CNET Editors' review
XMPlay is a basic media player that allows users to play audio in a variety of formats. Although it works well enough, some aspects of the design could stand to be improved, as could the creators' attitude.
XMPlay's interface isn't awful, although its compact design also means small buttons and sliders, which can be a bit tedious to use. Because the program generally follows the usual conventions of media player design, it's fairly easy to figure out, especially with mouse-over tooltips that provide labels for each button. Still, we couldn't help but feel annoyed when the program's welcome message suggested that users "RTFM," snarky Internet shorthand for "read the f***ing manual." We were even more annoyed when we did RTFM and found a long, hard-to-navigate text file that didn't even address all of the basic features that are present on the program's interface. The creators of XMPlay certainly don't get points for user-friendliness. Still, the program works well, playing a variety of audio formats, including streaming media. XMPlay comes with a variety of controls that aren't always found in media players, including an equalizer and adjustments for balance and reverb. Overall, we thought XMPlay was decent, but there's definitely room for improvement where the interface is concerned.
XMPlay is free. The program comes as a ZIP file and is accessible after extraction with no need for installation. We recommend this program with reservations; it works fine, but it's definitely not the most accessible media player we've ever seen.
Publisher's Description
From Un4seen Developments:
XMPlay is a Windows music player, supporting the OGG / MP3 / MP2 / MP1 / WMA / WAV / MO3 / IT / XM / S3M / MTM / MOD / UMX audio formats, and PLS / M3U / ASX playlists. A load more formats are also supported via Winamp plugins. When XMPlay was first released in 1998, only the XM format was supported, hence the name "XMPlay".
"So, what's so good about XMPlay then?", you ask. It's got the best (most accurate to FT2) XM reproduction to be heard from any player. All features/effects (including several FT2 quirks) are 100% supported. The IT reproduction is also practically balls-on, with full support for all effects/NNA/DCA/filters/etc. MPEG / OGG / WMA / WAV files can be streamed from FTP / HTTP / Shoutcast / Icecast servers, optionally writing a copy to disk at the same time. FTP directories and HTML webpages can be scanned for streamable files. And on top of all that is a nice GUI.
More Popular Media Players downloads
- Media Player Classic
21,440 downloads
- Windows Media Player
17,432 downloads
- Total Video Player
8,164 downloads
- Apple QuickTime
7,887 downloads
- Windows Media Player (Windows XP)
5,527 downloads
-
All versions:
3.9 starsout of 145 votes
-
Current version:
5.0 starsout of 2 votes
-
My rating:
Write review
Results 1-2 of 2
-
"Nice little audio player."
Version: XMPlay 3.6
Pros
Everything I needed. The "NNP" skin is clean and simple.
Cons
No negatives.
Summary
Recommend this software to everyone.
-
"Simple, easy to use player"
Version: XMPlay 3.6
Pros
Simple, easy to use, no installation required. Portable.
Sound is good and plays lots of formats.
Can convert between formats.Cons
The interface is relatively obscure.
Summary
I am a fan of this player for its versatility and ease of use. No installation required is a plus to carry it in a pen drive.
Results 1-2 of 2
Add Your Review
Submit your reply
E-mail this review
Report offensive content
See more CNET content tagged:
Previous Versions:
