Is there a lightweight FLAC player for Win7?

tony22 · 17 Jan 2011

Up through Win XP Pro I was using Winamp to play my FLAC files. But even then I was using an older version of Winamp because I did not like the "kitchen sink" growth approach that Winamp was having. When I got to Win7 x64 I took a look at the Win7 compatible version and saw that it was even worse in that regard.

What I'm looking for is a lightweight program that will just play my FLAC files. I don't want it to do other types, or video, or support different skins etc. I also don't want it to install unnecessary codecs. That frankly is why I'm not taking the WMP12 route with Sharky's codec bundle. I'm sure it works, but I already have the FLAC codec installed on my system for encodes/decodes. Why do I have to install a whole package of that and more when I've already got it sitting there? Isn't there a program that will just install itself and use what I've got to play FLACs?

SledgeDG · 17 Jan 2011

Seeing how almost every player nowadays can handle FLAC I just name a few I personally tried out:

You could try AIMP which has tons of skins available

Another little one with even more skins: XION
or for a minimal approach foobar 2000 (that is probably what you want

-DG

Packet · 17 Jan 2011

i just use winamp.
you can turn off everything else (ie, all the junk it throws in).

so i just have the original little winamp window that 2.x used to look like, not the itunes wannabe look they have now

Wishmaster · 17 Jan 2011

MediaMonkey is lightwieght, and handles lots of different Audio formats.

If you do not like the UI, its highly customizable as well.
Lots of skins, as well as the UI itself can be moved around and configured any way you prefer.

Overall its quite good and best of all, free.

SledgeDG · 17 Jan 2011

Here you can find all the old versions of Winamp (if you really want to go there

Download Winamp - Old Version.com

tony22 · 17 Jan 2011

Sledge, I tried to install one of my earlier versions of Winamp but got a popup warning saying "There are known compatibility issue with this program". So I figured why install it if it was going to crash.

mickey megabyte · 17 Jan 2011

try running it in xp compatibility mode - see how it goes.

if you install a more modern winamp, do a custom install, and you can turn a lot of the bloat off - including modern skins, if that's not for you.

vlc will play flac files, but it aint pretty.

Shark007 · 17 Jan 2011

tony22 said:

I also don't want it to install unnecessary codecs

It looks to me that you already installed an 'unnecessary codec' since by your own statement....

tony22 said:

I already have the FLAC codec installed on my system

If it was properly installed for use in Windows 7, any directshow player such as WMP should be able to playback your flac files.

tony22 said:

Why do I have to install a whole package of that and more when I've already got it sitting there?

because what you got sitting there isn't getting the job done (by your own admission).
The Shark007 installer has a CUSTOM option, deselect everything, flac playback isnt an option, it is installed anyway. After installation, open the settings application and press the button to associate filetypes to the Windows players.

SledgeDG · 17 Jan 2011

I wouldn't bother with old winamps either...Nullsoft says, winamp 5 is Winamp 2.91 plus extras (but you could turn off those extras like it already was suggested)

If you don't want to use wmp, my money would be on foobar2000 (it's hard to get more minimalistic than that

tony22 · 17 Jan 2011

Shark007 said:

The Shark007 installer has a CUSTOM option, deselect everything, flac playback isnt an option, it is installed anyway. After installation, open the settings application and press the button to associate filetypes to the Windows players.

Okay. I'll give it a try. Since I'm on Win7 x64 and use WMP12 x64, do I have to install the x32 codecs and x64 components and in both cases deselect everything?