After I downloaded this (b8) I almost dragged it on top of my Applications folder to replace the older (b7) version I'd been using. Luckily I stopped myself and decided to test the two versions against each other first. b8 plays my .asf files much more choppily than b7 did/does. These are the same .asf files on the same G4 PowerBook only 30 seconds apart. b8 also simply stopped playing one .asf cold while b7 just kept on playing through the same point without any hiccup at all.
If you can, go track down a copy of MPlayer b7 and don't bother with this b8 version.