Top 5 Media Players for windows

Here is a list of top 5 Media Players that according to me are the best Free Media Players available on the internet. They are compatible with a wide range of audio and video formats as well as they can stream through media on the internet.

Not only this you can use them to convert media files from one format to another or even burn a music disc.

The default media player on windows, i.e. the one that comes with windows is a good media player but comes with the ability to play only a limited number of formats and you also do not get the same amount amount of clarity of videos in the media players listed below as in windows media player. I have generally experienced that  VLC and other media players are not good for playing videos. You can easily detect that the videos get pixelated in these players but not in Windows Media Player.
But if we talk in terms of codecs, the players listed below are surely at par with windows Media Player. Through this post we take you through the best Check out the players listed below:

1. VLC Media Player

VLC is one of the best media players ever created.
It is lightweight, portable, and can play almost any media format, even pictures (incl. videos downloaded from sites like Youtube).
You can use VLC as a streaming media server and can play DVD’s, can be decode audio, can convert media files from one format to another.
It doesn’t even require any extra codecs to run.
You can even stream through the media files (that are being downloaded via torrent) while they are being downloaded.
You can customise VLC with various skins available on the internet.
IT is available for nearly every operating system that exists (Mac, Windows and Linux).
There's only one problem with this player, that has been mentioned above ,i.e., videos get pixelated.
VLC supports subtitles.
USer can increase the volume by 400% for better listening experience.
With VLC you can change the audio track timingas well as the subtitles timing for defective videos whose audio and video are not synchronised.

Supports :
FOLLOWING AUDIO FORMATS : 
Wavpack
Mod (.s3m, .it, .mod)
TrueAudio (TTA)
 MPEG Layer 1/2
Vorbis
AC3 - A/52 (Dolby Digital)
WMA 3
1DV
AudioMACE
E-AC-3 (Dolby Digital Plus)
MP3 - MPEG Layer 3
AAC - MPEG-4 part3
 MLP / TrueHD">3
DTS
WMA 1/2

Speex
FLAC
ALAC
Musepack / MPC
ATRAC 3
APE (Monkey Audio)
Real Audio 2
Alaw/µlaw
AMR (3GPP)
MIDI 3
LPCM
ADPCM
QCELP

QDM2/QDMC (QuickTime)


FOLLOWING VIDEO FORMATS:

MPEG-1/2
DIVX (1/2/3)
MPEG-4 ASP, DivX 4/5/6, XviD, 3ivX D4
H.261
H.263 / H.263i
H.264 / MPEG-4 AVC
Cinepak
Theora
Dirac / VC-2
MJPEG (A/B)
WMV 1/2
WMV 3 / WMV-9 / VC-1 1
Sorenson 1/3 (Quicktime)
DV (Digital Video)
On2 VP3/VP5/VP6
Indeo Video v3 (IV32)
Real Video 1/2
Real Video 3/4
(Source : VLC official site)
 Download
Rating : Considerng VLC to be the best, I rate the product as - 9.5/10

2. Media Player Classic - Home Cinema

    An option to remove Tearing
    MPC Home Cinema in Your Language (see all languages)
    Additional video decoders and in particular H.264 and VC-1 with DXVA support
    Better support for Windows Vista, including a release for the 64-bit platform
    Support for EVR renderer
    Bugs and vulnerability fixes
    All previous features from the Guliverkli Project (MPC) by Gabest
    Free Remote control APP for Android phones

Supported Video, Audio and Image File Formats:

WAV, WMA, MP3, OGG, SND, AU, AIF, AIFC, AIFF, MIDI, MPEG, MPG, MP2, VOB, AC3, DTS,
ASX, M3U, PLS, WAX, ASF, WM, WMA, WMV, AVI, CDA, JPEG, JPG, GIF, PNG, BMP, D2V, MP4, SWF, MOV, QT, FLV

(Source : Media Player Classic official site)
Download
Rating : 9/10





3. Songbird

Songbird is considered to be the most customizable media player that has ever been created.
This product comes from the developers of mozilla
The MEdia player is open source.
It allows users to create add-ons/plug-ins for added user experience.
Built-in options include: Last.fm playback history plug-in, support for the iPod.
The Media Player is available for all the 3 O.S. platforms Windows, Mac, and Linux.
It also supports Metadata Management.

CD Ripping: Get your tracks from your CD collection to your Songbird music library quickly, with our CD Rip add-on.

Audio formats: Supports MP3, AAC, OGG, FLAC, WMA, WAV formats.
Video formats: Supports H.264, Windows Media Video, MPEG4 formats.

(Source : Songbird Official Site)
Download
Rating: Being highly customizable, the media player deserves 9/10


4. GOM Player

GOM Media Player is freeware video playback software developed by the South Korean company, Gretech Corp.
Designed with both power and simplicity in mind, GOM Media Player is an ideal video player for both beginners and experts alike.


Video Formats
flv,mp4, mov, mpg, ts, avi, divx, asx, wmv, m4v, dat, ifo, vob, 3gp/3gp2, rm/rmvb, mkv, ogm. Additional formats can be played with external codecs.

Audio Formats
mp3, .m4a, .aac, .ogg

Subtitle Formats
.smi, .srt, .rt, .sub (width IDX)

Playerlist Formats
.asx, .m3u, .pls

Built-in Codecs
OGG, XVID, DIV1, DIV2, DIV3, DIV4, DIV5, DIV6, DIVX, DX50, MP41, MP42, MP43, H263, AP41, MPG4, MP4S, M4S2, MP4V, BLZO, MJPG, RMP4, DXGM, and H264

(Source : GOM Player official site)
Download
Rating : 8.5/10

5. KM Player

KMPlayer is also one of the best and free media players available on the internet.
It supports numerous different formats and languages.
You can customise it with different skins.
It is lightweight .
The application itself is customizable by it’s own settings upto much extent, but the user can further customize it.
It supports subtitles and plug-ins.
Download
Rating : 8/10