JRiver Media Center 16.0.178 Update Options

[JimH]

For those who know JRiver Media Center, here's the latest release. I'll start an owners thread soon to interact with our userbase here.

Download link
JRiver forum announcement topic

New Media Center 16 Features

• Play Doctor -- Successor to Play as Radio, it asks you for an artist, genre, etc, then builds a playlist of about 6 hours that includes your request and adds additional tracks. Can add from Last.FM, too. Save as Playcharts. Click on Playing Now to begin.
• DLNA II -- Reorganized "from" and "to" lists in Playing Now. Select your server. Select your destination. Play. Works with the J. River Id. Right click to hide a server.
• DLNA Server as a Library -- Load media from a DLNA Server and use it as if it were a local library.
• Netflix Browsing -- Instant Queue, Browse by Genre, Automatic Full Screen, Support for Media Center Remote, Series Grouping.
• Relational Fields -- Several fields are now relational.
• Artist Images -- View your Artists with artist photos instead of album covers.
• Lip Sync Therapy -- AKA King's Speech. MC16 can adjust your audio to match your video. Alternate to reclock.
• Analyzer DSP plugin -- Can show calibrated frequency information per output channel. May become a visualization in a future build.
• Search II -- Revised search added for Theater View and Gizmo. Fuzzy matching.
• Room Correction -- Improved look and operation.
• And more...

This post has been edited by Garf: Sep 27 2011, 17:40

[JimH]

With garf's kind permission, I'd like to start a thread for discussion of JRiver Media Center.

For those who know us, thanks very much for your past support.

Here are some useful links:
JRiver Web Site

Our forum -- Interact

New features in MC16

Download page

Audiophile info

Review at computeraudiophile.com

JRiver Owners' thread on video at AVSForum

For those who don't know us, JRiver Media Center

• Organizes and plays most types of media files (around 100 formats).
  
• Supports most players, phones, and DAC's
  
• Audiophile quality -- ASIO, WASAPI, 64bit data path, VST, etc.
  
• Remote control from MC Remote, Harmony, Gizmo on Android
  
• Developer tools
  
• DLNA, UPnP
  
• Shared library, multiple libraries
  
• Zones -- play audio or video in multiple locations from a single instance
  
• Red October -- DirectShow Video
  
• Theater View -- Ten foot GUI for TV's
  
• TV recording
  
• Netflix, Hulu, Youtube

To the many foobar users here, we salute you and your community. Many of our users also love foobar.

This post has been edited by JimH: Sep 27 2011, 19:08

[seVen]

I would like to use JRiver, if finally get support for files with embedded cue sheets... Jim???

This post has been edited by seVen: Sep 29 2011, 21:15

[JimH]

I would like to use JRiver, if finally get support for files with embedded cue sheets... Jim???

MC supports CUE files. I'm not familiar with an embedded cue sheet. I'll check.

[Canar]

With garf's kind permission, I'd like to start a thread for discussion of JRiver Media Center.

As this may give the wrong impression, although hydrogenaudio hosts the foobar2000 forums, they are distinct entities. Discussion of any audio player is welcome without any kind of explicit permission required.

That said, JRiver Media Center has always had a great reputation around here. I'm glad to see you guys active!

This post has been edited by Canar: Sep 30 2011, 16:33

[JimH]

That said, JRiver Media Center has always had a great reputation around here. I'm glad to see you guys active!

Thanks, Canar.

seVen,
The answer is unfortunately no. We'll consider adding it.

[seVen]

Thanks for considering it!

[JimH]

Here's the newsletter we mailed today.

Jim


THE BEST MEDIA SOLUTION -- NOW AT A GREAT PRICE

Beta builds of JRiver Media Center 17.0 are now available.

You can purchase at a special price through November 15. Upgrade for
$18.98 or purchase a new license for $44.98. Learn more on the new MC17
board here:
http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?board=23.0

If you've already upgraded, Thank you!

Two Upgrades for the Price of One
If you purchase either MC16 or MC17 now, you will receive an MC17 license
that works with both versions (this began on October 1). Upgrade
instructions and a partial list of new features of MC17 so far are here:
http://wiki.jriver.com/index.php/Upgrade_to_MC17

Alternate Purchase Method
If you'd like to take advantage of the reduced upgrade price, but don't want
to install MC17 yet, just visit the link above for details.

AUDIO
Play Doctor Makes it Simple
Enter any artist and MC will build a four hour playlist of similar music.
It's an easy way to enjoy your music.

The Audiophile Choice
MC17 has DSD support. JRiver continues to be the leader in audiophile
quality music. Most audiophile equipment manufacturers now know or
recommend JRiver. Manufacturers include Ayre, Linn, PSAudio, BelCanto, and
many others.

Volume Leveling on Device Sync
MC17 can apply volume leveling and other DSP effects when you sync to a
handheld.

Upsample by Samplerate
You can set MC17 to output 88.2 kHz for all your 44.1 files, but set it to
96 kHz for your 48.0 files. Specify what you want for each samplerate.

VIDEO
MC16's Red October method of using DirectShow filters has been extremely
successful in making high quality video available without any setup
problems. MC has earned a position as a first tier video player and HTPC
solution. MC17's subtitle engine is the best available.

Blu-ray Discs and Rips Play Now
MC now plays Blu-ray discs or rips with full control of the audio stream so
you can enjoy surround sound. See the New Features topic on the MC17 board
for a link.

Play Your Videos and DVD's with Android
MC17 can convert and stream video to Gizmo on an Android device. You could
watch a DVD in bed on a Samsung Galaxy Tab, for example.

Movie Info
With a ripped Blu-ray or DVD, you can right click and choose "Look up Movie
Info" to get cover art, plot summaries, actors, etc. Sources include TMDb,
Wikipedia, and Rotten Tomatoes.

Television
MC17 has a new grid style EPG. MC will automatically display background art
from TVDB for TV programs.

MORE
Library Backup and Restore
You may know that MC makes automatic backups. Now you can choose to restore
your settings when you restore a backup. This is a great way to transfer
settings to another PC.

Share the Good News
Please consider helping us expand the JRiver sphere by linking to our site
or by posting on other forums. We've grown nicely in the last few years,
but we'd love to accelerate our development. You can help make that happen.

A New Look at JRiver
We've launched a new web site at jriver.com. It's a structural change
that will allow us to address different kinds of customers differently.
Audiophiles and Videophiles will now have different areas to explore, for
example. And we've changed the company name from J. River to JRiver to make
searches work better.

Thanks for your support.

Best regards,

JRiver

Tips
Startup mode can be specified under Tools/Option/Startup. You can set MC to
start where you left it last time, for example, or with the same tabs shown.

Features can be removed in Tools/Options/General/Features. Simplify the
program to show just what you want. Services can be removed in
Tools/Plug-in Manager/Services. Click the small triangle next to "Store"
and select what you want, then press Hide or Show.

[JimH]

We've recently added the ability to specify the output samplerate according to each file's samplerate.

For example, you can play all 44.1Khz files at 88.2 and all 96Khz files at 96.

It's configured under DSP Studio's Output Format.



Larger image

This post has been edited by JimH: Nov 30 2011, 21:01

[JimH]

I apparently violated the terms of service so several posts were moved to the recycle bin.

http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index....showtopic=92138

I apologize for the perceived violation, but I think the article had some redeeming social value. I'm sorry you didn't. I will try to be more careful in the future.

FWIW, on our forum, we also struggle with the issue of where facts and opinion part on audiophile concerns.

[Canar]

I apparently violated the terms of service so several posts were moved to the recycle bin.

http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index....showtopic=92138

I apologize for the perceived violation, but I think the article had some redeeming social value. I'm sorry you didn't. I will try to be more careful in the future.

I've moved this thread back in to General Audio. I think a topic split is somewhat warranted. People seem to be a bit chatty in this case, so I'm doing this to encourage discussion.

[JimH]

I've moved this thread back in to General Audio. I think a topic split is somewhat warranted. People seem to be a bit chatty in this case, so I'm doing this to encourage discussion.

You have a generous spirit. Thanks.

[JimH]

Here's a link to a similar discussion on our forum:
http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?...58911#msg458911

[q-stankovic]

What i really like about Jriver MC is that it is the only player (edit: apart from foobar2000) that allows you to tag your music with custom fields rather than providing a set of fixed ones. All in all it seems to be a complete program that offers some features that i would like to have in foobar 2000, especially data burning on cd. Not to mention that you have the same freedom in regard to pictures and videos.

JimH, there is one ugly point in the tag writing of Jr Mc which makes compatibilty nearly impossible. When writing a custom nonstandard tag Jr MC writes in front of the name and the version number of the program. The last time i had a look that was changed for either ogg or flac or ape - i can't remember which one. How high is the probability that someday Jr MC will write the simple field name as tag frame without any additions and that for all files where possible?

By the way: Its name is foobar2000!

This post has been edited by q-stankovic: Dec 6 2011, 18:54

[Alex B]

... there is one ugly point in the tag writing of Jr Mc which makes compatibilty nearly impossible. When writing a custom nonstandard tag Jr MC writes in front of the name and the version number of the program. The last time i had a look that was changed for either ogg or flac or ape - i can't remember which one. How high is the probability that someday Jr MC will write the simple field name as tag frame without any additions and that for all files where possible?

Actually the current implementation writes the custom tag headers exactly "as they are" to MP3 (it uses the ID3v2 TXXX frames similarly like fb2k), FLAC, Ogg Vorbis, and M4A (AAC-LC, AAC-HE or ALAC in MP4 container) files.

JRiver has not yet changed the Monkey's Audio and Musepack input plugin & tagging components (that use the APEv2 format) in a similar way. The commonly used tags are handled in the usual way, but the user defined custom tags that MC writes still get an additional proprietary identifier in front of the physical tag header. This identifier is not exposed inside MC's user interface, but the behavior makes impossible to e.g. create a tag frame like "My Custom Tag" in fb2k and import the tag value to MC's database. The newer WavPack plugin (APEv2 tagger) does not have this problem. It writes the tag headers as they show up in MC or foobar2000.

I hope JRiver can address this issue before MC17 is finalized.

This post has been edited by Alex B: Dec 6 2011, 19:42

[q-stankovic]

Alex B,

does that also mean that Jr MC can read the replaygain values for the mentioned files (mp3, ogg, flac, m4a, ape) made with foobar2000 and vice versa?

Edit:
I am curious to know which video and image files Jr MC can tag

This post has been edited by q-stankovic: Dec 6 2011, 21:09

[JimH]

I am curious to know which video and image files Jr MC can tag

For images, MC reads EXIF and TIFF, and writes its own tags.

Most video is tagged using XML sidecar files.

MC has its own database, so it can store tags there and not modify the files if that's your preference.

By the way, JRiver turned 30 last month. I just posted a few pictures:

http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?...59280#msg459280

[JimH]

We mailed this newsletter yesterday. It's mainly about audio enhancements.

Jim

-----------

Good day and end-of-year greetings from the JRiver team (pictures in the last link below). We'd like to share what's new for MC17 and a special offer. Here's to a brighter new year for all!

Getting the Best Sound from JRiver
If you run Vista or Win7, you can get the best audio by using WASAPI or ASIO. More here: http://wiki.jriver.com/index.php/Audio_Output_Modes

JRiver Media Center is Now Even Faster
Every version we say this, and every version it's true. We constantly find ways to improve response. We recently tested against iTunes and found that JRiver Media Center was from 4 to 175 times faster. (Windows Media Player was even slower than iTunes.) More here: http://www.jriver.com/speed.html

Save a Little by Upgrading Now
JRiver Media Center version 17 still in beta, but it's safe to use as your primary player. MC17 will automatically import your settings and your library from MC15 or MC16. Through December 10, you can save a few dollars when you upgrade:
http://wiki.jriver.com/index.php/Upgrade_to_MC17

Buy Now, Run Later
If you'd rather run your old version for a while longer, you can still purchase an MC17 license for $23.98 through December 12. See the "Alternate Purchase Method" on the page above.

Pure Audio Enhancements
Here's the new feature list as of MC 17.0.46. There are more to come. Your MC17 license will entitle you to free updates to any MC17 version. It's about 1/3 of the way through the cycle now.

Volume leveling and other DSP effects can be applied in a sync to a handheld

Gapless iTunes encoded MP3 playback

Resample by Sample Rate -- set MC17 to output any sample rate for each sample rate you have -- 88.2 for 44.1, for example

DSD bitstreaming over ASIO -- Super Audio CD quality if your equipment supports it.

Audio Path Direct -- An information window that shows what DSP effects are being applied (if any). Hover over the small DSP icon in the upper right corner while audio is playing.

384,000 Hz upsampling, 1GB memory playback, low-shelf / high-shelf, null output sound device, and 24-bit/5.1 DLNA playback

More Features Here
http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=66848.0

Media Jukebox Users
If you use Media Jukebox 12 or 14, you can take advantage of the many new audio features in MC but still keep a simple audio look by disabling the features you don't want in Options/General/Features. If sound quality is important, MC has a big advantage over MJ when you use ASIO or WASAPI. And an MJ8 license is eligible for the MC17 upgrade price.

JRiver at 30
JRiver was 30 years old last month. We posted a few pictures that you can find here:
http://www.jriver.com/30.html Thanks for making this possible.

Happy Holidays and Best Wishes.

JRiver

[Seeking_Lossless]

No special offer during Xmas? I'm interested but the price is little bit high at the moment. Now i'm on trial.

[JimH]

No special offer on new purchases, sorry. Only a few dollars on upgrades.

[JimH]

There are a couple of new third party options for remote control from phones:
http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=67831.0

[JimH]

Our latest version (17.0) is now considered stable. Here's the newsletter we're sending:

http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=69282.0

[pluchon]

JR Media Center is at the forefront of the business for its ability to handfle high sampling frequencies and bit depths. WASAPI vs. ASIO, etc. Stuff of the rarefied audiophile world.

But its Achilles' heel is in the world below. Any tag change from inside JRMC also forces a datestamp change. MediaMonkey is more flexible in this regard. Two options (off by default) allow it both to make its own tag changes *and* to detect tag changes made by similarly capable software while date stamps remain unchanged. You can maintain carefully archived libraries that way.

It's surprising that JRMC still relies on a brute force tracking method while more advanced techniques have been around for a long time. About 10 years ago, Kaspersky's antivirus used to write a "stealth" signature on each file it scanned to fast-detect any future change to that file. You could not see any evidence of that change through Windows Explorer. The file looked untouched. Yet my antitrojan could see the change.

Anyway, there is no need to go through so much trouble for audio files. You can change the size of a file without changing its date. Any file manager that compares folders side by side will flag two files identical in name and date but different in size (for example, Fastlynx, Laplink, PowerDesk, FolderMatch do that).

So I bought MM for its file handling sophistication. And I am contemplating JRMC for experimenting in the world beyond 44.1/16. It's OK to reward two great teams, but not to straddle several horses. Foobar is the latest horse I am straddling, after I discovered its amazing ABXing ability today. But I don't mind ABXing separately, since it's a lab activity separate from regular listening.

This post has been edited by pluchon: Mar 14 2012, 05:15

[FasterThanEver]

Any tag change from inside JRMC also forces a datestamp change.

It's surprising that JRMC still relies on a brute force tracking method while more advanced techniques have been around for a long time. About 10 years ago, Kaspersky's antivirus used to write a "stealth" signature on each file it scanned to fast-detect any future change to that file. You could not see any evidence of that change through Windows Explorer. The file looked untouched. Yet my antitrojan could see the change.

I can't imagine why I would want any program to change a file and not force a timestamp change. I want to see a meaningful value when I look at a file's modified time in Windows Explorer. My backup software relies on the date/time modified info for incremental backups. I avoid any software that subverts the standard behavior.

Your personal preference may be for a tag editor that subverts the standard file timestamp mechanism. That fact that JRiver behaves as a Windows program should is evidence of good design.

Bill

[db1989]

I agree.
Stop complaining about the fact that a program that is not designed for covert purposes acts in the way that it is supposed to.

Also, what is this—

JR Media Center is at the forefront of the business for its ability to handfle high sampling frequencies and bit depths. WASAPI vs. ASIO, etc. Stuff of the rarefied audiophile world.

—supposed to mean?
Do other players not support “high sampling frequencies and bit depths”. What do output methods have to do with “the rarefied audiophile world”, and just what is that?