New Update Winamp prepares a relaunch, new beta version, iOS

The_King

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Winamp is getting closer to release with a redesigned website, logo, and a new beta signup allowing users to soon test the upcoming version of the media player.

Before we streamed our music, users would rip their albums or download MP3s to listen on their computer using media players.

One of the most popular media players to play MP3s was Winamp, with its retro skins and animated visualizers that moved along with the music you were playing. However, Winamp had not seen any further development after its version 5.5 release in 2007.

In October 2018, after Winamp 5.8 was leaked online, the developers decided to publish the leaked version on their website Winamp.com to allow everyone to use it in all its nostalgic glory. Unfortunately, while Radionomy, the owners of Winamp, said they had big plans for Winamp, no further versions have been released since then.

The only new Winamp development we have seen has been by the Winamp Community Update Project (WACUP ) who released Preview version 1.0.20.7236 with bug fixes and improvements.

Winamp beta test starting soon​

As first reported by Vosveteit, the lack of official development is about to change as the Winamp.com site received a redesign and a new logo was revealed for the media player this week.

Additionally, you can now visit winamp.com and sign up for a Winamp beta test, which should become available soon.
 

silversurfer

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Sign up for the Winamp beta

There is no new version available just yet, but you may opt in to the Winamp beta program to test it when it is released. Did you notice the new Winamp logo in the top corner?

Winamp beta version

 

silversurfer

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Winamp 5.9 RC1 Released
Winamp 5.9 RC1 Build 9999

* Improved: Windows 11 compatibility
* Improved: Playback of https:// streams
* Improved: Updated and tidier generate html playlist code
* Improved: [in_mkv] vp8 support
* Improved: [in_mod] Playback of .itz, .mdz, .s3z & .xmz compressed modules
* Improved: [ml_wire] New working Podcast Directory
* Improved: [out_ds] Display device information correctly in Unicode format
* Fixed: [in_midi/in_mkv/nu/pfc] memory leaks
* Fixed: [in_mp3] id3 empty genre displayed as Blues or Psychobilly
* Fixed: [jnetlib/ml_online/ml_wire] JSAPI2 JavaScript API
* Misc: lame_enc & libsndfile now static links instead of dynamic dll
* Misc: libmpg123, libflac & zlib now static links instead of dynamic dll
* Misc: libalac.dll added to Shared folder as part of alac update
* Misc: Major compiler refactoring work
* Misc: Many more general tweaks, improvements, fixes and optimizations
* Misc: Minimum required OS is now Windows 7 SP1
* Misc: New online Help section and articles
* Misc: SDK now compatible with VS2017 and newer
* Misc: Versioning syntax changed to v5.x.x
* Misc: Winamp\Microsoft.VC142.CRT runtimes now installed on Win7/8
* Removed: Bento Browser tab - So long, and thanks for all the fish!
* Updated: [alac/in_mp4] ALAC 2017-11-03-c38887c5
* Updated: [enc_lame] LAME 3.100.1
* Updated: [freetype.wac] freetype 2.12.1
* Updated: [gif] giflib 5.1.4
* Updated: [in_cdda] libdiscid 0.6.2
* Updated: [in_flac/enc_flac] libFLAC 1.3.4
* Updated: [in_mod] libopenmpt 0.7.0 & Portaudio 19.7.0
* Updated: [in_mp3] libmpg123 1.29.3
* Updated: [in_vorbis] libogg 1.3.5 & libvorbis 1.3.7
* Updated: [in_wave] libsndfile 1.1.0
* Updated: [OpenSSL] OpenSSL 3.0.3
* Updated: [png] libpng 1.6.37
* Updated: [vp8] WebM libvpx 1.11.0
* Updated: [zlib] zlib 1.2.12

Direct Download

_______________________________________________________

Info

This is the culmination of 4 years' work since the 5.8 release.
Two dev teams, and a pandemic-induced hiatus period inbetween.

To the end-user, it might not seem like there's a whole heap of changes,
but the largest and hardest part was actually migrating the entire project from VS2008 to VS2019
and getting it all to build successfully.

The groundwork has now been laid, and now we can concentrate more on features.
Whether fixing/replacing old ones or adding new.

The build # will stay as 9999 for this release, e.g. if/when there's an rc2 or final release
(builds can be identified by filename + timestamp).
We'll reset it for 5.9.1

Although extensive internal testing has already been carried out,
this is still marked as a Release Candidate build.

All features need testing.
Source: Winamp & Shoutcast Forums - View Single Post - Winamp 5.9 RC1 Released
 

Captain Holly

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I have used that leaked version of Winamp before, also tried it again last year, it was ok but I prefer Media Monkey. I hope the new Winamp offers equalizer presets and they make the eq larger on the GUI. If Winamp could make the basic playback commands easier to use that would be a big plus for me and I might use Winamp again. I will check out the Beta when it is released. I listen to the web player Pandora a lot too, but local files really do sound much better to me.

No actual llamas were harmed in the production of this post.

C.H.
 

jackuars

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Musicbee has already been the gold standard of what a music manager should be, even though it's free. I used Winamp and Mediamonkey in the past, but Musicbee hits all the right spots for someone like me.

By the way people listen to music on their phones more than their laptops these days. So it's a shame I don't use music managers anymore on PC's/laptops as much as I used to.
 

silversurfer

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Upcoming changes to Winamp

Winamp's developers have also published a list of upcoming changes that they plan to add to the software. This includes native support for more audio formats (opus, ogv/ogm, TS, H.265, HLS, VP9, etc.). MusicBrainz or MusicStory will replace Gracenote features such as Autotag, CDDB. There are plans to add more default services including Lyrics, and Jamendo.

Warning: Winamp's forums do not have an HTTPS website.

Download Winamp 5.9 RC1 Build 9999 from the Winamp website. The installer for the new version has been flagged by a few antivirus services on VirusTotal, the developers have indicated these are false positives. You can download Winamp 5.666 Build 3516 from the official website. Malwarebytes seems to detect the installer of the old Winamp 5.666 as malicious too.

The music player is quite usable for the most part. This is more of a maintenance release than a feature update. So far, it doesn't contain any of the bloatware that were expected to be bundled into the program, or any NFT stuff that was shared by the company's Twitter account earlier this year. A comment from the lead developer suggests that optional online services could be added to Winamp in the future, but for now they have no details to share about it.
 

silversurfer

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Winamp 5.9 RC3
Direct Download

Winamp 5.9 Build 9999 RC1 to RC3 changes

- Fixed: 3rd-party msvcr90-dependent plugins not loading (manifest-related issue)

- Fixed: Some 1st-party gen, ml, vis & enc plugins not loading on Win7-8.1 (DllMain Entry-Point issue)

- Fixed: Crash on load on Win7-8.1 if required VS2019 runtime is missing

- Added VC Redist checker to the installer with prompt to auto-download the required VS2019 runtimes, if missing

- Updated: [in_mod] Changed libopenmpt version from 0.7.0-pre.6 to 0.6.4 stable release

- Fixed: [ml_rg] RG calc for .ogg vorbis files (5.8 bug)

- Improved: [ml_rg] Added message throttle and other optimizations

- Fixed: [out_wasapi] mute on track change (5.8 bug)

- Fixed: [out_wave] Crash when playing module/tracker formats

- Fixed: Oriental characters in Load EQ Presets dialog

- Fixed: Oriental characters in Watch Folders list

- Fixed: [in_midi] Oriental characters for metadata in File Info dialog

- Fixed: [in_nsv] Oriental characters for metadata in File Info dialog

- Fixed: Another memory leak issue in nu\PtrList (internal library)

- Improved: [alac] fixes/tweaks to previous update

- Changed: [alac] made (unmodified) libalac a static link in alac.w5s
(removed ref to the Shared dynamic dll from whatsnew.txt & made the installer delete it)

- Misc: [f263] misc tweaks

- Misc: Added fmt.dll to the installation (VS2019 C++ Format Package library), required for MultiThreadedDll

- [Installer] Remove ml_enqplay.dll
(sorry, it was causing Winamp to crash when rt-clicking in ML views, we'll need to natively implement an ML Enqueue+Play feature)

- [Installer/Uninstaller] Various tweaks & fixes

- Removed: read_file.dll - in_midi now using zlib & minizip for compression support

- Misc: Create %AppData%\Winamp\winamp.log for logging any loading problems with 1st-party plugins

- Added 6 new Milkdrop presets (by Martin & Serge)
(We will add more once the Milkdrop issues are fixed - see known issues above)

- Added to SDK (Winamp\wa_ipc.h)
intptr_t where; // section in the treelist the prefs page is to be added to
// 6 for Media Library <==
 
Last edited:

silversurfer

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Winamp 5.9 RC4
Direct Download

Winamp 5.9 Build 9999 RC3 to RC4 changes


- Fixed: Load EQ Presets not working

- Fixed: [ml_local] Query Builder only displaying first letter of field names

- Added: [Installer] Extra checks for presence of required VS2019 Runtime

- Misc: Internal debugging and other minor tweaks
 

petok

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Winamp is final now is link live

Code:
Winamp 5.9 Final Build 9999

Winamp 5.9
* Improved: Windows 11 compatibility
* Improved: Playback of https:// streams
* Improved: Updated and tidier generate html playlist code
* Improved: [in_flac] Hi-res playback support (24bit/192kHz, etc.)
* Improved: [in_mkv] vp8 support
* Improved: [in_mod] Playback of .itz, .mdz, .s3z & .xmz compressed modules
* Improved: [ml_rg] Added message throttle and other optimizations
* Improved: [ml_wire] New working Podcast Directory
* Improved: [out_ds] Display device information correctly in Unicode format
* Fixed: [in_midi/in_mkv/nu/pfc] memory leaks
* Fixed: [in_mp3] id3 empty genre displayed as Blues or Psychobilly
* Fixed: [jnetlib/ml_online/ml_wire] JSAPI2 JavaScript API
* Fixed: [ml_rg] Calculate ReplayGain for Ogg Vorbis files
* Fixed: [out_wasapi] Volume resets to zero on track change
* Fixed: [out_wave] Crash when playing module/tracker formats
* Misc: lame_enc & libsndfile now static links instead of dynamic dll
* Misc: libmpg123, libflac & zlib now static links instead of dynamic dll
* Misc: Major compiler refactoring work
* Misc: Many more general tweaks, improvements, fixes and optimizations
* Misc: Minimum required OS is now Windows 7 SP1
* Misc: New online Help section and articles
* Misc: SDK now compatible with VS2017 and newer
* Misc: Versioning syntax changed to v5.x.x
* Misc: Winamp\Microsoft.VC142.CRT runtimes now installed on Win7/8
* Misc: [dsp_sps] Improved, refactored and rebuilt!
* Removed: Bento Browser tab - So long, and thanks for all the fish!
* Removed: [read_file.dll] in_midi now using zlib & minizip for compressed midi
* Updated: [alac/in_mp4] ALAC 2017-11-03-c38887c5
* Updated: [enc_lame] LAME 3.100.1
* Updated: [freetype.wac] freetype 2.12.1
* Updated: [gif] giflib 5.1.4
* Updated: [in_cdda] libdiscid 0.6.2
* Updated: [in_flac/enc_flac] libFLAC 1.3.4
* Updated: [in_mod] libopenmpt 0.6.4
* Updated: [in_mp3] libmpg123 1.29.3
* Updated: [in_vorbis] libogg 1.3.5 & libvorbis 1.3.7
* Updated: [in_wave] libsndfile 1.1.0
* Updated: [OpenSSL] OpenSSL 3.0.3
* Updated: [png] libpng 1.6.37
* Updated: [vp8] WebM libvpx 1.11.0
* Updated: [zlib] zlib 1.2.12

Direct Download
 

silversurfer

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Winamp 5.9 Build 9999 RC4 to Final changes

- Fixed: [in_mp3] Crash on mp3 files with embedded album art but no content-type
- Fixed: [in_mp3] Fields not being displayed/created in APEv2 tag
- Misc: [dsp_sps] Improved, refactored and rebuilt!
- Misc: installer tweaks (incl. improved VS2019/VC142 runtime checker)
- Misc: Various other minor tweaks and optimizations
 

amirr

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I am not a musician, but I care about how to listen to music with very good headphones at home via my PC.
I was wondering if Winamp is appropriate and high-quality software that musicians also use to listen to audio professionally?

Or they prefer Windows Media Player which is build into Windows?
Thanks for your inputs.
 

jackuars

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I am not a musician, but I care about how to listen to music with very good headphones at home via my PC.
I was wondering if Winamp is appropriate and high-quality software that musicians also use to listen to audio professionally?

Or they prefer Windows Media Player which is build into Windows?
Thanks for your inputs.
Winamp is more of a music manager and organizer like many others for PC out there. It's not a high quality software to listen to audio professionally like you say. You could although use the equalizer to make the vocals more articulate and adjust various frequency bands.

Your headphones matter more in this case, rather than the audio player.
 

silversurfer

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Winamp 5.9 Final​

The last official version of Winamp before 5.9 dates back to 2018. Windows 11 was not released at the time, and many Windows users believed Microsoft's claim that Windows 10 would be the last version of Windows.

Last year saw the release of Windows 11, and one of Winamp 5.9's major changes is improved compatibility with Microsoft's Windows 11 operating system. If you had troubles running older versions of Winamp on Windows 11, or could not get some features to work properly, you are probably good now running the latest release of the media player.

You may also notice that Winamp 5.9 requires a new Visual Studio runtime, which may be installed during setup if it is missing. The change is bad news for pre-Windows 7 devices, as Winamp 5.9 is no longer compatible with devices running Windows Vista or XP.

Another major feature addition is support for HTTPS streams. More and more sites and services have migrated to HTTPS, and the lack of support meant that Winamp users could not tune in to these streams anymore because it lacked support for it. Now, this is a thing of the past.

Other improvements include updated libraries and support for new formats that have risen in popularity in the past couple of years.

The list of known fixes is long, but most will be addressed in Winamp 5.9.1 according to the release notes. It is unclear when the point release will become available though. Major issues include problems playing certain hi-res FLAC files and relying on an older version of OpenSSL due to development issues.

As far as features are concerned that are still in development, there are a few. The development team plans to add native support for multiple formats, replace "old Gracenote features (CDDB, Autotag, etc) with e.g. MusicBrainz or MusicStory", add more default services and other improvements.
 

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Winamp 5.9.1 RC3 Build 10025
Direct Download

Winamp 5.9.1
* Improved: [ml_local / nde] Memory footprint reduction
* Improved: [ml_local] Load time speedup and other optimizations
* Improved: [ml_online] Increased maximum bandwidth (from 350 to 3500)
* Improved: [playlist/ml_playlists/ml_pmp] Playlist loader/writer refactoring
* Improved: [dlmgr] Increased buffer size for faster podcast downloads
* Improved: [Bento skin] Increased width of config to help with translations
* Improved: [Installer] VS2019 runtime checker script (thanks Pawel Porwisz)
* Fixed: Hang when reopening Winamp if previously placed on disconnected monitor
* Fixed: [Installer] Silent install switch blocked by external dependencies
* Fixed: [gen_ff] Windowshade and Docked Toolbar modes not remembered on restart
* Fixed: [gen_tray] Settings not being saved after Winamp restart
* Fixed: [in_mp4/libmp4v2] Overflow and seek issues with specific mp4 videos
* Fixed: [in_wave/libsndfile] Error parsing list subchunks with some riff headers
* Fixed: [ml_downloads] Cancelling multi-selection only cancelled first item
* Fixed: [ml_playlists] Crash when editing playlist entry
* Fixed: [ml_wire/xml] Display of non-Latin characters in Podcasts
* Fixed: [out_ds] Crossfader broken in Bento/Modern skin EQ
* Fixed: [out_ds] Potential buffer overflow issues
* Fixed: [out_wasapi] Crash on opening flv videos (rendering still needs fixing)
* Fixed: [playlist/ml_playlists] Memory leaks
* Fixed: [playlist/ml_playlists] Reported issues with special/unicode characters
* Fixed: [vis_avs] AVS Editor menu not localized when lang pack applied
* Misc: Many more general tweaks, improvements, fixes and optimizations
* Misc: Replaced nu:: ptrMap with std::map and nu:: ptrList with std::vector
* Misc: [vcpkg] changed from manifest to classic mode
* Removed: [wbm] Lazy-loading wbm system files (no longer required)
* Updated: [in_flac/enc_flac] libFLAC 1.4.2
* Updated: [in_mod] libopenmpt 0.6.6
* Updated: [OpenSSL] OpenSSL 3.0.5
* Updated: [vpx] libvpx 1.12.0
* Updated: [xml] expat 2.4.9
* Updated: [zlib] zlib 1.2.13
* New/Improved: [ml_downloads/ml_playlists] Download context menu in ML
* New: [ml_nft] Import, play and download music from your NFT Library (optional)
 

silversurfer

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