Before you start listening to any internet audio or video you will need a good player. This is a program that converts the downloaded files into sound and video. The players that ship with most PCs are poor quality. Windows media player has an appalling quality, and poses several security threats AVOID. The “free version” of ReadAudio’s players are full of ads and like Microsoft Media player RealAudio Player is bloated and slow AVOID.
I only use and recommend one player for all my Video and Audio it runs on many platforms Windows, Mac, Linux, Pocket PC etc.. it is known as VLC. This tiny program is fast to download and install, and the quality of the sound and video is amazing. It comes complete with drivers and codecs installed! The interface is simple but very powerful and the quality of playback is better than commercial software costing thousands. Download a copy from http://www.videolan.org/vlc/ it is free, has no Spyware or adverts and rumour has it it will play any format even salamis. For converting 5.1 sound to listen on headphones, watching movies on a laptop, or large home cinema installations the ONLY PLAYER YOU WILL EVER NEED!