Winamp media file? What about MP3, WAV, FLAC, APE?

[tomdrayson]

Hello, I would like to know how to set Winamp to distinguish between different audio formats, so that instead of "Winamp media file" the formats are displayed as MP3/WAV/FLAC/APE audio etc. in Explorer.
Many thanks

[drewbar]

Winamp associates all media files as "Winamp media Files"

To show Extensions in Windows Explorer:
# On your desktop, open My Computer.
# Select the Tools menu, & then select Folder Options ....
# In the Folder Options windows, click on the View tab.
# Uncheck the box next to Hide file extensions for known file types

[tomdrayson]

Yeh, I don't want to show file extensions though, just the different file types in the "Type" column in Explorer. Showing extensions is a pain when renaming files. Any other suggestions?
Thanks

[DJ Egg]

The other option is to manually setup the associations,
so you can manually change the icon and description.

From the Wishlist...

Different icons and file descriptions for associated file types
known workarounds


eg. I've kept just M4A, AAC, NSV, M3U, PLS selected in Winamp > Prefs > File Types,
and I've manually setup others (MP3, OGG, WMA, FLAC, AVI, MPG, etc) via:
Windows Folder Options > File Types.

[tomdrayson]

Aha, thanks DJ Egg.
The only thing is that now my FLAC files show the .flac extension even with "Hide extensions for known file types" ticked. Winamp is set as the default application. It is as if the FLAC extension is not recognised - anyway to fix this?
Thanks

[DJ Egg]

Hmm, strange.
If FLAC & FLA are listed in Folder Options > File Types, then they are classed as 'known filetypes' and therefore the extension shouldn't be shown.

Assuming your OS is one of Win 2k/XP/2003/Vista (can't remember the exact procedure for older OS's), in Folder Options > File Types, scroll down for & hi-lite FLAC, click Advanced, and make sure 'always show extension' isn't checkmarked.

[tomdrayson]

Another great suggestion! No idea how, but "always show extension" was indeed ticked. Everything's sorted now.
Thanks for all your help DJ Egg.

[canadadude1234]

This does not have anything to do with Winamp. It is a Windows problem. Explorer thinks that everyone is a moron and doesn't know what file extensions are.

Therefore it groups them by the application that controls the association for that extension. Therefore if WMP owns .MPG, .MPEG, .MP4, .AVI, .WMV, and so on, you will not find the individual extensions in the "Type" category when you try to do a Search for a specific file type, nor will they appear in explorer when you use detail view and choose "Sort by Type".

Instead you will see the completely useless "type" of "Windows Media Player Movie File" or some such nonsense.

Yes, Winamp could solve this problem by making different type classifications for each individual file extension, but at the root, it's a problem with Microsoft engineers that feel the need to design their software for the absolute LOWEST (stupidest) common denominator of user, which means that the rest of us have to suffer through the obviousness with no way to actually switch off the feature and sort by the real file extensions.

[Kodos]

Bump. I've just installed Winamp, for the media library features. So far, kicks WMP's ass. But then I noticed this "winamp media file" thing and I can't sort by .wav, .flac, .ape, whatever. THAT IS STUPID.

[flocksoft]

you want sort filetypes in Winamp application, or in Explorer?

for the first case you can add an appropriate Smart View or add the Extension column in the Media library

for the second case, you can use a serious file manager and sort by extensions, like xplorer² lite (freeware) (the first file manager coming in my mind...)

[Kodos]

To sort in Windows.

So, in Explorer, instead of Type "Winamp media file" (why this is so is beyond me), it would say "FLAC" or "WAV" or whatever. WMP didn't do this. Hell, no other media player I've ever tried does this.

[flocksoft]

Originally posted by Kodos
To sort in Windows.

So, in Explorer, instead of Type "Winamp media file" (why this is so is beyond me), it would say "FLAC" or "WAV" or whatever. WMP didn't do this. Hell, no other media player I've ever tried does this.

you can associate yourself every audio filetypes with a different description to Winamp in Explorer -> Folder Options -> File Types tab and selecting Advanced button

Quintessential Player and foobar2000 use different filetypes icons (but I don't know the description)

[DJ Egg]

Originally posted by DJ Egg
The other option is to manually setup the associations,
so you can manually change the icon and description.

From the Wishlist...

Different icons and file descriptions for associated file types
known workarounds <--- click!


eg. I've kept just M4A, AAC, NSV, M3U, PLS selected in Winamp > Prefs > File Types, and I've manually setup others (MP3, OGG, WMA, FLAC, AVI, MPG, etc) via: Windows Folder Options > File Types.

[Kodos]

I'll try using xplorer lite. I just want to sort by file type in explorer! I've never seen this before (now that I think about, I think VLC does the same thing). I don't quite understand this "workaround" but will play around with it. So in Explorer, do I have to associate FLAC with something else?

It's still a mystery to me why Winamp has to do this.

[Kodos]

OK, so I choose ".FLAC" under "File types" in explorer and Advanced and change the description to "free lossless ...". Well, that means that ALL files associated with Winamp are now of type "Free lossless audio codec". I tell you, this is unbelievably lame-ass.

[DJ Egg]

Originally posted by DJ Egg
Different icons and file descriptions for associated file types
known workarounds <-- Click!

Did you even click the link yet?

Follow the simple instructions.

You have to deselect the extensions you want different icons and descriptions for in 'Winamp > Prefs > File Types' first. Then set them up to taste in Folder Options > File Types.