Print

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

[lepa]

This isn't exactly the same question, Jim, but I thought it was worth answering.

Why do I pay for Media Center, when there are free alternatives available?

Well, I think MC is best at many functions.  But, even if you ignore all of that, the biggest reason I don't mind paying for MC?  Because now ten years have got behind me, and you're still here, still making it better every day.  The incremental improvements MC has made over the years have been nothing short of astounding.

But, to me, one of the biggest "features" of MC is actually the fact that you:
* Charge a fair price
* Are still around, and MC hasn't suddenly become something else, or disappeared.

Of the applications I was considering as alternatives when I settled on MC way back when (before iTunes got purchased by Apple, I'll note) none of them still exist at all anymore.  Seriously.  I can't think of one.  Winamp?  RealJukebox?  MusicMatch Jukebox?  All gone.  Even with more modern stuff, if they still exist in name, they bear essentially zero relation to the original product.  And you know what?  Most of them were free.

I like that I pay you, and you keep making good software, and keep making it better.  You improve MC incrementally, without the (marketing/investment-driven) need to "revolutionize" the interface every few years, or tear up and throw away the business model to embrace this years new fancy trend.  It doesn't get all mucked up with ads and malware and junk.  And the person running the open-source project doesn't decide to re-write the whole thing in node.js and then get distracted half-way through because "ooh something shiny over here".

We get cool toys, but more importantly, I've had a stable platform for what?  13 years? 14?  I don't even remember anymore.

Your sustainable business model where you do the "crazy" thing and build a nice product and charge a fair price for it is a beneficial to me as a user.  The price is a feature, not a bug.

What glynor said.

[pahunt]

Why did I buy Media Center in the first place? Because I was looking for something that had a better library management system than iTunes that would also sync to my iPod. Media Center v11 did both of those things for me and so I was a happy bunny

Why am I still here 9 versions later? Two reasons I guess. Firstly because it's an amazing piece of software that does all I need and a lot more. Secondly because I have absolute faith in the JRiver team to develop useful new features and to keep up to date with all the latest technologies before I even know I want them.

Finally I cannot stress how important the openness and speed of the development process is to me. I always pony up my money as soon as a new version is available, not because it necessarily has some new feature that I want but because I simply want to show my support to JRiver.

[BartMan01]

when there are so many free options.

To echo Glynor's comments here:  Free = here today, gone tomorrow.  Development continues (usually) until the developer gets bored, gets tired of dealing with people on the internet about the free software, or gets a 'real' job/has a family and no longer has that elusive thing known as 'free time' to spend on their pet project.

I would much rather pay a reasonable amount for a product in active development by a company dedicated to doing so, than hop from one free solution to another every few years.

In case someones thinks otherwise, iTunes for OSX/Windows is not really a 'free' product for comparisons sake.  It is subsidized by computer/device sales and has been radically changed every few years as apple sees fit to meet the needs of the iPhone/iPad/iPod/etc.

[Manfred]

Why I choose JRiver:

- Wanted to move from a multiple device audio gear environment to a software defined AV architecture for growing with software updates (Decision why I choose JRiver with Devialet - 30 W more power only by a software upgrade)
- JRemote (It's brilliant!)
- Integration of digital assets in audio library and JRemote (Digital booklets) - I believed in it that the feature was coming soon or later
- One audio engine for all type of AV (TV, Video, Audio, with WDM I can also listen to HIGHRES files (e.g. HIGHRESAUDIO) through the same audio engine before I buy them)
- Network capabilities
- Theatre View (All my friends like the feature showing pictures from the artist during playback  )
- Sound Quality 
- Management of all my digital assets (I have ripped > 1000 CD's , totally I have currently around 50 000 files including photos stored on my NAS)
- With the autoimport feature its easy to import HIGHRES buys in my library
- No separate ripping tool required
- Zone's (one can configure a zone for concerts with DSP effects and a second zone for music without DSP effects, also on different outputs like RCA/SPDIF or Ethernet/AIR)
- Red October HQ (PQ is really stunning on my 4k OLED screen)
- DSP effects
- A/V sync - if audio and video are not in sync it is very easy for me to correct it
- In memory playback
- Room Correction
- DSD playback
- Display Seetings allows me to define how e.g. 1024p@24 Hz has to change refreshrate

Best Regards
Manfred

[Ninouchka]

A long time ago I used MediaBrowser to watch my recorded episodes of Charmed.
And searched for a program that supported ASIO with a descent database/library for playing my music
on my Pro Audio DAC. Used Foobar2000 for this.
Used XBMC for the nice looks.
Then a fairy came along with a lot of money, and I spend it all on a home movie theater and video/photo gear.
I searched and searched for a software who could do everything I needed and stay in ASIO.
That would be easy as the most software I used was like Steinberg and ProTools,
finally I found JRiver Media Center which did almost all I wanted, tried it first, was a little bit intimated, difficult, and
searched further. After finding Interact and the good help of users, I bought a license and never looked back.
Now I use JRiver for 90 percent of my daily computer time. The other 10 percent is for ProTools, Photoshop and Office.

[locust]

I chose J River by accident, previously just used windows explorer to browse and winamp to play.

I was wary at first as I'd never heard of the program, and that no other program I had ever tried before seemed useable to me, so it seemed too good to be true but I gave it a shot.

I installed the trial but didn't use it too much. I'll admit I bypassed the trial limitations a few times before my first purchase mostly due to the daunting task of manually tagging my music, I never actually explored even a fraction of what MC could do, so initially it seemed like any other program to me. Then I started reading the wiki & forums put in my first feature request (html color hex codes in thumbnail text), it got implemented basically straight away. I then had to purchase and have been doing ever since.

The forum is chalk full of intelligent enthusiasts who willing to help and explain and even add to your ideas for a feature request.

For me namely MrC, he has given bucket loads of his time helping me out with weird and wonderful variations of expressions that probably only I'd use. Considering his depth of knowledge, his time must be worth a lot and that was given freely (Haven't seen him active on the forum for a long time, hope he's doing ok.)

The greatest aspect of this community is the respect between us consumers and from the devs towards us consumers (despite a few bad eggs (on the consumer side, never the dev side), I've had a fair handful of my ideas implemented, I'm educated in IT but I'm by no means a programmer. Many of my ideas may have been unworkable but I've never felt belittled for requesting something that obviously is not possible.

Sometimes I see people getting worked up on the forum feeling they haven't been heard or are misunderstood but that's the nature of communication, it will always be miscommunicated or misunderstood at times and that's no ones fault. Sometimes a post will get lost without reply, many of mines had but all you can do it try again later and hopefully spark someones interest.

Some people need to remember that the community gives it's time freely to help so one can't expect instantaneous responses or even a response at all. I feel lucky if a dev responds to any of my questions/threads because they have a lot of forum reading, planning and developing to do.

But don't get me wrong I do have many issues with the program, things I'd change and features I really want, I'll bump those threads or re-explain when I feel the time is right, I might be agreed with later on, who knows?

Some people get annoyed that their opinions aren't taken on board, they feel dismissed that that the devs are wrong for disagreeing with them. These users need to think of mc at a hotel room, you'd never pay for a night for a room and demand fundamental changes just because you paid for the room. It's their room, your only renting it and if it's not your style, you don't need to rent, simples.

[eddyshere]

• Because it's the player which has endless configuration possibilities ! (views - library - queries - functions and on and on and on)
• It holds audio features that you cannot believe are included (such as DSP - asio - VST)
• It has wide automation capabilities for using with integrated remote controllers as RTI or Crestron (MCWS - user key (resources.xml))
• It is a solid server - client platform.
• It can be controlled by pretty much everything.
• It has a brilliant implementation of HD Audio formats

And still Jim,  it would be interesting to know FOR WHAT use (Regular Audio, HD Audio, DVD or BD playback, streaming - TV/youtube etc...) new clients choose JRiver....or what features regular users use most. This could hint the company on what features to further build on.

[adiebear]

I bought it on a friend's recommendation. Hate iTunes, love FLAC and desperately needed a library management system for over 100 000 music files.
Thought JRiver was the answer to all that iTunes and Foobar couldn't provide.
It is, though I still battle with some of the tech. But all the good things that have already been mentioned.  

[Fitzcaraldo215]

I am in agreement with everyone.  The real keys for me were:

- comprehensiveness as to formats, features, customization, etc. for audio, video, streaming, TV, etc.
- database/tagging support with customization able to support very large libraries
- madVR
- JRemote
- the most widely recommended by credible reviewers
- very large user base
- documentation (it ain't perfect, but I have not seen better)
- support
- business model with paid subscriptions at reasonable prices to keep it growing and evolving
- professional approach to software development, bugs, new releases, etc.

Since selecting it, I have been surprised that it did even way more than I thought.  It has enabled me to get rid of my HT prepro, universal player and TV cable box together costing many $thousands, coupled with additional tools that generally integrated easily.  These include Dirac Live, ExaSound e28, HD Homerun Prime.  It is the cornerstone of my HTPC setup for well into the future. At the same time, my sound and video have never been better, and I expect that they rival what I could obtain on the best, state of the art prepros available at a fraction of the cost.

True, I have lost a few nice to have features in the process, like direct SACD disc playback(I rip them instead), Comcast On Demand, etc. And, use is a bit flakier and somewhat less stable owing to the PC, software and networked platform.  But, the playback quality of the result easily makes the tradeoffs worthwhile.  I also believe that I will be better insulated from technical obsolescence as home entertainment media continue to evolve and improve.

[andyKT]

I just found this topic.
There are many SW's to offer great functions, but the reason I paid for MC is that I found MC listens (or company listen) user's voice while developping  the product. That is a big thing for my satisfaction.   

[astromo]

I chose JRiver in 2009 based on favorable reviews and posts on computeraudiophile.com. I had just purchased a USB DAC and wanted digital bitperfect playback. I got that and so much more from my purchase of this program.

In addition to the stellar feature set, the best part of JRiver for me has been Interact. It is one of my default locations online for computer information, it has the best Knowledge to B###S@@@ ratio of any forum anywhere, and a community of very generous and interesting contributors.

I followed a similar track to the Doc at about the same time. Started with a plan to digitise my music with the critical OS constraint of working with a Windows platform and ended up at the CA forum. Rather than evaluate extensively, I applied some blind faith in a group who gave the impression that 2nd best was not an option. So, went straight to JRiver. Blossomed from there.

In addition to the forum, which has the invaluable feature of direct access to the developers. Pretty cool to have the ear of the CEO or CTO and you see them actively engage with suggestions for improvement to their baby. It's a business strategy that deserves a management school case study.

The other critical feature that got me solidly in the JRiver fold or "on the bus" to paraphrase Gizmo, was the TV functionality. Didn't know this was an option when I paid my first subs but when I found out, I ditched the Windows M$ product straight away. Critically, this came with a high WAF. My significant other had a similar aversion to MCE as myself. We had a period in the wilderness when I had hardware issues. This got sorted and we got back to TV via JRiver. My +1 was applauding that day as much as me. So, MC has been used daily ever since and when I get some time alone, I can actually enjoy my music (the original reason for starting this journey) .. 

[Inquisition]

Hmm,

i wanted a simple multimedia pc, with control over tablet or smartphone.

I didn't need much.  I wanted to choose between genre, playlist and folders by music and film or series by video. This can be done by others too, but gapless is very important for me, a thing which didn't work an many others.

My music is only flac, stereo from 44,1/16 till 192/24, also by multichannel and all runs perfect.

Connected over hdmi to my surround amplifier. I don't use any dsp or something other.  I just send the data to my amplifier as they are.

JRiver satisfied me most.

[v_erich]

Hi,
I used it long time for listening to music, then with using the internal convolver (full active system), but now I use it for my homecinema mainly because foobar sounds a little better at the moment in my system.

In my cinema the combination of Theater View, Remote controllable, convolving and madvr are the keys.
So I want to fully use a pc instead of an media player and surround receiver with better quality then both before (even when they are high quality devices).

BR
Erich

[thane108]

JRiver just has a much more complete feature set than the free competitors.  It's great to use one program for ripping, over-the-air recording, photos, and hi-def music.

I moved over from mediaportal, which is a good, free program that does a lot of what JRiver does, but isn't nearly as polished and is more difficult to install.

And the forum is very active and helpful.

[mlefebvre]

I've been a MediaJukebox and MediaCenter user for probably 15 years. My first purchase was for MediaJukebox 7.2. 

I chose MJ and MC for the great features.

But I chose JRiver because of the qualifications, openness and interest of its staff. I remember being in Minneapolis for business several years ago. I asked Jim if he would mind me visiting them. He not only accepted but had all the staff meet with me so they could ask me questions about how I used MC and what I thought should be added to it. And all of this over a nice cold beer. 

I chose JRiver because they simply are really good people.

Michel.     

[KingSparta]

many players at the time could not handle large Libraries like I Had\have with over 200,000 files, Heck most of them would choke on 1,000 files.

Music match went Utters up.

Never liked Win Amp

I have been here for a very long time, and plan on staying.

Signed A Devoted Member.

[hulkss]

High quality audio and video with DSP convolution that works great with multi-channel systems using speaker & room correction software.

[kamimeguro]

I first looked for best audio compression tool > found APE and learned about Matt & JRiver
Then I looked for audio only library management > ended to MC 9 after a few test
Audio went up the audiophile way
MC then triggered my interest to Video > ended up to buy new TV, MCH amps and media player (Oppo)...
I am now into multi-channel and convolution through MC20 and a 15 Tb storage unit
Thanks to JRiver my ears and eyes (and friend's) are pleased with what they received and I am not looking to switch to any other software.
It is part of my everyday life, at home, on the road or office, wife use it, friends are jealous (!), I'm addicted (spend too much time on it...)

That being said, the all-in-one MC20 is far from what MC9 was years ago. Why would I follow the same route?
APE? no more (sorry Matt), Jim being rude sometimes? no ,
Recommendation on audiophile websites/magazines? yes, Community/friends recommendation? yes, library management? may be (did not review or test others since years)
Substitute to iTune? YES!
Keep it a high-end/audiophile part of the sound chain. I am ready to pay more (I did it more than 10 times already) for MC to stay alive and keep up with  new format, new hardware, new fashion.
My 2 cents.

[jkrzok]

It's been a while but i seem to remember coming over for the lossless support; it just worked, without any drama or plugins.

I stayed for the media library. When I first started with JRiver I used Quintessential Media Player which had a minimal library. That got me thinking that just using explorer was limiting but found qmp frustrating. JRiver did it better.

Then I started a little journey of discovery. I would wonder how to do something with either audio or video. I would look for a program but then learned to ask if JRiver could do it. I frequently found that JRiver not only did these things (tagging, video, etc) but most frequently did them better.

I think I have a handle on all JRiver can do. I stay with JRiver not just because of all it can do now but for all it still promises to do. I trust JRiver will be all over any future changes in media playback. I'm staying on this journey with JRiver because I have trust in and respect for the company. They not only produce the best media software around but they treat their customers with the kind of respect I find altogether lacking from most software companies today. JRiver offers fair licensing terms as an example. I hang out at the forums enough to get a good sense of the people behind the company. While I can't say that "I know somebody that works there" I do know that if I have a question or concern raising the issue in the forums will result in somebody in charge or with the ability to help seeing the issue; a resolution is soon to follow.

So I came for ape and flac. I stay for the people and the company. 

[akira54]

Originally for one reason only: the fact that it was very similar to XBMC (now Kodo), i.e. it had a theaterview interface to play audio, video and images, but unlike that program played video without any hick ups.

[ThomasB]

When I started to built up my digital music library almost 20 years ago I was looking for a "one size fits all" solution. After some tests I very soon ended up with the Jukebox Version 6 if my memory serves me right. I think this was 1996. Since that time I looked from time to time to other programs but I didn't find any alternative. So actually that's the reason why I am still using this program now in Version 20.
From my point of view JRiver manages to be always one step ahead of the competition. I do hope that this will continue. I would really hate to change after that long period of time.
Sometimes it was hard to find always the right hardware to get the maximum sound quality. Especially in the beginning when the D/A conversion was done in the PC.
My primary focus is still on music. Everything works fine now after initial streaming problems with my Marantz net-receiver. But Video played from the MC server via Gizmo onto Chromecast TV is not bad either and works far better than direct streaming on my Panasonic TV which does not accept every format directly.
So please continue with the MediaCenter. I love it.
Greetings from Austria, Thomas

[tarrapin]

I got it as MJ, for free, and always loved, it. so always loved what I was paying for when they got bigger and better. It plays, and works even between computers, bla bla bla

[spyd]

hello, i'm a french user, i've tried many multimedia solutions.
I own something like 4k CDs, 3k dvd and BR.
All music ripped  in flac format on a NAS, all movies on physical optical discs (because bought ones) with "fake" files on an external HD to catalog in JRiver

I've been using JRiver for something like 10 years.
Why did i choose it ?

1 - easy to use for my family
2 - easy to catalog movies music, anything else of any kind
3 - hd music, dsd, dac driving.
4 - strong and fast
5 - no need to restart from the beginning, re-install ,use new template or search for a cabalistic add-on at each windows-/software update.
6 - usefull and easy to play remotes
7 - network storage
8 - easy to create "fake" files to catalog BR, Dvd, ebooks, CD etc.
9 - a full mutimedia player that works on a simple workbook.


At the beginning  i bought JRiver to use with my PC...
 last month i bought a PC to have JRiver in my theater dedicated room!

[jarbe]

The need for a multi channel convolution engine made me choose JRiver. (Audiolense User Forum pointed me to JRiver)
The big focus on development and continuous improvement impressed me. Especially that there seems to be a good (and short) channel for users to influence the development.
Audio quality and user friendliness is of utter importance, so I stick with JRiver

[Leporello]

I'm still fiddling with various streaming appliances: Squeezebox, Apple TV, Raspberry Pi, Oppo BRD player when it's not playing disks.  I have yet to find any HTPC configuration that plays nice with my audio/video system, though I'm realizing now dumping Windows 8 may help.  If anything is capable of taming it, JRiver is.  I bought JRiver mostly for its ripping and tagging capabilities.  It is by far the best software for that purpose, free or otherwise.  It would be worth the money to me for that alone.  I find tagging tedious, and classical music tags that come with downloaded files or on databases like Music Brainz to be an inconsistent mess. If it weren't for JRiver I probably wouldn't bother with them.  It is also more than respectable DVR software that plays nicely with my Silicon Dust tuner, no need to think about trying anything else.

Now that JRiver is available for Linux, I may install Ubuntu on the HTPC and give it another chance.

[blgentry]

A lot's been said already, but I think I have something to add that's relevant:

I evaluated 6 or 7 different media players for Mac OSX trying to find one that worked how I wanted it to.  I initially didn't look at MC at ALL, because it was listed on head-fi forums as "JRiver is currently developing a version for OSX. ".  That told me that it wasn't available.  But it is!!  If someone could get that changed, I'd bet there are a good number of people like me that would try it instead of not even bothering.  Here's the thread I'm talking about.

I'm SO glad I decided to try it!  The big things for me are:

0.  FLAC playback.
1.  Beautiful album art display to make visual browsing easy and pleasing.
2.  Queue based play (now playing) that's flexible, easy, and full featured.  There are a number of queue based players for OS X, but they all have odd limitations or "gotchas".  JRiver has this down really well.  The presets are just one example of why the queue is so mature in JRiver.
3.  Finding and adding album art is easy and works very well.  This totally kills any other program I have personally tried on the Mac for maintaining album art.  In fact, as I was demoing at least one other player, I kept coming back to JRiver to add album art!
4.  POWER.  This software is incredibly feature filled and powerful.  From day one, I could see I was only scratching the surface.  Custom views.  The expression language.  Multiple DSP options.  Etc, etc.

It really hit home for me how much I was into MC when the 30 day trial expired.  After it was over I realized I hadn't used another player in weeks, and I didn't want to.  I keep wanting to show it off to friends, which is a sure sign that I'm a convert. 

Brian.

[Zhillsguy]

What initially got me in about three years ago was the dsp functions, mainly high pass filters needed for my portable subwoofers. I needed something to enhance the very limited hardware hp filters in the pro crossover I was using (only second order).

Then I was hooked with everything else MC does, now I can't live without it. One of a very short list of software packages ever purchased in my pc lifetime (~21 years), worth every penny and then some.

[Karl78]

In short, is the best and most comprehensive media center I've ever tried (i tried powerdvd, total media theatre, meedios, xbmc/kodi, media portal, plex, etc.) and that's what I was looking for. High quality audio and video (madvr) together, with a great library and a beautiful interface. Flexible and suitable for newbies and for those who expect more (convolution, parametric equalizer, room correction and more and more). Great support and developers who listen to users. I wonder why it's not more popular than it is.

[wilfredjg]

A great program and does what I need it to do. Plays my music and DVDs.

[scm]

1. Handles multiple monitors well (when I push CTRL+6 to detach display, it remembers that i want it full screen on my TV in a separate window.  Lovely!

2. The community responds very quickly to posts when I have a problem.  If this was not the case, I would have moved to something else long ago.

3. Fantastic library tools to manage renaming, moving, find and replace, fill properties from tags, etc.  Awesome!

4. Remote control and ability to program it (I use this to rate songs on the fly and also to engage custom Preview Modes (i.e. start 30 seconds in, play for 2.5 minutes).  Although the fact that you have to program this in base 2 confused me since I'm not familiar and I had to rely on the community to help me.

5. Customized library views so I am a power user for my database of media.

6. Smartlists.

7. Syncing smartlists to my phone with ease.

[gottwavo]

Because it's simply the best!

I don't know when I started using MC, your sales department may know better. Before MC I had iTunes for half a year and did not like it.
There is no single feature that is the one and only reason. It's the combination of all of them.
Most probably the one outstanding feature, the unique selling point is MC's service. They always listen ...

Volker Gottwald
www.d800fotos.de

[Chico]

I used another media player when I first started with MP3s.  The player was on its way out and its forum was chattering about it possibly being bought out by JRiver.  So, I went to check JRiver out and found out what a real Media player was.  Never looked back!

[Sesam]

- Visually appealing, I really liked the purity and Noire skins included with MC. An application I run often, has to look good.

- A good desktop media player, and a decent "theater view" mode. There are competing software with more advanced and better "theater view" features. But no other software combines a decent desktop and full screen mode.

- Lots of advanced options/features

- A friendly helpful community (with free/open source software, there is no obligation for anyone to help you, and often you end up spending time wading through poor documentation).

Basically most things that MC does, can be done with free/open source software. However, no other options really offer everything MC does in one package. Some people such as myself, just want a stable and easy to install solution that works right out of the box. MC is not the best for everything, theater view for example is very basic compared to Kodi. And while you can make foobar to function/look close to MC, it takes a lot of effort to do so.

[gappie]

i started to use JRiver (back in the 11.1 days) because it let me organise my files the way i wanted to, with a good database and without moving them around at its own will, and because of the great sound. the rest was bonus (back then  )

 
gab

[satfrat]

For all JRiver's upgraded bells & whistles that just keep adding up through the years and I'm sure that alone attracts a younger crowd to JRiver, my only JRiver use is audio only, specifically 44.1 only as that's what makes up my 15,000 album library and it's too late in the day to change and take advantage of all that JRiver has to offer. But that in no way diminishes my love of this audio player.

Audio quality, first and foremost which has only gottten better with JRVAD and Fidelizer 6.6. Then there's the ease of downloading, capturing albums & their covers. Then there's the ease of modifying the Media Center's layout to my liking,, that alone rates just below superior audio quality as a reason I converted totally to PC audio & JRiver Media Center as my only audio source.

Other than a lack of skin option for the minplayer that I no longer use for that reason, I have no complaints nor do I have any reason to look any further than JRiver as my only audio player. But I do miss the amped2 miniplayer skin that disappeared after around MC16.......

[bhampster]

I have owned projectors since 1999 and enjoying using them is my hobby.

A few weeks ago I purchased a new computer with aim to create a Media Server. I tried setup with several programs some of which I had used before and some new.

JRiver did everything I wanted, did it better than any of the others, and brought it all together in a way that is unique. I wanted MadVR support because I use the 3DLUT calibration function. I've only used a tiny portion of JRiver's audio options but I have really enjoyed the results.

Comparing JRiver to any other program really doesn't make sense. Yes, there are similar programs but nothing quite like JRiver. It works so solidly.

I wouldn't recommend HTPC to anyone unless or until they spend at least a week with JRiver.

-Brian

[franswilco]

I was looking for a better experience than iTunes was offering. Note: I was a huge iTunes "fan" (for a lack of better word).

- One of the things that bugged me most was the awful remote app on the iPad. It is/was slow to connect and lacking features I wanted. JRemote is a killer iPad app. As app developer myself, I can safely say it's the best app I've ever seen.
- I wanted software that also worked well with my (at the time) new and humongously expensive Android phone.
- I wanted to have better control on sound quality and audio routing to my Marantz receiver: Bit perfect playback. I wanted to get the most out of my audio device. iTunes does not offer the features or the control to do that.
- JRiver offers a number of features iTunes does not. Mostly in the network department such as remotely playing from the library to another device at the office or even on the road.
- JRiver offers superior speed, more and better control for my music library.
- It plays FLAC files.

I haven't found a musical store as good (= easy to use, quality files and large catalog) as the iTunes store. So I still use it to buy music there. I'm still hoping for Apple to offer high res files one day. Looking at what they did at the time with the 128kb/sec DRM to 256kb/sec file transition, they will probably offer an easy upgrade path.

[osuchamp02]

Nothing out there beats its HQ Audio and Video.functionality.

[cupboy]

I couldn't find anything else that runs on a mac.

[dmarkovi]

Main reason I switched to jriver is for the zones. Once I started using it I realized how much faster and smoother it is than Mediabrowser3 (now known as Emby). Interface is simple, cataloging is easy,  and overall jriver is very customizable. I love being able to control my client through the Gizmo app as well. Haven't had a chance to try jremote yet. Having an all in one solution for audio, video and Live TV is great, especially with the end of Windows Media Center.

[abrise]

The main reason is force of habit
When you use a software for 11 years or more it is hard to switch and the JRiver team is smart enough to make small improvement every year. But when adding small to small it has become something that no other software can match.
At the beginning the reason to use jriver was audio quality and tagging. A tip was given in a foobar2000 forum in 2003 or 4.
But now that we have all this streaming and inexpensive services I don't listen anymore to my 1500 cds but then I use the wdm new driver of jriver to use it's DSP together with the Qobuz streaming service.
I don't know any other software with convolution DSP and video image sync.
JRiver has also become my television video recorder . It is so easy to use.

[weirdo12]

Bit perfect playback through WASAPI

Stayed for:

Volume Levelling
Tag Editing
Library Management

I've invested thousands of dollars on my audio setup and I am interested in investing in software that is being actively developed to get the most out of that investment.

[sdmarquart]

I have a HUGE audio library in ALAC and had been running Itunes for years. I was looking for a player that could play FLAC files and after trying winamp and Foobar I quickly latched on to JRiver. Right off the bat I loved the layout options. Then, I bought a DAC (DacMagic 100) and got into high-Res FLAC. I was hooked and bought a license (running on my 2 Windows PCs). I use the WASAPI option running through my AudioEngine A5+ speakers with volume leveling on. LOVE it. It reduces the harshness of the high DR files and brings up the volume on the perfectly mastered files with low DR. For volume, I use the Control Freak by Emotiva. I'm using an Asustor NAS to store all my music and this player works perfectly. And, the KICKER was the JRemote app for my iphone. For years I've tried differnt apps/programs. Simplify Media, Audiogalaxy, Audiotap, Plex, Subsonic, and the list goes on and on. FINALLY, I can stream my whole library (which is 90% lossless) to my phone. I do use the transcoder at 320kbps and it converts all files (including 24bit) flawlessly and to my ears it sounds audiophile in my car. It's far and away my favorite app and I used it throughout the day. Thankfully, Sprint's unlimited data plan lets me do that.
Bottom line, I found this on my own after searching online and after years of trying different programs and apps - this one is head and shoulders above the rest. Thanks to all you folks at JRiver for a job well done. I've recommended this program to many friends (who apparently aren't as crazy about music as I am?!) and will continue to do so. Keep up the good work!!

[SandsOfArrakis]

I've been building up my music collection for nearly 20 years now. And during that time I've used all kinds of media players for Windows. Winamp was the first, Windows Media Player, Mediamonkey and a bunch of others which dropped off the radar many years ago.

Nowadays I'm using both Windows and Linux. Both OSes use different media players. And I was looking for one that would work on both. Tried using a few Windows media players through Wine in Linux. Only Foobar2000 did work nicely. And although I like the way it works. I went looking for something else.

I've stumbled upon JRiver MediaCenter rather by accident. Decided to give it a try in Windows. And after noticing that it also has a Linux version, that made me decide to buy a master license.

Now both my laptops run JRiver. My big laptop runs on the 10074 Preview Build of Windows 10. My small laptop in the living room runs Debian 8.0 Jessie. The Linux one acts as server so I can listen to music through JRemote on my smartphone while doing the dishes, or when I'm cooking in the kitchen

JRiver is the second media software that I've bought a license for. Mediamonkey was the first, I own a Gold license for that one. But since discovering JRiver I haven't used Mediamonkey anymore.

[Lutra]

I originally found JRiver a couple of years back when MC18 was the recommended version.  I was impressed with some of the audio effects then (still am, medium wide stereo effect is nice with movie soundtracks), and was most impressed with Red October HQ video processing which I have not seen in free video players, nor could I make other players "match" JRiver's settings.  The upgrade to MC19 for free (since I had bought a license in July) was a nice touch to not leave me with an "outdated" player so soon after purchasing.  I typically only purchase software if its REALLY good compared to other things I've tried first, so you guys made an impression on me!

I upgraded to MC20 this past year and don't regret it. 

[Blaine78]

Chose JRiver for many reasons -

Great audio quality and audio options, and you guys listen to audiophiles on features we like to see in future versions.
Able to play every video file I throw at it in excellent video and audio quality.
Customizable library.
Excellent support.
 

[walkman666]

I chose JRiver about 3 years ago for the following reasons:

1.) Allowed me to leverage the bit-perfect set-up I have with my good hardware.
2.) Highly recommended and rated (e.g. Computer Audiophile)
3.) Love this forum and the service if one needs support
4.) Nice, customizable interface
5.) Syncs up with HDTracks

I do only use a fraction of the options and capabilities of the software, and still even (gulp!) use iTunes for purchases, but use JRiver for playback.  When at my PC, I only use JRiver.  I also use to clean up some incorrect tags.

[jabo1961]

Hi guys , new to the forum, had MC since version 17 which was about  to change to 18 , I am now on 20.

Like many of you I was looking to digitize my ever expanding cd collection and needed a system to organize and catalogue and also produce cd quality reproduction.

I was also looking to play directly from my pc through to my surround sound system

I started with windows media player , reasonably versatile to arrange , sounded good through my pc , crap through my amp no matter what I tweaked.

Further research led me to XBMC which I thought looked fantastic , I just couldn`t get the hang of its complex system.

This led me further to connect my PC to my then 42 inch TV , now 60 inch Panasonic as I wanted to add my dvds into the equation , nothing if ambitious I thought.

Still couldn`t  get quality sound , which was my ultimate goal. Tried Plex but just couldn't get it to work the way I wanted even though it looked great.

Then..... I discovered JRiver media center and WOW !!!!!!! 

It worked virtually straight away out of the box so to say. Looks good , simple enough to import my music collection , then began the organizing and I was a bit overwhelmed at first but once I got the hang of changing tags I was on my way and never looked back . Everything I have is now organized and easy to find within MC including video. Such a versatile programme of which I`m using a fraction of it`s possibilities . I`ve got a couple of zones set up with 5.1 on one of them. The DSP in MC is fantastic which |`ve tweaked over the years due to having tinnitus and everything I listen to goes through MC which helps a lot.
Theatre view is wonderful on my tv , just makes selection and playback so easy
I am constantly cleaning up files and tweaking tabs
I am a convert to MC and have never looked back , I`ve even been boring my family and friends to death with endless accounts of what  MC does and can do.

Happy to finally join this forum and here`s to the future with JRiver 

[TheGame]

I chose JRiver because it is simply the best player out there that I have ever tried. It has all of the features I could ever ask for (and more) and the sound quality is amazing.

[Louis]

I think it was MC10 version that I encountered while looking for a solution for burning a compilation of mp3's to a CD, it solved a problem of retaining the playlist order with the option to insert the sequence number into file name.

Then came the tedious problem of tagging files where I had several tagging programs that had their various strengths and weaknesses, but then I discovered that MC had the most powerful and elegant tagging, file renaming and cataloging solution of all.

I was using MusicMatch as my library organiser/player at the time and as my digitised media collection grew past 6000 tracks it became very sluggish and a frustration to use while I noticed MC was handling it effortlessly. One of my needs that will never change is the ability to manage a large library of media files, now approaching 200k, where any single item can be instantly found and played and this is the No1 reason for me sticking with MC and recommending it to my friends.

The ability to handle multiple audio paths and zones is another

Remote access and control is another

Control over PC connected displays is another

The ability to create powerful Smart Playlists and discover music in my library is another

It's one thing to have a large library of music but if you can't rapidly drill into that library and display its content in meaningful ways it just becomes a frustration and a burden, JRiver Media Center remains the go to answer for that problem, while providing a plethora of other useful functions, many of which you didn't know you needed until you've used them.