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[Sil]

Hi,

I've been using the JRiver Media Center on a Windows 10 computer and I have the following comments:

- Like probably other potential customers, I'm using it exclusively as an audio player, and I absolutely hate all the media center stuff. Why don't you offer a cheaper audio player only ?

- What I like with the software is the way it manages loudness/volume. I feel it is much better in this regard than foobar2000, and you know what you get with the volume bar. Also, the Asio frequency switching seems more solid. What I don't understand is why it does not suggest to upsample 88.2k to 96k (my audio interface is a 192/24 interface from Roland which strangely does not support 88.2).

- For everything else, I feel it is extremely inferior to the free foobar2000:

- I'm using a VST for room correction, which uses a configuration among a list of configurations I predefined. Basically I defined a 2 monitors, and a 2 monitors + subwoofer correction. the media center will not save the choice, and I have to select it each and every time I start the app sometimes. I'll have to study the problem more in depth. This doesn't happen with foobar2000.
- The library does not work well and sometimes it invents multiple albums where there is only one. While this is easily corrected for example in Windows Media center where you can tell it to merge all the chosen tracks into one album, and the problem doesn't exist with foobar2000, I haven't found a way to do this in the JRiver media center.
- Why can't I have a decent Album / tracks (parent - children ) view in album view ? While certainly not beautiful, foobar2000 is so much better for presenting / defining views, and selecting songs from a album.
- Also, no plugins or additional views, such as lyrics.
- I haven't found how to show a simple bitrate such as 96 kHz in a column of a track list view, and I don't care for 2818 bitrate or else. I've only succeeded in defining the prefered formating for the song being played.


I really appreciate the volume management and the sound playing of the jriver, and it seems to be the best option on the market for this purpose. However, I don't think I will purchase it at the end of the trial until it has been improved, at the very least on the library & Album/tracks view.
  

[ferday]

I think it should be obvious to you that these problems aren't global in nature and not endemic to the software.  There are no threads about most of them and I don't experience them personally (other than a lack of lyric support)

If you post questions about things that you feel are not working, you will get answers.

Either way you choose, it's all about the music so have fun listening!

[Spike1000]

- The library does not work well and sometimes it invents multiple albums where there is only one. While this is easily corrected for example in Windows Media center where you can tell it to merger, and the problem doesn't exist with foobar2000, I haven't found a way to do this in the JRiver media center.

My guess is that this is a tagging issue with your files. The 'merge' option you refer to looks like a way of overcoming a tagging discrepancy. If you dig into example where you have an issue I think it will become clear as to why this is happening as the library is not 'broken' it just works with the information it reads from tags or is provided by the user.

- I haven't found how to show a simple bitrate such as 96 kHz in a column of a track list view, and I don't care for 2818 bitrate or else. I've only succeeded in defining the prefered formating for the song being played.

Would a right click on the column headers in that view and select 'Bitrate' add the column you're after?

Spike

[Sil]

It could be a tagging problem, however again foobar2000 somehow makes it work automatically and there is a solution in Windows Media player. I tried the option 'link tracks' in JRiver but it does not solve the problem.

I agree with Ferday that it is probably a problem that occurs rarely, but my guess is that it isn't completely uncommon.

Yes, I get the bitrate by adding a column, but I would like it to be formatted as 192 kHz / 96 / ... instead of 929 or 1566 or else.

In general I would like to see at a glance if an album is 192/24/FLAC or 44.1/16/WM Lossless or whatever MP3. Perhaps with a status bar or superimposed on the album cover?

Also I've discovered that the player would change the bitrate defined in the driver from 192 kHz to 48 kHz (as default configuration?). It would be nice in a status bar or somewhere else to the the actual bit depth / bit rate that is sent to the audio card / interface and if any change in bitrate was sent to the driver.

[JimH]

Edit the Album Artist tag.  It needs to be the same.

[Sil]

Edit the Album Artist tag.  It needs to be the same.

Ok this would explain it. It's an album with various artists.

[Spike1000]

It could be a tagging problem, however again foobar2000 somehow makes it work automatically and there is a solution in Windows Media player. I tried the option 'link tracks' in JRiver but it does not solve the problem.

Not used the 'link tracks' option myself, but I don't think it's the solution to your problem, looking at the differences in the tags you have and then correcting them if they are different is  Once you understand why this happens the fix will be very simple, quick to implement and permanent as the database in MC is very powerful. I had some tagging inconsistencies in my tracks, I quite enjoyed spending a bit of time sorting them out as I 're-discovered' lots of my music and listened to the tracks while fixing the rest.

Yes, I get the bitrate by adding a column, but I would like it to be formatted as 192 kHz / 96 / ... instead of 929 or 1566 or else.

In general I would like to see at a glance if an album is 192/24/FLAC or 44.1/16/WM Lossless or whatever MP3. Perhaps with a status bar or superimposed on the album cover?

If 96000Hz is not for you you can add custom fields to the database and have them formatted/calculated/displayed as you wish.

Remember don't get lost in the detail, just enjoy listening to the music. . .   

Spike

[ferday]

In general I would like to see at a glance if an album is 192/24/FLAC or 44.1/16/WM Lossless or whatever MP3. Perhaps with a status bar or superimposed on the album cover?

create a library field (tools>options>library&folders>manage library fields)
choose calculated data, and in the expression box type

Code: [Select]

formatnumber([Sample Rate,0], 2)//[bit depth]//[file type]
you will get this in the view.  you can of course change it to look and sort how you want

[Spike1000]

Ok this would explain it. It's an album with various artists.

Ah the Various Artists gotcha. I think that's bitten many new users (myself included) in the bum at some point. I did wonder if that was your issue 
Anyways, simple and permanent fix with the tag editor.

I've had to edit the album artist tag for many many compilations, but it only it needs doing once.

Spike

[mattkhan]

- What I like with the software is the way it manages loudness/volume. I feel it is much better in this regard than foobar2000, and you know what you get with the volume bar. Also, the Asio frequency switching seems more solid. What I don't understand is why it does not suggest to upsample 88.2k to 96k (my audio interface is a 192/24 interface from Roland which strangely does not support 88.2).

you can choose to resample via the Output Format screen in the DSP Studio

- I'm using a VST for room correction, which uses a configuration among a list of configurations I predefined. Basically I defined a 2 monitors, and a 2 monitors + subwoofer correction. the media center will not save the choice, and I have to select it each and every time I start the app sometimes. I'll have to study the problem more in depth. This doesn't happen with foobar2000.

one of the strengths of jriver is the DSP studio, there should be no need to use another VST to do this sort of thing. However it's hard to be sure without knowing exactly what your setup is. If you want to explore that further then post how you want this to work and we can advise accordingly. You can then get rid of the VST.

[imeric]

- What I like with the software is the way it manages loudness/volume. I feel it is much better in this regard than foobar2000, and you know what you get with the volume bar.

That's funny because that's one of the few things I prefer with Foobar vs MC! (Besides lyrics and the continuator crossfading component)...

Maybe I should strike that I'm referring to Volume levelling (Replay gain). I prefer how foobar does it but yes MC is far superior with the Volume slider especially if you use DACs with Hardware volume controls...

Besides this minor thing MC is WAY Better IMHO.. Give it a chance...The ramp-up is not easy but it's worth it and definitely worth the 50$

Glad you picked up on the sound quality.  Did you notice you can tell what is being sent to your DAC in MC? That is something foobar doesn't do which is a major plus with MC.
Resampling options and going from one format to another is also a lot smoother with ASIO in MC.

I've been in your shoes a few years back and I still use Foobar from time to time...But for serious listening, MC is the way to go...

[blgentry]

What I don't understand is why it does not suggest to upsample 88.2k to 96k (my audio interface is a 192/24 interface from Roland which strangely does not support 88.2).

You can easily configure MC to convert sample rates from one to another.  Player > DSP Studio > Output Format > Sample Rate .  Choose the input frequency you are interested in (like 88,200) and click in the second column to configure what the output rate will be.

- The library does not work well and sometimes it invents multiple albums where there is only one.

As some have already said, you just set the [Album Artist] field to be a single value for these compilation albums and then MC will group them properly.  This wiki entry explains it pretty well:

http://wiki.jriver.com/index.php/Album_Artist_and_Album_Artist_(Auto)

- Why can't I have a decent Album / tracks (parent - children ) view in album view ?

I don't know what you're asking for here.  When I double click on an album cover, I get a list of tracks below it.  Clicking on any other album cover brings up it's track list in the same window below.  Are you more interested in a Panes view?  Example:

https://wiki.jriver.com/images/a/ac/Viewscheme-panes_genre_selected.jpg

Panes views are very powerful, easy to configure, and are a fundamental view type for MC.

- I haven't found how to show a simple bitrate such as 96 kHz in a column of a track list view, and I don't care for 2818 bitrate or else.

Your terminology might be getting in your way.  Bitrate is a total data rate.  For example, a 320kbit/sec MP3 has a bitrate of "320kpbs".  The number you want is called Sample Frequency.  It's a field in MC's database and you can display it as a column in any view that shows columns.  Just right click on the column header and scroll down to find Sample Rate.  Once it appears, you can drag that column to put it in the position you want.

Brian.

[blgentry]

In general I would like to see at a glance if an album is 192/24/FLAC or 44.1/16/WM Lossless or whatever MP3. Perhaps with a status bar or superimposed on the album cover?

Depending on what view you want to use, you can have the thumbnail text under album covers show the sample rate, bit depth, and file type.  Or you can have the player display at the top, that shows what's playing, show you that information as well.  Or you can have it as columns in the detailed track listings.  Or all three.

Also I've discovered that the player would change the bitrate defined in the driver from 192 kHz to 48 kHz (as default configuration?).

I'm not sure what you mean.  If you use WASAPI or ASIO, MC controls the sample frequency sent to the sound card. ...and this follows the DSP Studio > Output Format table as I detailed above.  If you're using DirectSound, you shouldn't be.  That lets Windows interfere with the audio and is not considered to be a "hi-fi" configuration.

It would be nice in a status bar or somewhere else to the the actual bit depth / bit rate that is sent to the audio card / interface and if any change in bitrate was sent to the driver.

If you want to see detailed information about what MC gets for input, the processing it does, and what it sends out, go to:  Player > Audio Path .  You can get that exact same display by hovering over the little blue icon in the upper right section of MC, next to the icons for shuffle and repeat.

Brian.

[Sil]

Thanks for the help.

Good news, retagging each track with the same 'Album artist' makes the album appear as it should, eg a single album. Bad news, still refuses to play shuffled. There must be a hidden tag DO NOT SHUFFLE somewhere ;_)

[Sil]

- Thanks. Yes, what I was looking for is Sample Rate, not bitrate. This solves my request.

- Yes, Panes. I'll have to see how it works in JRiver, so far no success. Ideally something like this:



Basically, I don't want to have to double click on an album, clicking it would always show all relevant tracks in the track pane, which would always be visible.

- Player > DSP Studio > Output Format > Sample Rate. Yes, I have found this option. Careful examination of my driver's configuration to see which sample rate is selected, it doesn't not seem to work 100 %:
1. Using the option No change does not seem to be honored, but reverts back to 48 kHz.

2. So I'm basically choosing 44,100 Output for 44100 Input, 96,000 for 96000 and so forth. Indeed, I put 96 000 output for 88200 input.

3. I must experiment more, but so far I get an error when having played for example a 48 kHz album, I'm switching to a 192 kHz Album. JRiver tells me there was a problem and would I like to convert to 48 kHz. Answering no and clicking to play again seems to change the driver conf to 192 kHz and then it plays. I do not have multiple audio interfaces to try, so perhaps this is a bug of the Roland QuadCapture audio interface.

Thanks again for the help.

You can easily configure MC to convert sample rates from one to another.  Player > DSP Studio > Output Format > Sample Rate .  Choose the input frequency you are interested in (like 88,200) and click in the second column to configure what the output rate will be.

As some have already said, you just set the [Album Artist] field to be a single value for these compilation albums and then MC will group them properly.  This wiki entry explains it pretty well:

http://wiki.jriver.com/index.php/Album_Artist_and_Album_Artist_(Auto)

I don't know what you're asking for here.  When I double click on an album cover, I get a list of tracks below it.  Clicking on any other album cover brings up it's track list in the same window below.  Are you more interested in a Panes view?  Example:

https://wiki.jriver.com/images/a/ac/Viewscheme-panes_genre_selected.jpg

Panes views are very powerful, easy to configure, and are a fundamental view type for MC.

Your terminology might be getting in your way.  Bitrate is a total data rate.  For example, a 320kbit/sec MP3 has a bitrate of "320kpbs".  The number you want is called Sample Frequency.  It's a field in MC's database and you can display it as a column in any view that shows columns.  Just right click on the column header and scroll down to find Sample Rate.  Once it appears, you can drag that column to put it in the position you want.

Brian.

[Dawgincontrol]

Thanks for the help.

Good news, retagging each track with the same 'Album artist' makes the album appear as it should, eg a single album. Bad news, still refuses to play shuffled. There must be a hidden tag DO NOT SHUFFLE somewhere ;_)

When you linked the tracks, you fixed it so it won't shuffle those tracks.  You have to go back and break the links.  Linking tracks is for albums that list tracks separately that you want to always play in sequence or together if you shuffle or add to a playlist. (Queen's We Will Rock You, We Are the Champions; for example).

Highlight the tracks then select; Tools>Library Tools>Break Track Links

[blgentry]

- Yes, Panes. I'll have to see how it works in JRiver, so far no success. Ideally something like this:

That screen shot is really odd.  It seems to show a Panes view, but with all albums too, even though you clearly have a Madonna album selected.  That kind of view isn't possible in MC as far as I know.  Maybe a split screen could do it.  Maybe.

Basically, I don't want to have to double click on an album, clicking it would always show all relevant tracks in the track pane, which would always be visible.

Once you double click an album one time, the track window appears.  It then stays until you close it, or double click again.  A single click on any album keeps that window there.  There's also a property of each view that lets that track window show up by default if that's what you'd like.

3. I must experiment more, but so far I get an error when having played for example a 48 kHz album, I'm switching to a 192 kHz Album. JRiver tells me there was a problem and would I like to convert to 48 kHz. Answering no and clicking to play again seems to change the driver conf to 192 kHz and then it plays. I do not have multiple audio interfaces to try, so perhaps this is a bug of the Roland QuadCapture audio interface.

I'm pretty sure you're using the Direct Sound driver and not ASIO or WASAPI.  Tools > Options > Audio > Audio Device > (check your device here) .  If you have a WASAPI or ASIO option there, select it.  If not, go get the real driver for your device.  I think this *might* be it.  But verify the model number.

http://roland.com/support/article/?id=62264894&p=UA-55&q=downloads

Brian.