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[Etsijä]

To Brian: thank you so much for your tip - it works perfectly!  Now my spacebar is finally making sense, and my beloved music tool finally bends to my will in my profession!

[Sesam]

Probably already been mentioned by others, but from the top of my head:

- Theater View looks dated, is not intuitive for first-time users, not very flexible when it comes to skinning, and configuration has to mostly be made in desktop view.

This is the reason why I use Kodi on my HTPC (and MC as a server/desktop app). Kodi just looks so much better aesthetically, this I think is partly because it is much more flexible when it comes to skinning, and also because it is free/open source and therefore attracts creative people. For a commercial application, I think JRiver will probably have to make a stellar skin themselves.

Also while some people like the unique way you navigate in theater mode, it is counterintuitive for all first time users. Everyone at first basically expects the navigation to work like a standard Blu-ray/DVD title, and getting used to the MC way takes some time.

- Tagging media, with some competing software it is easier/faster. I kinda like how most software just bring up a separate tagging window, the way MC does it in a small left-hand corner window is somewhat inconvenient.

- Metadata lookup is rather limited, there appears to be no easy way to make plug-ins or support other sites to grab data from.

[Riverbear]

I think mediacenter's competitive disadvantage is its huge learning curve. There are many free programs out there that people I know use. I tell them how much better mediacenter is, but since it is so difficult to learn, and lacking of any cohesive manual or tutorial, that the power of mediacenter ends up not being an advantage for the average person at all. I have heard many say, "no thanks. I'll stick with itunes". JRiver should do a much better job of showing the public mediacenter's powerful advantages, and PROVIDE A MEDIUM to learn them. You would pick up so so many new users.

[mrboonmee]

I buy it year after year and always same UI. I only use it for music. I use Musicbee more often now, displays lyrics and artist bio etc. never could get that in MC

[JimH]

Please use another thread for music streaming services. 

[lynes88]

I haven't had time to literally read through every thread but much of what I see seems spot on.  I know basics when it comes to tweaking but find this to be really challenging in most cases so I feel I am missing out on some capabilities.  I also use Gizmo on my tablet and phone for remote control which works well but it could be better.

1.  Something I would like to see if possible - so for those users that are "super users" that have made substantial changes to their UI and capabilities, it would be really cool if we "normal" users could import or copy other users interface changes.  So if user "Joe" has made some UI changes that I really like, I could download and integrate his look by using his plug-ins or changes.

2.  Pretty interface - I split my usage with theater View and standard view, but would like to see improvements more with standard view.

Great product.. and plan to be a long-term user!

Dave

[imeric]

I buy it year after year and always same UI. I only use it for music. I use Musicbee more often now, displays lyrics and artist bio etc. never could get that in MC

I think he means lyrics and artist bio would be awesome in MC.  I definitely think that lyrics are a competitive advantage to other softwares (Foobar, Media Monkey..)

[jaxtherogue]

I use MC almost exclusively for music. I had checked out Roon some time ago and decided the price was too steep but recently the manual labor of inputting deep level detail into MC drove me to taking the plunge a few weeks ago and paying for Roon. I'd rather do everything via MC, but I've become addicted to the deep level of information Roon surfaces about my own collection. The exploration of my own library of music is just much better in Roon because of the metadata it brings to the table. So now I manage my library with MC but 'consume' it via Roon.

I'd like it if the MC interface was a bit more modern without having to rely on skins that may or may not be maintained, but that is a secondary concern.  MC lets me manage my music (and very well!); Roon helps me enjoy it.  I wish MC could do both.

[CountryBumkin]

1.  Something I would like to see if possible - so for those users that are "super users" that have made substantial changes to their UI and capabilities, it would be really cool if we "normal" users could import or copy other users interface changes.  So if user "Joe" has made some UI changes that I really like, I could download and integrate his look by using his plug-ins or changes.

Have you seen the "Shared Views" thread? This might be what your looking for. http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=103692.0

[larryrup]

Since I am just a user, competitive disadvantage is not how I think when using JR and MC (which is every day).

Here is where little attention has been paid for quite awhile:

Pretty.  Since I jumped on board, around ver 18, I can't think of a skin or visual improvement of significance that has been introduced.

Metadata/cover art.  Seems pretty much user supported.  If you need to grab one cover from the internet, it's like a three step process to ultimately get it into MC.

I still can't believe I cannot burn a CD of music files in a sequenced order without having to force a numerical sequence in the title (then revert back when complete).  Don't people still like giving mixed tapes?  I guess that is what they use Pandora for.

Love to see additional  Wiki links for album and song that are playing.

I guess the point here it's little things.  MC is a bargain for all it does ...kid in a candy store software.  I guess if I was ready to cut my cable cord, I'd be more interested in your plans for TV.  Right now I don't have an interest.

 Sorry, I know not exactly what you were looking for, but what this paying customer would like to see.

Regards,

Larry

[DJLegba]

I still can't believe I cannot burn a CD of music files in a sequenced order without having to force a numerical sequence in the title (then revert back when complete).  Don't people still like giving mixed tapes?

Off topic, but I just finished doing this for my wife. I dragged her playlist into the Burn Disc window and the playlist order was preserved. No renaming or other manipulation required.

[glynor]

Off topic, but I just finished doing this for my wife. I dragged her playlist into the Burn Disc window and the playlist order was preserved. No renaming or other manipulation required.

Yes. This should work just fine.

larryup, please start a separate thread on that topic if you can't figure it out.

[RD James]

Spacebar is used for some navigation tasks including expanding trees when you are tree navigation areas.  In all other places, MC already uses spacebar for Play/Pause.  It's just in these other areas that it doesn't function.

This is why I hope that JRiver will focus on standardizing their input behaviors for v22.
The right/left arrows on the keyboard should expand/collapse a tree item.
Spacebar should just be a universal play/pause command.

[lightchild]

Devices and platforms change very quickly and people want anything to be able to work with anything else.

My suggestion is to completely split JRiver software in two.

One half is a headless modular media server which links to the database, streams output and deals with file systems.
Ideally the server should run on any platform, read any file system, stream output in any requested format.
The database should be either the internal Media Center one, but ideally any database such as MS SQL, MySQL, Oracle etc
But at least give access to the internal database via a SQL interface / Web services.

The other half are media clients for various desktop and mobile platforms which link to the server.
Each platform  / OS can then be worked on independently.
If the server is made to standards then people could use third party software to access the media.
Even if you wanted to keep it all in house, you could at least contract the clients out to specialists for each platform.

Multiple users should then be able to access media, on any device such as their phone, desktop, tablet or TV from any server platform such as Windows, Mac or Linux.

[thecrow]

I would love to see the server functionality separated and able to run as a service not requiring a user to be logged into the OS.

[Ferdi]

As a follow up to my previous comments or questions about target audience and competitors: looking at the MC 22 planned feature list, in all honesty I understand only a few of them. Not enough understanding to upgrade - don't know what I am getting. Didn't get my question, which I posted, answered and feel like a complete idiot.
Competitive disadvantage might be the focus on a very limited audience (excluding users like me with limited exposure to computer-audiophile language) or just opportunities with regards to communicating greatness.
MC continues to awe me, but one has to be very stubborn, passionate or loyal to discover it. I am all of this, thankfully.

[Ferdi]

The database should be either the internal Media Center one, but ideally any database such as [...] Oracle etc

You forgot to mention SAP Hana

[Fingerling]

I second this suggestions:

• more customization (personnaly I would like to refine the interface, for example make Services & Plug-ins disappear or easily change font type, size and colour)
• revised UI/views! (aesthetic mostly, like Kodi or iTunes with its own algorithm which picks the colors for the fonts and background in function of album cover)
• improving stability
• improving JRemote
• separate audio/video interfaces
• easier, faster way to tag media

Less new features, more basic areas improvement. And yeah, the home page needs a deep redesign .

And to my understanding: the update to MC22 has been launched and in the same time we are asked to make improvement suggestions. So "to go next" means "see you in MC23" or at least some of this suggestions will be progressively added in MC22? If this relatively basics improvements will be only in MC23, I found the MC22 update very light (Windows user speaking) at the moment, even at 18$. Of course more content will be added, but at the moment you let your pre-ordering customers in a grey area. Maybe offering premium features/modules as suggested instead of non-major upgrades would be a good alternative.      

Sorry if I had made language mistakes, I doesn't master English. Thanks for your consideration

[skarsol]

Having the Server portion be able to run headless, especially a fully functional Linux daemon, would be a huge step up.

[blgentry]

Having the Server portion be able to run headless, especially a fully functional Linux daemon, would be a huge step up.

I'm not sure what you mean.  "Headless" normally means a computer that doesn't have a monitor, keyboard, and mouse attached.  I'm doing that right now on a Windows machine.  I use EOS to control it and TeamViewer when I need to get to MC's computer interface.

Brian.

[JimH]

Moved AnyDVD

[switch6343]

May be it should be reconisidered in offering JRiver as an all-in-one Media Center. May be the application could be a separate JRiver Audio Center, a separate JRiver TV Center, a separate Video Center etc. Each to excell in it's own. Different cars, for different clients.

My top wish is to give priority to development of a beautiful and slick looking UI.

Keep up the good work! 

[Manfred]

For me the core value of JRiver MC is that it is an integrated solution with Audio, Video, TV, Images functionality and not supporting the pattern of best of breed. I would have not bought the product if it is only for audio. But there are different opinions on this.

[skarsol]

I'm not sure what you mean.  "Headless" normally means a computer that doesn't have a monitor, keyboard, and mouse attached.  I'm doing that right now on a Windows machine.  I use EOS to control it and TeamViewer when I need to get to MC's computer interface.

Brian.

I was following off of lightchild's suggestion. I'd like to have the server portion be fully divorced from the client and be automateable. IE: when the linux server boots, it can fire off the media server process without having to run X. I'm also doing this right now with a Windows VM that I can connect to from another computer, but the media server portion still requires the client running on that same machine, and if the machine reboots, half the time it doesn't all come back up properly/automatically, requiring manual intervention. Similarly, if the client poops out for some reason, it takes the server down with it.

[wildsam]

Awesome work with all the great features and stable playback, i use mc for audio only and think some sort of system optimizer would be great.
Audirvana system optimizer mode

[Awesome Donkey]

Awesome work with all the great features and stable playback, i use mc for audio only and think some sort of system optimizer would be great.
Audirvana system optimizer mode

Those so-called system optimizer tools are not supported by MC and are unnecessary: http://wiki.jriver.com/index.php/Windows_System_Requirements

[JoeyGS]

I mainly use JR MC for Audio use only thinking that it provides the best audio output as a player in the entire audio chain.

My wish is to have a JR MC Audio version only to ensure that it optimizes high quality audio output.  OR ... Does the audio mode only feature/setting shuts down or unloads all none audio related features during playback?

[fitbrit]

I mainly use JR MC for Audio use only thinking that it provides the best audio output as a player in the entire audio chain.

My wish is to have a JR MC Audio version only to ensure that it optimizes high quality audio output.  OR ... Does the audio mode only feature/setting shuts down or unloads all none audio related features during playback?

You can disable most of the features you don't want from:
Options > General > Features.

[IMGrant]

Better network audio control, specifically, integrate OpenHome functionality. Better DLNA, Google Cast, AirPlay would all be welcome things too, but control of OpenHome renderers (e.g. Linn hardware players or great software packages like https://github.com/PeteManchester/MediaPlayer) would be my wish.

The JRiver UI is great for managing and searching a library, but proper OpenHome support would allow you to send tracks to a device to play and then close JRiver and have the music continue playing (assuming the music is on a NAS or something - this can't currently happen with DLNA). Also, changes to the playlist on the device from another controller would be reflected in JRiver (currently this confuses JRiver with DLNA devices).
Competitors have this functionality within their specialized environments, e.g. you can do this with Sonos, or Naim or Linn players, etc., but you have to use their apps and devices.

[Abarth]

[...]Also, changes to the playlist on the device from another controller would be reflected in JRiver (currently this confuses JRiver with DLNA devices).
Competitors have this functionality within their specialized environments, e.g. you can do this with Sonos, or Naim or Linn players, etc., but you have to use their apps and devices.

Yes exactly. Everything is so fragmented, and many people is confused about what they have to use for doing this or that. I'd say it would be a competitive advantage of JRiver, which IS in fact a Media Center,  if there were some bridges to other services and devices.
One service which is used often is IP TV, eg. over Zattoo. it would be a great thing if there would be some kind of integration (though I don't know whether other services have open interfaces), so to have a master SW which could be JRiver.

[Mike Foran]

I've been an avid evangelist for MC for years, but there are a few key ways it doesn't compare well to various competitors.

JRiver doesn't seem to know who it's market is. This is important because the software needs to address the needs of it's users. Is it aimed at audiophiles building high-end custom systems? Is it aimed at iTunes ex-pats looking for a better/deeper experience? Should it be courting casual listeners who just want an easy program that works? For any of these markets JRiver has some big strengths and some big flaws.

It probably appeals the most to the audiophile, however the overall experience of using JRiver is not nearly sexy enough. The interface has this clunky, dated look. It should feel sleek and sharply designed so that it feels like something special. The audiophile user should know, before they use a single feature, that MC is the hottest piece of software available. Right now, when I launch the program it has all the sex appeal of a Geocities web page. This would be a real opportunity to create something that looks like nothing else in the market, so don't just look at other software's eye candy and copy it. Bring in a designer who will give MC a unique look all it's own.

For the iTunes ex-pat, and I fall into this category (although I dabble in the audiophile category), MC needs to be easier to learn. It doesn't have to be like iTunes, actually the opposite of that; I want the depth the program offers. But I won't be the first person to say that it needs a proper manual. Figuring out a complex piece of software from a Wiki and a Forum is a terrible way to learn and find answers. I don't know how many hours I have wasted looking for answers to problems that should have been readily outlined. It could also use a little more hand-holding. I know, the idea of that probably makes the programming team cringe. But build in a more guided experience for some of the better features of the program and users will respond to that. If I want to set up a multi-room system like a Sonos, the program should be able to guide me through the steps. Likewise for room correction, setting up with my soundcard/DAC for the best possible output, etc.

For the casual listener, like my wife, who just wants to quickly play something now and anything else is an obstacle, MC needs to tier the level of complexity in the program. Partly a design issue, partly a functional issue, but there is simply too much up front. The nicely designed JRemote does a lot to alleviate these problems, but something really needs to be done to the main application. Find a way to create an interface that starts simple and expands options and features out as requested.

Oh, and streaming services, blah blah blah. I know they are hard, but you really need to incorporate them in a nice seamless way. It's the future, and your program will never fare well against the competition without them. Spotify, Amazon, Tidal need easy access from the UI, not via an awkward browser interface.

All in all JRiver has a great engine in an ugly body. It feels like software designed by engineers, for engineers. To really compete with the other options in the market (and if you compare features alone I don't think JRiver really has any real competition here) it needs to bring it's UI/UX up to a modern standard and give it some sex appeal, and spend the $$ to put together a proper manual that remains up to date and doesn't rely on it's users to write. Hire a professional interface designer. Tier the depth of the program so users can dig in as they become more experienced, rather than blasting them with every feature up front. There is no reason MC cannot appeal to all of the demographics above, but it will take some dedicated money and effort.

[Mike Foran]

I am happy to update and hope for the best, but the last release has not brought a single new feature for me.

And it actually broke a feature I used *all the time* and it's still causing me all sorts of headaches. I'm looking at you RMCF!!

[JimH]

Thanks for all the feedback.