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[JimH]

Can you give us info on the licensing structure for v14, specifically in relation to those who purchased v13 licenses very recently?

I understand that not all software producers offer free upgrades per version but v14 has followed so quickly on the heals of v13 - Any significant discounts for v13 licence holders wishing to update and when can we expect to see it available for download (beta or otherwise)?
cheers

Early versions of MC14 will work with an MC13 license.  There will be a discount when this changes.  

With build 170, new purchasers of MC13 receive an MC14 license.

The transition usually lasts several months.

For business reasons, we don't have complete discretion on when to break from one version to another.  It typically happens about once a year.  This time, it went from August 8, 2008 to May 21, 2009 -- almost 10 months.

[steveklein]

What are you all whining about? If there are huge changes from 13 to 14, I would not hesitate buying it. What is 20-30$ for an upgrade anyway?? It's almost free! Most of us waste that amount daily on crap.

Only thing I hope is that some of the half finished Theater View stuff is completed, so we don't have to live with that until version 14 is out.

I try not to waste $20 a month, much less a day. So speak for yourself there. I wouldn't say it is "almost free". I love MC software and the power it has, but I won't be upgrading so soon. I purchased a v13 license this year and don't intend on dumping money into another upgrade for a while. I also feel that v14 may be a little further away than we think.

And I do echo some people's sentiments that I'm a bit bummed out to see v14 already built. I was expecting that maybe 4-6 months from now, not a matter of weeks after I paid for my MC13 license.

All that being said, I'll definitely give MC14 a trial run and decide if its worth the upgrade. I suspect that it won't be (for me) right now. And to be honest, if it is, and it's out by the end of the summer, I will feel a bit betrayed that I paid for the MC13 license, probably expecting whatever is initially in 14 to be included in 13 at some point down the line.

[JimH]

And I do echo some people's sentiments that I'm a bit bummed out to see v14 already built.

Would it brighten your day to hear it isn't built?  It's only begun.  You probably won't see it for several months.

[benn600]

You probably won't see it for several months.

[nuke2000]

What are you all whining about? If there are huge changes from 13 to 14, I would not hesitate buying it. What is 20-30$ for an upgrade anyway?? It's almost free! Most of us waste that amount daily on crap.

Only thing I hope is that some of the half finished Theater View stuff is completed, so we don't have to live with that until version 14 is out.

I wasn't whining i was asking a question. Who moaned about 'half finished theatre view stuff & not having to live with that until 14 is out?' 

I am just enquiring as to the status of 14 and likely cost

[steveklein]

Would it brighten your day to hear it isn't built?  It's only begun.  You probably won't see it for several months.

Actually, yes. I look forward to trying it out; I just don't want to see 13 abandoned so soon as I'm just now getting into the flow of it and would hate to see the improvements stop.

[MrHaugen]

I wasn't whining i was asking a question. Who moaned about 'half finished theatre view stuff & not having to live with that until 14 is out?' 

Because, leaving a version (and a very popular part in fact) rather unfinished is something that annoys people that have bought this otherwise excelent program, far more that the "Oh, will there be a new version out soon? How am I gonna get those 20$?". And if it remains like this for the next five months while we wait for version 14, there will be downsides. And very much so for the people that don't want to upgrade. Instead I hoped that you could all be glad that a new version, probably with some major enhancements, are on it's way. If the money is a huge problem and you do like the unfinished parts, then nobody is forcing anybody to buy anything.

[Griff]

For reasons I can't discuss

The "FOUR PEOPLE" theory.

 

[Listener]

You know that you can run multiple instances ?!

Yes, I've tried it.  It does seem to work. Some of the last position information is a bit strange when I start MC again later.

I much rather be able to use 2 libraries in the same instance of MC.

Thanks for reminding me.  I'll take another look.

Bill

[Amadan]

can you please make a download link available for everybody interested? Otherwise make this topic private for the beta tester group. I find it a bit frustrating reading about new features while not having a chance to try them myself 

[phalanthus]

i second the last comment

[mobyfrag]

Also, how about incorporating the playingnow plugin into the default MC14 installation?
It would need an options interface, for sure, but surely worth it? That plugin adds sooo much to the MC end user experience. We've gone through virtually the entire v13 run carrying a tooltip bug which detracts a lot of usefulness, and perhaps integration might fix that too? I could provide skins for it without too much trouble, if you like.

I want it too

No file manager needed 

I can't wait now

[JimH]

Please see MC14 Licensing for more information on MC14 availability and pricing.

[thenoob1]

Will there be a "discount time", where i.e. the upgrade from MC13 to MC14 will only cost 13$? I can remember, that an upgrade from MC12 to 13 was possible for 13$ for a short time. I must admit that 24$ is too much for me (I'm only a student, so...).

[MrHaugen]

Also, how about incorporating the playingnow plugin into the default MC14 installation?

Where is this plugin you speak of? I have searched and looked in MC 13 and Plugin Development Forums, but found nothing.

[marko]

Where is this plugin you speak of? I have searched and looked in MC 13 and Plugin Development Forums, but found nothing.

Download from ---> here
It has a 14 day trial after which a license will cost £5 GBP. Small cost to pay for a top drawer plugin.
These pages have not been updated in a long time, but if you try it and like it, there are alternative skins available for it from here

-marko.

[Osho]

My top two requests for V14:

1. Blu-ray playback fully supported.
2. TV DVR capability with full set of features (including remote recordings management, linking to other PCs on the network etc.) on par with SageTV or BeyondTV.

Thanks,
Osho

[Johnny B]

The PlayingNow plugin is great (I payed for it long time ago) however it does not support Unicode 
I contacted the author (also long time ago) but he sold it to JRiver. So I asked them (more than a year ago) about that nevertheless unfortunately they did not include it in MC13 so hopefully they will in MC14... 

[Daydream]

1. Blu-ray playback fully supported.

If SlyPlayer comes around can we expect to have this?

[benn600]

I would also consider Blu Ray support critical.

[tunetyme]

I've read everyone’s comments.  I know that JRiver is going after the video and image market to try and have a truly complete media manager.  At this time my only concern and use is for MC is audio.  I believe that if you do the basics extremely well then the bling can be added over time.  Generally, I think MC is excellent overall for audio. 

There are some fundamentals that I think need to be addressed.  Export to a comma delimited ASCII flat file.  Be able to select fields and sequence to be exported rather than a complete dump.  My limited experience with the HTML format has not been good as other programs are extremely sensitive to file content.  (I still can’t import the html file from MC into any other program that I want to use like Word, Excel, or Access.) I have to use dbpower amp to do what I need.  (Unfortunately, dbpoweramp doesn’t have all the info I would like to be able to export.)  I then import into Excel and go through lengthy edits. I have to do all this so I can create Slimline case track listings.  (MC disc labeler for some reason stops at 12 or 13 tracks with plenty of space to spare in both versions 12 & 13)  The rest of the issues have been posted on other threads and I do not want to belabor them here. 

I think a majority of people bought MC primarily for audio and if all your efforts are on other aspects of MC, we are left out.  I have downloaded 13 to evaluate if it takes care of some of the problems I have with 12.  So far, I can't see any real improvement for audio or for the problems I have for 12.  When I post something on the 12 board it is like the kiss of death and many questions/bugs go unread and unanswered.  I think the advice you are getting is sound.  Fix what you have and get it functioning as designed.  Add the bling in the future.  I’ve owned my share of vaporware that promises the world but at the end of the day does it work as designed.  I echo the earlier comment that I am not looking for a program that does everything.  I want a program that does one thing extremely well. 

From what I can glean from these and other posts the new development is really chewing up a lot of resources and the response to upgrading to 13 has not met your projections.  That is a sign that you have moved away from your core product.  My humble suggestion is if you want to sell more copies of this, or any other version, continue to make tangible improvements in the audio portion of the software. 

[edbro]

Please integrate 64bit shell extensions into v14.

[Alexx]

I think a majority of people bought MC primarily for audio...

My humble suggestion is if you want to sell more copies of this, or any other version, continue to make tangible improvements in the audio portion of the software. 

VERY thoughtful, well stated, and I agree wholeheartedly.

[JimH]

When we did a poll on this subject a year and a half ago, it turned out that about 40% used MC for audio only.

http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=42725.0

About 32% were using MC for audio, video, and images, and another 10% were using it for "all four", which would include documents.

[prod]

Although I use MC for "all four", I use it primarily for audio.

[Alexx]

...it turned out that about 40% used MC for audio only.

Interesting....  I guess that's because MC does audio so well.  In fact, I have never found its equal, which is why I will someday register JRiver Media (Audio) Center version 531.

[JimH]

I think it's probably because we started with audio.  So did many users.

[Sheugel]

I use MC as an audio jukebox in my living room . The display view is therefore crucial.
It would be great to be able to costumize the rotated album art in order to show some infos on the playing track (I find the other vizualisations ugly).
The ability to add a delay before poping up the display view would also be nice. For example, if a track is playing and there's an inactivity from the user during a certain time, the display view would pop up.

Sheugel

[Daydream]

A new poll should be in order, a year and a half is a lot in computer time. We are almost past MC13 which brought many improvements on the television side, and the Theater View. As we move towards MC14 it would be interesting to see where we are today, as a somewhat objective assessment for the future directions of MC development.

[tunetyme]

When we did a poll on this subject a year and a half ago, it turned out that about 40% used MC for audio only.

About 32% were using MC for audio, video, and images, and another 10% were using it for "all four", which would include documents. 

I participated in that poll.  If I read your numbers correctly then at leat 82% are using MC for audio.  40% are exclusive audio (a significant portion) 32% are using audio, video and images, (40% + 32% = 72%) and 10% are using all 4 (72% + 10% for a total of 82%).  Assuming that the remaining 18% are not using it for audio at all says that only 60% (18% + 32% + 10%) are using the other 3 features.  22% differential is a huge difference.  The key question becomes what percentage of users answered the poll?  What percentage bought MC for those features that without them they would not have purchased MC at all?  What about your jukebox software?  I assume that they are entirely audio and if you gave them features that they want in MC then wouldn't they upgrade to MC?  The key question is how do you keep your existing clients happy (your bread and butter business) then go after new markets. 

Think about it another way, those of us who have been using MC for awhile have fewer questions demanding staff time and we also help others with solutions on the board.  It cost less to service an existing customer than it does a new one.  What is your cost to bring a new client on board vs taking care of old farts like me? 

In a past life, I worked with several political pollsters in Washington DC.  What I learned from them is the key to any poll is how you ask the question.  There are a number of good survey companies that could help structure a poll (inexpensively) that would be a real asset in your decision making process on how to prioritize and allocate your resources to get the greatest return on your investment.  I would be happy to pay full price for an upgrade if you can give me tangible benefits.  At some point, I will use MC in a media center PC but that is not my priority.  If everything goes to HD 1080p or higher that chews up enormous disk space and until the format issues are settled I am not investing in video at all.  Why waste money on DVD's when everything is being converted to HD and why waste any money on HD that isn't 1080p?  So much of the stuff being offered as HD isn't 1080p. 

IF MC is the best program available for audio then I know your commitment will be there for video as well.  Take care of your core product, audio, first.  I don't want to tell you how to run your business but I am telling you what will make me a happy customer that will make me want tot continue to recommend your product to everyone I know and meet, as well as, continue to support JRiver by buying upgrades.  I want you to be around so I can also buy release 531.

[Daydream]

The key question becomes what percentage of users answered the poll?

176 out of the ~20000 (or however many were at the time) signed up on the forum that theoretically had the chance to see the poll. Statistically, is that enough for trends to appear? Even if yes, I'd say the guys that are (almost) always online are very much oversampled vs. people that are quietly using MC for whatever purpose and never come in unless there's a new version that suddenly poses new challenges.

If everything goes to HD 1080p or higher that chews up enormous disk space and until the format issues are settled I am not investing in video at all.  Why waste money on DVD's when everything is being converted to HD and why waste any money on HD that isn't 1080p?  So much of the stuff being offered as HD isn't 1080p.

I believe that time is now. Blu-Ray won. The TV providers, except the crappy ones (cue TimeWarnerCable) are bringing HD channels in tens to hundreads. Unless you want to play catch-up well into the next physical format (if there will be one), after Blu-Ray. There are ~1500 Blu-Rays released in US, with numbers in the hundreds for other regions. If you like 1 in 20, that's still 75 movies. And HDDs are dirt cheap, 10TB an array is not out of reach. BTW this is not statistic, just an opinion.

Wrapping it up on a funny note, the name of the program says "MC". If the audio users are catered to (for how many years in a row?) as top priority, I suggests JRiver should drop or change one of the initials

[MrHaugen]

I think video is almost as important today as music is. The reason many uses this application for Music only is because it's very very good at it. Video is just beginning to catch up a bit. If even more focus is put into video and Theater View I think more users would use it for video as well, and it would draw more new customers.

A lot of people have large music collection, many have much video collections, and some have large picture collections. Functionality is most important but looks is important as well.

[mata7]

this time i will upgrade only if blue ray is supported, but i don't think MC 14 will support it i hope im wrong

[Daydream]

this time i will upgrade only if blue ray is supported, but i don't think MC 14 will support it i hope im wrong

Of all the things JRiver could do, this is not one that I'm waiting on them to solve. Unless there is a free player that can parse the Blu-Ray navigational structure (between other things, we're not even talking about decrypting) the point is moot. My best hopes so far are with SlyPlayer that is rumored to be put together by SlySoft (makers of AnyDVD(HD)) and be free. If that comes around we can re-evaluate options.

Until then learn to rip. Take the movie out (video), the audio (and transcode to FLAC 5.1 or higher; everything remains lossless), the subtitles, pack everything in an mkv container, save to a multi-terrabyte array. Simple!

[mata7]

well i can skip the learn part cause i have more than 50 BD on my stream server already , but that don't make any different to me, if blue ray is no supported i don't see why i should upgrade, probably mc13 will do the same as mc14, again it just my opinion

[Daydream]

Honestly I don't quite see what "playing" would add to the experience compared to the method both of us are familiar with. You'll need (free) DirectShow Filters to decode the sound and send it out as PCM because except for 2 soundcards that seem to never take off, there is no product that does Dolby TrueHD or DTS-MA bitstreaming out of a computer. Plus - just me again - skipping trailers and 15 warnings (if the content have been decrypted otherwise you can't), navigating through menus that most of the time are crap or seem to come from somebody that was suffering from vertigo, there's not much in there that appeals to me to play the disc. Play the movie with one click, immediately, well, that is something else. And can be done now.

I could see that it would be appealing to people that will rip the entire disc just as they currently do with DVD, but I never understood them.

[morrison]

two simple questions about upcoming release..

any shance for user rights manager?
and synchronize with play stats and ratings for "folder" handled device?

and small (?) please - more examples/presets for schemes, smartlists and other fine customizible features from Masters in MC "from box"..?

[Tolga]

JimH,

The most important missing link for MC to become a file manager is its weak file explorer capabilities.
The bottom line is that MC should be an explorer replacement first, i.e. open multiple folders, move files within folders etc.
Split view + My computer are functionalities towards that direction but still not sufficient. I think I literally want to see explorer
like windows controlled by MC that I can move folders around. Or maybe even an explorer extension?

 

First, yes.  But MC's capabilities may be extended.

MC is a media manager, but why not a file manager or an information manager?

[JimH]

I split johnas' posts on Not much has changed since 11 to a new thread.

[thomaspf]

First, yes.  But MC's capabilities may be extended.

MC is a media manager, but why not a file manager or an information manager?

But why would you do that? You are top of the line for audio playback. I would stick with that and see that I integrate with the new wave of hires stores. Linn records, HDtracks, Gimmel records, etc. Right now the download and tagging is painful. If I could browse and buy in a simple integrated way that would be great. It probably requires a download manager, some conventions about tagging, etc.

• Maybe making the home library available to mobile devices outside the home for syncing and streaming. Make that work across firewalls
• Home controller and multiroom integration is still pretty painful.

For the high end audio crowd native support of a convolver that supports seamless switching of the sample rate and integrates well with the playback control (Pause, Stop, etc.). If you want to drive adoption of that feature provide a simple way for generating a correction impulse but allow for the use of impulses of higher end solution from Acourate etc.

Cheers

    Thomas

[principal_X]

I am not sure if there is even a dedicated channel right now for feature requests.  I figured this post was as good as any.  I use MC mainly as my Home TheaterPC via remote.  Love jRMC

My top 3:

1) Theater View facelift
2) Better TV / Guide recording support
3) Video Profile view (movie info - narrative, cast, etc)
4) Blu-ray support

[JimH]

1) Theater View facelift

Please start a new thread and provide your drawing.

[cncb]

I think v14 needs a true client/server approach especially for TV recording and playback.  I need to be able to have all my tuners centrally located on the server with all the recording done there and be able to connect through another PC (via MC) and add, modify, and delete recordings on the server from the other PC.  Currently, I add pictures from a different PC so the server has the library open read-only and I would not even be able to record TV on the server with MC if I wanted to.

I would also like Blu-ray playback to be supported.

Built-in internet radio streaming (Pandora, Slacker) as well as video streaming (Netflix, Hulu) would be great.

[tombert]

Please do not implement feature after feature! MC will get bigger and bigger and more unstable ... (I agree to a true client/server architecture).

Personally I've got the feeling that MC is implementing features blindly which are not used by most users. MC should concentrate on the easy little stuff which makes life easier and would help 90% of the users instead of implementing features for only 10% of the people.

As well I'am missing a road map ... no idea if MC14 will offer features I would use ...
Have you collected all the feature requests for MC13 and made a priority list? Or did all the users post for nothing?
I would like to see e.g. 100 features and every user shall be able to give 10 votes.
 
I'am not willing to post all my wishes here again to this V14 forum - that way it seems to make no sense for me at all ...

greets