating because of the abundance of it's feautures and customization possibilities.Windows media player comes 2nd becuse it's just simple to use and sounds great out of the box.iTunes come's last because it lacks features.
Worthy mentions:
SongbirdVLC