Best audio software?

[hxc87x]

i've been wondering about this for quite a while...

1) which program is the best for converting music?
im currently using the latest paid version of dBpoweramp which is the best i've ever used. i quite like the features they include in it but i would gladly switch over to a new program if it would result in better quality =)

2) which program is your favourite music player?
i quite like winamp, but i've only tried itunes and windows media player. i like the docked and auto-hide features quite a bit, though for some reason they dont always work that well. and it takes a bit long to open. the linux guys rave about amarok, so i'll give that a try when i load linux onto my laptop.

anyone care to share some opinions/programs?

 

[Gunny]

I have been using media player of late to rip or convert. Wav to MP3 conversion is actualy faster than audiograbber in media player.

 

[SYNERGY]

I use Medai Player Classic
And Nero to convert my Audio

 

[Glordit]

Winamp to listen to Music and... It's all ripped to Mp3 using Winamp

 

[PostmanPot]

I like River Past Audio Converter.

 

[hxc87x]

just timed dBpoweramp.
a 3:49 song, converted from wav to mp3 fraunhofer @ 320kbps took 9 seconds on the highest quality settings on a 2.2ghz core 2 duo with normal tasks running in the background as well (including a disk defragmenter)
i think thats pretty impressive.

 

[wmaker]

For an audio player, perhaps look at XMPlay because of the "32/24-bit & multi-channel output" feature and also because it is not as heavy on resources as winamp has become lately.

 

[NoRulez]

Conversion: certainly dB Poweramp - for simplicity, speed and quality.
Quality all depends on the codec you're using with it.
I've been using dB in the studio amost daily for over 7 years with no quality issues.
Playback: Media Player, WinAmp, or for DJ purposes, BPM Studio.

 

[howardb]

dBPoweramp all the way - used it for years...
Media Player Classic for the player (included with kLite Codec Pack)...

 

[d0b33]

1) Mediacoder

2) iTunes to organize my library, but today I have fallen head over heals with winamp classic(2.9.5 the last version) again

Since Vista does not support Directsound like XP my cpu usage when listening to music is around 20% using iTunes or WMP11 with my xonar d2 soundcard(I just want to listen to my MP3's FFS!), this really started to bother me hence why I installed winamp classic so using the waveout plugin I set the output to use my soundcard not the microsoft mapper and the CPU usage is back to the normal 5% and when I use a DSP plugin like enhancer I still only use 10%
Memories of the good old Winamp days...

I can also export my iTunes playlists to m3u using an application I found online.
Gonna try foobar2000 next

Edit: foobar2000 is excellent!

 

[spidaman]

Winamp to rip and for playback

 

[wizdumb]

i've been using musicmatch for all my musical requirements

 

[The_Techie]

1) I use JetAudio
2) Winamp

 

[d0b33]

Here's a nice foobar2000 theme with coverflow if anyone's interested...
http://techkno.deviantart.com/art/UnitedColors-76670738

 

[SecretCode]

foobar2000 for conversion, foobar2000 for playing

 

[kayvee]

For encoding, it is said that the LAME encoder is pretty much the best out there (or was a year or so back) and is used in many apps, or at least can be configured as a plugin for most. Who cares what the app looks like, the simpler the better IMO, its the quality of the output that counts.

For playing .. winamp 2.9x kicks.....