Music Player AIMP has reached version 5.00 final
The Windows music player AIMP has recently been updated to version 5.0 final. We have followed AIMP development here at Ghacks for a long time. Our first tutorials, recording Internet radio with AIMP and installing Winamp plugins in the music player, date back to 2008.
The last milestone release, AIMP 4.00, dates back to 2015. The developers have reached numerous new versions that introduce new features and improve existing functionality.
AIMP 5.00
Existing users find plenty of changes in AIMP 5.00, beginning with a new design. AIMP 5.00 displays several design suggestions on start that range from a minimalistic version to a modern version; the classic design is also available, for users who prefer it over the new designs.
The screenshot above shows the default design, which is eye pleasing and useful at the same time. One of AIMP's strengths is customizability, and the latest version of the music player has a lot to offer in that regard.
As far as changes are concerned, here is a short overview of major changes in AIMP 5.00:
- Official support for Microsoft's Windows 11 operating system.
- Performance improvements.
- Find in File Tags option for lyrics and album art.
- Bookmarks is part of the music library. Support for custom labels and comments was added, a find in source command, and abilities to filter and group bookmarks are now also available.
- New option to sort playlists automatically when new files are added / metadata is updated.
- New "Each playlists has its own playback mode" option.
- Audio converter improvements, e.g. support for WMA Pro codec or an option to normalize the volume level during conversions.
- Tag Editor has a new tool: chapters creator.
- Many plugins scheduler improvements, including several new actions and abilities.
- Skin engine got support for OpenType fonts.
- Equalizer contains 20 bands, support for 43 Hz and 22 kHz bands added.
- Tag editor supports Windows 10's and 11's Quick Access folder.
- Sound engine got a new ability to remap channels for 5.0 and 7.0 channel schemes.
You can check out the full changelog of AIMP 5.00 on the official website.
Closing Words
AIMP 5.00 is an excellent music player for Windows. It is in many regards like Winamp, but since development for the classic player has more or less stopped a long time ago, it is like what Winamp could have been, if development would not have stopped.
AIMP has a lot to offer: from playing most media formats and streams out of the box, skins and plugins, to editing audio tags, converting media and remote audio playback.
Now You: which music player do you use?
– Audacious:
https://audacious-media-player.org/
Fantastic and open source.
Winamp, it ‘still’ whips the Llama’s ass!
Foobar becuase its youtube plugin is better than the ones AIMP got, sometimes I used mpv since it has youtube chapters support and with a script you can easily navigate among them. I liked AIMP interface and all that but I liked more what foobar and mpv offered with plugins in the end, like, foobar even supports video, so don’t even have to switch apps if you want ot switch from audio to video, get lyrics and stuff like that.
don’t know why eset internet security picks every download as a virus since version 3 sticking with foobar
Not a bad player, but I still prefer Winamp 5.8. I still use it till this day.
Windows media player mostly. That goes way back, remember from Win XP days.
But AIMP is pretty good & comes as a portable app.
“Don’t tell me you love me” by Night Ranger, a one hit wonder, brought back some good memories seeing that.
Way too busy interface, endless information about tracks, ratings etc etc.. no EASY and fast way to clear all that cruft from view. Now why even have an option to show a grid of album covers if you can’t show ONLY album covers but get a useless bar on the left and a messy playlist bar on the right.. nah, let’s try this player again when version 6 or 7 arrives. I’m sticking with MusicBee and Foobar. I’m sure AIMP is wonderful for some people, just not for me.
For me sound quality/enhancement is the most important aspect for a music player. I used all of the above mentioned players and my search has ended when i found jetaudio.
MusicBee user here. Didn’t like AIMP.
Winamp is not dead. A new developer has picked it up. It’s now WACUP.
https://getwacup.com/
Enhancer is a must-have addon for either version.
On Facebook … https://www.facebook.com/WinAmpCommunityUpdatePack
I was using AIMP back in my windows days, a really good player that replaced Winamp for me. Although, when I tried the Android version, the sound was distorted and cracking even at lower volume, which doesn’t happen with any other player. Weird.
I delayed installing AIMP on my new laptop until 5.0 became available. I’m really pleased with AIMP version 5.00.2342.0 on latest stable Windows 10.
>Now You: which music player do you use?
I started using AIMP way back when Winamp became too bloated and buggy even before AOL essentially killed it off and I haven’t looked back. AIMP really is the best player for windows because its lightweight (usually sitting around <25mb memory), searches instantly with 20k+ songs across multiple playlists and does what it's designed to do flawlessly.
@ Mystique
There were two things. The first was offers for other software in the installer that could be declined which was stopped years ago. The second was a weird window that appeared over the lower left corner of the screen for a few seconds on startup that either showed the pot player logo or was white with no content. It was in the player, appeared whether online or not. Still not sure what it was.
The phantom window appeared in some installers, not all, starting in 2019 until being removed this year. You didn’t know whether you’d get it or not; I didn’t see it until last year on either of our two installs.
Good thing is old versions of PP going back years are available on the the Daum/PP site and others, including VideoHelp, an excellent vid software site.
PP is very configurable and has a useful interface. I use it with MadVR renderer, IMO by far the best renderer available. (Has nothing to do with VR, that means video renderer, Mad is the developer’s name, Madshi.)
@ULBoom Yeah I thought there was some sort of thing about PotPlayer. I recall having it a few years ago and noticed that window also. There might have even been more odd things that the developers also did too which put it at odds with everyone but I feel like you followed the developments more than I did on this one. I remember the humble beginnings of it and now it seems to be a bit more polished and perhaps even funded by a larger commercial entity from Korea or something. (pure speculation on my behalf)
Overall I just felt that it was a bit too bloated for my needs and felt it had its quirks but that aside given all the issues and somewhat underhanded aspects I gave it a miss and stuck to my MPC-HC and MPC-BE, I also have VLC as a backup and tend to use the MadVR renderer with MPC-BE I believe which I agree is very good. I have heard that PotPlayer works extremely well with MadVR though.
Gee I remember the old days of BSplayer (amazingly they are still going and also have an android version) and Radlight which then became foistware but was still pretty cool for its time just as a memory and the developer did a lot of work in the early days to contribute to the community.
I feel like all media players have come a long way these days except VLC which seem to introduce new bugs whilst not addressing past issues with every release and then there is SMPlayer (not to be confused with SPlayer) which I know used to get talked about a lot here but I have never liked it nor its fisher price interface that has largely remained the same since its creation. (sorry people)
As far as music players go I used to use AIMP many years ago (version 1 or 2) and dabbled with version 3 but then moved onto foobar2000 with a skin/theme from deviant art but somehow I ended up with MusicBee which seemed to fit my needs especially having a large collection of music (all legit personal CD rips).
Anyone remember Quintessential player, Xmplay, Sonique (was a favourite many many years ago), K-jofol and JetAudio player. Gee some old memories right there.
> Now You: which music player do you use?
I used to use multiplayer (MPC-HC/BC, VLC, PotPlayer) a long time ago, but as far as “music players” go, AIMP is the best.
AIMP is the best in sound quality, features you need in a music player, customizability, quality, and stability.
As for video players, PotPlayer is my favorite (in terms of full functionality, Responsiveness, Ease-of-use and stability).
@Owl wasn’t there some controversy regarding PotPlayer a few years back regarding adware or ads similar to KMplayer? Forgive me if I am wrong. I just have vague recollections of such.
@Mystique,
And subscribers,
To be honest, I rarely use “music players” or “video players” on my PC in these days because I strive “for family first at home and have changed to a digital detox lifestyle”.
When it comes to music, I mainly listen to “radio broadcasts. Not only my favorite music, but also unspecified and unknown music is broadcasted on the radio, which gives me a fresh impression and makes me happy, and also stimulates conversation with my family.
By the way, “Foobar 2000, MusicBee, and AIMP” seem to be the top three music players for Windows, but I have never tried Foobar 2000 and MusicBee because I am satisfied with AIMP, so I cannot evaluate them.
I also like the fact that AIMP has a wide variety of “skins” to enjoy the different UI and usability.
I knew about the “rumors” about PotPlayer.
I regularly used to “MPC-BC”, but was dissatisfied with its response and stability of behavior, so I tried “PotPlayer” which had a good reputation two years ago.
About adware, we can “refuse” to be including something in a package, I was not concerned at all.
Be aware that PotPlayer has an unspecified number of non-author download sites.
The author comments that you can “use a legitimate product” by using the official download site managed by the author.
In my opinion, “Unchecky” is useful for adware protection. “PatchMyPC” is useful for update management, and “simplewall” can be used to deal with suspicious communications.
Global Potplayer
https://potplayer.daum.net/
Unchecky – Keeps your checkboxes clear
https://unchecky.com/
simplewall
https://www.henrypp.org/product/simplewall
About the video player:
MPC-HC/BC is superior in image quality.
In Potplayer, the image is somewhat blurred and the clarity is slightly inferior.
However, Potplayer has “outstanding response and stability,” so in my opinion, Potplayer is practical unless you want the best image quality.
Postscript: Image quality with MPC-HC/BC and Potplayer
The difference in picture quality is difficult to distinguish in normal viewing.
It’s only a trivial degree of “I can only tell the difference by comparing the videos in each application side by side”.
In terms of video smoothness (naturalness), Potplayer clearly outperforms.
@Owl
Thanks again for your input and advice.
I appreciate your attitude and where you are coming from. I can appreciate your family first approach. If the past few years dealing with covid and the fragility of life hasn’t taught us anything by now I don’t know what will. I do still listen to music on my PC but not as much as I once did as I have too much going on but prefer to listen to older stuff and older influenced rock stuff with a variety of other stuff but that’s neither here nor there. I guess I do the same with youtube and often find new music to appreciate often new/old stuff too.
I definitely feel AIMP has surpassed WinAMP and has found its niche in that community whilst another member here has rightfully mentioned that WinAMP is making a comeback of sorts (wish sonique would in the same manner too) but I totally feel like AIMP has made great strides to fill that gap.
I feel like foobar2000, MusicBEE and even Music Monkey (if that was the one) are a different kind of player for maintaining large catalogs of music.
I feel like MPC-HC and MPC-BE have made some good progress in recent years however its one of those players that you either like or dislike just as I dislike SMplayer but its great we have so many options available god forbid it we just had a few players to chose from and only windows media player (YUCK!)
Yeah you are right! I vaguely remember when I started using Potplayer there was only one unofficial source for an english version but now that is long in the past and there probably is a bunch of rogue sites distributing malware too.
You are right about Unchecky. I always install it on computers for family members and other non technical people. (saves me trying to fix their computer later) lol.
SimpleWall is probably just about the best free firewall there is. very easy to use without all the bloat. Very recommended.
I keep forgetting about PatchMyPC and should give it another look at.
Excellent advice. I only wish someone was making a stripped back PotPlayer without all the junk. If I remember PotPlayer was made because KMplayer become bloated and trashy… its kinda funny how things are now.
@Mystique,
I appreciate your thoughtful replies.
My musical tastes are,
Rock (UK in the 1950s-80s: The Beatles, Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, David Bowie, and in the US, Motown and Beach Boys).
Sylvie Vartan, Brigitte Bardot, and Falançoise Aldi.
However, classical music (Bach, Beethoven, and Wagner are my favorites) has been a lifelong friend, and my favorite performances include Carl Richter, Midori Goto, Casals Trio, Backhaus, VPO, Bruno Walter, Carl Ludwig Kleiber, Leonard Bernstein, and Daniel Barenboim.
The best music for me would be Bach’s “Matthew Passion” and John Lennon’s “Imagine”.
Naturally, there are some things that I cannot share or relate to with my family, but I enjoy this as a symbol of diversity and an opportunity to broaden ours perspective.
For your information, I use RadioSure for radio and audio amplifier (LEPY LP-2020A+) through audio speakers (BOSE 121 WestBorough) to enjoy the living/dining room as a music hall.
RadioSure is a product that is practically abandoned after version 2.2.1036 released on 02/03/2013, with the developer’s whereabouts unknown, but it is still available without any inconvenience.
http://www.radiosure.com/
https://m.majorgeeks.com/files/details/radiosure.html
About PatchMyPC:
I used to use “Secunia PSI” as a vulnerability management measure for applications implemented in the systems (devices). Since that Secunia PSI was acquired by Microsoft (incorporated into the Microsoft Defender development team), I moved to “PatchMyPC” as its replacement.
There are not necessarily many apps that can be managed with PatchMyPC, but many of the popular and popular apps are covered. I have not experienced any problems using that application and am very satisfied with it.
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Correction,
Incorrect: Falançoise Aldi
Correct: Françoise Hardy
To add to that, Michel Polnareff and Astor Piazzolla (deceased) are also my favorites.
Correction,
Incorrect: Brigitte Bardot
Correct: Jane Mallory Birkin OBE & Serge Gainsbourg
I was rash, I apologize.
@Mystique
Check out the comments here:
https://www.ghacks.net/2020/12/26/a-look-at-potplayer-in-2020/
It’s an awesome player but you should block it’s from the internet.
Thanks @Trey.
That article was interesting at the time as were the comments from people such as yourself were spot on and very helpful.
Thanks again for your advice.
I love it when discussions lead to great things. Not everyone is going to agree with one another here but there is always opportunities to learn.
From 2009 already I am using with pleasure (Thanks to ghacks.net) AIMP, but also from 2003 already the excellent Foodbar 2000 and the equally great MusicBee from 2009.
All three are excellent adjustable music players. I love al three of them.
Over the years I think I have tried them all but I am sticking with these three.