- Quick specs
- Price: Free
- Operating system: Windows 2000/XP/Vista/7
- Date added: January 21, 2010
- Total Downloads: 13,046,733
- Downloads last week: 16,591
- See full specifications
- CNET editors' rating: stars
- Average user rating: stars out of 1318 votes
See all user reviews
CNET editors' review
Reviewed by: CNET Staff on November 08, 2008
WinAmp 5.3 took some long-needed steps to improve the old-school media player, with support for AAC encoding, CD burning, and a robust file-management system. WinAmp 5.56 ups the ante with strong support for portable devices, including iPods, the ability to sync non-DRMed files to your PC from your device, an optional new interface layout and a built-in browser for media discovery.
We liked that clicking on an artist's name will get you related headlines and Web sites in a separate pane. There's also Podcast support, device synchronization that lets you tweak the sync list while in progress, and continued support for AOL's excellent Shoutcast. The new Bento layout is worth mentioning, too, because it gets the venerable llama away from the old modular format. The joined panes for the browser, media player, artist list, album list and more make WinAmp instantly more visually appealing. There's also an Auto-Tag feature, which will download metatags from the Gracenote database, and Winamp's proprietary music scrobler called Orgler, with links back to AOL Music.
If you want MP3 encoding and full-speed CD burning, you have to shell out $19.95 for the Pro version. However, there are other problems. Automatic album art download support is spotty at best. More importantly, there are some stability issues when playing videos, and occasional program crashes were far more common than they should be.
WinAmp 5.56 is no iTunes killer--not yet. It has become, however, a strong alternative and should be of interest to those looking for something with more meat on its bones. Llama meat, that is.
Publisher's description
From Nullsoft :Winamp is a free multimedia player made by Nullsoft. It supports numerous audio and video formats. It also plays streamed video and audio content, both live and recorded, authored worldwide. It has an extremely customizable media library, and allows you to rip and burn your favorite music CDs. Winamp has thousands of skins and plug-ins that allow you to change the look-and-feel of the player, as well as add new features. The player also has access to thousands of free songs, videos and online radio stations from SHOUTcast Radio and AOL Radio with XM.
What's new in this version:
Version 5.572 improves [h264.w5s] H.264 decoder optimizations and [in_avi/bmp.w5s] Support for RGB bitmap AVI.
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User reviews
- Average user rating: 3.9 stars out of 1318 votes
- My rating: 0 stars Write review
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Showing 5 of 7 user reviewsSee all 7 user reviews
This software version | All versions -
0 out of 1 people found this review helpful
Version: Winamp 5.572
"Good quality, but too many Euro( German) would-be DJs"
Pros: Nice appearance , good sound reproduction.
Cons: Picture quality sometimes a bit iffy.
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1 out of 1 people found this review helpful
Version: Winamp 5.572
"Great for playing music, crap for video"
Pros: I use the mp4/aac mode as format for my music, cause itunes doesn't aloud any other portable device synchronized, and I like the aac format.
Cons: If you like H264 format winamp is not going to be any use, it only plays flv, avi and wmp.
But then again, if all three are your favorite, then you have no problem. Also they could have left remote out of the picture, as for I'm using google chrome.Summary: I find this to be very good with other portable devices, and just listening to music and ripping. And sending to my walkman phone, it's an ace. as for the video part of it's not really any use except for the flv file. And remote is no use either. B... read more >>
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1 out of 1 people found this review helpful
Version: Winamp 5.572
Pros: up to date in technology, but far than that.... how it works and sounds
Cons: Very few, some times in gaining something with new versions, you get to loose some of the things that were grate or pleasant for you in older versions,
Summary: All in all, its a grate sound machine, love it or hate it, it will be difficult for you to get something better, and it is all for free. Want more? donīt think so!
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0 out of 1 people found this review helpful
Version: Winamp 5.572
Pros: If I could make it work, I would probably see some
Cons: Does not work
Summary: I upgraded my winamp and it doesn't work anywork. Everytime I try to open it, it pops a window saying that it can find a DLL file. Winamp should have made sur that this version works before releasing it. Very unhappy.
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Version: Winamp 5.572
"An old friend, vastly improved"
Pros: Not iTunes - much less aggressive selling of services and lower use of resources.
Cons: Music genre display / searches could be simpler.
Summary: Used Winamp for years until it fell behind in features and ease of use. I put up with competitor's (iTunes in particular) controlling nature but I felt less and less in full control of my media environment / options. Winamp 5.572 is a long step bac... read more >>
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