Player	CPU usage at a fixed 208 MHz	The same, with (only) enabled equalizer and / or bass boost when present	The same, with (only) enabled (maximal) reverb when present	Does screen off / minimizing result in CPU usage decrease related to visualization? What kind of screenoff is available?	auto CPU frequency, the player runs the CPU at the following speed (in MHz)
iMusic 2.10	26% without and 53% with spectrum (the latter is the default) and visible. With enabled spectrum but invisible state, there is about +5% (31%) CPU usage.	Eq: 68% (w/o spectrum)	n/a	No built-in screenoff capabilities, unlike in its predecessor	208
Platform4 Player 3.0	37%	n/a	n/a	n/a (furthermore, there is not even built-in screenoff!)	312
PocketMind PocketMusic Bundle 4.3.4	26.5%	EQ: 74% (HUH!); Bass: 35%	n/a	n/a	312
WinamPAQ v1.0 Beta build 0509	40% (pretty unreliable and crashes a lot on all my WM5 test devices, except for the Universal. On the Universal, on the other hand, it used 52% CPU time at 520 MHz)	Eq: same	n/a	n/a	312
TodayPlayer 3.05.00	21% when invisible, 53% when visible. With disabled peak meters, the latter can be decreased to 25%	Eq: 22% when invisible; max. bass boost: 28% (-> use the equalizer whenever possible)	n/a	Bad: Nope. (Built-in, assignable to a HW button.) That is, either disable peaks entirely or switch to another app.	208 when invisible, 416 when visible. 108 when visible but inactive.
withMP3 1.60	24% without and 52% with spectrum (the latter is the default) and visible. With enabled spectrum but invisible state, there is no excess CPU usage.	47% (w/o spectrum)	n/a	Good: Built-in, key-assignable screenoff does decrease CPU usage with enabled spectrum.	208 without and 312 with spectrum
Nero Mobile 1.2.0.12	31% when invisible, 70% when visible (spectrum can't be disabled / fine-tuned)	43% (when invisible)	n/a	No built-in screenoff capabilities: in Menu / Settings / General Settings, you can only redefine the home / go / menu and jukebox keys.	312 when invisible, 520 when visible
Built-in WMP as of version 10	21.4%	n/a	n/a	n/a	208
WinVibePro 4.9.5	~24% with enabled ”Turn off spectrum and VU-meter” in Tools / Settings / Visualization (default); after disabling it, 39% even when the spectrum isn’t displayed. With displayed spectrum, 59%, using the default.	No equalizer; bass boost is always enabled but can’t be changed	29% (the same quality as with Mort / GS, much worse than iPlay)	Absolutely bad: Not even (built-in) screen dimming does reduce the CPU usage when spectrum is enabled.	416, even in background
iPlay 4.8 (the last version as of October 2006; iPlay 5.x is no more WM2003(SE)-compliant)	11%	n/t	n/t	n/a	104
iPlay 5.0 (the last, WM5+-only version as of January 2007)	11%	Eq: 20%	37%; at “more” (as opposed to “massive”), the same	n/a	104
Conduits Pocket Player 3.01	24% with fully disabled visualization; 27% with the default one and 28% with spectrum (switchable in More / Visualization) even when not visible	(with default visualization) Eq: 29-30%; bass boost (with the default settings): 35%. That is, stick to the equalizer and leave the bass boost DSP untouched.	No reverb; echo sounds pretty awful; it consumes 30%	Built-in screenoff; bad: doesn't decrease CPU usage	208
LGC Jukebox 2.10	20%	Eq: 25.4%	n/a	n/a	208
TCPMP 0.72rc1	12%	Eq: 17%	n/a	n/a	104 most of the time, sometimes switches to 208
GSPlayer 2.25	21%	with both enabled, 27.5%; bass boost only: 26.7%; equalizer only: 21.5% (that is, prefer using the equalizer to bass boost!)	(it has appr. the same quality as MortPlayer) 26%	n/a	208
MortPlayer 3.31RC6	22% even when minimized	Bass boost: 27.4%; eq: 22.4%	(not very good but still better than that of Pocket Player) 27%	n/a	208
VITO SoundExplorer 1.8	27.5%; Today plug-in is as CPU cycle-consuming as before: it uses about 25% even when inactive and keeps the CPU at 520 MHz.	Eq: 69% (with three points); 41% (with one point)	n/a	n/a	416 when in fore- and 312 in background (because of animation)
VITO AudioPlayer 1.15	46% when visible (including, unfortunately, the shut down screen state); 21% when not visible (AudioPlayer minimized / sent into background); animation can’t be disabled	Superbass: 42% (it has no EQ, as opposed to its big brother, VITO SoundExplorer)	n/a	Nope, unfortunately: the visualization-related excess CPU usage is present even when the screen is (auto)shut down	Jumping between 416 and 520 when visible, jumping between 208 and 416 when invisible (minimized)
Resco Audio Recorder 3.21	12.5% (10 (main exe) +2.5 (device.exe))	n/a	n/a	n/a	312 when in fore- and mostly 208 (sometimes 104) in background (because of fine track title scrolling)
NoteM 1.21	22%; heavily skips if there is anything else running in the background or you switch tasks / bring up the Start menu	n/a	n/a	n/a	208