is there a difference in quality between the varius media players?

[kaishlothon]

or does it either play a format or it doesnt?

 

[PC eye]

Besides the particular and what file types are supported the version of Windows can make a difference at times. For WMP as one example it works great in Vista along with ITunes, VLC, Media Player Classic, Jet Audio while the XP version of 11? Stinks! WMP 10 is the best for XP as far as which version of WMP is concerned.

Some will go right after the alternate players named above over WMP for being less demanding on system resources. Some free players on the other hand simply are not worth the effort.

 

[AsnCrosty]

For music I'd rather choose winamp instead of wmp because it has a full bass and tremble equalizer thing. I always play my music with winamp along with SRS audio sandbox.
( but lately SRS isnt working anymore.. :S )

 

[PC eye]

ITunes sees an equalizer there as well. Here I would simply use the equalizer in the Creative audio console seeing the volume, bass, and tremble but leave it unchecked as a rule. For the most part the player besides what file types are supported depends a great deal on personal preference.

 

[tyttebøvs]

most players can handle encoded media files for which you have installed a codec.

vlc is another player, which has all this built into it.

 

[PC eye]

It mainly depends on what you want any player to do. For audio playback while including some form of screensaver then you have to look at WMP or ITunes for the most part.

Jet Audio is another alternative for simply playing audio files while the retail software PowerDVD by Cyberlink while lacking any equalizer will easily support a large variety of video formats even running video cds and audio cds as well as files on the hard drive.