Comment by SoleilAbsolu

One thing I loved about WinAmp was its ability to use audio plugins that were if not full VST (a Steinberg-originated format), a very close VST subset. So I could use the same plugins I would in my Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) for music production to apply custom EQs beyond the built-in graphic EQ, compression/limiting, and lowpass/highpass filtering.

I had a job where I was stuck at a desk 4-6 hours a day and this let me have the best possible sound out of cheapo soundcard and speakers. This made a significant improvement to my work experience and state of mind. Allowing standard plugins to snap-in is a brilliant move, and lets those who have the time/need to do so without the app developer having to spend their energy creating native custom EQ, compressors, etc. This philosophy has carried over to REAPER (Winamp dev Justin Frankel's DAW).