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[Moosbrugger]

What does JRiver Media Center do?
I'm new to audiophile digital.  I've been streaming iTunes through an Apple TV into my Peachtree for years.  I don't know much about what's going on in the system, just that it was working and I was pretty happy with the sound.  (Totem Hawk speakers.)  I just started reading about media servers, hifi streamers, etc. I dont' really get what all the devices do.  (For example, "media server" seems to refer to both software that I download on my computer or a separate device on which I may or may not load all of my media files.)

then I came across some very positive mentions of JRiver MC.  I've been reading the forum a bit, but I'm still stumped with the basic questions.  What does it do?  So . . .

Audio:  I get the idea that MC will take my iTunes library and make a duplicate in the MC format.  I can use that to stream my music?  Still through my Apple Tv?  (Or what do I need to get the music to my amp?)  Will the music sound better?

Video:  Does MC look for movies/videos I have on my hard drive and help me play them on my computer?  Will it play them to my tv?  Does MC do anything with, say, Netflix streaming to my tv?  

Sorry, I know this is probably silly.  but I'm reminded of when I first taught my dad how to use a home computer back in the mid-90s. I said, "double click on the AOl icon."  He said, "what's double-click?  What's an Icon."  

[JimH]

Welcome.

Not to belittle your question, but....

Have you been here?
http://www.jriver.com/index.html

[kensn]

So I see you are using Apple products and I am not, but let me just fill in a few basic ideas at you.

J River Media Center is a program that will:
 1) Make a database of your music files. This is called the Library. It does not move or copy anything by default, it will just look at your files and create the database. This is called importing. It does not change your files.
 2) Let you view your Library in many ways, Artist, Album, Genre and a myriad of custom views you can build.
 3) Allow to stream files to devices.
 4) Allow devices to see your files and play them.

I am not going to go much further with the abilities because the Mac version is not as far along as the Windows one is. The Mac version is audio only right now.

The advantage of MC is the audio engine used.

Here are a few links to explore...

http://wiki.jriver.com/index.php/Audiophile_Info

http://wiki.jriver.com/index.php/Mac

http://wiki.jriver.com/index.php/Media_Center

I wish I was more familiar with the Mac version..

You should get an idea of the program by looking at the above links and visiting the Mac forum... http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?board=31.0

Ken

[Moosbrugger]

Welcome.

Not to belittle your question, but....

Have you been here?
http://www.jriver.com/index.html

No worries.  I know it's an odd question and I'm being a bit dense.  I did visit that page and read the other links. 
For example, what does the MC do with Netflix that is different from Apple Tv or Roku?  Will it improve the quality of Netflix?
In what ways is MC different from iTunes?  Is it a similar product, but instead of working through Apple Tv, it works with higher quality streamers?

[nitephlight]

it is much more configurable than iTunes in terms of accessibility (how you find, filter and organize your library) and  availability (where and how you play your media).  on Windows at least, MC's built in audio rendering engine and phenomenal video codecs/filters make it the best out the box solution for handling all your A/V needs, but the true audiophile or A/V enthusiast value is in the seemingly endless number of configurations choices to literally bring your vision of a home media network to reality :-)

[Moosbrugger]

thanks.  So, if I try MC for Mac, everything else being the same, should I expect better sound quality than itunes, or just a better interface?  (Which would be a significant benefit, I find that every upgrade in iTunes makes it more cumbersome to view and organize my music.)

[rjm]

I use both MC and iTunes. I have a Windows 8 system, iPad, Airport Express, and Apple TV.

MC is much better in every respect except integration with Apple devices.

Fortunately there are some workarounds. The 2 big ones are:

1) You cannot use airplay from a Windows system. But you can stream from MC on Windows to an IOS device (like an iPad) and then redirect via airplay to an Apple TV or Airport Express. This works for most audio but only for IOS compatible (mp4) video.

2) You cannot sync media directly to an IOS deivce. But MC can add media to iTunes and then you can sync with iTunes.

<edit>
I see you are running a Mac. I have no experience with the the Mac version of MC.

[Bccc1]

I wouldn't expect better audioquality, just because i doubt one could hear the difference.
What I love about JRiver is
a) the DSP Studio: I made some measurements with a quite cheap microphone and the freeware RoomEQ Wizard and created a correction filter in JRiver DSPStudio to get a flat frequency response. I also matched the distances of the speakers (my Rear speakers are further afar than the front), made JRiver do the Crossover, Up-and Downsampling and Up- and Downmixing. JRiver does anything a AVR would do, but better and more customizable.
b) the customizable views: you can use the pretty good predefined views or create your own. For Example I introduced some new tags and changed the views, so that Ludwig van Beethoven is now shown as "Ludwig van Beethoven", but sorted by "Beethoven, Ludwig van"
c) the interface in general. Though I don't like the tagging in comparison to foobar2k I think JRiver has the best overall user experience on the market.