AIMP is the best audio player we’ve tested in a long time. It’s beautifully designed and has tons of features that make it the perfect choice as your default player.

With AIMP you can organize your MP3 files in a library, edit tags if necessary and enjoy them in excellent audio quality. AIMP works with other popular formats as well, including karaoke files and several playlist formats.

AIMP offers all the standard playback functions you find in other similar apps: an 18-band equalizer, visualization effects, a separate window to view your current playlist, fading effect between songs, a normalizing filter to avoid sudden volume changes and support for global hotkeys.

But there’s more to AIMP than just that. The program also plays online streaming radio stations, includes a complete tag editor and can be set to repeat a certain part of the song – which comes in handy when you’re trying to decipher the lyrics!

The interface in AIMP is both attractive and intuitive. All functions and buttons are clearly laid out, and the design can be easily tweaked with skins.

We tried hard to find any, but there are really no cons about AIMP. It’s an awesome audio player you just have to try.

If you’re still searching for the perfect music player, AIMP may be the answer.

Download AIMP 3.20.1165 in Softonic

All of your purchases are available to stream and you can also download them locally and have the files auto imported into iTunes or Windows Media Player.

Simple streaming and local playback

Since the focus of Amazon Cloud Player for PC is to access your purchases of CDs, vinyl, and mp3s, having an Amazon account is required. Depending on how many albums or singles you've purchased, they will be loaded automatically into the app.

You can also designate a local folder to upload music into the player so your local library of music is accessible from the cloud. Amazon Cloud Player for PC also has the ability to create playlists and download your albums from the cloud to a local folder.

Designed for simplicity, there aren't many options, though you can manually adjust the size of the cache for streaming playback and restore removed music with a click.

It doesn't have access to the Amazon MP3 store directly from the app. Instead, it opens a new tab in a web browser.

Very easy to use

One of the best parts of Amazon Cloud Player for PC is that it's very easy to use. You are given all your albums in an easy-to-see grid layout by default, but you can change it to a list view to see individual songs.

If you start typing anywhere in the Amazon Cloud Player for PC window, it will automatically start searching for relevant songs or artists.

Downloading songs is simple. You drag-and-drop the album or songs into a small window on the right and the app starts downloading the songs.

Overall, Amazon Cloud Player for PC is a streamlined program for listening to music bought through Amazon.

Meant for simple playback

The design of Amazon Cloud Player for PC is meant for simplicity. You can play music, download songs from your Amazon account, and define local folders.

What you can't do it change streaming audio quality or change the theme. The black background highlights the album covers, but if you are missing the album cover from music, then you only have a generic album icon.

There is also no equalizer or presets in Amazon Cloud Player for PC, so you have little control over the sound of your music.

Great for Amazon users

If you buy a lot of music through Amazon, then Amazon Cloud Player for PC is perfect for you. It allows you to easily download all your purchased music and offers simple playback that will satisfy most users.

The lack of advanced options is disappointing, but is great for people who just want to listen to their collection through streaming or local means.

Download Amazon Cloud Player for PC 1.0.0.303.1.0.140-20130510 in Softonic

· Listen to +150 different genres of music ranging from Rock to Electronic Dance Music · See the upcoming events of the Digitally Imported radio station and export them to a calendar file · Use your Listen Key to enjoy the maximum streaming quality and no ads! · Low CPU and RAM usage, ideal for using it at your grandma's PC · Completely portable, no changes are made to the Windows registry when you use the player, so it's great for carrying it around in a USB stick · Quickly access all the functions from the menu available on the tray icon · The music never stops! If the connection is lost to a server, a new one will be connected to automatically! · The equalizer makes it so that you can listen to your favourite genre your own way!

This program differences from your regular music player because it lets you do such things like opening the forums, see the upcoming events or a list of previously played songs. Besides, the player lets you use your Listen Key to enjoy the maximum quality the stations have to offer, and will even allow you to change the streaming format without having to worry about going to the station's website and download a new playlist file.

Both advanced and novice PC users will find the player a joy to use. With its easy-to-use interface you're at only one click away from the music, but its powerful options panel makes it so that customising it is just a few clicks away!

Download Digitally Imported Windows Player 1.19 in Softonic

Max Recorder is unique from the competition because of its integration with iTunes, ability to automatically segment recordings into individual tracks, ability to normalize the volume of recordings, and its ease of use.

An average Windows user that listens to music and watches music videos online.

Download Max Recorder 1.024 in Softonic

Features

Version 2 ("Twoflower") brings a new interface, faster decoding, support for more formats and the ability to play HD and BluRay. It still remains however the most stable, flexible and lightweight audio and video player around today. While other media players will play unusual formats after downloading a codec, or simply refuse to play things,

VLC media player handles tons of formats, from MPEG to FLV and RMBV files. Version 2 has seen some important additions too such as support for 10 bit codes plus multi-threaded decoding for H.264, MPEG-4/Xvid and WebM.

Also useful is the fact that you can use VLC media player to preview files you are downloading since it plays incomplete parts of video files. VLC media player is not just for video playback however. It also offers superb integration with video channel streaming services such as Channels.com giving you access to channels such as ESPN, Reuters and National Geographic. Just right-click or CMD-click on the playlist, select Services Discovery and Channels.com.

Channels.com will then appear in your VLC media player playlist. Click on it to reveal the the different categories of channels available. Click on the category you want and a drop down list of all available channels appears in VLC media player. Just click on the channel you want to watch and streaming should begin almost immediately.

Usability

VLC media player also has great hotkey support and if you take the time to learn the shortcuts so it can be controlled without touching your mouse. If you're watching DVDs or video files through it, this is not an issue. For music, it plays more or less any file and features an equalizer and playlist creation. VLC media player isn't as intuitive as iTunes as a media manager, but it's a much more flexible player in terms of file formats. You can even use VLC to convert your files, and on top of all the formats and physical media it will play, many streaming protocols and TV capture cards are supported.

VLC media player makes it easy to add subtitles to your video files too - just add the SRT file to the folder where your video is kept, and it will automatically play with subtitles.

Finally, the interface in VLC media player has been somewhat improved in version 2 although it remains strictly functional. However, you can download skins to completely change VLC media player's appearance. The preferences menu is comprehensive without being overwhelming, and there is extensive documentation online.

Conclusion

VLC Media Player is quite simply the best multimedia application for Windows and Mac. It plays just about anything, hassle free - what more could you need?

What's new

Rework and fixes of the Mac OS X interface

Fix Pulseaudio initial synchronization

Fix MKV, SWF, AIFF and subtitles demuxer crashes

Translations updates and new Welsh translation

DVB-S delivery system detection

Fix audio and video track selection through libVLC

Fix system sleep issue on Mac OS X 10.5

Download VLC media player 2.0.6 in Softonic

Complete mixer with crossfade between two tracks. Real time equalization per load with mute Integrated Automix. Automatic syncronization between the decks based on BPM Automatic Beat Detection Three effects per load (Echo, Flanger, Wha). Three memory banks pero load for CUE points or Loops. Three samples per load. Auto Loop from ¼ to 32 Beats. Scratch with an integrated wheel. Advanced traklist with two levels (Explorer and / or Playlist). Resizable to the end of the screen. Ultra-fast "Search" to scan your music library. Complete Audio Set Up (include Audio Support). Customize DJ ProDecks: Put your name into the Skin. Supported Files: MP3, MP2, MP1, WAV, OGG, AIFF, WMA, FLA, AAC.

Designed by DJs. Easy to use. Advanced features. Freeware without activation. New and attractive Multi-Wheel Good integration of the music library. Recording. You can mix for yourself with professional features (Autoloop Effects, Sampler), but also you can use Automix fuction with Shuffle and Multi-List. Customize your skin with your name or some text (max 15 characters)

The target of use is an universal user, normally music fan who wants to mix their songs without cost.

Download DJ ProDecks 2.0 in Softonic

With JetAudio you can:
- enjoy your favorite music and videos
- add awesome visualization effects to your music
- customize the player's appearance with a great selection of skins

The main purpose of JetAudio is obviously playing audio and video files. The program includes elements with which you can improve playback and make it more enjoyable, such as sound effects, cross-fading between songs and support for lyrics.

JetAudio Extra features
Besides the basic functionality, the program also features a bunch of extra tools that enable you to rip CDs, record sound, convert music files from one format to another, listen to online radio stations and burn your favorite MP3 to CD.

You can also run JetAudio as an extra bar that sits on the Windows taskbar and control its main functions from there without interrupting your work.

JetAudio is a complete, handy media player for anyone that would like to do more than just play audio and video files.

Download JetAudio Basic 8.0.17 in Softonic

When it comes to audio players, most people choose between the three or four most popular apps: iTunes, Winamp, VLC, AIMP Player… but there are many other interesting choices like Songbird.

Songbird is an open-source music player and organizer with which you can manage, play and discover music. It's free, cross-platform, highly customizable thanks to a wide variety of plug-ins and can be improved and extended by the contribution of its user community.

The first thing you'll notice about Songbird is its resemblance to the iTunes interface, which means that if you've ever used iTunes you won't have any problem in learning how to use Songbird. Then, as you explore the program's menus and options, you'll start discovering all the goodies it has to offer.

Songbird automatically imports your music files from a selected folder, monitors that folder for future music additions, organizes your music in a handy, easily browsable catalog, is compatible with iTunes and Last.fm libraries, can be controlled from any other app thanks to global hotkeys and also supports Last.fm scrobbling. It also includes album art and a simple equalizer.

Songbird is such a complete tool that's hard to find negative sides to it. Plus there's an army of developers constantly working on improvements and new features. The only thing I missed so far, in fact, is support for podcasts – which I'm sure will probably be added some time soon.

Songbird is a complete, full-featured music player and organizer with support for plug-ins and an extensive user community.

Download Songbird 2.2.0.2453 in Softonic

Songbird Portable is an open-source music player and organizer with which you can manage, play and discover music. It's free, cross-platform, highly customizable thanks to a wide variety of plug-ins and can be improved and extended by the contribution of its user community.

The first thing you'll notice about Songbird Portable is its resemblance to the iTunes interface, which means that if you've ever used iTunes you won't have any problem in learning how to use Songbird. Then, as you explore the program's menus and options, you'll start discovering all the goodies it has to offer.

Songbird Portable automatically imports your music files from a selected folder, monitors that folder for future music additions, organizes your music in a handy, easily browsable catalog, is compatible with iTunes and Last.fm libraries, can be controlled from any other app thanks to global hotkeys and also supports Last.fm scrobbling. It also includes album art and a simple equalizer.

Songbird Portable is such a complete tool that's hard to find negative sides to it. Plus there's an army of developers constantly working on improvements and new features. The only thing I missed so far, in fact, is support for podcasts – which I'm sure will probably be added some time soon.

Songbird Portable is a complete, full-featured music player and organizer with support for plug-ins and an extensive user community.

Download Songbird Portable 2.2.0 in Softonic

On the surface, iMesh looks polished and easy to use. The program features a tab bar that gives you access to different areas: Library, with all the media stored on your computer; Home, which is the main screen on iMesh; Search, where you can find, download and buy music and video; Discover, a tool do find new artists and music genres; and finally DJ, which plays music you may like based on a song or band of your choice.

The iMesh community is a great place to make friends, exchange messages and also share media libraries. You can also upload photos to your profile, and send songs over to friends. On the downside, we missed a bit more integration with other social services such as Twitter or Facebook.

iMesh also includes a powerful built-in player for audio and video – featuring a 10-band equalizer – plus a built-in CD burner to create custom media CD and DVD on the spot.

iMesh is a complete P2P client with which you can discover new bands, buy the music you like and make new friends.

Download iMesh 12 in Softonic

While most people listen to streaming music or video now, there are occasions when you do not have a data connection and locally stored files are your only option. PotPlayer is an excellent media player that can handle a large variety of media file types.

Playback quality will depend on the hardware the program is installed on, but in tests, PotPlayer had no problem playing a 1.6 GB MOV file, 865 MB MKV, or a 1.4 GB AVI. Smaller files should play back without any issues as well. You can toggle file information and see an in-depth breakdown of file information including CPU usage.

There is subtitle support in PotPlayer for .ass and .srt files and will natively play subtitles if they are located in the same folder as the video file. The amount of options in PotPlayer are great. You can optimize PotPlayer to get the best performance, but the default settings work fine for the majority of videos.

PotPlayer can also play audio files. It includes default visualizations or you can download more online. The program provides a lot of information about the audio file like bitrate, file type, and the number of channels. Like other media players, there are also audio presets for the equalizer and they all work pretty well. It it is not a substitute for a good stereo, but does have an effect on the audio.

The program is by Daum, a Korean company, but the program is presented entirely in English during and after installation. One annoyance is that PotPlayer does not show in the taskbar, only in the notification area, so to use the program, you either have to have it running in an open section on your screen or find it in notifications.

PotPlayer is a good alternative to first party media players. The stable build has a large variety of supported formats and the quality of playback is excellent for both video and audio.

Download PotPlayer 1.5.35238 in Softonic

Useful Features: Change Playback Speed (0.1x to 2.0x) A-B Repeat Equalizer Audio Effects (Reverb, Surround, Normalize) Shuffle Playlists Edit ID3 Tags Change Skins Plugin Support Power Options Open Internet Streams

GOM Audio was designed to be the audio playback answer to the popular GOM Media Player video playback software. Because GOM Audio is based on GOM Media Player, many of the same features (like A-B Repeat and Playback Speed controls) and shortcuts are included!

GOM Audio is great for anyone who uses their PC for listening to music, especially those who use other GOM software products.

Download GOM Audio GOM Audio 2.0.2.0287 in Softonic

If you want to play video or music files and not worry about format, Portable VLC media player is the best application for the job. With this portable app, you can have the powerful media player with you anywhere.

Like its big desktop brother, Portable VLC media player is simply the most stable, flexible and lightweight audio and video player around today. While other media players will play unusual formats after downloading a codec, or simply refuse to play things, Portable VLC media player will never complain. In addition to this, you can also use it to preview files you are downloading, because it will play parts of files. It takes no time to start up either, so opening it up to preview something is no trouble at all.

Portable VLC media player has great hotkey support - if you take the time to learn the shortcuts - so can be controlled without touching your mouse. The interface is functional, but by no means attractive. If you're watching DVDs or video files through it, this is not an issue.

Regarding music, Portable VLC media player plays more or less any file and features an equalizer and playlist creation. It isn't as intuitive as iTunes as a media manager, but it's a much more flexible player in terms of file formats.

For video, Portable VLC media player is the best application you will find. Its minimal interface is great for viewing, it's got excellent tools for effects, and doing things like adding subtitles is easy.

Download Portable VLC media player 2.0.5 in Softonic

ProfoundSound utilizes the patent pending TruDynamics Processing algorithms designed to maximize the listening experience no matter what the environment or source material.  Bass, Treble, and Surround sound effects are quite often dependent upon what is present in the source material in order to achieve their effectiveness. With the TruDynamics algorithms, the effects are automatically optimized no matter how it was recorded or what the listening environment.

This software is meant for anyone who enjoys listening to music or watching movies on the PC, whether listening through the PC speakers themselves, or through external speakers connected to the PC or through headphones. Works wired or wirelessly.

Download Profound Sound CSharp Win7 32 1.0.1.6 in Softonic

ProfoundSound utilizes the patent pending TruDynamics Processing algorithms designed to maximize the listening experience no matter what the environment or source material.  Bass, Treble, and Surround sound effects are quite often dependent upon what is present in the source material in order to achieve their effectiveness. With the TruDynamics algorithms, the effects are automatically optimized no matter how it was recorded or what the listening environment.

This software is meant for anyone who enjoys listening to music or watching movies on the PC, whether listening through the PC speakers themselves, or through external speakers connected to the PC or through headphones. Works wired or wirelessly.

Download Profound Sound CSharp Win7 64 1.0.1.6 in Softonic

ProfoundSound utilizes the patent pending TruDynamics Processing algorithms designed to maximize the listening experience no matter what the environment or source material.  Bass, Treble, and Surround sound effects are quite often dependent upon what is present in the source material in order to achieve their effectiveness. With the TruDynamics algorithms, the effects are automatically optimized no matter how it was recorded or what the listening environment.

This software is meant for anyone who enjoys listening to music or watching movies on the PC, whether listening through the PC speakers themselves, or through external speakers connected to the PC or through headphones. Works wired or wirelessly.

Download Profound Sound Lite Win7 64 1.0.1.6 in Softonic

MediaMonkey automatically scans your PC for all types of music formats. If you have playlists from other programs, it’s good to know that MediaMonkey also adds m3u files, sparing you the pain of having to recreate them. The file explorer view on the left lets you easily navigate your music collection by categories like artist, genre or rating. You can convert tracks in MediaMonkey into any format you wish, depending on what size or quality of sound you’re looking for. MediaMonkey also lets you analyze and adjust the volume of tracks to increase your listening experience.

MediaMonkey has made its reputation on its advanced tagging management feature. Every time a track is added, the program will verify its tags. You can automatically fill in missing details with info from Amazon or Filename. The program can clean up your tags, move information into the correct categories and synchronize tags for selected tracks. You can also rename and move multiple files thanks to the auto-organize function. MediaMonkey also supports Winamp plugins and visualizations plus skins can be applied to spice up the interface.

If you want to make your own mix CDs, you’ll be happy to know that MediaMonkey rips and burns CDs and DVDs. Create a virtual CD of your favorite tracks and let MediaMonkey do its job. Budding DJs will enjoy the auto-DJ mode, which mixes tracks for you and the Party Mode, which blocks your configuration but lets anybody play their favorite tune. MediaMonkey’s versatility doesn’t stop there. The music manager also lets you synchronize with your portable music devices like your iPod or iRiver.

If you feel like completing your library with a couple of fresh albums you can browse sites like Amazon, Barnes and Noble or AllPosters and purchase tracks. However, unlike Songbird, where you can type in a URL, browse and save your favorite music blogs and sites, MediaMonkey only allows you to browse their selection of online stores.

We were disappointed with the web radio selection, which only features Shoutcast and Icecast, and were surprised to see no sign of podcasts anywhere in the application. However version 3.0 is planning on incorporating this to the application.

Despite these drawbacks, we recommend MediaMonkey to anybody looking for a solid alternative to iTunes or Winamp. This original music manager is more than capable of organizing a very large music library and offers advanced tagging management rarely seen in other music applications. While the browser and web radio are fairly limited, MediaMonkey allows you to rip your custom CDs and connects to most portable music devices. If you really take a liking to MediaMonkey, cough up a few bucks and upgrade to the Gold version, which will open up all of the program’s functionalities like finding missing tracks or creating auto (smart) playlists.

Download MediaMonkey Free 4.0.7.1511 in Softonic

The first thing MediaMonkey does is ask to scan your drives for music. This is effective, and will really pull in any audio it finds. You can select the kind of audio files you want to use, which can stop MediaMonkey importing irrelevant audio. This is one of MediaMonkey's advantage over iTunes, as it's less reliant on its own library system. It is also compatible with many more formats. You can sync Media Monkey with devices such as iPhones and MP3 players.

For playback, MediaMonkey has all the usual tools, like equalizer and volume leveling. However, its layout takes a while to get used to, and it's not as easy to drop into as iTunes. The folder tree is comprehensive but ugly, and the tiny buttons in the toolbar are incomprehensible without trial and error testing.

MediaMonkey is a comprehensive audio management and playback device that's absolutely packed with features. However, it's looking old these days and really lacks a intuitive interface.

Download MediaMonkey Gold 4.0.7 in Softonic

ProfoundSound utilizes the patent pending TruDynamics Processing algorithms designed to maximize the listening experience no matter what the environment or source material.  Bass, Treble, and Surround sound effects are quite often dependent upon what is present in the source material in order to achieve their effectiveness. With the TruDynamics algorithms, the effects are automatically optimized no matter how it was recorded or what the listening environment.

This software is meant for anyone who enjoys listening to music or watching movies on the PC, whether listening through the PC speakers themselves, or through external speakers connected to the PC or through headphones. Works wired or wirelessly.

Download Profound Sound Lite Win7 32 1.0.1.6 in Softonic

Audio is an equally crucial element of your video experience. A meaningful sound track/effect is often as complicated as the images on the screen. AudioDirector helps you in creating, sweetening, repairing and producing the pristine sound that goes perfectly with your video.

For video editors who are familiar with PowerDirector, AudioDirector is the best audio tool for them to edit and enhance the audio portion within their projects.

Download CyberLink AudioDirector Ultra in Softonic