VOGONS


Replacement for Winamp?

Topic actions

First post, by Cyberdyne

User metadata
Rank Oldbie
Rank
Oldbie

Media Player Classic HC and Winamp are more or less dead and not good for Windows 10/11.

For videos the VLC is pretty good mature and free open replacement.

But...

For Windows 95 to Windows 7 I have used Winamp.

What can I replace it for simple MP3 WMA player with similar look and controls for Windows 10/11.

What are your experiences?

I am aroused about any X86 motherboard that has full functional ISA slot. I think i have problem. Not really into that original (Turbo) XT,286,386 and CGA/EGA stuff. So just a DOS nut.
PS. If I upload RAR, it is a 16-bit DOS RAR Version 2.50.

Reply 1 of 21, by leileilol

User metadata
Rank l33t++
Rank
l33t++

There's always the first poster to chime in WACUP. Current Winamp's squatted by VC posers that don't know what they're doing, so if I wanted the WA itch, i'd probably look at QMMP or Audacious instead.

(I stopped using WinAmp on windows long ago)

apsosig.png
long live PCem
FUCK "AI"

Reply 2 of 21, by Yoghoo

User metadata
Rank Oldbie
Rank
Oldbie

There are a lot of alternatives but I am using AIMP at the moment. It's from a Russian developer if that matters to you.

Also used Foobar2000 and MusicBee in the past. They are okay as wel. Probably QMMP or WACUP is what you're looking for if the skin is important (no experience with them though). AIMP has a Winamp skin as wel.

Reply 3 of 21, by zyga64

User metadata
Rank Oldbie
Rank
Oldbie

Similiar look and controls to Winamp ? I have no idea...
For simple MP3 WMA (and more formats) player - Windows: foobar2000, Linux: DeaDBeeF


8088@8 /640k /Genoa CGA /ALS100
286@20 /4M /CL-GD5422 /CMI8330
486DX33 /16M /TGUI9440 /GUS+ALS100+MT32PI
K6-2@400 /64M /MGA-2064W+3dfx /YMF718
P!!!750 /256M /MX440 /Vibra16s+SBLive!

Reply 4 of 21, by NeoG_

User metadata
Rank Oldbie
Rank
Oldbie

When I had moved on from winamp and still had a large library of local files, Foobar2000 was my goto player

98/DOS Rig: BabyAT AladdinV, K6-2+/550, V3 2000, 128MB PC100, 20GB HDD, 128GB SD2IDE, SB Live!, SB16-SCSI, PicoGUS, WP32 McCake, iNFRA CD, ZIP100
XP Rig: Lian Li PC-10 ATX, Gigabyte X38-DQ6, Core2Duo E6850, ATi HD5870, 2GB DDR2, 2TB HDD, X-Fi XtremeGamer

Reply 5 of 21, by Norton Commander

User metadata
Rank Member
Rank
Member

+1 for AIMP. Been using it for over a decade since I had XP as my main OS. I couldn't find any skins that look like WinAmp but there's another media player I've used that does have WinAmp skins. XMPlay.

https://www.un4seen.com/

Reply 6 of 21, by Fazeshift

User metadata
Rank Newbie
Rank
Newbie

Audacious. I have been using it for about a decade. There is a Winamp interface mode, and you can even use Winamp Classic skins.

My experience has been great. I am using it primarily under Linux Mint. I have installed and used briefly in Windows 10 - hopefully it is equally solid there.

Reply 7 of 21, by theelf

User metadata
Rank Oldbie
Rank
Oldbie

WACUP

and geiss work like a charm too

Reply 8 of 21, by RandomStranger

User metadata
Rank Oldbie
Rank
Oldbie

What's wrong with MPC-HC?
Both that and MPC-HC Black Edition is still being developed. The latest stable release was 2 weeks ago for MPC-HC and last december for Black Edition. I only use recent windows on my work laptop (provided by my employer) and never had issues with them.

For music, Audacious.
QMMP is also an interesting Winamp clone, but for me Audacious worked better.

sreq.png retrogamer-s.png

Reply 9 of 21, by Barley

User metadata
Rank Newbie
Rank
Newbie

+1 on MPC-HC not being "dead." It is my go-to player for all video needs, including Youtube and Blu-rays.

Reply 10 of 21, by dr_st

User metadata
Rank l33t
Rank
l33t

I switched to MPC-HC exclusively for videos. BSPlayer has gotten terrible and buggy in later versions, and VLC always had awful UI.
I don't frequently listen to audio on the PC, but it works just as well.

https://cloakedthargoid.wordpress.com/ - Random content on hardware, software, games and toys

Reply 11 of 21, by BEEN_Nath_58

User metadata
Rank l33t
Rank
l33t

clsid somehow seems to be overlooked upon. Same happened during ffdshow development, and now MPC-HC

previously known as Discrete_BOB_058

Reply 12 of 21, by appiah4

User metadata
Rank l33t++
Rank
l33t++

foobar2000

Reply 14 of 21, by eM-!3

User metadata
Rank Newbie
Rank
Newbie

You can try XMPlay as a Winamp replacement. It's as old as Winamp but in active development with frequent dev releases. It's capable with plenty of plugins available. There are Winamp skins if you need a different look.
Audacious is fine if you use Linux.

Like other said MPC-HC is alive again. There is also MPC-BE.

Reply 15 of 21, by aVd

User metadata
Rank Member
Rank
Member

Winamp means windows, so foobar2000.

DOS fan :: artificial "intelligence" - not a fan... not a fan at all :: is freeware a lie, when human freedom is a fundamental lie?

Reply 16 of 21, by Ahrle

User metadata
Rank Newbie
Rank
Newbie
Cyberdyne wrote on 2026-03-02, 11:30:
Media Player Classic HC and Winamp are more or less dead and not good for Windows 10/11. […]
Show full quote

Media Player Classic HC and Winamp are more or less dead and not good for Windows 10/11.

For videos the VLC is pretty good mature and free open replacement.

But...

For Windows 95 to Windows 7 I have used Winamp.

What can I replace it for simple MP3 WMA player with similar look and controls for Windows 10/11.

What are your experiences?

Why are you replacing it? What functionality are you missing?

I personally use Windows Media Player and VLC, preferring Media Player when possible.

Current main: Inspiron 8100, Tualatin 1133, 512MB, GF2 Go, 1600x1200, dualboot 98/XP.

Reply 17 of 21, by theelf

User metadata
Rank Oldbie
Rank
Oldbie

Cant understand why in this world someone can advice something different to winamp to someone want... winamp!!

wacup IS winamp

Reply 18 of 21, by zyzzle

User metadata
Rank Member
Rank
Member

Exactly... can't understand the mindset that because an excellent piece of software is old it always needs to be replaced. Nothing could be further from the truth. Winamp is irreplaceable. It's so good and it is immortal, lean, unbloated, and still extremely useful. Bloated replacements need not apply. Same story for many great software products. There's absolutely no reason to "replace" something with a newer, inferior retread if it still works well and fills a need supremely.

Reply 19 of 21, by eM-!3

User metadata
Rank Newbie
Rank
Newbie

I replaced Winamp because I like to use obscure audio formats. It helps to have a player capable off playing them. I remember that 15 years ago it didn't work well with community Opus plugin so I started looking for alternative and found XMPlay which have extremely small binaries and as old as Winamp but still developed by BASS library developer.