Media players: RealPlayer - RealAlt, etc..

I'm quite ignorant of these subjects. I need a media player to play RAM and other music files, mostly old archive stuff (not downloading etc.). It seems I need RealPlayer or similar. I've followed some discussions, and I haven't figured out much, but there seems to be bodies of opinion that
1) Many RealPlayer versions are bloated horrible spyware monsters;
2) RealAlt usually works well, but if it mucks up your machine, you'll have to format C to ever install another media player.
3)RealPlayer G2 is well spoken of, an older version thing.

I have modest needs (no games or video) and an older versions would be fine, I think. If need be, I'll buy the thing, but I want to avoid dungware at all costs.

What would you recommend?

Thanks very much for any suggestions.

W98SE, P3-1000/128.

 

i've been using quintessential player for a while now and really like it, plus it's free.

 

Its a nice player . The " Izotopes Ozone plugin" that is advertised on that page is quite amazing. The diffirence in soundz is really good. .

 

i think MediaPlayerClassic ruless the masses or perhaps vlc player,also install quiktime/realtime alternative instead of the bloatware

dvdplayer: powerdvd

 

Thanks, folks. Does the Quinn player support the Real media formats:
RealAudio (.ra .rpm), RealVideo (.rm .ram .rmvb), RealText (.rt), and ReadPix (.rp)
Thanks again.


fred, you know your stuff, but you're talking too quickly for the likes of me.
Could you eleaborate? Thanks.

 

yes it does, and many more. here is a thread that deals with realplayer from the qcd forums. there are also many diffrent skins you can use to change the apperance of quintessential player to reflect your own preference. i hate the original look of the player . anyways, it is real easy to use, and has no extra spyware crap with it. you can also read more at the cnet download website.

 

by the way, there is another media player that i also like. dBpowerAMP Audio Player is also good. i use the dBpowerAMP Music Converter, dBpowerAMP CD Writer, along with their power pack. however, i never really swithed from quintessential player to the dBpowerAMP Audio Player. it does play realaudio formats also. it's worth looking into if you are still searching.