Recommendations please
In my experience, all players have strengths and weaknesses, depending on the intended usage. So, it more or less depends on your listening/viewing habits.
Personally, the only reason I need a player is for capturing, storing, and playing MP3 podcasts. And, the only thing I need headphones for is playing podcasts at 3:00 AM, when I first awake (happy wife - happy life).

My favorite MP3 podcast player is (still)
Guayadeque - the former Peppermint default player. Actually, Guayadeque is one of the first things that drew me to Peppermint. It was just one less thing that I had to install and setup, after a fresh install.
My second choice in MP3 podcast players is
Rhythmbox. It used to be a kludge, but they've cleaned up the UI in recent years.
For everything else, I use VLC - the current Peppermint default player.
Totem is also a decent media player, and a little easier to get accustomed to than VLC.
BTW, my favorite headphones are Sennheiser(s) et al. I prefer the classic
HD414 model - I own two pair of them.
