Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Nat64]

Hi,

I am not sure where exactly to post this so I am trying on here. Appologies  in advance if this is not the right place . Please go gently with me as I am new to all this and a lot of the terminology on here may as well be chinesse ( which I cant speak/understand ).I have gone through the FAQ section, but its far more detailed/technical than I can understand although it seems to fit the requirement.
 I have a lot of music on my PC as well as on itunes. I also have a lot of CD's. I want to amalgamate all my music in 1 place ( have a stand alone hard drive ) . I have many CD's I want to " digitize " ( as in copy to my pc ) and I want to be able to stream all of this music to my HiFi . I have a cambridge Audio stream magic 6, and have managed to stream some of my music via WiFi, and the setting it uses is Upnp. ( I am a total novice it took me quite a while to get this far ). So far so good. I have also been told that a Boxee box from D-Link will aid the streaming of films to my Tv and that it is better than apple tv as its an open system.
So , is J River media centre the system for me and will all this work easily ? Will it take all my music from all the separate folders/files/itunes and place them in 1 place ? Will I need a degree in rocket science to be able to use it and will I still be able to load music to my iphone 5.? Thats what I am loking for. I now its a rather long question, but I'd rather know than make a mistake that I regret.
 Thank you all for taking the time to reply and advise a novice,

Regards,
Nat.

[JimH]

Your question is a little broad, but yes, MC will probably do what you need.  The best way to learn is to use it.  Just post specific questions when you get stuck.

"Getting Started" on our wiki may help.

[Arindelle]

Hi Nat (assuming you are installing jriver on a PC (posted in PC forum))

I will have to reply in detail for you to understand ... do not have the time right now but ...

Yes you can do what you want with jriver -- with a recommendation ... keep your iphone music in a separate path and continue to use the horrible itunes JUST for the music you want to sync.

JRiver is especially good for high quality rendering of music and vids (among other things   ) ... so you will want your music in a lossless format (FLAC recommended).

Avoid WIFI between your main media storage (where you are going to "amalgamate" all your media -- except your iphone5 stuff maybe). Streaming large files over wifi is going to give you headaches, btw, avoid it if you can.

Yes you can use "most" functions in JRiver with  -- but as UPNP/DLNA is not a strict standard there is a possibility you could have some issues (there is a trial period) . Advanced audiophile controls and DSPs will not be available for example.

You might CAN (just looked on their website) be able to circumvent your Cambridge setup and use only the DAC part of it for full functionality (you would no longer need /DLNA ... (I mention this because my friend is using a Cambridge CD player which permits a digital Input and an Output. He never uses his CD player anymore and instead of throwing away his 900 euro CD at least he still has a DAC)

I would not buy any other stuff for the moment -- if you can connect your computer, with a jriver install on it, to your DAC/Cambridge setup and your Cambridge can be connected to your TV and your stereo, all you'd need are two cables.

If no one else chirps in, I'll check this thread tomorrow when I'll have more time ...

regards and Welcome

EDIT : posted as the same time as Jim -- of course he's right of course, the wiki will get you started

[Nat64]

Hi,

Thank you so much for taking the time to reply. I know I am taking up your valuable time.

I got the Cambridge audio because of its flexibility............It can
In addition to pure internet content you can access your own locally stored
music from USB flash-disks or hard-drives and network connected DNLA/
UPnP servers.
The major compressed audio formats are supported (MP3, AAC, WMA and
Vorbis) plus losslessly compressed FLAC and uncompressed PCM/WAV up to
'better-than-CD' 24 bit content at 24-bit/48kHz or 24-bit/96kHz which can be
obtained from suitable download sites. Podcasts are also supported.
High quality components are used throughout including dual differential
WM8740 24-bit/384kHz digital to analogue converters (DACs) from renowned
manufacturer Wolfson.
A proprietary audio buffering, up-sampling and re-clocking scheme to 24
bits and 384kHz developed in conjunction with Anagram Technologies of
Switzerland eliminates jitter and provides unprecedented sound quality.


I have to say that so far what it has played has been very good quality. It seems to do everything.
I appreciate the advice with regards to i tunes and will keep that just for my phone.
I will download J river and give it a go.
If I find its not for me, what happens to the spplication and all the music files that It has collated ?
Presumably all those files it collated are still in their original locations and wont be lost if i delete J river ?
I hear your comments with regards to " streaming " the music over WiFi, but that was the whole reason of getting the Stream Magic.
I may end up having to bow to your better knowledge.
Thank you again,
Regards,
Nat.

[Nat64]

Hi,

I forgot to mention , the Cambridge is purely for music streaming. It will not work with the TV, hence my asking whether a Boxee box would be the best thing to use for that and that it would work with J river.

Thanks,
Rgards,
Nat.

[Arindelle]

Hi again Nat,

Don't misunderstand me, I think Cambridge makes some excellent stuff, especially for the price! Boxxee just got bought by Samsung, btw -- interesting if you own a Samsung TV maybe. dunno http://www.boxee.tv/. Just so you are aware, JRiver can eliminate almost all external devices (cd, dvd, sacd, etc even a preamp) if your set up permits. As a bonus your video sound could be treated directly by your Cambridge (they do offer the possibility - lots of inputs on the unit you bought)

If I find its not for me, what happens to the spplication and all the music files that It has collated ?

one thing to do that is important if you are ripping your cd collection (either through jriver or another "bit-perfect" external ripper like dbPoweramp or EAC)

1) Stop ripping through iTunes (import later if you want to sync some of the tracks maybe - but put those in another directory)
2) rip consistently to a similar, generic, folder structure - like AlbumArtist/Album/tracks and put artwork in the album folder as folder.jpg (use something like various artists for compilations
3) rip to a lossless format only -- convert a copy to Mp3 if you want -- but backup those lossless files

Presumably all those files it collated are still in their original locations and wont be lost if i delete J river ?

It doesn't "collate" the physical files, you do (you configure where the rips are going to be with what directory structure of course)... it organizes them based on metadata (tags), it does not rename or move, copy or otherwise manipulate your files (unless you specifically ask it to)

The files themselves can be used in any program, they stay where you put them (and no itunes manipulations!!)and whether you stick with jriver or not you will not have wasted your time. The program creates a database "library" -- if you configure the fields to write to the file itself (in options^^) any tagging done after the rip will reside on the disk so you can import it into other players (at least the principal tags, important ones). So once again you have not wasted your time.

I would however, try downloading the trial with an understanding .... this is some great software. It does have a learning curve which can be daunting for some, but worth it. One of the reasons it can be complicated is that it tries to do just about everything, for just about every system imaginable -- this is its weakest point for some or one of its strongest points, depending  (& I subscribe to the latter ). It gives unbelievable customization possibilities, hence all the options for the obsessive audio person (like me) to the remote ipad controlled couch potato (also like me)

So just ask a specific question here in a separate post if you get stuck, indicating your set up/connections as precisely as possible.

And no, I don't work for JRiver (@Jim and Matt -- euh I've been unemployed for quite sometime -- so if you you need a rep in Europe ...   )