More > JRiver Media Center 19 for Windows
NEW: Improved memory playback
rayooo:
--- Quote from: kstuart on August 30, 2013, 01:31:39 pm ---Did you mean MC19 in that sentence ?
--- End quote ---
Ah, yes, meant MC19. my mistake, thanks!
bulldogger:
--- Quote from: InflatableMouse on August 30, 2013, 07:21:30 am ---IF that's what one were to believe, he would probably hear it ;).
--- End quote ---
And if one is certain that there are no difference, that is what one will hear as well, what one expects.
kstuart:
It would seem that since this feature is designed for people who perceive a difference, then further enhancements for those people would be (in order from most desirable):
* - Option for user to specify the amount of RAM available to be used (default to be the current default)
* - Option to have MC19 pause playback at the beginning of the track until the initial decoding is complete (default to be the current default, i.e. no pause)
The latter option would be especially helpful for those who want to do comparison testing.
rayooo:
--- Quote from: kstuart on August 31, 2013, 07:04:01 pm ---It would seem that since this feature is designed for people who perceive a difference, then further enhancements for those people would be (in order from most desirable):
* - Option for user to specify the amount of RAM available to be used (default to be the current default)
* - Option to have MC19 pause playback at the beginning of the track until the initial decoding is complete (default to be the current default, i.e. no pause)
The latter option would be especially helpful for those who want to do comparison testing.
--- End quote ---
+1 Agreed!
6233638:
--- Quote from: kstuart on August 31, 2013, 07:04:01 pm ---* - Option for user to specify the amount of RAM available to be used (default to be the current default)
--- End quote ---
Yes, I would really like to reduce the decoded audio cache from ~1GB back to ~40MB like MC18 used to avoid having unacceptably high CPU usage at the start of each track.
I'm sure some people would like to reduce it from 1GB to maybe a few hundred MB, and others would want to push it to 2GB or whatever the limit is as a 32-bit application. (I think 4GB if it's on a 64-bit OS?)
There also needs to be an option to cache the file instead of decoded audio so that disk I/O cannot affect playback, as it can now when decoded audio exceeds 1GB. This is a serious regression.
Personally, the biggest change I would have liked to see from MC18>MC19 as far as memory playback is concerned, would be the option of caching the current and next tracks in RAM, instead of only the currently playing track, to eliminate disk I/O from impacting playback at all.
--- Quote from: kstuart on August 31, 2013, 07:04:01 pm ---* - Option to have MC19 pause playback at the beginning of the track until the initial decoding is complete (default to be the current default, i.e. no pause)
--- End quote ---
This leads to a horrible user experience with potentially 5-20 seconds gaps between each track.
With Media Center being a 32-bit application, it's limited in the amount of RAM it can use, so adding the option to decode the entire playlist before playback (or as much as can fit inside the allocated memory) could potentially have a long wait - and then what do you do if you only have room to cache say 6/30 tracks at a time? Do you play six tracks and pause, or do you start decoding a new track each time one finishes? (which means that you have CPU usage during playback again...)
As far as I can tell, JRiver's position on "bit-perfect" playback has not changed, and bloating the amount of RAM MC19 uses was done for no reason other than placating audiophiles that think they can hear a change.
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