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[AppetizerDessert]

What led me to JRiver was the WDM Driver during my beginning steps into the audiophile world. I wanted system-wide sound that was Parametric EQ'd and I didn't like the other options available so I got to googlin'.  I ran across a post on a website, that I can't recall, and the post more or less raved about how impressed he was about the quality of audio and video he was able to achieve and what stood out in his post was how switching tracks in was instant, so I was intrigued. I installed it and loved it. Even got a fellow audiophile interested friend to get MC.

Fast forward 1.5 years... I didn't have the funds to purchase during this period and I'm a lil ashamed to say I used a cracked version of the player, but I vowed to purchase when I had the funds. And now here I am with MC25 legit version. (:

[darky]

I came here by following LAV and being disappointed by Kodi.

I came from Doom9 to several A/V forums to read about LAV/madvr and HDR, HDR worked first on Nvidia graphics and of course I just bought AMD.
Tried some other media players to get HDR to work.. MPC-HC/BE worked..but lacked the library.
Then I read  that Hendrik/nevcairiel worked on JRiver. So I checked it out...and bought it.

Mainly use the theatre view. I love it. Plays Blu Rays with menu. Lets me fine tune madvr. And the wife is satisfied with the easy controls.
Now I am starting to add some music and catalog it.

[fourkidsco]

Itunes had screwed up our tags at some point a few years ago, and after going through a bunch of alternatives, JRiver proved to be hands down the best, most flexible manager for me, particularly for use with tag management, keywords, etc.  Also use the API to extract playlists and music information for use in Mixxx for DJ work we do.  I wish Mixxx had an API as good as JRiver.

We were also going away from IPods...still wish Sansa made something as good as the old Clip+ which I still use.  Everything else was hooky at best with managing non-Apple devices.

In fact, at some point the alternatives all seemed slightly broken if you wanted to do anything other than just play music.

Best money I spend each year upgrading....don't want you guys to go away!

[YuraF]

Hello!

I have recently dug up the PCM vs DSD problem for my personal thorough understanding, for there are a lot of articles, points of view and explanations that can be found on the web. Being an owner of a net player with the CS4398 DAC onboard (Marantz NA8005), which is a sigma-delta DAC, I realized and clearly heard that this DAC plays 1bit data (DSD) better than multibit ones (PCM).

I made comparisons between a 2019 recorded track (Steve Hackett’s Fallen Walls and Pedestals) encoded in PCM 48k24 (all my hi-res files are AIFFs 48k24) and DSD128, and clearly heard a better sound in DSD version! I also encoded and compared the track in question in DCD64, PCM 44.1k24 (original), PCM 88.2k24, PCM 176.4k24, and understood that DSD64 sounds poorer, and all others PCMs sound just like the first PCM ordinary and plainly.

It was clear at that moment that my DAC likes to eat DSD128 better than any other formats and that all my hi-res library needs to be converted into DSD128. The problem with space was minor however the resulting DSD file is approximately 5 times bigger than the original 48k24 AIFF, I simply added some “DSD air” to the music information and kept it on the USB flash drive. I was quite happy until I faced the problem with the gapless playback of the music. Every time the track ended I clearly heard the click between the tracks, and the louder was the ending the louder and more unpleasant was the click. You know that a DSD file is simply ineditable on home laptops, so I started to look for a proper converter on the web. The result was zero! All converters that I found (a dozen of free and paid) couldn’t eliminate the click between the tracks!

Then it occurred to me that the conversion can be made on the fly by a computer, and as the PCM to DSD calculations are quite CPU consumable, so the player in question should meet my very high standards. I tried several ones (free and paid) and understood that JRiver MC25 handles this on-the-fly conversion far better than others! The player sends data to the DAC in DoP DSD128. Both problems were solved – the minor – all my hi-res library files stayed the same AIFFs 48k24 and saved me from a purchase another terabyte drive, and the major – all music played now absolutely seamless!

A math comment – I know that DSD128 (5.6M) data should better be converted from 44.1k multiples, but comparing the two conversions (from 48k and from 44.1k) I heard no difference. Possessing 48k24 hi-res files it’s better to have a DAC that understands DSD128 (6.1M) but I don’t have one at the moment, and I don’t know if JRiver player has such an option, but that’s a minor issue.

My love to 48k24 AIFFs is also deliberate and explainable, but in another post if anyone will be interested.

So my answer is – JRiver MC 25 ultimately meets my high standards of music perception at the very affordable price and a widest technical support! Many many thanks to the JRiver team!

Regards,
Yuri

[Sandimascharvel]

Here’s why I bought JRiver:

I use all lossless music files (mostly AIFF and some FLAC) which are ripped from my CD’s and bought as hi res downloads from Pro Studio Masters (excellent customer service).

I read recommendations on the Steve Hoffman forums about JRiver and purchased a license and am so happy that I did.

First and foremost, the sound quality of my music using JRiver is stellar and the 64-bit MC25 upgrade makes it all the better, and significantly so. The sound is so clean, clear and natural, without artificial enhancements, I absolutely love it.

It works very nicely with my McIntosh MHA50 headphone amp/DAC.

The interface is beautiful. 

The option of different skins is really nice. I love the Modern Cards Dark Edition skin.

Being able to enlarge my hi res album art to full size using Display View (with a nice black background, and very quickly with cntrl + 3, and easily back to player view with esc) is great and helps bring me back to the days of LP album covers.

Cover view is also very nice.

Being able to sort the albums by artist and then by release date is great.

Tagging is super easy.

Thank you very much and keep up the great work!

Next, I need to work on all of my photos.

[BobSmith8901]

The catalyst was that I simply ran out of patience trying to get native DSD play using foobar2k (not that I dislike foobar). With minimal hassle I figured out JRiver native DSD and it's been a real joy!

Very glad I finally purchased, as I'm discovering what a truly great player this is, especially the DSP area and the mind-boggling amount of available options in so many different areas.

Now that I have a few different DACs it's truly an enjoyable experience setting different things up and seeing how they sound. And the sound....the sound is the best of any player I've used, from WMP to Winamp to Audirvana Plus for Win 10, Amarra, etc., etc. I also like that JRiver is reasonable in letting one install to more than 1 PC, in addition to probably THE most painless activation process vis a-vis the activation code installer.

Bottom line--money well spent for a program that will pay dividends for years to come!

[remixedcat]

The options, Options.... OPTIONS! and the much better and more powerful UI and media management.

[Bobhillman]

I bought a Denon AVR that came with nearly useless software. No way to play audio files from my laptop on the sound system I dropped several thousand dollars on, despite the salesjerk having totally overlooked that little service gap. Denon tech support told me I needed JRiver, so I bought it.

[jackpod]

I started using JRiver when my cd collection became to large and JRiver supported Flac, also at the time I was into HA and the Cinemar Mainlobby music player changed. I started using JRiver for video when TheaterTek went away and I haven't changed since then. I have 900GB of Flac files and 10TB of video

[Moe]

I'm surprised I never answered this.  I chose JRiver because it worked with Netremote (I'd still love to have a Netremote like app for my PC).  I've stayed because of all the options and excellent database management capabilities. 

[Absinthe]

To be honest, Ive dabbled with JRiver for about 10 years but never elevated it to my primary cataloging system.  I meandered from WMP to MusicMatch Jukebox to Winamp and then finally to MediaMonkey.  I like MediaMonkey, and still use it, but not as my primary server application.  For that Ive moved entirely over to JRiver.  I made this decision mainly because of its enhanced networking capabilities; its server-client workability and its "best in class" Theater interface.  It works with my Global Cache IR remote system, it works with my Harmony Remotes, the theater screens are gorgeous and 100% customizable and it supports the encoding schemes I work with most.  Added bonus that its uber reliable and cross platform compliant and then theres MCWS for those brave enough to tinker "under the hood" 

The icing on the cake is this user forum, its jam packed with tricks, details and a massive knowledge base

[agzorig]

This app simply rocks! It can play just about every media file I throw at it!

[ths61]

For AUDIO PLAYBACK ONLY:

• Stability
• WDM
• Max volume protection
• Lossless 64-bit internal volume control
• Convolution engine and digital XO support
• Various audio format and bit[rate|depth] support
• Multi-platform support (master license)
• Use on multiple personal computers
• 64-bit binary and low latency/low CPU utilization
• Memory playback
• Large library support
• Easy imports from external rips

Most new development appears to be focused on video related features.  I have no interest in the video features, haven't and probably will never use them.

[m@Xist]

So help me out.  Why did you choose JRiver?

My first encounter with MC was when I dedicated myself to convolution filters and came across Ueli (I use Acourate to create my filters), who told my about the built in convolution engine. So I gave it a try. When I realized that the GUI is not really what I was used to on a Mac, and the uncertainty whether it would interact well with the iTunes lib, I compared MC to the other solutions (Audirvana, Pure Music, BitPerfect), but they all have their flip sides. So finally I chose MC.
- Convolution engine w/ auto switching
- With one license multiple clients can be used
- Superb JRemote
- Scripting, custom library fields, custom playlists
- Mac and Win support
- Price lower than other competitors
- Syncs well on iTunes lib changes (as I still use iTunes as my main lib)

[rolf_eigenheer]

Media Center is most powerful multimedia database and organizing tool.
The user definable filters and views allow overview over thousands of movies, images and sounds stored on different locations. It helps me finding duplicates, allows sorting and storing in customizeable schema. Out of the box, it can do a lot - but more important: It allows it do your way.

The user interface is great. It is a bit more complex than spotify. But a Jet requires some more instruments than a car.

There are many tools around which make a lot of people happy. Mostly because they have no price. For users which care about privacy, users which like to own a song instead of streaming, and users which for whatever reasons won't go with rest - for these users MC is probably the best.  Thanks JRiver!

[UncleMilt]

My media library is old (many decades like me) and is now very large and cumbersome.  Worse yet - I never want to get rid of anything, even if I don’t listen to it anymore.

In the end, having tried everything else (everything available for PC), JRiver Media Center is the last true media player standing. It works extremely well!

I chose JRiver Media Center for the following:

•   flexibility of playback options. It talks to my DACs anyway I wish!
•   It plays and catalogs all my music regardless of file format. It even converts my old space hogging formats to better ones.
•   It is powerful enough to handle more than 20 TB of music (all other platforms cratered much earlier)
•   database querying and tagging capabilities - are fantastic
•   point-and-click asset navigation is seamless, customizable, and very powerful
•   Play Doctor helps me explore my library in a totally different dimension
•   it has JRemote as a remote app for iOS and Android that works just great!
•   in-home media sharing and client/server functions are powerful and flexible
•   the forum, as a tech support vehicle, has been effective and rewarding
•   platform continues to evolve, which makes me happy

In my opinion, the application/platform is worth (way) more than what they’re charging.
I have been a customer since version 18 and it’s only gotten better!
One happy customer.

[iphigenie]

Keeping this thread alive

Strangely why I chose JRiver originally a very very long time ago was for creating Mp3.

It was the one program I found that had an uninterrupted workflow. Put CD in, it automatically digitised (to ogg or mp3 back then), looked up names, kicked CD out, you put the next one. I could keep going about my business and swapping CDs whenever I saw them, then after a session, go clean up the album details that were incorrect.
When you have 100s of CDs that was worth the price.

Why I kept it and upgraded after that, probably still all the library management, and then the DLNA support and jriver server.

I dont even scratch the surface all all the audiophile settings, or video or TV etc though I keep thinking I should

Why I keep upgrading every other version? Habit, support, and hope that perhaps this time around zone time delay settings will work and allow me to play both on my room GGMMs and on my local hifi...

[S. Pupp]

I chose JRiver for the audiophile capabilities only for my stereo hifi setup, signing on at version 23.

As support for Windows 7 and its included Windows Media Center is coming to an end, I have tried various alternatives to WMC, but none of them met my needs.  It then occurred to me to use JRiver for that purpose, also.  It required quite a lot of tweaking to get the 10-foot interface to work as I needed it to, but the work was worthwhile. 

One of the best improvements over Windows Media Center, in my opinion, has to do with how the software handles recording two shows that are back to back on the same channel, when there are multiple tuners available.  JRiver will use two different tuners, allowing each show to have the specified extra minutes of recording before and after the show, to be sure that the show will be recorded in its entirety.  Windows Media Center uses one tuner for both shows, so that, inevitably, a minute or so will be cut off either the end of one show or the beginning of the next.

Summary:  Although purchased for its audiophile abilities, my main use is now as a home theater PC application.

[Rockets71]

I struggled for a number of years with Windows Media Player, then Winamp. Since I am viscerally opposed to anything pomaceous, I was in search of something that would allow me to fully digitize my library of compact discs at a fully uncompressed level that unlocks the full sound potential held within each album. I am quite certain that I am only scratching the surface of what is possible with MC (I don't use any of the video or networking features), but the connection between MC and my HT  Omega Claro Halo (with Burson Audio Supreme Sound Opamps) is wonderfully seamless, and allows me to fully enjoy the high resolution FLAC files I occasionally buy from HD Tracks. I look forward to each MC early bird update, and I look forward to enhancing my listening experience for years to come. Thank you and keep up the good work!

[Tom Taylor]

Will this work for a Pono.

[JimH]

Will this work for a Pono.

Yes.  I'll move this to a new thread on the Pono board here:

https://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php/board,41.0.html

[icanrule]

Here is a short list in order

1. Access to the library from remote connection is my favorite feature.  Have my videos and music on the go while outside of my home is number 1.
2. Tagging capabilities which is the original reason I got JRiver over a decade ago.
3. The play doctor
4. DLNA streaming within my network, especially being able to change the quality of the video because I have a few devices that can't play .265 video.

[Knitman]

I started with iTunes and hated the sound. Next Pure Music-too much fiddling and never got the sound right. Paid a fortune for Amarra(Ł400+) always gave me problems. Every update was a pita. Sound was good but took some doing. They just stopped supporting it and now sell a very much cheaper version which isn't what I want.

I knew about JRiver cos I used it for headphone music on a Windows machine whilst using a knitwear design program at the same time. Used a dac too. Liked it.

Then found it was available for Mac. So I bought it. Very easy to use.

I also use Audirvana. I find I use MC25 mainly. There are some things about MC I don't like or cannot find.

The fact I use MC25 almost all of the time thru a system that is an Audiolab 8300CDQ, 6 Monitor floor standers, one Monitor centre and two subs by and a Pro-Ject Xtension 10 Evolution deck.

[Screwdriver]

Been using JRiver 24 for a couple years, but for awhile I was using Audirvana exclusively because of the simplicity of the GUI, Since being in lockdown due to Covid, I revisited JRiver and found some new features like Cloudplay and upgraded to 26. Still using Audirvana for Qobuz and Tidal, but have been using JRiver for my music and movies when on my PC.

Anyhow, I think JRiver is the most feature rich/value media player around...at least for my uses.

[alb]

I stumbled upon JRiver because I was never satisfied with other media all-in-one products I had tried until that point.  JRiver was completely unknown to me.  I loved the look and the organizational capabilities especially for Video files, mostly movies & tv shows.  With my audio files, there was something different than what I was used to.  I couldn't tell you exactly what, but I swore to people my music sounded better via JRiver than it did via MediaMonkey.  Now, I loved MediaMonkey for many years but really wanted an all-in-one media solution.  My media Libraries were getting bigger and bigger and I needed something that would laugh at the growing number of songs and movies/tv shows I had.  JRiver just worked.  And it worked very, very well.  It was only after I convinced my roommate, at the time, that my switch to JRiver was permanent.

JRiver effortlessly delivers my content from my server.  I am so happy with JRiver, at this point, I wouldn't even consider switching software, no matter what it features.  There isn't anything I need that JRiver can't do for me.  Well, there is ONE thing.  I can't set Media Sub Type to "Extras" because it's not on the list.        I want to have my bonus disc material accessible from JRiver without it mucking up my 4K Content, Movies or TV Shows views.  For now, I use "Other" and I hate it.  I am very surprised no one ever asked for "Extras" to be added to Media Sub Type.  I am very anal about the organization of my media.   

[Matt]

Well, there is ONE thing.  I can't set Media Sub Type to "Extras" because it's not on the list.      

We can probably do this for you.  Thanks for the kind words.

Looking more, we added Extras in 26.0.9:
Changed: Added the media subtype of "Extras".

Make sure you're on the latest.

[alb]

We can probably do this for you.  Thanks for the kind words.

Looking more, we added Extras in 26.0.9:
Changed: Added the media subtype of "Extras".

Make sure you're on the latest.

Are you kidding me?  I am speechless.  I can't believe you did that so quickly.

Thank you very much, Matt!  Honestly, I'm sitting here confused...did that just happen??      

Wow!   

[RoderickGI]

So quickly, he did it in the past. Last December 4th.

Even time travel doesn't stop Matt!

[wer]

Yeah, I even seem to remember him mentioning at the time "alb is going to request this in the spring, so I guess I'd better add it now so he doesn't have to wait."

[alb]

So quickly, he did it in the past. Last December 4th.

Even time travel doesn't stop Matt!

No way, really?  Wow...I hadn't been very active in the forums for several months.  I guess I missed it.  Wait...December?  So, that would have been MC 25.x.x or was MC 26 already alive?  I didn't even know MC 26 existed until about 3-4 weeks ago. 

Yeah, I even seem to remember him mentioning at the time "alb is going to request this in the spring, so I guess I'd better add it now so he doesn't have to wait."

Oh, gosh...really??  And I missed it?  Darn it.  I could have been rolling in Extras bliss all of this time?!  I can't wait to see what he adds for me next...I mean, I wonder what I'm going to want this fall.  I should probably ask Matt.         

[Jamil]

I am a little late for this thread, but I answer the question per the subject:

The quick answer:  MC26 is the most stable and reliable player I have ever used in terms of my music playing while I perform other activities on my computer.  No other player that I have ever used is this responsive, reliable, and consistent while playing music. 

I own a workstation class computer with plenty of CPU cores and threads available allowing me to do many tasks simultaneously.  MC26 continues playing regardless without missing a beat whereas other players struggle to keep up for various reasons.

[CPW0802]

The main reason for choosing JRiver was for a replacement to for my old Windows Media Centre PC.
I found windows media centre a great DVR and was disappointed when Microsoft dropped it.

JRiver was the best option.  My existing hardware is over 10 years old, and I have only updated it to windows 10, and a SSD drive for windows and new hard drives for storage.  JRiver works great on this level of equipment, records and plays back all my video media perfectly and quick.

Great option for anyone wanting a quick reliable DVR that works on old and new hardware.

[Tsubasachan]

So after using JRiver for a while I decided to purchase it after seeing you guys add support for anime subs. I mean I had tried so many media-players and this one has everything I want, if good software isnt supported it goes poof and don't want JRiver to go poof.

[fjk1138]

I chose JRiver because iTunes is (was?) the dominant music and movie library program for a long time. It's also glitchy as hell, and I've had so many issues with it over the years that I basically hate it beyond words at this point.  I now use it to buy movies occasionally, and that's it.  The iTunes store freezes up on me almost all the time now and it never displays the music or movie artwork correctly.  Because of all the issues with iTunes (and because they have too much control anyway), I refuse to use any Apple products ever since (no Macs, no iPhone, I won't even use ProTools, etc) and I use an Android cell phone.

A few months ago, I did a search for alternate music library programs and after trying others without much success I came across MC26. Within mere minutes of using it, I learned that the sound quality, interface, and options of JRiver MC26 are superior to iTunes in just about every way possible.  I use it exclusively to play my music library, but really don't use any of the "extra" features.  I'm not into streaming at all, and using plain old Windows Media Player for movies is fine with me.  In fact, on future releases if there could be a way to turn off those features and simplify the view/menus/options, etc that would make it even better for me.

[JimH]

fjk1138,
Thanks.  Take a look here:
https://wiki.jriver.com/index.php/Simplified_Interface

[PaulGJ]

It is the very best.

[zippy]

I think I started out with version 11. I had started ripping my CD collection and quickly discovered how poor database libraries were back then, you really needed to edit the entries yourself. JRiver was the only media center where you could edit "Tags" simply and easily. Then I discover Rename, Fill Track numbers, Clean Properties & oh heaven 'Flip Flop'
What a really great set of Library tools.
Add your own Tag fields........ I have my own field for "Featured Artists", keeps all other Artist field and Track names clean
Gizmo plays my own library from anywhere!
DLNA links up with SONOS
And the latest best addition for me, lyric lookup.  Now I don't have to search, copy and paste anymore!
Also Interact and its members, where I have found the answer to all those "I wonder how to do this" moments

[Sangie]

Because MediaMonkey didn't work in MacOS lol. My favorite feature is rename/move files by tags. It's brilliant. I also needed full control over my massive audio section and super stoked I can also sort pictures and movies as well. It's an amazing program... but paying $25-30 every single version is a bit old. I'd rather just pay monthly for it and always know I have the latest and greatest. <3

[asathor]

I like the idea of well supported software that will be around and don't mind paying for that.
The sound is awesome and the ability to use Asio Drivers and control Windows from the App with different DACs are my primary concerns.

[Paul Coddington]

- WASAPI/ASIO BitPerfect support
- madVR neuronal scaling with color management based on monitor profile
- 64-bit DSP, especially VST plugin support

The downside is that I find the interface has more features than I need and feels cluttered, but the good news is that just about everything I don't want to use can be hidden/disabled using the customization features. Once the new flat Windows 10 style skins were added some time back, it looks great when stripped back and simplified and does not overload my neurological impairments with too many options.

[GaryG45]

I started to use Foobar2K to play my music and later heard about JRiver on a few forums.  I saw that it had more features than Foobar2K, so I decided to try it.  I started with MC25 and didn’t use it much.  I upgraded to MC 26 and began to use it more.

When I discovered that I could play my music on my Bose Soundbar and Bose Portable Home Speaker without having to deal with the terrible Bose app, I was very glad I chose it.

Another reason is that I’m able to play my 24/96 vinyl rips on my Sonos speaker, so I can delete the 16/44.1 duplicates.

One thing I really like is the helpful, friendly forum.  A big help with configuration questions and other questions.  Forum searches have answered a lot of my questions, although it sometimes takes many searches to find the answers.

Although I only planned to use JRiver for my music, I’ve begun to think about using it with my photos.  I doubt if I’ll replace PLEX for my videos, but I plan to explore the video feature.

There are features/functions that I want to investigate to determine if I want to or need to use them, and at the same time increase my knowledge about audio.  An example is the Expression Language.  I’ve seen examples and understand the syntax, but other than the Expression Column I don’t know other places where I can use the Expression Language.  They are probably staring me in the face, and with more research I’ll find them.

[bg]

Began trying media players to learn my preferences. JRiver for Win was what I preferred.

Don't judge the time I've been with JR by how long I've posted on this forum. I was with JR long before posting on forum. Been through many versions of MC (separate Win and Mac licenses + a master license).

Tried streaming services. Not what I require. A jpg of cover art suits me. I don't want or need oodles of artist pics and info. I've read biographies and other docs on many artists I like. I prefer to research artist info myself, not have it spoon fed to me on Roon or whatever. I grew-up in age of LP's, so yeah, nice to have cover art and back of LP info, but that was then and this is now.

Bottom line, with close to 25,000 FLAC files - prefer MC in audio-only mode. Would give JR more of my money, but for a audio-only Mac and/or Win version. I'd pay for that.

Thank you JR. You have awesome coders.

[Seisteve]

Hi,

I simply wanted the best playback and management tool for 100,000+ music tracks collected over the years...

I got one... the playback is awesome...  but library management is good but for an end-user (I only use the UI) the library does weird nuts and duplicates track way too often.

But the quality was the driver for me.

So I do wonder how much more business there is out there if the UI was more 'dumb-user' friendly... great Power requires responsibility

Steve

Happy to talk.... if it helps

[voodoo5_6k]

Hi there,

And thanks for making this great piece of software!

With that out of the way, why did I chose JRiver Media Center?

This was somewhat of a journey for me...

In the olden days of the great CRT TVs (still love them) my first HTPC used PowerDVD. I was pretty happy with it for many years. Flat TVs came, the HTPC evolved, and got connected purely digital. Everything was good. But with PowerDVD 13.0 the troubles began. They ditched their custom scaling which I needed for some edge cases of DVDs with aspect ratio issues. I kept asking them for that feature to return, but they didn't care. I had a hard time even trying to get them to acknowledge that it was needed for these specific cases. Anyhow, I was stuck at version 12.0. No big deal, as it still played everything I needed.

Then, a new media type entered my library. A standalone video in *.mkv format. Until then, my library consisted entirely of DVDs and BDs, nothing else. With the *.mkv came the *.srt. According to the PowerDVD manual, one could add a language code to the *.srt filename to make selection easier in the GUI. But, after a lengthy session with their support I learned several things. First, this feature only works for Chinese and English subtitles. Not good enough. Second, they don't support PowerDVD 12.0 under Windows 10. Even worse. Third, they don't really care about their legacy customers. Really bad. On that day, I decided that PowerDVD had to be replaced.

Ideally, a single solution had to be found. Required features were:

• Very good image & audio quality
• Very good aspect ratio correction options
• DVD & BD playback with menus
• Support for other video formats & external subtitles

First, I tested WinDVD 12 Pro. I found no obvious issues with BD playback (that was to be expected from the other big commercial solution). But their aspect ratio correction capabilities were laughable, at best. So, I started looking into additional players for DVD playback.

I tested VLC again, after many years. And it was still bad, especially the image quality for DVD upscaling. A joke. In the past, I had liked the MPC-HC project, but that is more or less dead. The follow-up didn't really cut it for me. Next one was MPC-BE. It did work pretty good, especially in combination with LAV filters and madVR (madVR's image quality even made me upgrade the HTPC with a huge dedicated GPU after I just had shrunk it earlier this year because it didn't need large internal storage capacities anymore, thanks to TrueNAS). The preview image on the seek bar was also really neat. I almost settled for it. But it kept producing more or less rare random hick-ups, with playback halting for seconds, or minutes, sometimes recovering, sometimes crashing...

Also, I found some annoying audio issues with WinDVD 12 Pro during playback of certain BDs (reproducible crackling). Minor, but annoying. And no audio configuration options...

So, my requirements got more specific (i.e. madVR support was required). The hypothetical new media player should fulfill the following:

• Support for madVR
• Very good audio quality
• Very good aspect ratio correction options
• DVD & BD playback with menus
• Support for other video formats & external subtitles

I had seen JRiver Media Center before, but just now decided to finally give it a try. I knew about it from my madVR research. On madVR's list of supported media players, it was the only other promising choice after both MPC's failed me and most of the other software vendors didn't look trustworthy to me.

Although I just needed JRiver Media Center as a media player for the moment, I thought it deserved to get a chance. I switched it to Red October HQ, configured madVR as I had in MPC-BE, disabled a lot of features and activated the display view as the startup view (it would be great if it had a "video player only" mode, analogue to the "audio only" mode). I also set the audio device to WASAPI, and enabled BD menus. Then I tested it with the aforementioned aspect ratio edge cases (all good!), with several BDs, some with "odd" menus, and all worked so far (although I needed a keyboard or remote for some menus, the mouse emulation is not yet there...), and all was good. The crackling observed in WinDVD 12 Pro is also gone, as far as I can tell. Great! Also, no playback issues like with MPC-BE so far, using the same sources. Excellent! VideoClock easily improved on the video vs. audio clock misalignment issue. Wonderful!

I bought a license the very same day! I have not even looked at the much praised library function of JRiver Media Center, not for a single second. Just finally having a media player that does (almost) everything I need is well worth the license fee. Of course, just like with any other software, not all is golden or perfect (e.g. BD menu mouse emulation).

Going back to the requirements:

• Support for madVR --> OK! (In combination with VideoClock the playback is really smooth)
• Very good audio quality --> OK! (Even surpassing all solutions I had used or tested before)
• Very good aspect ratio correction options --> OK! (Passed all my test cases)
• DVD & BD playback with menus --> OK! (Although not yet perfect)
• Support for other video formats & external subtitles --> OK! (Although I cannot get the language code to work, in the GUI it is just part of the *.srt filename, but not recognized)

So, to summarize... JRiver Media Center exceeded my expectations (without even considering its vast library capabilities) and is now my ultimate HTPC media player! Thanks again for making and continuously improving this great piece of software!

[SandsOfArrakis]

I've used many different music software over the years.

But what sold JRiver for me was :

- Easy to use.
- Was able to get all my tags done (finally)
- Works on Windows, macOS and Linux. Since I use all 3 systems that Master License sure is a brilliant thing
- Easy to use my Android smartphone to stream music through my network with the JRiver Remote app

And so far. It's never crashed one me, and I have been using the software for about 6 years now

[steviewonders]

I've been using JRiver for 9 years now. My reasons for switching from Winamp back in the day was that it had very versatile cataloguing options and organisation and also looked slightly better than Winamp in UI aesthetics. Winamp was the nuts back then  . They were a worthy opponent.

[isaccasi1234]

Hey Everyone:

JRiver Media Center plays everything, even DSD/DSF, and is relatively easy to navigate & of course, it is a very nice looking player.

[m.i.c.k.e.y]

What JRiver can do that MOST could not:

Playing HQ video w/ audio passing through your DAC/Receiver (w/ upsampling, DSP, VST etc. -> in ASIO).

Others are great Audio Players, Video Players, TV Players...with Network, DSP functionality but very seldom they could do that above.

[elo]

I started to use JRiver 22 years ago I think. My original interest for it was Playback of Music and it still is my major reason for choosing MC. During the time passed the development has shown significant innovation and today there is NO player that can match MC with regards to versatility and ability to tune the listening experience from simple EQs to the possibility of advanced DSP processing. Also the ease of setup and the stability is in a separate class. Especially the LIBRARY system which is brilliant combined with the streaming options (in my home and to my friends and family).Further the playback and streaming options for Video is on a similar level.. 

I GLADLY PAY THE VERY FAIR PRICE to use the player and to support the team behind it.

[Soundwave]

Hi everyone 

JRiver just makes other options seem ridiculous. Perhaps some players are more "streamlined" in interface or something. But with that, comes the almost-necessity of dumbing down a program, or making it custom fit one specific purpose really well (usually an aesthetic ordeal at best for many instances).

The developers/company seem like normal people, not some sort of recluses. That really is a nice thing to see (even if they're at the receiving end of backlash sometimes unfortunately).

The program itself is really customizable, and I appreciate the breadth of DSP options it offers. They seem to take objective performance and technical operation as key, unlike some others that seem to just be selling blatant audiophoolery.

I never thought a program like this could exist for music (and funnily enough I see on the forums lots of people using it for video as well). Thank you so much guys.