Most usefull plug-ins?

[Sawg]

Okay here is the deal. There is a lot of good shit scattered across these forums for Winamp 2/5. Including DrO's kick ass gen_ plugs and some of the "leaked" stuff from Nullsoft. Plus some hacks to play other things in Winamp. These things are posted about a lot. So I decided to gather the plug-ins for Winamp (let's juat say 5) that every one needs (or least keeps fucking asking for). From a quick scan of the forums and what I know this is the list I came up with. So for now I am just posting this as a work in progress. If you think there are any plug-ins that are a "must have" for the average user, or know a good workaround for a commonly requested feature (like along the lines of Real audio support like the first entry) post and let me know and I'll add it to when I finally post it.

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[Updated 01-02-2004]
Most Requested Features / Plug-ins
This is a small list of some of the more useful plugins for Winamp 5.0. These plugins solve some of the most commonly requested features for Winamp 5.X. They are added and maintained by the moderators of this forum. If you think a plug-in needs to be added suggest it in this thread.

Input Formats
- Real Audio and Video (with no extra plugins)
Play Real Media format files in Winamp with no extra plug-ins. If you have Real One or Real Player already and hate it, feel free to uninstall it first, it will no longer be needed. First install Real Alternative. Second add the proper extensions to the DirectShow decoder:
Preferences (Ctrl-P) > Plugins > Input > Double Click "Nullsoft DirectShow Decoder..." > add ";RA;RM" (no quotes) to the end of the extension list.
Note: this does not work for .RAM playlist files or rstp:// streams, use the Tara plugin instead (just remove ra & rm from the extension list in tara.ini)

- WMA9 Lossless and Pro (with no extra plugins)
Microsoft recently added the Pro and Lossless profiles to thir WMA formats. Unfortunately these are totally different then the normal WMA profile. Therefore, Winamp's default in_wm.dll decoder does not work on these files. It is recommended that you remove in_wm.dll from the plugins folder before doing this. If you do not have WMPv9 installed install Windows Media 9 Series Codecs Installation Package first. Next add the proper extensions to the DirectShow decoder:

Preferences (Ctrl-P) > Plugins > Input > Double Click "Nullsoft DirectShow Decoder..." > add ";WMA" (no quotes) to the end of the extension list.

- OGM Video (with no extra plugins)
Ogg has become a more popular container format for video and audio recently. If you haven't install it already install the Ogg DirectShow Filters. Next add the proper extensions to the DirectShow decoder:
Preferences (Ctrl-P) > Plugins > Input > Double Click "Nullsoft DirectShow Decoder..." > add ";OGM" (no quotes) to the end of the extension list.

- MP4 Input Plugin
Decodes .MP4 and .M4A as well as the newer HE-ACC profile included in Nero 6.0.

- M4P Input Plugin
Decodes iTunes MusicStore encrypted M4P files, as created by ThomasW [info]

- AC3

- MusePack (MPC)


Output Formats
- Kernel Streaming Output Plugin
According to Microsoft "Kernel Streaming (KS) is a broad term for the services that support kernel-mode processing of streamed data. KS enables efficient real-time streaming for multimedia devices such as sound cards and TV tuner cards." What is important to you is it prevents other devices from outputting to the soundcard during playback. Hydrogen Audio Thread.

- ASIO Output
Audio Stream In/Out. Something to do with multiple channel output on high-end sound cards. So, the page is in Japanese, you don't have to be able to read it to find the download link.

- Gapless Output (with no extra plugins)
Preferences (Ctrl-P) > Plugins > Output > Double Click "DirectSound Output..."
Buffering Tab: Increase "Buffer ahead on track change" value (150-600ms should be fine, make sure it is less then "Buffer length").
Other Tab: Check "remove silence at beg/end of track"
Fading Tab: Disable all fades (or leave on for cross fading)


Playlist Enhancement
- Jump to File Extra v0.93a
Allows to enqueue next song to play from Jump (J, F3) dialog even in shuffle mode. Latest version adds Winamp3-style "enqueue selected" to playlist context menu. w00t! Created by the forums DrO. See all of DrO's great plugins at his site.

- Find on Disk v1.0
A simple little plugin that will open an explorer folder showing where the selected file in the playlist exists on disk (just like the 'explore to item' option in the Winamp media library). When the explorer window opens it will select the file to be shown if it exists. Another goodie by DrO | DrO's site.

- Autoplay and Time Restore v1.59
Enables Winamp3-style autoplay on start, with the option to start from beginning of last played song or to restore playing position. Yet another goodie by DrO | DrO's site.

- Jump to Track v1.0
This is a little plugin to seemlessly add to Winamp the ability to 'jump to track number x' by infiltrating all relevant menus and adding keyboard shortcut handling to all of the native Winamp windows (mb, video, eq, playlist). Yet another goodie by DrO | DrO's site.

- B4S Playlist Loader v0.7 - screenshot
This is a plugin that will allow Winamp to directly load and then play any B4S playlist file.

• allows you to load and play a B4S playlist
• infiltrates most relevant menus
• adds ctrl+shift+click support to load via the 'eject' button
• related keyboard shortcut is ctrl+shift+L
• works in classic and modern skins

* Future builds will fully infiltrate the menus and add in handling for a 'add to...' mode (may also allow for a straight b4s to m3u or pls option since the code is already there). Yet another goodie by DrO | DrO's site.


Core Enhancement
- One Click Show & Hide v1.0
A simple little plugin that allows you to alter the system tray icon behavior of Winamp. When enabled the plugin will override the default behavior of the system tray so it will minimize Winamp if visible and show Winamp if it is minimized using either a single click or a double-click on the tray icon. Another goodie by DrO | DrO's site.

- MikroAMP
Tiny fast interface to all the Winamp features. I use it every day, this version works with Winamp 2.0 to Winamp 5.0. It's not being actively enhanced/developed as it's rock solid stable and feature complete.

- NxS Balloon Tip
NxS Balloon Tip is a plugin that displays a balloon tip in the system tray whenever the song changes in Winamp. If you like to keep Winamp hidden, but still be informed of track changes, then download this piece. Created by the forums saivert.


Media Library Enhancement
- Generic Device Library Plugin 0.10
Add a folder or drive under the Device heading in the Media Library. Perfect for download folders, USB key chains, or MP3 players that mount as disks. Created by the forums moderator Will. Discussion. [Additional: "Folder view" coming after 5.0, hopefully. Should make this redundent --will]

- iPod ML plug-in
Media Library plug-in to view your iPod in Winamp. Has been known not to work on some iPods for people. Use at your own risk. Created by Nullsoft, but not supported by them. Discussion | update post

- Ogg Vorbis encoder for Winamp
The plug-in to encode Ogg Vorbis files using the CD Ripper in Winamp's Media Library. Created by Nullsoft, but not supported.

- Winamp 5 Media Library Import/Export Plug-in
Here is a tool which once installed will add a "convert playlists" option to your media library file menu. It will load b4s playlists and will create m3u playlists instead (you can select multiple b4s playlists if you have many to convert). To use, switch to Winamp Modern Skin with "Show Menus in Media Library" active. Click "File" > "Convert Playlists..." | screenshot
Can also be used to import/export xml database (iTunes compatible).
Developed by Francis himself


Anchors: Real WMA OGM MP4 M4P kernel asio gapless enqueue jtfe disk autoplay jtt b4s_play click micro balloon device ipod vorbis b4s

[inthegray]

i've always been a fan of winamp's title bar control

[nemoid]

i was going to say the Enqueue plugin.. but it's already posted. i just have one suggestion for that.... Allow a queue of more than just 1 song. so it can queue like 10 or more songs at once.

But other useful plugins, definately statistics plugs, like the Brain, and other Hitlist plugins that keep track of the songs you play. And maybe something such as MoodLogic?

[DrO]

blimey, i've just seen this, is sweet Sawg (sticky maybe?).
maybe 'shit' isn't the best post subject to use for things though

@nemoid: that will be in there soon, patience though

-daz

[nemoid]

Originally posted by DrO
blimey, i've just seen this, is sweet Sawg (sticky maybe?).
maybe 'shit' isn't the best post subject to use for things though

@nemoid: that will be in there soon, patience though

-daz

i know man i saw it in the other thread... and when i realized it it was too late to edit the post.. and i didn't wan tto double post... but yeah man keep up the good work

[papajoe]

mikroAMP! would be nice to have the possibility to kind of merge it with the standard tray icon.

skøl

[GqSkrub]

might be just me but the "real alternative" link is broked.

[Sawg]

Added: ASIO, Kernel Streaming, Gapless and Microamp

[Lion King]

Re: Shit

Originally posted by Sawg
Output Formats
- Kernel Streaming Output Plugin
According to Microsoft "Kernel Streaming (KS) is a broad term for the services that support kernel-mode processing of streamed data. KS enables efficient real-time streaming for multimedia devices such as sound cards and TV tuner cards." What is important to you is it prevents other devices from outputting to the soundcard during playback. Hydrogen Audio Thread.

- ASIO Output
Audio Stream In/Out. Something to do with multiple channel output on high-end sound cards. So, the page is in Japanese, you don't have to be able to read it to find the download link.

kernel streaming is not supposed to suppress multiple inputs, it's a missing feature in many (?) soundcard drivers

anyway that plugin is alpha and only works on win2k/xp

edit: you can't play files through kernel streaming with samplerates that your soundcard doesn't support because kmixer is bypassed (kmixer resamples that stuff when using directsound/waveout)

both output systems were designed to provide lower latency between playback and output which is important for some music making software but useless for music listening imho

[lwells]

Very useful thread. The number of plug-ins can be daunting, so its great to see some really good recommendations (usually I have to look at Top Rated & Most Downloaded to get an idea of what's worthwhile).

LW.

[DJ Egg]

Here's some from my copy & paste list:

TSGH -> Where did those plugins go
Full list of Playlist Management plugins
Full list of video / movie input plugins
Full list of MP3 Output plugins
Network plugins | 2
Deskband/systray/toolbar plugins

[ScorLibran]

My very favorite plug-in for Winamp (out of the fifty or so that I've tried) is, by far, Winamp [Key]Controller v4.04 (gen_wkc4.dll), by Mikael Halvarsson. I've been using this one for a few months now, and I don't know how I lived without it before.

It's ironic that my favorite plug-in for a media player has nothing to do with actually enabling or improving the media being played. Winamp has always been very easy to use (I've been using it since 2.91 appeared), but with this plug-in ease-of-operation has reached a new peak!

For anyone who's never used it, this plug-in allows extensive configuration of system-level hotkeys for operating Winamp. As long as Winamp is running, your defined hotkeys are active, even if Winamp is minimized and you have twenty other things going at once. The only thing to watch out for is conflicting with hotkeys for other applications. Easy enough in my case...all my Winamp hotkeys are Shift-Ctrl-x (x=hotkey). Since no other app I have uses Shift-Ctrl by default, and since the Shift and Ctrl keys are next to each other on both sides of the keyboard, I can perform any Winamp operation with one hand without even seeing the interface window. I can stop playback, change albums in the playlist, activate shuffle mode, and start playback in less than five seconds without even touching the Winamp skin.

Take all my other plug-ins, but don't take my Key Controller!!!

[Final Fantasy]

Hey! You forget Highly Experimental plug-in for Winamp! With that you can play PSF music (Playstation Music), if you have DirectX!

Bastards!

[Dipso]

Great stuff sawg!, and yea, stickify it, so we can always have it handy

[DJ Egg]

@ScorLibran
Beta3 comes with fully configurable Global Hotkeys,
so you might not be needing that plugin any more.

@FF
What do you mean by "if you have DirectX"?
Are you using WinNT4 or something?

@Sawg
Yeah, definitely stickifiable (ooh, new word)