what is the best quality media player for video and audio on windows?

[hanaluluelle]

it doesn't have to be an all in one player. if you think there is a software that's best suited for music, you can separate it from your recommended video player. for example, i use mpc-hc for video playback. for music, i use aimp.

take note i am looking for your opinion regarding which apps have the best video and audio quality playback and not necessarily the best compatibility. a lot of you might mention vlc but i honestly believe its playback quality is quite average. do try to change my mind if you think otherwise.

lastly, do codec packs improve playback in any aspect? if my player has built-in compatibility with my files, do i still need codec packs?

[JVRaines]

What is your objective definition of "quality"?

[hanaluluelle]

i was actually hoping that people wouldn't ask that because to be honest, i thought we would already be in the same page after you read my post. i know 'best' is usually subjective which is why i said i was asking for opinions.

by best video quality, i meant picture quality. i really can't explain more than that. maybe what maximizes the settings that were used to encode the video or something? for audio, maybe what sounds good to you, produce less artifacts, has features like an equalizer?

i am sorry if you expect a technical explanation. if you find it hard to understand what i mean, maybe you can just say what you use and say why.

[Dreamer]

Yes, it's not easy to say what you mean by "quality", anyway, I tried almost every video and audio player, do you know MV2 Player? It was great, but it's quite "dead", with every video/audio player I tried almost every option and for me, the best audio and video players are:

AIMP for audio.
PotPlayer for video.

I can't imagine to use any other programs, these programs are so good, with so many useful options, PotPlayer is not so easy to configure, but once you done, it's almost perfect.

Friend who had bad HW had problems with VLC and HD, but it was perfect with PotPlayer. I found some bugs and some of them were fixed in few days! One bug in VLC was fixed after 6 YEARS after reporting!! Opening is sooo slow, it's better now, but the first start and video start is still very slow.

[hanaluluelle]

i actually tried potplayer before but i was a bit ticked off by the ui which was just me being unfair. i might have to try it again and do some ram tests because that's what i'm also after - lightweight.

[lordsmurf]

Video: VLC has always been good, but playback quality has suffered in the 2010s. Not sure why. I find myself using Kodi quite a bit for actual watching, especially on Linux (but it can also be used on Windows, of course).

Audio: VLC is still fine.

[hanaluluelle]

kodi has that library organization thing which looks cool and all but i don't really need it at the moment. as of now, i'm enjoying smplayer with mpv engine which is simple but gets the job done.

[jseidel]

For video/movies I use either Kodi DS Player or PotPlayer. I use madVR as the video renderer and it is supported by both players. I prefer the video quality from madVR.
For audio files I use AIMP. Nice, skin-able interface and good options to playback using various audio playback methods.
J

[_Al_]

Kodi cannot handle properly interlaced video (like doubling frame rate), just heads up, if your videos are interlaced.
Or did it change lately?