Tools of the Trade - Windows

All tools featured in this section are either open source or freeware...

Audio Players

DeaDBeef

DeaDBeeF (as in 0xDEADBEEF) is a modular cross-platform audio player which runs on Windows, Linux and macOS and Supports 24 bit HD audio.
Information and Download:
https://deadbeef.sourceforge.io/
https://github.com/DeaDBeeF-Player/deadbeef

FooBar 2000

Strange name, awesome music player. How a music player should be - small, modular, customizable and versatile. For Windows and Mac.
https://www.foobar2000.org/

Burn Audio CD

Burrrn

Burrn is a great tool for creating audio CDs from the many audio file formats found on the Internet.
Download:
https://burrrn.en.softonic.com/

CODECS

FLAC

FLAC stands for Free Lossless Audio Codec. Audio is compressed in FLAC without any loss in quality.
https://xiph.org/flac/index.html
Download Codec for Windows, Mac OS X and Linux
https://xiph.org/flac/download.html

Monkey's Audio

Monkey's Audio is a fast and easy way to compress digital music making perfect, bit-for-bit copies of your music - exactly the same as the original. For Windows only.
https://monkeysaudio.com/
Download Codec:
https://monkeysaudio.com/download.html

OGG Vorbis

Ogg Vorbis is a completely open, patent-free, professional audio encoding and streaming technology. For a given file size, OGG sounds better than MP3.
Available for Windows, Mac OS X, Linux and Unix
https://xiph.org/vorbis/

Directshow Filters for Ogg Vorbis and FLAC
With the Directshow Filters for Ogg Vorbis and FLAC installed, Directshow applications such as Windows Media Player will be able to play Ogg Vorbis, Ogg FLAC and native FLAC.
https://xiph.org/dshow/

AC3 - EAC3

Microsoft has dropped support for AC3 - EAC3 in Windows 11 Media Player. It also no longer supports DVD playback.
See the link below to know what codecs are supported.
Codecs in Media Player

To get over this you can install the K-Lite codec pack.
https://www.codecguide.com/
K-Lite Information:
https://www.codecguide.com/about_kl.htm
K-Lite Download:
https://www.codecguide.com/download_kl.htm

Alternatively... Use another media player such as VLC that has it's codex inbuilt.
https://www.videolan.org/vlc/

Disc Rippers

CDex Audio CD-Ripper

Convert music CDs to MP3s (LAME encoder), FLAC and other music file types. Transcode from one music file type to another.
http://cdexos.mu/
Downloads:
https://cdex.mu/download
Note: Needs ASPI Drivers for Win XP.
Download ASPI Driver

EAC

EAC (Exact Audio Copy) a very serious tool for extracting digital audio from a CD.
https://www.exactaudiocopy.de/

Guides to using EAC
Guide 1:
http://wiki.slimdevices.com/index.php/EAC_Ripping_In_Depth
Guide 2:
http://filesharingtalk.com/threads/435208-Installing-configuring-and-ripping-with-Exact-Audio-Copy-%28EAC%29

Editors

MP3 Direct Cut

Edit MP3 music files (Cut, Copy, Paste Sections of MP3) no re-encoding, so original sound quality is maintained. For Windows or Linux with Wine.
https://mpesch3.de/
Download from...
https://www.majorgeeks.com/download4668.html

Audacity

A full featured Audio Editor
https://www.audacityteam.org/
Manual:
https://manual.audacityteam.org/
Downloads:
https://www.audacityteam.org/download

Song Tagging

MP3tag

A user-friendly and versatile tool for re-tagging music files of all main types.
https://www.mp3tag.de/en/index.html
Version for Windows XP and up.
https://www.mp3tag.de/en/download.html

Format Conversion

dBpowerAmp Music Converter

Swiss Army Knife of audio conversion programs. One of the best commercial products out there particularly the reference version.
https://www.dbpoweramp.com/
DBpoweramp Music Converter 10.0 (Last Freeware Version.)
Download dMC-10.zip
Download additional codecs from Codec Central at
https://www.dbpoweramp.com/legacy/codec-central-legacy.htm

fre:ac - free audio converter

fre:ac is a free audio converter and CD ripper with support for various popular formats and encoders. Windows, Mac and Linux.
NOTE: I have had trouble using fre:ac as a CD ripper when used on Linux.
https://www.freac.org/
Download:
https://www.freac.org/index.php/en/downloads-mainmenu-33