foobar2000 is an easy-to-use, skinnable and highly customizable audio player that aside from basic playback features, sports advanced capabilities such as conversion and tag editing.

The list of supported formats is incredibly long and includes MP3, AAC, MP4, Audio CD, WMA, Vorbis, FLAC, WavPack, WAV, AIFF, Musepack, Speex, AU, SND. Support for more formats can be achieved by deploying additional components or the so-called addons.

These can be found on the developer’s website and their purpose is to add support for a wide array of functions, such as ripping or writing CDs, various audio effects, advanced encoding / decoding capabilities and iPod management, to name a few.

After a quick and hassle-free installation process, foobar2000 reveals its simple, yet intuitive interface. In fact, at first launch, you are presented with a quick appearance setup process, where you can configure the background color and the playlist layout. You can even create your own layout if you’re not satisfied with the set bundled in the application.

There’s no limit to the number of playlists you can create and save for later use. Playback controls include repeat, random, shuffle, stop after current and playback follows cursor or viceversa.

The visualization of the audio stream is delivered via Oscilloscope, VU Meter, Peak Meter, Spectogram or Spectrum modes. The built-in equalizer allows you to adjust the amplitude of the audio signal at certain frequencies for a better audio experience.

Other features worth mentioning include Gapless playback, ReplayGain and Unicode support, as well as customizable keyboard shortcuts for playback controls.

All in all, foobar2000 is a great audio player that sports both basic and advanced playback features, as well as several other utilities that allow you to process the audio stream. Extra functionality can be implemented using additional components.