Someone reviewed v on Jul 5, 2022

Pros: 555

Cons: 555

Bottom Line: 555

Perezoso reviewed vBuild 219 on Jun 2, 2008

Couldn't play MP3 or AAC audio streams. Then crashed within seconds of loading an MP3 file.

bobad reviewed vBuild 216 on Dec 2, 2006

Coolplayer used to be the best lightweight player out there. But that was then, this is now. Evilplayer and XM Player expose it as the bug-ridden piece of software that it is.

roj reviewed vBuild 216 on Dec 2, 2006

This used to be my player of choice too and then an overzealous but underachieving dev with no coherent strategy assumed control of the project and brought it to wrack and ruin. His hallmarks were a playlist best descriubed as a retroactive abortion and a quality control attitude typified b the mindset that "I code - I don't bother with testing; YOU the user community test whatever I grind out because that's YOUR contribution to the project".

In short, he was a putz.

Then, after all that rubbish, he *bailed* and the project went into the weeds.

I'm very glad to see this player resurrected. In it's absence XMPlay has become my player of choice at least in part because it embodies the qualityies that once made CoolPlayer great:

- superlative audio quality
- minimal fluff / maximum *useful* function
- a remarkable penchant for minimal bugs and good solid code

I hope that this new beginning for CoolPlayer after such a long hiatus will signal a worthwhile rebirth for this former gem.

THREE stas for hope and wishes of good luck in sorting out the mess.

ahjefri reviewed vBuild 216 on Dec 2, 2006

it's good to be back again,, but need a lot of work, to start with , retain of play list skin,
- Play list does not stay on top.
- It hangs and keep CPU busy ,

Cool Player used to be my fav. hope that it get back to me again,,

Keep the faith,,

bobad reviewed v2.09 on Feb 21, 2003

Fixed the crashing by restoring my system back before the Cool Player SNAFU. 2.06. 2.07, 2.08, and 2.09 all work normally now. "Normaly" is very well indeed!

roj reviewed v2.09 on Feb 21, 2003

CoolPlayer doesn't use the Registry other than for file associations. However, there are memory bugs that were fixed in the 2.09 release that produced crash symptoms. I've got it on six machines, all of different configurations (processors (AMD and intel), motherboards, video cards, sound cards) and have no crashes.

ahjefri reviewed vBuild 208 on Feb 21, 2003

very Nice.. I had no problem running it. I like it.. but still waiting for Playlist Skin.. ;)

bobad reviewed vBuild 208 on Feb 20, 2003

This build crashes in WinXP. Version 2.06 and earlier never once crash or showed any signs of instability. I went back to 2.06, and it crashes too now. It must have screwed up something in my registry. Cool Player has been my favorite for yearts. I hope the authors can get this problem resolved.

roj reviewed vBuild 208 on Feb 19, 2003

A couple of points:

CoolPlayer does NOT use Xaudio - it used MAD.

Also there are a few lingering bugs in the playlist code (minor stuff - the maximize and minimize gadgets don't work) but I am pleased to say that the dev team is very responsive and these will very likely be fixed in short order.

OGG support is excellent.

At this point I consider this player top dog for audio quality over both Winamp 2.8x + MAD and Foobar - with a lot more user friendliness than the latter.

mrbee reviewed vBuild 206 Sneak Peak on Aug 11, 2002

So close to being my player...but it fails me. The Equalizer is extremely flawed, not even mildly usable. I have also experienced random 'jumps' to other places in the sound file, just by doing something in another program! Weird. It looks promising though, hope it gets better without getting bloated.

ahjefri reviewed vBuild 206 Sneak Peak on Aug 6, 2002

I like CoolPlayer very much than the others it uses the least resources and memory ,, not only that it uses less CPU cycle I can run on my old PC and new with no problem ,, the only problem that I had in this release was PlayLIst. It always shows the default one other than that..it's light and does the job.. I'll give it 5

guti reviewed vBuild 206 Sneak Peak on Aug 4, 2002

It is nice.
Small, fast, and with very small disk space requeriments.
The playlist is worse than WinAmp, and the equializer could not be removed.
It plays ogg files too, and they are incredible!

edwardsj42 reviewed vBuild 206 Sneak Peak on Aug 3, 2002

Coolplayer installs instantly on your desktop. In the option menu, you have the option of using DirectSound plugout or Cool Wave mapper. I recommend the Cool Wave mapper to get a different sound than all your other players and it makes the different instruments playing distinctive. The equalizer is not preset. You just have to play with it to get it right, just like on older stereos. I like it.

busta reviewed vBuild 206 Sneak Peak on Aug 2, 2002

The file description seems to be outdated by quite a while. As far as I know Coolplayer has for a long time used MAD for its MP3 decoder (Xaudio was gone quickly after Coolplayer went opensource) and it also now has OGG playback built-in.

Von Himpfendinckz reviewed v1.0 Build 8472 on Oct 17, 2001

This one is a blockbuster. Just unzip and your up running you can't get it more easy. I'm really looking forward to coolplayer in the future, I've been using winamp for a long long time now, but the first time I tried coolplayer I was sold and I will never turn back to winamp again 'cause it seems that they are heading in the wrong direction with winamp 3. We don't need all their fancy stuff we only need a good working player and it seems that coolplayer must be the right choice. I gave it 5.
Uncleburt Von Himpfendinxx

DoverBen reviewed v1.0 Build 8006 on Feb 10, 2001

Wow I thought WinAMP was the best!!!!!!! This program uses less resources, I wish its Playlist Editor was like the one WinAMP is using. It would be perfect, but still i gave it a 5 points

moondo reviewed v1.0 Build 7470 on Aug 20, 2000

cool player now has become my default player. uses little resources, sounds nice and plays nice, looks nice with a few skinz. the only problem is the eq thingy, but that's ok, i don't use the equalizer...

Karendar reviewed v1.0 Build 7222 on Jul 10, 2000

Speedy, nice, compact interface, takes VERY little ressources, skins look quite nice, playlist feature is more complete than Sonique and similar to Winamp but in a less flashy interface... The only thing that doesn't make me use it is the equalizer. It COMPLETELY ruins the bass too... The equalizer is supposed to enhance slightly a certain aspect of the sound, not blow it WAY out of proportion... My sub woofers are going insane with the bar only half way! Sorry cool player, I'm going back to my old player until the eq isn't so sensitive...

R. Kenshin reviewed v1.0 Build 7198 on Apr 18, 2000

this player kick ass!!!! sound so good!! sound better then winamp, and uses less memory then winamp too! which is alway a ++ can't wait for the next release

grimzkunk reviewed v1.0 Build 7198 on Apr 18, 2000

Coolplayer is better than the newest version of Winamp! but the older version of winamp ( the faster and better ) is better than coolplayer!!

Coolplayer is perfect for slower computer!

bobad reviewed v1.0 Beta Build 5441 on Dec 15, 1999

Very nice little program! I'm adding it to my folder of "One File Wonders". Please don't add bloat to this nice little program! Here's a tip: You simply must download the skin called "Sliders". It's the coolest skin I have ever used. (get it at skins.org)

Damodred reviewed v1.0 Beta Build 5441 on Dec 15, 1999

CoolPlayer is one of the players I use on a daily basis - I've given up WinAmp and especially Sonique (shudder) due to their bloatedness...with every update they get bigger and slower. CoolPlayer has no flashy visuals, but the skins are excellent, playback quality good, and download size astounding (about 100 K!!!). Check it out.

yoni reviewed v1.0 Beta Build 5193 on Dec 9, 1999

At last a mp3 player that allows you to listen to mp3s in background... it is not using a lot of ressource, it is easy, compact, clean.... cool.The skins are needed though because the default layout is.... default :)

tbozfan reviewed v1.0 Beta Build 5014 on Nov 21, 1999

I think the program is great! Why you might ask? Well her is my answer... Every other player I've tried such as Winamp or Sdnique has an error in it that causes them to crash when I make large playlists (say 10 or more files), and this one doesnt. Also, I like the fact that it is VERY small to conserve hard drive space, utilizes skin capabilities (what seems like a must have these days for audio) and it doesnt slow my computer way down!

DjIceman reviewed v1.0 Beta Build 5014 on Nov 21, 1999

it plays music just as well as the other players. although I noticed while I was playing quake 3 it got a little choppy, but it uses less CPU then I have seen on any player before

GangMan reviewed v1.0 Beta Build 5014 on Nov 20, 1999

CoolPlayer is definitely the best alternative to Winamp. Although Sonique or other players might have more functions - CoolPlayer convinces with it's simply but effective layout, and the low cpu usage which is why CoolPlayer even runs on old systems without any problems!