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Alternatives to Windows Media Player

I've been using Media Player for years, and love it. For some reason now it's crashing, every time, and I can't find a fix. Tried every fix I could google, to no avail, and after weeks of this BS I'm throwing the towel in. Need to learn songs. Need a replacement.

What Windows/PC based players can I download that have at least:
  • EQ options
  • Play speed options
Nothing else really matters to me, aside from the above, and ease of use.

Would like to find an alternative - ASAP as I have work I want to do tonight. Willing to drop a few bucks (under $20 preferably), but would of course prefer free.
VLC. AUDACITY.
 
Can't you just re-install media player?
Why should MS own stuff crash?
It seems that either you have some bloatware or addware creeping on to your system. If Windows Media player crash you must have something else that crashes too. Something else is taking up the memory, CPU "space" that Media Players needs. It mostly has to do with internet connecting to CDMB databases or having something going on in the background at the same time. If you can very faintly remember if there was a set date that Windows Media Player really STARTED to go south, and do a backtrack of what you have installed or not prior to that, I think you're on the detective part.

The main thing is that I think, if Media Player crashes, the VLC will do so too, eventually, as well as all other "player" programs. Some players have better "speed" options than others. One I use is inside Native Instruments Guitar Rig 4. That "tape deck" is intuitive and you can set repeats and codas at any speed. And their changing of speed while preserving pitch is still good with todays standards. But it's not worthwhile getting that one just for such a tiny feauture. They cost major dough, and you'll pay for 90 percent that you wont ever use. Cantabile is another one, although a bit overkill too. Not a player as such...

If you have a lot of freeware installed, and especially software that polls all of the time on internet, or ads showing up, you're in for anything to crash. As well as cracked software, of course. I find it peculiar that Windows Own Media Player crashes. Make sure you have latest drivers for your sound card whatever that one is. PLUS the lates Windows Auto Updates.
 
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Audacity is the one right now, I think, when all is said and done though. But I think for such easy tasks there muse by a plethora of free alternatives out there... it's not that rocket science anymore to make a player with good speed up or down facilities.
 
Suggest you take a look at the [Invalid or Expired Link Removed] by Renegade Minds Software. It does everything you're looking for plus more. They provide a 15-day free trial, so you're not out anything but the time needed to download it in order to check it out.

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
 
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Can't you just re-install media player?
Why should MS own stuff crash?
It seems that either you have some bloatware or addware creeping on to your system. If Windows Media player crash you must have something else that crashes too. Something else is taking up the memory, CPU "space" that Media Players needs. It mostly has to do with internet connecting to CDMB databases or having something going on in the background at the same time. If you can very faintly remember if there was a set date that Windows Media Player really STARTED to go south, and do a backtrack of what you have installed or not prior to that, I think you're on the detective part.

The main thing is that I think, if Media Player crashes, the VLC will do so too, eventually, as well as all other "player" programs. Some players have better "speed" options than others. One I use is inside Native Instruments Guitar Rig 4. That "tape deck" is intuitive and you can set repeats and codas at any speed. And their changing of speed while preserving pitch is still good with todays standards. But it's not worthwhile getting that one just for such a tiny feauture. They cost major dough, and you'll pay for 90 percent that you wont ever use. Cantabile is another one, although a bit overkill too. Not a player as such...

If you have a lot of freeware installed, and especially software that polls all of the time on internet, or ads showing up, you're in for anything to crash. As well as cracked software, of course. I find it peculiar that Windows Own Media Player crashes. Make sure you have latest drivers for your sound card whatever that one is. PLUS the lates Windows Auto Updates.

The most common cause for WMP crashing is a corrupt cached file used by Microsoft's digital rights management (i.e. license checking) subsystem.

It's possible to purge the cache so that WMP stops crashing. But if you have purchased video or media, there's a risk some files may not be able to reacquire their license credentials. If that happens, you've just lost your purchase. No license - no play.

Regarding VLC, it's a completely different piece of software. VLC will not be affected by WMP software issues or vice-versa. It may be affected by problems in Windows itself however. So if the issue is systemwide (ex: a problematic driver or Windows update) rather than a WMP specific problem, VLC and other media players might also experience the same problem. But that's pretty rare.
 
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Media Player Classic (IMO) is the best complete media player, it does it all, in a simple interface, but, you can pull up many audio, and video tweaks, and save them, while the player itself keeps a clean unobtrusive look, if you don't use any tweaks, it works fine, and plays anything. (the program is not Windows Media Player, it performs much better than the one in Windows), and has a plain , clean look. If you download it, look for "Media Player Classic Codec, mega pack. VLC is very good too, it's a bit more flashy, and not as clean of a layout.
 
I've been using Media Player for years, and love it. For some reason now it's crashing, every time, and I can't find a fix. Tried every fix I could google, to no avail, and after weeks of this BS I'm throwing the towel in. Need to learn songs. Need a replacement.

What Windows/PC based players can I download that have at least:
  • EQ options
  • Play speed options
Nothing else really matters to me, aside from the above, and ease of use.

Would like to find an alternative - ASAP as I have work I want to do tonight. Willing to drop a few bucks (under $20 preferably), but would of course prefer free.
VLC or Kodi

Kodi does many other things
 
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Can't you just re-install media player?
Why should MS own stuff crash?
It seems that either you have some bloatware or addware creeping on to your system. If Windows Media player crash you must have something else that crashes too. Something else is taking up the memory, CPU "space" that Media Players needs. It mostly has to do with internet connecting to CDMB databases or having something going on in the background at the same time. If you can very faintly remember if there was a set date that Windows Media Player really STARTED to go south, and do a backtrack of what you have installed or not prior to that, I think you're on the detective part.

The main thing is that I think, if Media Player crashes, the VLC will do so too, eventually, as well as all other "player" programs. Some players have better "speed" options than others. One I use is inside Native Instruments Guitar Rig 4. That "tape deck" is intuitive and you can set repeats and codas at any speed. And their changing of speed while preserving pitch is still good with todays standards. But it's not worthwhile getting that one just for such a tiny feauture. They cost major dough, and you'll pay for 90 percent that you wont ever use. Cantabile is another one, although a bit overkill too. Not a player as such...

If you have a lot of freeware installed, and especially software that polls all of the time on internet, or ads showing up, you're in for anything to crash. As well as cracked software, of course. I find it peculiar that Windows Own Media Player crashes. Make sure you have latest drivers for your sound card whatever that one is. PLUS the lates Windows Auto Updates.

Uninstalled, reinstalled, uninstalled and restarted, reinstalled and restarted. There was a windows update. That fixed it for a day. Uninstalled and reinstalled about 3 more times, searched high and low to find solutions on the internet, then started this thread.

The WMP problem seems to have evolved. One of the things I do when going over songs for gigs is speed them up and blast through them. I often click from one song right into the next, so I don't have to speed up the next. Sometimes, MP crashes when I do that, and would take a while to restart. Would even have to restart Windows at times. Anyhow, at one point MP just started crashing 10-15 seconds into the song, whether I was speeding things up or not. Now it crashed every single time.

My plan this morning is to go through all the suggestions here, download everything, and make a decision. I went through a bunch last night and eliminated a few. I'll report back after having a go with the downloads.
 
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AIMP: AIMP
Awesome and free media player, been using it for years. It has 18 band EQ.
Here's how to adjust playback speed: AIMP › How can I change the playback speed of a file in AIMP? - answers.informer.com
aimp-9.jpg

I think we have a winner right out of the gate :). Quick download, and does the same job as WMP but seemingly, so far, even better. More EQ options, and lots more you can do with the speed. Going to go play with it a bit now, see what else it can do. I want the skin in the pic, too...

Thanks.
 
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I've been using Media Player for years, and love it. For some reason now it's crashing, every time, and I can't find a fix. Tried every fix I could google, to no avail, and after weeks of this BS I'm throwing the towel in. Need to learn songs. Need a replacement.

What Windows/PC based players can I download that have at least:
  • EQ options
  • Play speed options
Nothing else really matters to me, aside from the above, and ease of use.

Would like to find an alternative - ASAP as I have work I want to do tonight. Willing to drop a few bucks (under $20 preferably), but would of course prefer free.

I use Reaper. Overkill for this but it's great for marking, looping, slowing, equing. If you use iTunes media, you must make an mp3 copy for reaper... that's easy, too. Lemme know if you go there and need help.
 
I've been using VLC for years but as far as learning songs with the best free software I recommend Audacity. It's a free DAW. Not as good as Sony Acid, but has everything you need in order to get in depth with a song. Looping, eq, mic input, transposition, tempo changes.. etc
 
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