Best Free Media Player
Finding an all-in-one media player used to be impossible. In the past you needed to use several separate programs to play MP3 files, streaming media from Real, Mpeg files, Quicktime movies, CDs and DVD discs, but with the advent of Microsoft's Windows Media Player (WMP), all of these media types could be played in one player. Over a period of time, however, WMP for XP and Vista has become bloated and isn't compatible with all of the available file formats. WinAmp, which began as an mp3 player, now plays almost everything, although it uses a lot of system resources and may contain adware if you aren't careful on the installation. iTunes has become more prevalent on many PCs due to the almost universal reach of the IPod, but it also uses a lot of resources and is processor intensive. So I've done some major research to find alternative media players capable of playing all of these media formats, including digital music, video, CD, and DVD, while still being light on resources. I was impressed with what I found. Not only do these programs replace WMP ITunes and WinAmp, but they also exceeded their functionality. The products that I've reviewed here are capable of playing multiple types of media files, including various digital audio and video formats, CDs, and DVDs. They are also easy to install and use and are light on system resources.
NOTE: Some of these programs may require additional codecs for expanded functionality. For more information about codecs, including what they do, legal issues and download links, see the article, "Understanding Codecs".
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My thanks to everyone who suggested The KM Player, especially subscriber Sandeep, whose comments were helpful in creating this review. |
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My personal favorite is 
Another good alternative is This software category is maintained by volunteer editor Joe Bennett. Registered site visitors can contact Joe by clicking here.
Product Specifications:
Media Player Classic:
Website: http://sourceforge.net/projects/guliverkli2/
Download Link: http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=205650
Author: Gabest
Current version: 6.4.9.1
Version date: 04-Apr-2008
Download file size: 2.12 MB
License: Free - GNU General Public License (GPL)
Operating systems supported: Windows 95-Vista
Additional required software: None
64 bit version available: No, this program will not run in a 64 bit environment
Portable version available: Program is Portable
Non-English languages supported: None
Other relevant information:
- No installation required.
- Can be run from a flash drive.
- "Understanding Codecs" can be downloaded here: http://www.techsupportalert.com/dr/understanding-codecs.htm
- Additional software to enhance Media Player Classic can be found here:
- ffdshow: http://www.free-codecs.com/download/FFDShow.htm
- Real Alternative: http://www.free-codecs.com/download/Real_Alternative.htm
- QuickTime Alternative: http://www.free-codecs.com/download/QuickTime_Alternative.htm
- WinAmp Alternative: http://www.softpedia.com/progDownload/Winamp-Alternative-Download-23376.html
The KM Player:
Website: http://www.kmplayer.com/forums/index.php
Download link: http://www.kmplayer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8351
Author: Pandora TV
Current version: 2.9.3.1428
Version date: 16-Dec-2007
Download file size: 13.5 MB
License: Free - GNU General Public License (GPL)
Operating systems supported: Windows 98-Vista
Additional Related software: None
64 Bit version available: Unknown
Portable version available: Yes - Available here
Non-English languages supported: Chinese, French, German, Spanish, Polish, Russian, Portugese
Other relevant information: None
VLC Media Player:
Website: http://www.videolan.org/
Download link: http://www.videolan.org/vlc/
Author: The VideoLAN Team
Current version: 0.9.2
Version date: 15-Sep-2008
Download file size: 13.81 MB
License: Free - GNU General Public License (GPL)
Operating systems supported: Windows 98-Vista, OS x, Various Linux distros
Additional Related software: None
64 Bit version available: Unknown
Portable version available: Yes - Available here
Non-English languages supported: None
Other relevant information: None
GOM Player:
Website: http://www.gomplayer.com/main.html
Download link: http://www.gomplayer.com/download.html
Author: Gretech Corp.
Current version: 2.1.9.3754
Version date: 28-Mar-2008
Download file size: 4.48 MB
License: Free - GNU General Public License (GPL)
Operating systems supported: Windows 98SE-Vista
64 Bit version available: No, but this 32 bit program will run in a 64 bit environment
Portable version available: No
Additional related software: None
Other relevant information: None
Related Topics:
- Installing Media Player Classic - A step by step guide
- Best Free CD/DVD Burning Software
- Best Free Audio/Video Format Conversion Program
- Best Free Video Editor
- Best Free Streaming Media Recorder
- Best Free Audio Editing Software
- Best Free Screen Session Recorder
- Best Free Digital Image Viewer
- Best Free MP3 Tag Editor
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I would include The Core Media Player on this list.
The Core Media Player is shareware which you have to pay for if you want all of the features unlocked.
MPC all the way and the best codec pack: CCCP + Real alternative & Quicktime alternative if needed
MPC+CCCP is very small (no need to install) and can play anything and everything.
ALSO fully customizable (change shortcut keys, add plugins, rendering, filters, nifty subtitle database where you can DL subtitles specifically for each movie based on hashes, etc)
all the other players have a lot of BLOAT that really isn't neccessary. with mpc you can add on whatever feature you need and get rid of those you don't.
long time reader been using KMP for over 2 yrs, discovered during a review of an article by Gizmo. If you have a modern PC it's far better than media classic which is my backup because of all the extra features and controls one has when playing HD movies over my large LCD hooked up to my PC. Nothing beats it, not even the paid DVD players on the market. With today's powerful PCs, get control over your HD movies and watch them they way u want them! I even chucked my audio player in favor of KMP, keeping it simple!
Anything here play .av, .avi, rar and mpg?
Is there a mod in this forum? My question goes unanswered.
This is not a forum, this is a review article. Please go to the forums to ask your questions there.
Best regards,
George
You're in the Media Player category and most if not all listed apps here play those files and more...
Kmplayer and AIMP2. It can't get better than this.
KMP and AIMP2 are the best
KMP for video and AIMP2 for audio they out class MPC but you have to install real- and quicktime- alternative and K lite after doing the above playing media files are a dream unlike the nightmare when i was using WMP, Winamp, realplayer and quicktime
The added bonus they are light on resources and stable
Plus KMP can play DVDs from different regions
Zak98
VLC has a problem playing certain flv files;otherwise it is a great player.But KMP dose not have this problem.KMP is also lighter on resources than VLC.
Songbird! Songbird! For heaven's sake - songbird!
Things to consider with Songbird:
It is in beta, and has been for over a year.
The installer package is a 16.2 MB download, but don't let that fool you. It has a big footprint! It takes 150 MB installed, and is heavy on memory use. See the system requirements page at http://getsongbird.com/system-requirements/
It does have a nice GUI, but has just some common features, most which are found in other free and lighter-weight players.
Just how bloated will it be by the time a first release candidate version is offered?
Wow, for play flv file, i thinks this tools works greatly:)
http://www.video-to-flash.com/flv-player/
Hello, this has been an interesting read. I have been using Media Player Classic with K-Lite for a long time now, and I would like to solve some issues that I have encountered. For one, in order to view certain video files (namely WMV files), I must lower my graphics card's hardware acceleration to the point where Direct3D and DirectDraw are disabled. Is there any way for myself to be able to view WMV files without lowering my hardware acceleration? I am using a cheap Dell laptop with a ATI Radeon Xpress Series card.
Also, I am unable to take frame captures of my videos. When I try to save it to a location, it gives me an error message stating: "GetCurrentImage failed, hr =8000ffff". This occurs with any file type.
Thanks!
Lets start with the basics. Try a different codec pack (Like FFDShow or XP Codec Pack) and see if the same thing happens. The K-Lite codec pack is considered questionable due to its inclusion of an outdated DivX codec. Then try a different player altogether. You might also try updating your video drivers and see if that clears it up.
With regard to the frame capture problem, my research has found the following: Try clicking "View - Options - Output - DirectShow Video", then click on SYSTEM DEFAULT (not overlay mixer). After that restart your PC.
More info on this error can be found here: http://www.free-codecs.com/guides/Capture_images_from_movies_using_Media...
Hope this helps.
Joe
I am replying to my own post here. I forgot to mention that I can actually play the WMV files, but it is appears in all sorts of funky colors, making the video virtually unviewable.
I tried all the players and think KMP is the best its interface its realy good and its able to play all my media files after i installed quicktimealt and realalt
MPC and VLC could not play all my media files even after installation of quicktimealt & realalt, and GOM had problems with DVDs.
I also added AIMP which is a great audio player and plays all major audio and playlist files
Between AIMP & KMP i have ditched all other media players even windows
Thank for the great advice
zak98
http://xbmc.org/ i don`t know where to put it.
http://xbmc.org/download/
Hi guys !
Congrats on this site. The info contained here is great.
I use Media Player Classic Home Cinema for all my video material. The latest incarnation can play all types of video with ZERO codecs installed (I recently switched to Vista and didn't install any codecs whatsoever... never thoought I'd see the day :) ). Also, it has another big advantage: it's the only player I know of that can use your hardware (vid card) to decode HD streams through Bitstream, employing it's internal decoding libraries. It's a bit tricky to set up correctly, but the author's site pretty much covers it all.
I love this feature... It's great to watch a 1080p movie with 3% CPU utilization on a modest dual core. KMplayer is also amazing, but I didn't like its internal rendering of HD material, so I had to switch it to external and let CoreAVC render it most of the time. MPC-HC is everything I need right now.
The only feature I miss is the ability to play DVD's directly from ISO images. I know for a fact that VLC (at least the Linux version) and SMplayer can do that. Wish MPC could do it.
I also use AIMP for audio. Foobar is also amazing, but was a bit overkill for me and customizing it is pretty nasty. I love the fact that AIMP plays my old MIDI's better than my old external hardware daughtercards. (It doesn't seem to play MID at all by default, but add a huge soundfont and you're set).
Those are my personal choices... And I also think that merging the audio and video needs of users into one category is not a great idea. The highly specialized nature of some programs is what makes them amazing and I, for one, would never miss out on such advanced functionality just to have a mediocre do-it-all.
Take care and gl to you all.
I think winamp should be on that list as well its awesome and supports like everyting and has the added functionality of plug ins
Thanks for the so informative article and site in general.
I would like to make a notice for an alternative solution.
I'm using for over a year now CCCP codec pack that comes along with MPC Home Cinema Edition (the latest update Sep08) and Zoom player 5.5 Beta,but it can be upgraded to MaxHome 6.0).
Zoom player never failed till now to play any video or audio format except a couple times that the file was damaged.(I mainly use it as a video player while iTunes is my music box.)Very simple user friendly configuration(I dare to say that for me at least was the easiest media setup),with out any glitches as far as I've noticed(ain't no expert though).
The only minus is that to play Dvd(no use for me) you must upgrade to a paid version.
As the codec pack has FFDshow,Haali MediaSpliter,VsFilter,There was only a couple rare formats(audio)missing,but very easy can be downloading them within Zoom player install center.
Thanks once again.
I use KMPlayer, because it does NOT need -extra- Codec Packs
like K-Lite, CCCP, XP Codec Pack. etc.
Hi!
Thank You so much for your site. It has helped me a lot when I was looking for a good and light mediaplyer. I have tried several of the players that are mentioned in your comments. Now I have the russian player AIMP 2 for music, it´s easy to use, gives good sound, has all the necessary codecs built-in (at least for my needs) and it doesnt take much of your system. For film I use vlc or KMplyer, both easy to use. Keep up the good work!
-Why do you have to use an -Additional- player just for music/audio-files?
-Can't KMPlayer -Fully- cover your music/audio-files requirements?
you need to evaluate foobar ( foobar2000.org )
it has all the tools that a music player can have but it is lightweight and free.
The products reviewed here can play almost any type of media (Audio files, Video files, CD, DVD, etc) without taking up the resources that WMP takes up.
Foobar 2000 plays only audio and has no support for any type of video playback. It may very well be a great audio player, but audio-only software is not within the scope of my reveiws here.
I disagree about your analysis. I think that if a program plays audio media, then it is a media player and, therefore, naturally falls under this heading. You should change the title to "Best Free Universal Media Players," if you want to improve your argument. Right now, with all respect, it seems absurd. Most sites I know of, that list media players, include the top music media players as media players. This argument arbitrarily excludes them such that the heading will continue to naturally incline readers to expect music players. It's sort of like saying that a horse isn't an animal because it doesn't have enough animal characteristics (sorry for the joke)!
I personally think it would be a nice touch to mention the best audio media players in a short little paragraph near the end.
You are correct that a program that plays only audio files, is a media player. However, it has been my experience that people nowadays want more from their media players than to just play digital music. I explain in my review that in the past we needed different programs to play different media types, but over time PC users wanted more. They wanted one program to play all media types. It keeps things simple and consistent for them while at the same time conserving hard drive space (due to less programs on the hard drive). Nowadays, very few want to use multiple players to play multiple formats. Therefore I think it important to review media players that fulfill this functionality.
That being said, you may have a point suggesting that the article title be a bit more descriptive. Keep in mind that I have already changed the title of this review once because it was too long (It used to be called, "Best Free Windows Media Player Replacement"... way too long in my opinion). We want to keep things easy for people to find while making review titles meaningful and relevant. I will look into this. Thanks for your comments.
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