If you are looking for an alternative music player which can also read Ogg Vorbis files and has an elegant, minimalistic GUI, Foobar2000 is worth a try. It features all the standard functions of other main players, like the possibility to import music folders and to create playlist, but it also supports advanced tagging and a useful converter to 9 music formats.

It's amazing how all these tools can fit into an installer file of just 1.6 MB, compared to the 36 MB for the iTunes download. The plus of this application is its fairly active community which develops add-ons in order to customize nearly every aspect of this player.

When you download these plug-ins, you'll get a .dll file that you have to add to the components folder of your foobar2000 directory and restart the program. Many users like it, others don't find a specific reason to leave Winamp for it. It's another good option you have, with the plus of conversion tools and many plug-ins.

Foobar2000 is a light, effective music player with a high level of customization, thanks to a personalized GUI and downloadable add-ons

Download foobar2000 0.9.5.6 in Softonic

Few can dispute the fact that Apple created a flawless product when it built the iPod. However, the company did omit to include one feature that still bothers me. The legally-aware developer made it so that you couldn't copy tunes from your iPod onto another computer. OK, so it means everything is above board, but it also means that if you get a new computer or your hard drive fails, you have to build up your MP3 collection all over again. Luckily, there are now several programs available that let you copy your iPod tunes to any machine, and CopyTrans is a good example of one of these.

The process of synchronising your music with CopyTrans is a simple one and you can choose to archive your collection or import it into a new iTunes library. All you need to do is connect your iPod, wait for the program to scan the device, choose your transfer settings then wait for CopyTrans to work its magic.

It does take quite a long time to copy across the music, but the operation works very well and I experienced no problems other than that it didn't reproduce all of the album art I had. The program boasts some nice features such as selective transfers, incremental back-ups, and repair to damaged iPod databases.

If you're scared of losing all your iPod data then install CopyTrans and erase your worries with ease.

Download CopyTrans 2.590 in Softonic

Some music players are so complex that you spend more time fiddling and customizing them than enjoying your music.

If this sounds like thinly veiled criticism of iTunes then it is a little bit I guess but the point is that some people don't want online stores, most played lists etc, etc. QuuxPlayer is a simple and straightforward player that has you up and running in minutes and includes a 30 band equalizer.

However, the big draw of QuuxPlayer is Wireless Gamepad support which means that you can control it in a unique way from just about anywhere in the room as long as you in range of your receiver. The look and feel of QuuxPlayer is certainly unique in comparison with other similar efforts. However, the developers already seem to be going against their philosophy of keeping it simple by adding automatic lyrics download, control locking for child management and an automatic directory monitoring service for updates amongst many other things.

That said, QuuxPlayer definitely occupies a unique position in the world of music players and if you've got a gamepad, you should definitely give it a whirl even if controlling music in this way is a bit odd.

Download QuuxPlayer 2.0.6.13 Standard Edition in Softonic

Songbird plays the Web. Play any MP3 on the Web without leaving the page. Songbird can view Web pages as dynamic playlists that it can play, save, or automatically download every day.

Songbird plays your music too. Songbird has all the features you expect in a desktop media player. And Songbird constantly improves. Like Firefox, Songbird's features may be improved with user installed and contributed cross-platform extensions.

Soon, Web page authors will be able to publish playlists and transfer MP3s into Songbird to build digital music stores like eMusic, music subscription services like Yahoo! Music Unlimited, virtual jamming services like Ninjam, playlist sharing services like WebJay etc.

Download Songbird 0.7.0 in Softonic

Esmas Player is a truly multimedia application that provides the user with almost any tool they may need to enjoy image, music and video files on the computer.

The program's interface is suspiciously similar to that of iTunes, which makes us wonder why is it that developers weren't able to come up with a more original design. Similarities to iTunes don't end here, though: as you'll see, you can organize your library, play your favorite songs, edit tags, listen to podcasts, synchronize contents with your portable music device and even buy music online. Some people may find this resemblance somewhat uncomfortable – like a cheap imitation – but it's also a way to make the program look familiar and be easy to use from the very beginning.

Leaving comparisons aside, Esmas Player goes a step forward and also enables you to organize photos and videos, and also features extended functionality such as a disc burner, a DVD player and support for online TV channels and radio stations. During our tests, however, I had the impression that some of its functions were not properly implemented or at least not as easy to use as I expected. Also, though the program's language can be set to English, both the installer and documentation haven't been translated from Spanish yet.

In all, Esmas Player works fine as an all-in-one multimedia organizer, but it still needs some improvements in usability – as well as adding the necessary distance between iTunes and itself in order to avoid odious comparisons.

Download Esmas Player 11026 in Softonic

Winamp Lite is a small version of Winamp, it weighs less than one megabyte, that will essentially let you play audio files and use classic skins and plug-ins. Great to fit onto your desktop and if you don't to use up to much hard drive space. However, if you want to enjoy the complete benefits of Winamp, you should install the Full version instead.

Download Winamp 5.541 Lite in Softonic

Winamp was born as a very basic media player and has slowly but consistently improving for many years. Its main purpose was to be completely customizable and through the years, many people have contributed to a library that now consists of 20,000 skins and 461 plug-ins.

When version 5 was released, Nullsoft redeemed themselves in the public's eyes after producing a much improved player to replace Winamp 3. They didn't need much encouragement as they justified skipping version number 4 by saying that it was such a huge improvement that it deserved to be called 5!

Luckily they are justified in their opinion, as Winamp offers everything you might want in a media player. Using the skins, you can set it to look like the original or the current default which looks great and puts you in control of all your media quickly and easily. I particularly like the minimized player that consists of a small bar that you can place on the edge of your screen. Of course, if neither of these agree with your taste you can download and try any of the thousands others available on the Winamp website.

The player supports a wide range of file formats, and because the program is small and simple, it works quickly on almost all computers. Have a look through the available plug-ins and you will also find that you can hook up your iPod and manage its music library.

Download Winamp 5.541 Full in Softonic

Wimpy Player is a skinnable jukebox for your web site that automatically lists and plays an entire directory full of MP3 files. Wimpy MP3 Player allows you to both generate a PodCast feed and allows you to play podcast directly from your web site. Installation is simple, just upload Wimpy. No external program such as Quicktime, Windows Media or Real are required. You can run Wimply MP3 Player off a JavaScript or XML playlist or a MySQL database.

Download Wimpy MP3 Player 6.0.1 in Softonic

ALSong is a Live Song Lyrics MP3 player with everything you expect in a modern MP3 player, as well as some extras that make ALSong more than just "yet another mp3 player".

Live Song Lyrics let you listen to your favorite tunes and read the lyrics in time to the music.

Find Music Fast in the ALSong Playlist. More than just a list, you can easily organize music inside your playlist, on disk, in special albums, in ZIP files, and in virtual folders. You can quickly browse and search your music your way because everything is setup to make playing your music as easy and fast as it should be.

Create Music Albums to organize your music or easily take with you. ALSong albums have a special customizable interface for you to decorate your favorite music with images and pictures however you like. And since ALSong music albums are portable, you can take them with you on any USB key or other portable storage.

Download ALSong 1.53 in Softonic

If being a DJ is the dream of your life but you haven't been hired in any club yet, you can also practice a bit at home.

Your computer and Ots CD Scratch 1200 is everything you need to improve your DJ abilities and make sure you get the job next time you ask for a gig. This free app lets you play and mix two tracks from a CD at the same time and apply a range of sound effects and filters to them, all from an interface that resembles a real DJ mixing deck. Ots CD Scratch 1200 only works with CDs, so if you want to mix MP3 you'll have to look somewhere else.

Though the program doesn't really include that many filters, it does make up for it with an incredible scratching effect you can apply right onto the CD track by grabbing the records depicted on the interface and moving them with your mouse. It's really an easy, cool effect that really makes you feel like a DJ, even if what you're scratching is a digital track with your mouse – and not an old vinyl record with your fingers.

Ots CD Scratch 1200 is the perfect tool for all those DJ wannabes that like mixing music but don't dare work in a club yet.

Download Ots CD Scratch 1200 1.00.044 in Softonic

According to some happy users, Spider Player is so good that it could even rival Winamp in the popularity stakes for basic players one day. It's certainly a very good looking player and not only that, it makes life easy where listening to music is concerned.

The look is obviously a key part for the developers and they've even included a "tuning" bar in the skin which allows you to change the tone of it according to the mood you are in. As with Winamp, I like the fact that you can also divide-up the player as you like. For example, when you open it, the main playback window, equaliser and playlist are all joined together. But you can split these up as you like and place them in various parts of your desktop for easy access. To control playback, you can simply drag and drop the status bar and it responds very quickly. There's also a pitchshifter, echo and reverb bar to play with.

One nice added little extra us that Spider Player also has a built-in ID3 tag editor and CD ripper that can burn in MP3, WAV, OGG and WMA formats. Once minimised, the player also sits neatly in your system tray so it's well integrated into your OS. This is one of the best Mp3 players I've tried outside of Winamp although it lacks the plugins of the former.

Download Spider Player 2.3.5 in Softonic

CoolPlayer is a simple MP3 and OGG player with a similar interface as WinAmp, however CoolPlayer does use up much less CPU ressources. The download includes skins support, an advanced playlist editor, an ID3 tag multi-editor, a quick MP3 to WAV decoder and an 8 band equalizer.

Download CoolPlayer 219 in Softonic

If you're looking for not only a media player but also a recorder aswell, then JetAudio basic is a super solid solution that's packed with features.

It's secret lies in the ability to not only reproduce formats but convert them and even record audio and video. You can convert among all the major audio file formats and convert analog audio to various formats. There are also several visualization features including Sound2Vision tag editing for MP3, OGG, and WMA files plus you can add basic sound effects including wide, reverb, and x-bass. It would have been nice to have had a few more sound effects here but it's not really big on graphic equaliser effects. You can control the speed of audio playback and also perform cross-fading between two songs which is useful if you want to use it as a party and turn yourself into your own DJ. There a re a few skins to change - there should be more - and karaoke fans are not left behind either as there is an options to used synchronised lyrics with kareoke audio files. You can even search for lyrics via "Leo's Lyric Database" although the number of songs is very limited and sometimes the lyrics aren't correct anyway.

A very useful all round player for anyone that would like to do more than just playback their audio files.

Download JetAudio Basic 7.1.0 in Softonic

Kantaris is a polished multimedia player that enables you to play files in a wide variety of formats. It features a simple but nicely designed interface with not many configuration options which makes it very easy to use.

Videos can be played in full screen mode with control panel only appearing when you move the mouse. As for music, Kantaris offers four visualization modes that add a touch of color to your songs. However we noticed that if you show the playlist, the visualization is not properly centered. Another problem we had with the playlist is the fact that you can only add tracks one by one.

Download Kantaris 0.3.6 in Softonic

OrangeCD Player is a compact freeware program that allows you to listen to audio CDs through your computer CD-ROM and audio card. The player supports FreeDB protocol and integrates with our music catalog software, so every time you play a new album, it downloads track titles and other information from Internet and automatically catalogs the album in your music database. Other features include various playback modes, play lists, direct track access and disc position memory.

Download OrangeCD Player 6.2.3.12503 in Softonic

If you're looking for an intelligent alternative to iTunes then you might find that BBox surprises you in more than just a few departments.

Bbox does the lot from organising your Mp3's to automatically tuning radio stations. Even better, it features a simple CD burner and allows you to edit Mp3 tags so that your collection is perfectly organised by genre, artist or era. Best of all in my opinion, is an integrated search tool which allows you to search for artist info on the internet directly from BBox. The music player comes with all the standard features you expect - equaliser, track list editor and a nice little function that allows you to customise the fade ins and fade outs of your songs. Although this program is packed with features, it never feels bloated although describing them all would take a while. In addition to the above, it also integrates fairly well into Windows shell, supports all those useless multimedia keys on your keyboard that you never use and even allows you to download additional information via the Amazon.com website.

As a feature rich, intelligent and intuitive alternative to iTunes, BBox is definitely a contender worth trying.

Download BBox 2.0.0.440 in Softonic

The problem with players nowadays is that they are bloated with too many ads, extensions and other useless add ons.

Vuplayer is a refreshing break from the norm featuring highly intuitive controls with a simple interface and ultra quick response times. VUPlayer is a freeware multi-format audio player for Windows supporting a huge number of very rare formats including MOD, MTM, S3M, XM, MPC plus all the normal reliables like Mp3 and Mp4. There are numerous nice little features in addition to this that make it suitable for those looking for something that plays files their normal player can't usually handle. These include gapless playback options, optional 32-bit mixing and a solid 9-band graphic equalizer. There's also support for multiple visuals via a plug-in system, encoding to Ogg Vorbis, FLAC, APE, WMA & WV formats and even Audioscrobbler support. The problem is that it's not particularly easy to navigate around - many of the advanced options are particularly confusing. Plus it can crash when another application tries to access your soundcard at the same time.

Nevertheless, this is an interesting player that plays those unusual formats that may be causing you problems and features some juicy add-ons for a free player.

Download VUPlayer 2.49 in Softonic

Jay Brain is a very original audio player both in its graphical design and functionalities. It supports many popular formats and also Internet streams, which can be conveniently added to an auto-saving playlist.

The program's functionality is a bit tricky. All tasks are showed under the same window, even when you browse Windows File Explorer to add music to the playlist. This can sometimes lead to confusion but once you get used to it it's no big deal.

Audio quality is good and what's more, can be tweaked with some special effects. The program can also find the lyrics for the song you're listening to on the web.

Jay Brain is meant to be a basic audio player that can be extended with more features by means of plug-ins, but unfortunately I couldn't find any. I would have specially appreciated a new skin, as the one included by default makes menus hard to read. Hopefully more coders will join the project in the future (thanks to the GPL licence) and we'll see a super-powered Jay Brain later on.

A small audio player with support for many formats and very promising features.

Download Jay Brain 1.1 in Softonic

AIMP Classic is a powerful audio player that allows you to listen to your favorite music with an outstanding sound quality. Its appearance resembles that of another classical audio player (Winamp), so you'll get used to it very quickly. It can also be customized with skins.

The program includes a 18-band equalizer, a visualization window to display rhythmic visual effects and a playlist editor to organize your audio files. A nice fading effect makes your list of songs look like an endless music loop and a handy volume normalizing feature avoids drastic volume changes between tracks. Also, the player's main functions can be conveniently controlled by global hotkeys.

Besides playing music, AIMP Classic features three extra utilities which also enable you to record any sound on your computer, convert audio files from one format to another and view or edit tags.

AIMP Classic is based on the well-known audio engine BASS, so it's easy to connect new plug-ins (from the plug-in library included in the program) and expand the player's functionalities.

Download AIMP Classic 2.11 in Softonic

DestroY MediaPlay is one hell of a flexible media player - it plays video, audio files, DVDs and can even display and play music online.

Not only this, but it features a mini web browser with which you can surf the net. It terms of flexibility, this player is hard to beat. The list of formats it can play is seemingly endless including asf, asx, wav, wma, wmv, ogg, mpg, mpeg and snd amongst many many others. The DVD players is also pretty impressive featuring full support for CDDB so there's no need to label your tracks manually once they are converted to mp3 format. The players also supports some audio streaming although it's designed mainly for SHOUTcast and Icecast streams.

The interface is pretty cool for a free player although it seems like there are only 7 alternatives to the default skin. However, there is an effective Spectrum Analyzer and Oscilloscope plus it supports Drag & Dropping of tracks plus the scheduling of tracks. This can be done by track number, date and up to a set limit of daily, weekly or monthly. In addition to all this, there are hotkeys configurable and you can type in the lyrics for your own karaoke sessions. Add this to an ID3V1/V2 & OGG tag editor, DirectX sound effects and Playlist HTML export and you have a pretty impressive package.

A very comprehensive and modern looking player but it could do with some more skins and slightly more streaming support.

Download DestroY MediaPlay 1.4.0 in Softonic