Winamp Audio/Video Player

Just for fun, let me share some information about Winamp that has been hard won through my research and lots of trial and error screwing around. First, here is a brief Winamp history lesson.

WinAMP was released as freeware by Justin Frankel in 1996. All future freeware and shareware versions had their name changed to the lower case Winamp.

Even after Nullsoft, its parent company, became a subsidiary of Time Warner, the software is still the most powerful, if not the easiest to use, free player. As a mater of fact, it is better in its basic free (Lite) version than some other player’s paid versions. The free Winamp is just slower in burning and ripping CDs than is the US$19.95 paid version.

As you can see from the screenshot above, I have loaded Winamp with plug-ins. The following is a list of my favorites:

• MuchFX: This little do-dad lets you use more than one plug-in at a time. Very handy.


• Dynamic Library: An addition to the Media Library module. Gives a tree-view access to your local files.


• BigClock: Just what it says. Time to the tenth of a secomd.


• Enhancer: Revives the sound of those compressed MP3 files and streams. Others do the same thing, but this is free.


• StreamRipper: Rips audio streams to MP3 files. Uses ID3 data to name an individual file for each song.


• Audio Level Meter: This is not a Winamp plug-in, but it is just so cool I had to include it.


• Sound Solution: A multi-band processor. Combines equalization, compression, limiting, stereo image enhancement, etc. for each frequency band.