andrew.46, I see that you recommend Pulse audio, as in ao=pulse, in the mplayer config.

I can see in the SMPlayer's configuration that Alsa is the default. I can also choose Alsa 0.0-0.4 Creative X-Fi. The default Also makes the mplayer crash sometimes, but it doesn't crash on e.g. Pulse and the Alsa setting 0.0 Creative X-Fi. What are these settings and why have you recommended Pulse?

I'm also wondering about the x11 video output, because I see a lot to choose from, and some makes the mplayer crash. Not x11 though!