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More => Old Versions => JRiver Media Center 27 for Windows => Topic started by: baldo on July 22, 2020, 06:17:40 am

Title: Whats New in MC 27?
Post by: baldo on July 22, 2020, 06:17:40 am
I have been using MC 22 for several years now and it does a fine job on all three of my machines, (PC, Laptop, & Mac).

What's  new in v27 that I do not have in v22?

I know the sw industry loves to come up with upgrades and bug fixes (which should not have really been there in the first place but that is another rant!!).

Happy to upgrade, as long as I get something for my money. If its going to be the same user experience as v22, I will just continue using ,my current version.

Many thanks.
Title: Re: Whats New in MC 27?
Post by: JohnWalker on July 22, 2020, 07:08:02 am
I couldn't agree more, Baldo -I'd like to ask JRiver to do more to explaining its pricing and the benefits to customers - what benefits would I get by purchasing a new version and/or what aspects of existing versions are becoming obsolete?  Each upgrade disrupts my ability to switch on and listen, largely because of the need to faff around resetting the way that the library is displayed by the remote, so it's not something I will automatically want to do unless I've been told about a clear benefit. I only found this thread in the Windows part of the forum -  as a Linux and WIndows user, I would have expected such announcements to be in a thread that covered all versions. Another example - I had two paid copies of JRemote which were getting increasingly flakey. It took quite some digging in the forum before I found the explanation that JRemote was no longer supported, and I needed to pay another £10 for each copy of JRemote2. I did that,but i still find that the all-new, all-singing JRemote2 to be nearly as flakey in dropping connections.
Title: Re: Whats New in MC 27?
Post by: JimH on July 22, 2020, 07:55:37 am
Since MC22, there are many new features, fixes, and improvements.

Thanks to RoderickGI for maintaining  this wiki topic:
https://wiki.jriver.com/index.php/Release_Notes

Search for NEW there.
Title: Re: Whats New in MC 27?
Post by: JimH on July 22, 2020, 07:58:54 am
It took quite some digging in the forum before I found the explanation that JRemote was no longer supported, and I needed to pay another £10 for each copy of JRemote2. I did that,but i still find that the all-new, all-singing JRemote2 to be nearly as flakey in dropping connections.
Please start a thread on this problem.  A flakey connection is the likely cause.

You only need to purchase once, not for each device.
Title: Re: Whats New in MC 27?
Post by: JohnWalker on July 22, 2020, 08:54:33 am
"You only need to purchase once, not for each device."?

Can you please explain how I can do that? Is there an alternative to the Google PlayStore?

Title: Re: Whats New in MC 27?
Post by: JimH on July 22, 2020, 08:59:55 am
"You only need to purchase once, not for each device."?

Can you please explain how I can do that? Is there an alternative to the Google PlayStore?
When you purchase from the Playstore, you can download the software to any of your compatible devices.  It's all tied to your Gmail address. 
Title: Re: Whats New in MC 27?
Post by: tdipower on July 22, 2020, 09:00:41 am
Since MC22, there are many new features, fixes, and improvements.

Thanks to RoderickGI for maintaining  this wiki topic:
https://wiki.jriver.com/index.php/Release_Notes

Search for NEW there.

Well, most of the NEW items is also "bugfixes" and small tweeks as far as I can see. The only "New" thing is hardware support for H264 decoding on nvidia and Intel.
So what would be new in v.27? Earlier there has been a list of things to come at the initial launch of the presales.
Title: Re: Whats New in MC 27?
Post by: JimH on July 22, 2020, 09:04:09 am
Well, most of the NEW items is also "bugfixes" and small tweeks as far as I can see. The only "New" thing is hardware support for H264 decoding on nvidia and Intel.
So what would be new in v.27? Earlier there has been a list of things to come at the initial launch of the presales.
I won't debate this, but we spend most of a million a year on development.  It's a talented team.  If you can't find anything interesting in the changes, then it's probably not for you.
Title: Re: Whats New in MC 27?
Post by: baldo on July 22, 2020, 09:21:43 am
Thanks JimH,

I'm not here to start a debate or a  flame war, I just want to know the additional benefits that I will get for paying to upgrade. I don't think that is an unreasonable request.

I looked at the wiki and saw the list of changes to v23. For the "Fixes" , none of these seemed to an  issue for me. Some of the others, like adding Slovak languages, I really don't care for either.

Regarding the millions that you spend on building new features, that's great but, as a customer, I really don't care how much a business spends on something if it provides no benefit to me.

One thing that I would really love is for MC to provide a cumulative time for a play list. So for example, to show how much time would have elapsed from the start of the playlist to each respective track.  All the information is already there, someone just needs to add way of showing it. At the moment, I do this in Excel, not the best way but hey it does the job.

MC is a great product that I have been using for many many years and it does a great job.  As a customer, I would be happy to pay for an upgrade provided I knew what I was going to get for my money, that I am not getting already getting.

Thanks for your speedy help.
Title: Re: Whats New in MC 27?
Post by: Matt on July 22, 2020, 09:30:38 am
One thing that I would really love is for MC to provide a cumulative time for a play list. So for example, to show how much time would have elapsed from the start of the playlist to each respective track.  All the information is already there, someone just needs to add way of showing it.

Look at [Playlist Remaining Time].  It shows the time remaining in the entire playlist.

I'll add the total time of a playlist to v27.
Title: Re: Whats New in MC 27?
Post by: JimH on July 22, 2020, 09:33:20 am
I looked at the wiki and saw the list of changes to v23. For the "Fixes" , none of these seemed to an  issue for me. Some of the others, like adding Slovak languages, I really don't care for either.
Take a deeper look.  MC24, 25, 26.

Just search each one for NEW.  If you find something interesting, search the appropriate board here for threads on it.

Each board has a list of some of the new features.  Here, for example:

https://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php/topic,123122.0.html
Title: Re: Whats New in MC 27?
Post by: baldo on July 22, 2020, 11:03:58 am
Look at [Playlist Remaining Time].  It shows the time remaining in the entire playlist.


I can't seem to be able to see this. Where is it? how do I find it?
Title: Re: Whats New in MC 27?
Post by: Matt on July 22, 2020, 11:13:16 am
I can't seem to be able to see this. Where is it? how do I find it?

Right-click the player window.  Pick "Customize Display...".

Add this to the title (or anyplace else):
[Playlist Remaining Time]

I'm adding [Playlist Total Time] for the future.
Title: Re: Whats New in MC 27?
Post by: JohnWalker on July 22, 2020, 11:23:57 am
JimH said
Quote
"Since MC22, there are many new features, fixes, and improvements.

Thanks to RoderickGI for maintaining  this wiki topic:
https://wiki.jriver.com/index.php/Release_Notes

Search for NEW there."

That only works for existing versions up to 26. There is, at present, no thread for v27, which is what the OP was asking about.
Title: Re: Whats New in MC 27?
Post by: JimH on July 22, 2020, 12:03:57 pm
27 isn't out yet.
Title: Re: Whats New in MC 27?
Post by: baldo on July 22, 2020, 12:50:09 pm
Right-click the player window.  Pick "Customize Display...".

Add this to the title (or anyplace else):
[Playlist Remaining Time]


Sorry mate, but am I being dumb or what. I still cant find it.
Title: Re: Whats New in MC 27?
Post by: Matt on July 22, 2020, 01:08:58 pm
Right-click the Player Bar area from this screen:
https://wiki.jriver.com/index.php/Standard_View
Title: Re: Whats New in MC 27?
Post by: baldo on July 22, 2020, 01:25:53 pm
Perfect. Got it. Thanks for that.
Title: Re: Whats New in MC 27?
Post by: enpehh on July 22, 2020, 03:28:40 pm
Firstly I must confirm that I am a happy customer of MC for quite some years now. However, the question of "what's new in MC27" until now has not been answered yet - with the explanation of JimH that it is not out yet. However, why should I buy the upgrade even for quite a nice discount without knowing the benefits; well, not in every little detail but a general outline would be nice - and should possible 2 months before its availability.
Title: Re: Whats New in MC 27?
Post by: baldo on July 22, 2020, 04:26:09 pm
I'm adding [Playlist Total Time] for the future.

Just to be absolutely clear, what I would like is a field like "Duration" that shows the cumulative time of a playlist up to that track.

So if tracks 1,2,3 are 2mins 3 mins, 6 mins respectively; the Cumulative would show 2mins, 5 mins and 11 mins. This is so that I know exactly what time a track will be playing. 


If you can add say a start time that would be even nicer but not really required. So, if the start time is 9;15pm then it would show what time the respective tracks will play.
Title: Re: Whats New in MC 27?
Post by: JohnWalker on July 22, 2020, 05:50:45 pm
Quote
When you purchase from the Playstore, you can download the software to any of your compatible devices.  It's all tied to your Gmail address. 

Thanks, I hadn't realised that. What about my adult two daughters? I guess that they'd still have to pay? They'll both stay with Spotify instead.
Title: Re: Whats New in MC 27?
Post by: JimH on July 22, 2020, 05:54:37 pm
Anyone not using your gmail account would be a separate purchase.
Title: Re: Whats New in MC 27?
Post by: RoderickGI on July 22, 2020, 06:37:19 pm
Thanks, I hadn't realised that. What about my adult two daughters? I guess that they'd still have to pay? They'll both stay with Spotify instead.

Anyone not using your gmail account would be a separate purchase.

It is better than that. You can share Apps with your family: https://support.google.com/googleplay/answer/7007852?hl=en
Title: Re: Whats New in MC 27?
Post by: RoderickGI on July 22, 2020, 06:57:03 pm
Perfect. Got it. Thanks for that.

Some more info here: https://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php/topic,125595.0.html


Right-click the player window.  Pick "Customize Display...".

Add this to the title (or anyplace else):
[Playlist Remaining Time]

I'm adding [Playlist Total Time] for the future.

Matt, I haven't found a comprehensive list of all the special variables that can be included in the Player Bar. They aren't fields. They arent' functions. They are sort of variables. Many are shown in the "Customise Display" dialogue, but not all. I know of:
[Elapsed Time]
[Remaining Time]
[Total Time]
[Bitrate (labeled)]
[PN Position]
[PN Tracks]
[Zone]
[App Name]
[App Version]
[Library]
[View Filter]
[Playlist Remaining Time]

In future:
[Playlist Total Time]

Did I miss any? Could you complete the list? Perhaps check when you add [Playlist Total Time]?

Thanks. It would be good to get them into the Wiki.
Title: Re: Whats New in MC 27?
Post by: Matt on July 22, 2020, 07:11:10 pm
Here's the full list of specials for the player in MC27:
Alternate Settings|App Name|App Version|Bitrate|Bitrate (Labeled)|Channels|Elapsed Time|Library|Playstate|PN Position|PN Tracks|Remaining Time|Total Time|Playlist Remaining Time|Playlist Total Time|User|View Filter|Volume|Zone|Zone ID|In Sample Rate|Out Sample Rate
Title: Re: Whats New in MC 27?
Post by: RoderickGI on July 22, 2020, 07:41:20 pm
Thanks Matt.


Well, most of the NEW items is also "bugfixes" and small tweeks as far as I can see. The only "New" thing is hardware support for H264 decoding on nvidia and Intel.

There are 116 NEW functionality items in MC26 alone. See attached file. More in earlier versions. None of them are of interest?

The one you mention is in MC25, so I assume you checked them all.
25.0.17 (3/28/2019)
6. NEW: Support for Hardware Encoding of H.264 for Video Conversion and Streaming, for NVIDIA using NVENC, and Intel using QuickSync.
Title: Re: Whats New in MC 27?
Post by: jesseinsf on July 22, 2020, 10:13:54 pm
I purchased the version 27 upgrade; however, I agree with the others in terms of justifying the purchasing of an upgrade. I know you are adding cool new features that are either a check box feature of an under the hood feature. What I would like to see is a GUI upgrade/enhancement. I know you guys don't see a GUI enhancement as necessary, but it is what people see that attracts them. At least build a GUI that fits well with the Operating system. Right now, the GUI looks like a 2010 music playback Utility. Even the theater view is dated. Again, I'm all for the excellent features you keep adding, but I'd also like a new/updated GUI with a JRiver touch. I'm sure this is like a whole re-write of the code and I don't expect it in version 27 (or version 28), But in version 29 or 30 would be reasonable to do this.
Title: Re: Whats New in MC 27?
Post by: Nikkel on July 23, 2020, 04:36:40 am
Not sure if there's a skin out there but would like too see a fresh GUI with the player bar at the bottom...?
Title: Re: Whats New in MC 27?
Post by: JimH on July 23, 2020, 07:31:26 am
Locking this now.

If you have specific questions or comment, please post them with an appropriate subject.

Split Improving JRiver (https://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php/topic,126228.msg874642.html#msg874642)