For several years I've been using or testing several audio players, searching for the best sounding one (no video players). Those included Winamp, Windows Media Player, Apollo, foobar2000, MediaMonkey, AIMP, GOM Player, JRiver, and maybe some more I can't remember now. Lately I discovered HQPlayer 4 Desktop.
It is very strange that there exist significant differences in sound quality among the players, having in mind that their purpose is rather straightforward.
So currently my list is as follows:
1. HQPlayer 4 Desktop (the best sounding by far, but supports lossless formats only)
2. foobar2000
3. Apollo (for mp3, last v.37zz)
4. Winamp
5. JRiver.
The worst is WMP by far.
(Apollo is discontinued since 2007, but it has the best mp3 decoder of them all. It can be downloaded still https://www.softpedia.com/get/Multimedia/Audio/Audio-Players/Apollo.shtml).
I started in 2004, but I wonder if I missed something still...

 

I use VLC on android and good old winamp on PC, neverminded about audio quality about mp3´s, since they are mp3´s, lossy format

 

When I tried HQPlayer it f*cked up my music collection and corrupted the files. I don't know what happened, but I am now back to foobar2000 again and very happy.

 

Last edited: Feb 6, 2020

I only use AIMP4, it's practical, light. Never bothered to compare the sound quality to others, so don't know which is the best That's for my music collection.
For samples browsing etc I use either resonic pro beta or the player included in the daw I'm using when I need to browse.

 

@Talmi Resonic is definitely the best browser for samples, it´s so lightning fast and lightweighted, I wish there would be a cutdown version of it for as a music player with simplified interface for all platforms

 

All players do is read the file from the hard disk (or wherever) and send it to the DAC - they don't make a sound unless they are doing processing (like eq or whatever).

What makes a difference to quality is

1. The File
2. The DAC
3. The Amp
4. The Speakers/Headphones
5. The listening environment

sorry, they all sound the same.

 

Yes, Resonic is a great tool. Quick, clean, versatile. To help Resonic to come out of beta state it would be good if more people donate some bucks or pay for the preview version. It includes V1 btw.

Dev is a nice guy from Austria. Contact him, maybe he's open for ideas.

 

K-lite

 

@twoheart I have donated twice to that project, simply awesome software.

 

Yes they really have a different sound, it shouldn`t be true since they are just supposed to read the files, but i can clearly listen the differences between the DAW and this players, in Windows for example Foobar and WMP is a very obvius difference. What is the best.. I don`t know.. Maybe the closest to the DAW? In OSX the same there is a difference too between the DAW playback and ITunes/Apple Music, and Quicktime.. in theory it doesn`t make sense but my ears tell me there is..

 

It makes sense for mp3 and in general lossy compressed formats, that are very frequent on our playlists. Still, you're right in the sense that there's an "standard output" defined by the codec itself so I'd go first for a sound enhancer when needed.
Also, there're other uses: slight compression, enhance speech, or just effects.

 

we must also say that there is a huge difference between a crappy spotify song and a lossless audio format file (flac for example), especially when we listen to the music on a good sound system.

The difference between the formats will now be explained by someone who has the desire and time to do it

 

Foobar2000 with the darkone version 4 skin.

 

AIMP (audio) + VLC (video)

 

That was exactly my point. If the format is lossless the software doesn't matter when it comes to quality. It's up to the speakers/sound system

 

It is just 1 and 0, you can translate it in what ever you want, but it is just 0 and 1
Basics of binary

 

VLC for everything here. I mIght goahead and try out some of you guys sudgestions for a new player.

 

I use MusicBee for listening and making playlists. Slick customizable interface. It supports ASIO. Plays most audio formats including flac and ogg. Can rip cds. Can convert from and to any supported file format keeping metadata intact. Windows only though. Check it out, you might find it interesting.
https://getmusicbee.com/
Cheers

 

VLC. Gits 'er done.

 

I too am a big VLC user, especially on Linux. But VLC for video pales (literally) in comparison to the picture quality of Windows Media Play or the Movies and TV player on Windows 10. Those have a "richer" color tuning default. VLC color can be tuned, buy I have never found settings that work well as a default for a variety of different videos.

I'm thinking the "default" decoding of compressed audio formats may have similar differences between players. But, as implied by Xupito, your headphones, speakers, and room will likely effect your sound more than the player.

I use Foobar2000 and MusicBee played using an ASIO driver.