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[JimH]

I had a long talk with a sales and marketing person today.  It made me realize that I can't say clearly why people choose to purchase JRiver Media Center when there are so many free options.  What I said was that it:

1.  Plays everything.
2.  Works well with networks and remotes
3.  Has a nice ten foot interface (Theater View)
4.  Delivers high quality audio and video
5.  A great forum with a lot of engaged users

I said what I've said before, that we're trying to let you play any media, anytime, anywhere.

So help me out.  Why did you choose JRiver?

For complaints, please use this thread.  I may move, remove, or edit anything off topic.

[mwillems]

Why did I first try JRiver?  DSP.  Full stop.  I was unhappy with my hardware crossover/DSP solution for a pair of active speakers, and I couldn't find another software solution for less than $400 or $500 that even came close to what JRiver does.  JRiver is really unique in this regard, and once I figured out what I could do with it, it seemed like a steal at $50.

Why did I stay? DSP again, and the database and server functionality.  Between the DSP and the network functionality, I wound up replacing (and reselling) three or four hardware boxes by loading JRiver onto a spare computer (with a little help from the forum community).  Now I couldn't switch back if I wanted to  

The remotes, theater view, and the high quality video playback were nice surprises and make me glad I came and stayed (they also help a lot with Wife acceptance), but in all honesty, if it hadn't been for the DSP capabilities, I probably would have never made the switch.

[csimon]

Complete flexibility in cataloguing, indexing and browsing your media library, the way you want it, not in limited ways that are dictated by the software that you're using.  That is the precise reason that I found MC.  Now that I'm here, I find the audio processing invaluable (esp the output format bit) and the ability to switch between different settings and output devices for different purposes .

[kstuart]

I would like to clarify that there are programs with several of those five points, but none with all of them.

Considering that everything has a discussion group/Forum these days (even Mercury Fillings), it's no surprise that all other media players have a Forum with engaged users.

The main distinguishing point of MC20 is that it has top quality audio and top quality video.

I first came across JRiver MC when, in another Forum, someone suggested it as the front end for a free audio player with no Media Library support.   When I tried JRiver MC, and made some careful comparisons, I found that the audio sound quality was actually slightly better than any of the free audio players.

I was using a free video media player with the motherboard's integrated graphics at the time, and later, adding a graphics card allowed me to use madVR with JRiver's Red October HQ, which also improved video quality.

JRiver MC also has a number of helpful features, including ZoneSwitch, digital parametric EQ, and a variety of DSP settings.

Home Theater PCs are fiddly enough that paying the small fee is easily warranted - especially since it goes to a small business rather than a huge multinational corporation.

[cipher8]

Well that's quite simple really. Doing a side by side comparison playing various wav files listening through my studio monitors (neumann kh120's + Adam sub8), JRiver simply sounded better to me. So I said goodbye "windows media player" hello JRiver!!!!!!!

[Hilton]

1. Library management and tagging is unsurpassed. This is the number one reason for me but this combined with the following. (enables better management and easier to find what you want)
2. Supported formats - in particular multichannel Hi-res FLAC and SACD - (It just plays everything from one application.)
3. DSP and support for DTS-HD MA decoding of Blu-ray (my receiver doesn't)
4. Theatre view for movies (easy for the whole family to use and watch or listen to whatever they want)
5. Multi-zone support (centralised control and playback to multiple devices)
5. JRemote control and playback (this was a huge plus when it was released and is more important for the control and usability of MC than just about any other feature)
6. Playback on multiple devices and Operating Systems including new form factors, ie Id NUC, Stick, Pi2.
7. Flexibility, there's not much you cant do if you set your mind to it.

JRiver Media Center is much much more than the sum of it's parts.

[jmone]

I joined MC almost 9 years ago as it solved two big issues for me at the time:
- Flexible Direct Show Video/Audio codec support for Video files
- DVB-T support

Both of these of course have now been solved by a large range of other programs... but the vision of "play any media, anytime, anywhere" is enduring and evolving...and MC does it better than anyone else.  Unfortunately & Fortunately, the environment keeps changing so this vision will never be fulfilled but supports keeps expanding.

Also happy to provide my personal list of the gaps in the current state of "play any media, anytime, anywhere" in MC!  

[ken-tajalli]

- Ability to work bitperfect with DACs.
- DSP
- Interface and remotes
- the fact that other knowledgeable souls were doing so (hype?)
- It does work with windows infra-red remotes.

JimH split: What I don't Like

[mattkhan]

IMV the combination of top quality A+V delivered by a "video aware" DSP engine is the USP for me, it's enables a level of sound and picture quality that takes many thousands of pounds to even approach. This isn't just the USP mind you, it's almost the entire reason to use jriver as the UX side of things is quite bad in many ways. Sound & picture quality wins in the end though.

[glynor]

The database and flexible View system.

iTunes literally cannot handle my music library, and even if it could, stuff would be impossible to find and keep organized.  My video library is bigger and even harder to manage.

There is no alternative that handles large media libraries so well.  Full stop.

[ferday]

impossible to touch library management and tag/database power.  and we can use all that power for video, audio, and images...and even other file types?  Sweet.  Plus it's really fun to geek out and try to make something work, MC can be a hobby on its own

[JimH]

Also happy to provide my personal list of the gaps in the current state of "play any media, anytime, anywhere" in MC! 

Let's talk about that here:
http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=96470.0

[Fabith]

4.  Delivers high quality audio and video

The Internal Volume and DSP works much better than any other audio player.

The Media Library is smart and does everything that i need, i really love that!

[BryanC]

When I first started out:

Directshow codec support for video files
Library management
A default standard view that was similar to my ideal layout in Foobar2000 that I wasn't prone to fiddling with every other day
Handheld sync autoconversion (a la MediaMonkey)
Interact

Why I stayed (Built a server/HTPC):
Theater View
Red October/Videoclock (never having to see reclock's ui again...priceless)
Library Server (access key model for internal/external IP is awesome)
Auto-import analysis and cover art lookup
Linux support
Interact

[paul.raulerson]

I had a long talk with a sales and marketing person today.  It made me realize that I can't say clearly why people choose to purchase JRiver Media Center when there are so many free options.  What I said was that it:

1.  Plays everything.
2.  Works well with networks and remotes
3.  Has a nice ten foot interface (Theater View)
4.  Delivers high quality audio and video
5.  A great forum with a lot of engaged users

I said what I've said before, that we're trying to let you play any media, anytime, anywhere.

So help me out.  Why did you choose JRiver?

1. JRemote
2. Multiple platforms, Mac in particular
3. DSD playback

In that order.

[glynor]

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.

[6233638]

• Red October HQ: I can have a new system set up with madVR, LAV Filters, VideoClock(≈ReClock) in less than five minutes with Media Center.
  Even as an advanced user that tweaks things beyond your defaults, it's 95% of the way there out of the box. No messing around.
• Integrated Volume Leveling
• Built-in VST plug-in support and powerful DSP - and the fact that it all works with video playback too, rather than being limited to music playback
• It's one program that can manage my entire media library without feeling like a compromise in any of those areas
 
There are plenty of other reasons why I use MC in preference to anything else now (library management tools, split view & tabs interface, Zones, JRemote, ease of setting up client PCs) and why it's always what I recommend to people, but those are the reasons why I switched in the first place.
 
And while the majority of my use is on Windows, the fact that you're branching out into OS X/Linux support is a big deal.
I had to get some work done on a 9 year-old Mac earlier in the week, and in less than 60 seconds I was listening to music streamed to it from my main PC library.
It's fantastic, and that experience alone has made me change my mind from simply renewing my Windows license with the inevitable MC21, and planning to renew the master license instead.

[stevemac]

The primary reason for looking at MC was its multiple zone capability.  My focus was on audio, however this changed very quickly once I started using it & now it manages all audio & video into 4 zones + handhelds

Steve

[Castius]

There are certainly many reasons to buy jriver over the free alternatives.

Overall for me is that jriver is a true media center.
I can capture/organize/view just about any media.

What made it easy to buy jriver though. Was because of what i saw of the forum.
The development team was good at listening and communicating with it's users.

At first I payed for JRiver just to support the developers. Even before i switched to using it completely.

[thecrow]

For me it is the class leading sound and picture quality combined with the ability to tweak everything to work exactly the way I want it.

[TCube]

This topic should be restrained to a poll with the 5 reasons you've asked.

1.  Plays everything.
2.  Works well with networks and remotes
3.  Has a nice ten foot interface (Theater View)
4.  Delivers high quality audio and video
5.  A great forum with a lot of engaged users

My N° 1 answer : Number Four /  Delivers high quality Audio (video ? not that much use)
TC
p.s come on guys, who would invest 10 to 50 k into a complete Hi-Fi  system and not use JRiver on the top of it ?

[lobo85]

That awesome Monkey's Audio creator/developer is part of your team!   

[CountryBumkin]

I had a long talk with a sales and marketing person today.  It made me realize that I can't say clearly why people choose to purchase JRiver Media Center when there are so many free options.  What I said was that it:

1.  Plays everything.
2.  Works well with networks and remotes
3.  Has a nice ten foot interface (Theater View)
4.  Delivers high quality audio and video
5.  A great forum with a lot of engaged users

I said what I've said before, that we're trying to let you play any media, anytime, anywhere.

So help me out.  Why did you choose JRiver?

For me, it was mostly number 4. I wanted the best audio and video available. 

It was also important to me that the program be updated often when changes/improvements are made (such as updates/improvements to LAV and madVR, or internal improvements).

I also wanted a program were all the components (audio, video, TV, file system, etc.) are designed and integrated to work together.

I like the idea that the program provides "developer" support when I have a problem or question.

Lastly, I wanted a program that doesn't require the User to be a computer/htpc expert to setup and use.

[Claude Lapalme]

For me, I came because:

1. Tagging, Organization
2. Networking, Library Server
3. HD audio support

I came from a box that was never going to go in the direction I wanted, and found that JRiver did everything I wanted. Organizing audio and video files quickly from a single source and sharing that library all through the house and on devices was a dream come true.

However, I stayed because of:

1. High quality audio
2. DSP
3. High quality video

[)p(]

For me it was the fast flexibele database that I could present in anyway that I wanted with view schemes that first attracted me to jrmc.

My use of jrmc evolves constantly. Right now I use it for tagging and for its DSP through the wdm driver in our stereo setup. I do have it setup on all pc's as a player.

[Dawgincontrol]

Was an XBMC user, but had problems with some Blu-ray playback on their platform.  Went looking through various audio/video forums and gave JRiver a try.  Mostly an audio guy even with that.

JRiver played everything I threw at it and the audio quality sealed the deal.  Bought it after the trial.

[dmac6419]

It's awesome dats all I can say for now,DSP got me going crazy,fab filter,t racks,izotope

[mojave]

I started with MC9 and was still using the trial when MC10 was released. At that time I was looking for a good media player that supported lossless audio.

1.  Lossless audio - ape (all files since the beginning have been ripped with Monkey's Audio)
2.  Database & Tagging which leads to Views
3.  Constant development
4.  Hairstyle

Chapeau!

I regret that I used JRiver for several years before ever joining Interact.

[Listener]

The reason I picked JRiver?

Tag support and views for classical music.  Panes views!  Support for Composer tag in Panes

I explored a number of programs and no other program met my needs.

reasons I've stayed? (lots)

support for ASIO, Wasapi, higher res. than 16/44.1

General support for user defined tags and user defined views

Flexible underlying database

Tag editing features - I get editing tasks done quickly and with accuracy

Active development - many music player programs have been developed and abandoned.  When new possibilities appear, JRiver supports them.  Bugs get identified and fixed.

[JonnyRedHed]

I liked the word 'River',  gave me the impression of software flowing like water - taking the path of least resistance to get the music to my ears and the good looking UI on my eyes.  (the black UI of course).   And from just reading it was the windows player to have for high end audio.  My gut told me it was the right choice.

Everything else I learnt post installing  I knew from the word 'River' and the first image I saw on the home page of the black UI, that it was the player for me.   Simplistic I know,  but powerful to those to respond to visual cues first in that blink of an eye when you see something and draw your first opinion of it.

[terrym@tassie]

Red October HQ was what hooked me, suddenly I could watch high quality video without all the issues relating to managing directshow filters (and all the crashes!).
After months of using JRiver in the same way I had used products like WMP and MPC-HC (file and folder based) I started to discover the true power of the library and the ability to customise views. Then I discovered the server client capability and Theaterview. The product enabled me to embark upon the "Big Rip" which took all my discrete media sources and put them in one place and manage them all effectively. I could now also listen to them anywhere I wished.
Did I mention the sound quality? It was a revelation from day one but now I have worked on it with the dsp facilities over the years it is AMAZING!
The forum remains a very valued source of information and on occasions entertainment.
I wouldn't choose anything else now and for what it does I think it is very reasonably priced.

[culliganman]

I use it to hear bit perfect music.
I use it to record tv.
I use it to organize photos.
I chose JRiver because it does all of this better than iTunes and windows media center.
I chose it because even after two months of using it I still don't know about all its features.
I choose it because of all the helpful people on Interact.

[BillT]

I didn't specifically but JRiver at all, I bought Media Lobby, which had a nice interface but used JRiver behind the scenes. That was in 2003!

Long abandoned Media Lobby, but I keep using JRiver because the database can be easily configured to suit my (mainly classical) music collection. (Of course, if Gizmo worked properly with classical music it would be even better!)

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.

+1 to all that. I'm sure that JRiver 9 would still do most of what I want, but I keep upgrading for all of these reasons.

[MikeO]

To start with probably hype & reputation.

Like any software you cannot possibly evaluate it the 30 day trial period(I have come across developers who hate Resharper , when questioned deeply they never got past stage one of using it before the trial ran out !!! After many years I still find surprises.  MC is the same )

The more interesting question is why stay and why buy a license every year (however often it is ?)

Value for money  (have you seen the price of some developer software !!)
Database management
Flexible Views - The ability to create your own view using custom tags eg Box Sets of classical music.
Hi quality music output -- must be a given
Gapless Playback ( a biggie for me - I have a Mede8er that blips at every track change simply because it's single thread stops playback when it  refreshes the Image rendered on the screen , hence even if gapless track you get a split second silence eg Pink Floyd)
Theatre View & Remote Control -- I am lazy 
AND the biggest -- JRemote , the ability to be working in the kitchen and being able to select and control (esp Volume) what I listen that has changed how I listen.
"Agile" , the speed at which releases add new stuff or fix stuff that's broken

Keep up the good work

Mike

Mike

[DoubtingThomas]

Obviously the sound quality and user interface.  I do believe I could find other programs that do what I need in those areas.

To me it's the automation features (MC20.exe) that keep me with JRiver. 

[pluto7]

Ability to work bitperfect with DACs.Classé CP800.
plays ISO "audio".SACD, HD Audio.Compressed files.
Simply the best sounding software.
Excellent layout.

[Ashfall]

I spent a couple of months evaluating software for my first foray into HTPC.  XBMC came close, but I am picky about the way I organize my library, especially TV shows with lots of specials and other items that don't fit into normal seasons.  Nothing would allow me to organize how I wanted it to display until I found JRiver.

Secondary to library management is bitperfect bitstreaming.  Also, theater view looks better to me than others.  And MadVR is a godsend for my extensive SD DVD collection!  JRemote and nMedium, plus the ease of connecting multiple HTPCs and devices are also indispensable.

[BartMan01]

Long time MC user, but it all started because I needed a solid solution for my music collection.  MC was the only thing that did everything I needed - secure ripping, tagging, a central library, smartlists, playlists, and so on.

I don't think video even existed in MC when I started using it.  Once I put together my WMC box as a Cable DVR (both encrypted and clear channels), I played around with a few video solutions (like XBMC) until I finally realized that MC did everything I 'needed' (but not wanted) as long as I had a PC at both TV sets (WMC box on the projector and older laptop in the living room).  I still use other solutions (mainly Air Video HD) for device/remote viewing of video since MC is far from bullet proof in that area.

[drmimosa]

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 2010 I embarked on a huge digital music archiving project, during which I ripped about 1200 CD's to FLAC lossless and upgraded about 1000 128k mp3 albums to 256 aac using Itunes match. It was a huge project, but fun and I don't think I could have pulled it off without the database management and flexible view schemes of JRiver. Once that was done I happily deleted iTunes from my PC forever!

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've never been on the beta boards, but I love seeing the hints here and there of upcoming features, plus the semiannual "State of the JRiver-Union" addresses/emails. When it gets quiet on the Interact board it is almost like the day before Christmas, because MC Current Version + 1 is on the way.

I hope you don't mind me mentioning this here, but it is a source of daily inspiration for me to see how the company and Interact community came together over the past year to support Matt Ashland and his family.

I am grateful that JRiver is a good company run by good people. Thank you for your hard work and continued excellence.

[horse]

In time order since around MC 10 or 11

1/ Quality Audio with tagging and view scheme flexibility
2/ Network support for streaming
3/ Library management of audio, video and images (I use it for everything except my ePub books)
And originally the iPod support before Apple made it difficult. Still use MC to manage. and another utility to just transfer.
4/ Ability to play ISO DVD images
5/ WebRemote then the awesome JRemote
6/ Zones for the entire house

Although my usage and needs and evolved over the past 2 decades, the reason I continue to upgrade, use and support JRiver is: -

1/ Unequaled library management (Tagging, organization, DB look-up, file structure)
2/ Customization of the view schemes so I can organize the menu how I or anyone else wants to find or play music.
3/ Audio Quality and CODEC support
4/ Automation / integration using MCWS and JRemote for "ease of use"

That, and as others have mentioned, you are still here after decades of development and I could not have done most of what I wanted without the awesome community support in these forums. (it really is a family)

[JimH]

That, and as others have mentioned, you are still here after decades of development and I could not have done most of what I wanted without the awesome community support in these forums. (it really is a family)

!!

[krmasson]

Complete flexibility in cataloguing, indexing and browsing your media library, the way you want it, not in limited ways that are dictated by the software that you're using.  

Same for me. That, plus the dedicated non UPnP remote app, even if not perfect ((Web/)Gizmo).

Waiting desesperately for JRemote on Android :-)

[JimH]

Same for me. That, plus the dedicated non UPnP remote app, even if not perfect ((Web/)Gizmo).

Waiting desparately for JRemote on Android :-)

You can get it now.  http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=96349.0

[fitbrit]

I was new to dedicated HTPCs back in 2007. I'd installed codec packs and was seeing conflicting information everywhere. I was in codec hell. I read about JRiver MC12 over at AVSforums, and I asked whether it could play the h264-encoded mkv files. Jim wrote me a private message and said it could play anything DirectShow could play. I tried the free trial and was impressed with the way one could set up the codecs and filters (This was wayyy before Red October). So I stayed with MC and bought it. Then I saw the forums, and the first person I noticed was glynor. He was so helpful, that I knew I had the right product and support forum. I promised him that within the year, I'd be helping others too. 7 1/2 years later, I think I only know about 25-33% of what MC can do, but am now a Beta team member.
In summary: I love the constantly improving program, but the extended JRiver family even more.

But also because Jim promised to release the family, unharmed, if I downloaded the MC12 free 30-day trial.

[Arindelle]

ok my turn ... after a brief stint with winamp I moved to Media Monkey, then foobar very briefly, then JRiver

the question is tricky, because why I chose JRiver then (guessing here its been since version 14? not sure might have tried 13 ..) are not the same reasons  I would (still) choose it now. Its a great renderer of course. The bit perfect thing was (and still is) important to me, but that's no longer as unique as it was before. DSPs I only use for corrections or for adjustments mostly so at that time,  I avoided any change on the source like the plague. Now I know better and listen to my music more than my system ... well that's a story for another post So, why did I choose JRiver then

1) Library management: amazing capability to manage large libraries, fast. Not just manage but allow for a virtually unlimited customization based on Vorbis Comment tags.

2) Meta-data (tags): the capability to handle multiple artists, genres, and most other tag fields as multiple entries per tag, allowing them to be split or combined. AND the ability to construct views that interact with the taxonomy of MY collection, not forcing me to adapt to the UI of the program.

3) Tweaking: although not "open-source", for a proprietary program the latitude that the company gives us to tweak the metadata and individual hardware configurations, to are own specifications,  is nothing short of astounding  - you have to have a pretty esoteric system for JRiver not to work. Sure there is a learning curve. Tough beans as my mum used to say.

4) Client to server tagging -- lots of people are not always pleased, but I am ... ok sure it would be nice to load a server version onto a NAS and have client versions auto sync and auto this and that. But I know NO media software that allows you to tag and re-organize a media library from remotely like JRiver does.  There are two maybe three things you can't do ... no problem,  Teamviewer is free (other software options too). Name one media suite that you can do all of that from a client.

5)  Theater View -- maybe in need of a freshening up, but it is powerful stuff.

Now to that list if I were to have chosen JRiver in the last year or two I would have to add:

6) Zones - not just the idea that you can stream stuff to distinct location, but that I can have a classical zone with no crossfading, a pop zone that can still bit perfect with different transition settings; that I can have a random playlist and add DSPs, keeping my "audiophile" fears at bay by swapping zones when I want some "serious" album listening; that I can control the volume with so many bits of headroom, that there is no way that that kind of digital "dsp-ing" affect the source signal -- its so below the noise floor no worries. 64bit dsp processing Headroom! hip hip hurray ! Not to mention that I can have multiple devices configured by via zones.

7) R128 standard volume leveling options -- finally I can listen to a playlist without cringing and can listen to recent over-compressed masters along with  low level old stuff without it sounding like a bad podcast

JRemote -- euh enough said

9) WDM driver - game changer for streaming

Now lastly why would I choose JRiver if I was going to totally change my stereo (yep I'm hardcore, two-channel hardcore oldschool guy)

10) the DSPs -- usually not that important on my main system. However, if I had the money to start from scratch .... my silly priced Linn analogue preamp and active analogue filters --> ebay time. Convolution and parametric filters for crossovers, no need for an analogue preamp other than for my Vinyls -- 2500$ analogue preamp? nope ... the money would go  into my speaker budget right away. now I can concentrate on spending the bucks on the analogue side; JRiver can do the rest. If I want to go more on the video  I'd probably look into a Sternberg or a MWilliams special of the week

I also use video, but frankly its just there  to learn it so I can help out others that want it all combined.  And now with the wdm driver most of the time I just stream what I want to watch.

[rudyrednose]

Top media database structure,
Top media DB management,
Top renderers,
Flexibility,
Long term commitment by a core team obviously having fun surrounded by a great community,

[Dave59]

1. Great sound
2. Plays all formats
3. Great selection of DSP options including being able to compensate for less than perfect listening spaces
4. Ability to sync my flac files to MP3 (or other formats) on my iPad
5. Active development program - I have a Mediamonkey gold license, and its an OK application but development is moribund
6. Good integration with a iPad based remote
7. Great library management & tagging
8. Easy ripping that's fully integrated, and almost always gets the album art, and metadata right
9. Ability to stream to iPad and other devices like my Sony TV
10. This forum!

[Ferdi]

In no particular order

• library management incl tagging
• plays all formats
• awesomness of forum support
• sense of loyalty after 15? years
• independent company
• ios app
• speed (main reason why dumping iTunes all together years ago)
• everything I potentially might leverage in the future
• fascination for how the SW release just works - speed of cloud releases for on-prem solution that simply works

[JimH]

Please stay on topic.  This is extremely useful.  Thanks.

[csimon]

I've looked at Plex in the past, and in all fairness I am reinstalling a Plex server .. maybe they made significant improvements.  When Plex first came out at least, it did not offer anyway near the "library management" and manipulation of metadata that JRiver offers. Maybe I'm wrong, I'll try and check this weekend.

Yes, that was the problem with Plex when I was first looking for something. The cataloguing was the nbr 1 reason for me why I went for MC.

However, losing current "library" functionality would be much worse for me personally than gains in comfort/simplicity as almost everything can be achieved now on a local network using a PC; just not on a NAS.

The NAS thing is a red herring really. It's what I'd like to do, have a low-power NAS unit just as a server, that's what NAS's excel at anyway. I just use it though to illustrate the concept of  a pure server, quite separate from client functionaility, which can be installed anywhere, and all cleints connect to.  It could even be a low power Windows machine .The key thing is that it can be hidden away, 24/7, on a machine dedicated to serving-type tasks, and all functions, whether library management or playing, are done on client devices which are "in the open".