CHANGSTAR: Audiophile Headphone Reviews and Early 90s Style BBS
Lobby => Headphone, IEM, and Other Audio Related Discussion => Topic started by: mkubota1 on September 28, 2014, 09:01:45 AM
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A little surprised we don’t have a thread for this (unless I missed it). It gets discussed enough I suppose. Well, here goes…
For starters I’m one of those guys who thinks (OSX) iTunes is good enough: Sounds okay to me (though I’ve yet to do a serious comparison… coming soon), polished interface, and dead reliable. Those last two are biggies for me. But I got drawn into crossfeed which leaves me with the option of picking another player that has it built-in or accepts AU/VST plug-ins, or going the hardware route- SPL Phonitor 2 or Mini. I’m trying not to drop that $1800; but with pre-outs, remote capability, and drop-dead looks, the ‘2 is tempting. For hardware, I want more than a simple on/off setting.
I went through the usual suspects-
Amarra (no plug-ins), Audirvana, Pure Music, BitPerfect (bare bones), Decibel, Fidelia (built-in crossfeed), and JRiver (built-in crossfeed).
I know JRiver is pretty popular around here and it was the first one that I tried. I really liked the simple crossfeed on it. But I guess I’m just too stuck on the iTunes interface because I just wasn’t feeling it with JRiver’s. Also and probably most importantly, I’ve actually had the program freeze on me a few times. (2012 MBPretina, maxed out, OSX 10.9.5/ 10.10) Weird.
Long story short, I think I’ve decided on Audirvana with TB Isone (AU). I like the features of Isone and its adjustability starts with almost no effects and goes upward from there. As for Audirvana itself, I like how it gives you finer volume steps with the volume keys without having to do the Shift-Alt-Vol thing. I wish they could have different sizes for the player because it seems to take up more space than necessary. Pure Music was a close runner-up using the same TB Isone plug-in. I like the compact display and how it docks with the iTunes window. But again I thought the ticker/ meter display was quite ugly and it’s annoying how the play button on iTunes always shows ‘Play’ no matter what. It’s too bad because I really wanted to like this one.
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Can't find a reason I'd use anything more than Foobar. DSD, plug-ins, easy to customize UI, lightweight, ASIO options..
EDIT: Oops. Not for Mac. Probably why you didn't mention it.
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I have both Amarra and Audirvana, and use Audirvana about 85 percent of the time, in Playlist mode, which bypasses iTunes altogether. I put it in iTunes compatibility mode at meets, because so may more people are familiar and comfortable with the iTunes interface.
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I also use iTunes as my main player. Ratings, playlists, playcounts, etc. are all synced to my phone and are connected to my car when I'm on the go. iTunes is the main reason I still use an iPhone...
Another alternative on OSX is Vox. It's really bare as well but it's super small and fairly user friendly.
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I'm a big JRiver fan. That's what I use and I love the crossfeed. Frankly there are lots of good options but I think the biggest thing is bypassin iTunes' built in DSP that alters the sound regardless of any EQ being on.
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I used Media Monkey for a long time until it started to invade my album library. Music Bee can be nice too.
iTunes, if Apple was a tentacled creature I would hack off many of its tentacles. I once tried it on my computer but did not like it and de-installing it was more difficult than it should have been.
Within IOS iTUnes is the default media player and effectively works. Add VLC Player for other formats and media and you should be fine I guess...
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I use both JRMC and Audirvana Plus (with iTunes for playlist management/compatibility mode).
Most of the time, I use Audirvana. I have the same 2012 setup you do and have experienced the exact same crashing issues. JMRC for Mac also doesn't play well with Multi-monitor mac setups. In particular, the menu bar often pulls up menus on your Macbook monitor if you are working on your external. It's annoying.
I use JMRC on my Windows 7 box and love it there, but the OSX release just doesn't feel ready for primetime.
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I have the same 2012 setup you do and have experienced the exact same crashing issues.
Oh good- so it’s not just me! Yeah, JRMC just doesn’t seem that well optimized for OSX. I think most of the guys who use it here have Windows machines so that would make sense. It’s sort of like how sluggish iTunes is on Windows vs. on OSX. I’m pretty stuck in the Apple ecosystem (except for Safari and iCloud) and I like it. I’m willing to give up some things for integration, rock-solid stability, and good GUI.
I put it in iTunes compatibility mode at meets, because so may more people are familiar and comfortable with the iTunes interface.
That’s what I liked about BitPerfect- you could use iTunes like you normally do but get the benefits of the "back-end" processing; for me mostly the automatic bitrate switching. Unfortunately you can’t use plug-ins for it and it would crash once in a blue moon.
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I use Amarra 3.0.2 but I'm beginning to have serious misgivings. The software seems buggy and I have had to restart three-four times a day. Wonder if Audirvana is better..
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Ended up with gmusicbrowser for some reasons after amarok started to turn crazy after 1.4. I did so mainly for it's speed, mplayer integration and dozens of ways to make it sort and find stuff (making it look like quod-libet though, so I might give that a try).
For Windows Foobar, and Winamp for temporary files and streams.
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I liked Fidelia out of Mac players, vst host built-in, and more refined sound was why i used it instead of Itunes. The looks are hate/love thing. I personally like software as minimalistic as possible.
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PC here.
iTunes is intentionally broken on PC. Slow, pauses on start, etc. Seems like it was written in basic running on an IBM XT.
JRMC. Mainly for convenience. All add-ons I need are there. MadVR for video. Supported all the strange video formats used for porn. Two parametric EQs. Real time PCM to DSD and DSD to PCM conversion. Variable DSD filters. Bitrate conversion. Upsampling. Automatic album cover pull down. Crossfeed that doesn't screw up FR. I other words, I don't need to fuck with it. And there are no dialog boxes that pop up whenever I plug in my iPhone.
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Foobar.
Versatile, minimalistic, and quite nice-looking when you find a good skin.
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Foobar for me too.
(http://i.imgur.com/R8wASXB.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/Xj5wU3f.png)
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Nice skin.
Star ratings are a must for me, though.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/jsjb2rjze5nazdi/Untitled-1.jpg?dl=0
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I used to be a hardcore Foobar user but I've switched to JRMC on my windows machines. I'm using Audirvana+ on OSX and HQplayer on Linux.
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@jrmc users, do you set it to "flatline overflows" or "clip protection" when just using crossfeed and no other eq or dsp plugins?
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Foobar2000. Tried a few others. Foobar is fast. Plugins for Crossfeed, EQ, DSD. Customisable shortcut controls (my keyboard has a volume / mute knob, a couple keys do pause/play). Plays from RAM buffers. Very light load.
Can skin if u want too.
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foobar 2000 doesn't have J river crossfeed though :D
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I’m really turning into a crossfeed junkie with TB Isone. Now ‘regular’ (no crossfeed) sounds like bad surround sound or positioning your speakers at 9 and 3 o’clock. But like everything, it can be better/worse depending on the recording. And sometimes the “headphone effect” can be immersive. I’ll have to go back to JRMC’s crossfeed and see if I can replicate something close to it via Isone.
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I could never get a good setting with isone. It always sounded phasey to me. This was isone pro. TB isone however was a little bassy to me
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I like Musicbee on Windows. The devs are very helpful guys, receptive to new ideas, and the program serves as a decent media library.
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Foobar here. Ridiculously flexible and customizable, fast and clean, doesn't eat your CPU cycles, and supports basically every music codec ever conceived. You can even get input plugins that enable playback of native formats used by several video game consoles (Gamecube, N64, Genesis, SNES, etc). Can't get any more lossless than that.
It's pretty ridiculous how far this little player has come. I love it.
Here's my custom UI, to give you an idea of the amount of flexibility you have over how it looks/functions:
(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/34404748/noDel/BL_F/resc/foob.png)
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Foobar user here as well. Custom interfaces, fast, tidy, plays EVERYTHING and I can't argue with the price.
(http://i745.photobucket.com/albums/xx92/FirePhoenixAudio/PUBLIC/myfoobar_zps62eda427.jpg)
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@jrmc users, do you set it to "flatline overflows" or "clip protection" when just using crossfeed and no other eq or dsp plugins?
I use the default flatline.
JJ
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I've been using Media Center since v.18 first was available for Mac.
iTunes just is too scattered and has lost its identity as a program.
I actually grabbed Audirvana and Pure Music and Decibel and compared them to JRMC to see if I could hear any differences.
I went back to JRMC, even though it has foibles aplenty.
And for what I use it for, just playing albums, it is acceptable.
But recently I have noticed that after running it more or less continuously for 24hrs + the SQ can get 'squished' a bit.
A restart of JRMC restores full SQ, well, sort of.
I also noticed a SQ shift upwards after a complete system (H/W & S/W) restart as well.
I don't know what is going on and I'm continuing to investigate further, but this 'phenomenon' is repaeatable IF you give the whole system enough continual 'playing' time.
Digital is FM (Fricken Magic) I tells ya.
JJ
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While we are on this topic, is there a good iPhone app to control J River?
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don't you fuckers have jremote? We are stuck with gizmo on Android.
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While we are on this topic, is there a good iPhone app to control J River?
Yeah... JRemote.
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don't you fuckers have jremote? We are stuck with gizmo on Android.
I've only just started playing with this the other day. For just moving around premade playlists it seems ok, but seems to be lacking in the ability to edit playlists.
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Yeah... JRemote.
It works fairly well, especially on an ipad (bigger screen) because there is a whole lotta info.
The operational layout is a bit complex, but once figured out is fairly easy to navigate.
And no it doesn't provide full control of all that JRMC has, but it does function well as a player control point.
JJ
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(http://www.fixedbyvonnie.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/fixedbyvonnie-winamp-llama.jpg)
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HQPlayer is my favorite, followed by Audirvana Plus.
Played from a Mac Mini.
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Downloaded Audirvana+ on iMac and finding it buggy and slow. Not using it in iTunes mode either. Might try Pure Music and see what that's like. If it's no good I'm going back to iTunes. Just a pain converting 1TB of FLAC files to ALAC. I also find my GO 450 doesn't get along with Audirvana.
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I found aurdivana buggy too but bit the bullet and paid for it, it's file management system is top notch, you can pretty much batch change tags very quickly and the search function is almost instantaneous. It's such an improvement to iTunes for me. I'd say don't convert to Alac just yet, I do hate iTunes.
As a side note when I had the audirvana trial installed it was extremely buggy when I had two screens running, once I entered my license code it started working perfectly. Bugs included the main screen not appearing until I minimized and then reselected the window and clicking on songs in list mode being unresponsive. Restarting fixed it, but like I said now that I paid none of that behavior has returned.
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I used iTunes and Foobar for a long time before switching to JRiver a couple years ago. I like JRiver the bestest. :D
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I used iTunes and Foobar for a long time before switching to JRiver a couple years ago. I like JRiver the bestest. :D
I tried JRiver on Mac OS X and liked what it seemed it was capable of, but on Mac OS X it is almost unusable, it is a windows port and just not ready.
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don't you fuckers have jremote? We are stuck with gizmo on Android.
JRiver recently hired the developer who did JRemote. I expect Gizmo to be getting some JRemote treatment. I expect Gizmo to improve and for JRemote and Gizmo to basically become the same app. Gizmo could certainly use the improvement.
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JRiver recently hired the developer who did JRemote. I expect Gizmo to be getting some JRemote treatment. I expect Gizmo to improve and for JRemote and Gizmo to basically become the same app. Gizmo could certainly use the improvement.
But will it remain free?
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But will it remain free?
I would assume so. Just like the Gizmo of old. I don't know when the redesigned version of Gizmo will be out, but I assume sometime this year. Gizmo has been needing a facelift and redesign.
What's interesting is that PonoMusic World also works with Gizmo. PonoMusic World is basically just the audio portion of JRiver Media Center. And is free.
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Whilst it does not quite go back to the command line, my feeling about audio players, as I realised the other day, is still rooted in the days when processors were a lot less powerful, and any unnecessary graphics stuff really could cause glitches. Hard though I find it to say, the Windows family of operating systems has improved enormously over the years too.
Even though I admit that the prejudice is outdated, I still like my audio player interfaces to be simple. As a matter personal taste, I dislike GUI designs that try to look like a chrome-plated jukebox, and I wouldn't be wild about a wood-boxed pre-amp look either! It is only very recently that I have even allowed "album art" onto my monitor!
Also based in an outdated prejudice is my dislike of media management systems, or library software. It dates back to my early rips in WAV format and, even when I started using FLAC and ogg, I was even later to realise about tags. My music is organised in directory trees: why would I want any other software to "organise" it? That prejudice was extremely reinforced by early experiences with such software actually changing file names etc according to what it thought was right. That is not what I wanted!
Those with collections of thousands of albums can probably see the gaping holes in my viewpoint here. The mental jury is still out: as I increase my digital library I might well start to see the point of using library tools. Until then, I am keeping it simple, and also keeping it so that the data structure is player-agnostic.
A move to Linux, a few years ago, meant leaving Foobar behind. At that time (not now), it was also hard to find gapless music players, and I was also forced, by a Firewire interface, into using JACK (the Jack Audio Connections Kit).
That all led to my first post-linux favoured audio player: Aqualung. (http://aqualung.factorial.hu/)I remained happy with Aqualung for a long time. I remained happy with it until I started to acquire higher-than-44.1k bit-rate music. There is nothing wrong with how Aqualung plays different bit rates, but JACK has to be started and run at a fixed bit rate, and (completely subjective and unmeasured) find something wrong in the way that Aqualung converted bit rates.
That led me to DeadBeef (http://deadbeef.sourceforge.net/about.html). It does what I want, in the way that (for now) I want it. It's sample-rate conversion does not remove life from the music. Gapless playback goes without saying, of course.
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I would assume so. Just like the Gizmo of old. I don't know when the redesigned version of Gizmo will be out, but I assume sometime this year. Gizmo has been needing a facelift and redesign.
Well JRemote isn't free... Or maybe they'll have both a free and "premium" version of gizmo down the road.
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Well JRemote isn't free... Or maybe they'll have both a free and "premium" version of gizmo down the road.
JRemote was written by a third-party programmer. Not by JRiver. It was a paid app because the programmer probably likes to be able to afford to eat.
That developer was recently hired by JRiver. JRiver will keep the guy fed. So I'm expecting that the iOS app will become free. And the Android app will remain free. But I'm just guessing.
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Jremote is the most expensive ipad app I ever bought at $10 and it was definitely worth it. Glad that guy got hired by jriver
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why would I want any other software to "organise" it?
I have my music sorted as "Listening" > "Artist - Year - Album (any version information) [FLAC]"
I still keep it organized for picking out of Windows Explorer, but I love Musicbee for playing because of the library management functions.
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I've went from QCD to Foobar on Windows and then when I switched to OS X I tried all the demos but eventually settled on JRMC. It does have flaws - almost all of which stem from it being a port - but it's incredibly flexible. It's kinda ironic that I use it's flexibility to effectively de-feature it. I hate library management as I've been catalogueing my own music for 15 years now. I don't need to search by genre or any of that shite.
It also supports VST3 plug-ins which can be fun to play around with. It's built-in Crossfeed is the best I've come across so far. It can be skinned to look pretty decent too..
(http://i1091.photobucket.com/albums/i393/heyzorro/Jriver%20Screen_02_Snapseed_zpskq06r2rx.jpg)
Anyone who's still using Gizmo on Android should kick it to the kerb and install eos instead. So much better..
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.lenworthrose.eos&hl=en (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.lenworthrose.eos&hl=en)
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Foobar all the way!
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I've went from QCD to Foobar on Windows and then when I switched to OS X I tried all the demos but eventually settled on JRMC. It does have flaws - almost all of which stem from it being a port - but it's incredibly flexible. It's kinda ironic that I use it's flexibility to effectively de-feature it. I hate library management as I've been catalogueing my own music for 15 years now. I don't need to search by genre or any of that shite.
It also supports VST3 plug-ins which can be fun to play around with. It's built-in Crossfeed is the best I've come across so far. It can be skinned to look pretty decent too..
(http://i1091.photobucket.com/albums/i393/heyzorro/Jriver%20Screen_02_Snapseed_zpskq06r2rx.jpg)
Anyone who's still using Gizmo on Android should kick it to the kerb and install eos instead. So much better..
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.lenworthrose.eos&hl=en (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.lenworthrose.eos&hl=en)
Hadn't seen EOS but I did know that they were workign on JRemote (which I love on my phone but I have an Android tablet). Thanks for the heads up.
Can I ask what JRMC skin you're using? I haven't looked at any in a good while and the default is ugly.
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JRemote is quite possibly very good but I won't pay that much money for an app. Eos does just about everything I could wish for.
The skin I'm using is called Modern Cards & is designed to look good with the dark Yosemite theme..
http://solrighal.deviantart.com/art/Modern-Cards-Updated-2014-09-19-New-styles-397411922 (http://solrighal.deviantart.com/art/Modern-Cards-Updated-2014-09-19-New-styles-397411922)
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Foobar all the way for me too. I like my interfaces as simple as possible.
Remember, Gaia kills a kitten every time you add an unnecessary animation to a GUI, waste CPU cycles, and contribute to global warming. :&
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The wonderful thing about Foobar is that you can make it look anyway you want it to.
Make it super simple. Make it super complicated. Single window. Multiple windows. Best of all...it's FREE! :)p1
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Foobar headbang
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If I was still using Windows I'd also be using Foobar. Nothing else comes close in my opinion.
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Meh. A lot of us were former foobar users that switched to jriver for one reason or another. I know someone who just made the switch and was surprised by the outcome.
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The wonderful thing about Foobar is that you can make it look anyway you want it to.
Make it super simple. Make it super complicated. Single window. Multiple windows. Best of all...it's FREE! :)p1
Agreed, except for that foobar still makes trying to keep it simple too complicated to pull off. Simple as in stripped-down shitty UI and gimped functionality is easy, simple as in elegant and useful takes quite some fiddling with foobar.
Meh. A lot of us were former foobar users that switched to jriver for one reason or another. I know someone who just made the switch and was surprised by the outcome.
I recently became a jriver convert for the same clichéd reason I use windows: it just works. (whereas with widows 8/10 winamp just doesn't work :'()
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Agreed, except for that foobar still makes trying to keep it simple too complicated to pull off. Simple as in stripped-down shitty UI and gimped functionality is easy, simple as in elegant and useful takes quite some fiddling with foobar.
Lies!
Just download a useful skin and a couple of plugins and you're golden.
10 minute setup. Tops.
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Lies!
Just download a useful skin and a couple of plugins and you're golden.
10 minute setup. Tops.
As opposed to jriver, where you click on the icon and that's it.
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Foobar is for tweakers and DIYers and Jriver is the plug and play solution...
Kinda surprised about all the jriver love here of all places.
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JRiver is great. You can get it to do just about anything you want. Sounds amazing. You can use WASAPI, AISO, etc. - bitperfect playback, it can use the full capabilities of your DAC, too many things to name.
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Jriver works fantastically and I have the Master License so I can use it on my Mac and windows machines. Jremote is an excellent remote.
Biggest things for me? R128 loudness analysis which allows for super consistent playback levels when jumping between different albums and genres. Classical and death metal can coexist without reaching for the volume knob. Also keeps things from playing back with intersample peaking.
Internal volume is also totally transparent.
And the standard crossfeed is always on if I'm listening to cans. As someone who prefers speakers, it is perfect and less fatiguing.
JRiver also has a very good message board you can check out. If you request a feature and it makes sense they will implement it; same with bug reports. Their audio core is so mature at this point.
Foobar also has a ton of posting over on Hydrogen Audio.
I don't know if Foobar does all the zone stuff, internet radio streaming and recording etc...
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Probably already mentioned but under OSX I prefer Audirvana. I've also tried VOX (meh) and Pure Music (good but I prefer the Audirvana UI).
I tried JRiver in Windows and it just seemed like a giant hodgepodge of crap thrown together. Maybe I just need to give it more time.
Edit: Audirvana also has the best/non buggy implementation of AU plugin support. Being able to insert a pro/mastering EQ plugin in the signal chain if I want is amazing.
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Same here. Macbook Pro and Audirvana+ (with Toneboosters TB Isone for half of the recordings when hearing trough headphones). Happy.
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Foobar gets my vote. :)p1
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Jriver works fantastically and I have the Master License so I can use it on my Mac and windows machines. Jremote is an excellent remote.
Biggest things for me? R128 loudness analysis which allows for super consistent playback levels when jumping between different albums and genres. Classical and death metal can coexist without reaching for the volume knob. Also keeps things from playing back with intersample peaking.
Internal volume is also totally transparent.
And the standard crossfeed is always on if I'm listening to cans. As someone who prefers speakers, it is perfect and less fatiguing.
JRiver also has a very good message board you can check out. If you request a feature and it makes sense they will implement it; same with bug reports. Their audio core is so mature at this point.
Foobar also has a ton of posting over on Hydrogen Audio.
I don't know if Foobar does all the zone stuff, internet radio streaming and recording etc...
R128 loudness analysis? Now I want to try JRiver.
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Can anyone please explain to me what the pro's & con's are of Clip protection vs Flat line overflows in JRiver?
Gordon.
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None (overflow flatline) - This mode will protect against clipping (sound values getting too high resulting in bad sound) by hard limiting the values to the maximum allowable level (100%). When the peak level begins to exceed 100% by too much, this method will sound distorted
Clip Protection- Clip Protection mode protects against clipping (sound values getting too high resulting in bad sound) by scaling the volume to keep the peak level at or below 100%. This method will prevent any distortion
Since all audio data is 64bit floating point, there's no hard limit at -1.0 and 1.0.
So if one effect does +100dB and the next effect does -100dB, no clipping occurs.
It's only a clip when that hard-limit between -1.0 and 1.0 is enforced before output (because it's required by the soundcard), and this is only at the very end.
So I think the current behavior is desirable and correct.
Source:
JRiver Wiki:
http://wiki.jriver.com/index.php/Category:Frequently_Asked_Questions (http://wiki.jriver.com/index.php/Category:Frequently_Asked_Questions)
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I've read that too. Guess what - I still don't understand which is the best option. Do you have an opinion either way?
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I personally use Clip Protection. It will never allow sound values getting too high resulting in distortion - which can happen if you use None (overflow flatline). But I also use iZotope Ozone 5 EQ and sometimes iZotope Ozone 6 EQ plug-ins for eq'ing, they too have auto-clip protection thus I never have any clipping or distorting.
Another option is to use Volume Leveling in the DSP studio options. It uses the R128 algorithm to analyze files and apply the correct playback volume for every song thus preventing you from ever having to mess with the volume control as all songs will be played at the same volume, while preserving intentional volume differences between tracks on the same album.
So I think the best option is Clip protection, which is what I use. When you use overflow flatline you can get clipping and distortion when the peak level begins to exceed 100% by too much. Since albums are mastered at different "Loudness" levels (some albums (CD's) are mastered at 86db, and I have seen some as high as 97-97db). As someone who records and masters my own music, I am very familiar with these concepts (LFF also has much more knowledge than me when it comes to mastering and clipping, but not sure if he uses JRiver, but he can tell you a lot about those concepts, he is much more knowledgeable than me).
You always have the freedom to try both, but if you choose overflow flatline and experience distortion or sound volumes getting too high, then switch to Clip Protection - I found that is the best option for me - and you may want to consider what I mentioned above and use the Volume Leveling option in the DSP Studio options of JRiver. That along with Clip Protection is probably your best bet IMO. I personally do not use Volume Leveling, but I think I am going to start so I can set the volume on my amp once, and all of my songs, regardless of how loud or soft they are mastered, always play at the same volume. So that is my personal opinion. You can try these suggestions and find what is best for you. JRiver is incredibly versatile and powerful!
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Thanks for the detailed response Jeremy. That was just what I was after. I've tried both settings now & I'll be damned if I can hear any difference at all. In fact, I only have a very few tracks that ever go above 0dB anyway, although because of them, many moons ago I decided to set my master volume level to 96% (-2dB) to accommodate them.
When I was looking into this last night I read up on the R128 volume leveling function & decided to give it a go. I didn't need to touch my volume control once whilst listening to a broad range of genres & recording technique's too. I wish I'd tried this months ago as I really can't see (or hear) a downside.
I also like to dabble in making music but I've found the mastering side of things to be a minefield. It's so difficult to get everything just right. I'm not really a musician either so what do I know?
So, Clip protection it is then.
Thanks again for your input, it's very much appreciated.
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You're most welcome!
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I love JRiver's library management tools. Formula based file re-naming and tagging is fantastic. I use multi-zone output all the time. They've also got quite an interesting array of networking options, though admittedly my experience there is more limited.
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I like the JRemote app for iPAD and iPhone - It is awesome to control Jriver with the app. All of the look of JRiver on your iPAD or iPhone and easy to use as a remote for it!
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I bought a $100 fanless PC, installed Debian, setup MPD, and hooked it up to Yggdrasil. I control it with either an iOS app or a desktop app.
I sort and tag my music with foobar2000.
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Audirvana+ has a $10 remote app: https://audirvana.com/?page_id=3620 (https://audirvana.com/?page_id=3620)
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Long time foobar user. I customized the shit out of the thing and squeezed every last feature/plug-in I could find on the web. No problem with regular use over 5+ years and I was happy. But JRMC just beats as an overall go-to media center. More robust library organization. More playback output features + DSP. Video playback that is superb. I might uninstall foobar soon. I'll save that big folder of components I've accumulated though. The feature-set that JRMC offers just gets more and more awesome as you dig deeper. To be honest, I'm surprised that a license only cost $50. If that program was owned by Adobe it would probably be $500. I love freeware but you guys should honestly give it a shot. Considering how much I get out of it I consider it a small price in the scheme of things. Audiophiles spend more money on shit that doesn't matter or even makes their lives harder.
Anyway, need to find a good media center for Linux now that I'm going to give that another shot on my laptop. Looks like JRMC exists there in some state so I'll try that first and report back.
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I wish JRiver would modernize it's default look, but functionally it's really easy to settle with and quit exploring (usually) inferior options.
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I wish JRiver would modernize it's default look
Explain?
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I wish JRiver would modernize it's default look, but functionally it's really easy to settle with and quit exploring (usually) inferior options.
Good news, they're working on it.
http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=98572.0
And distinct but related: http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=99290.0
Also, this is a solid improvement in the meantime: http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=74434.0
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Good news, they're working on it.
http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=98572.0
And distinct but related: http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=99290.0
Also, this is a solid improvement in the meantime: http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=74434.0
I think MetroX is ugly as sin.
Here's a skin that actually makes some attempt to blend in with Yosemite..
http://dirhael.deviantart.com/art/Modern-Cards-Updated-2014-09-19-New-styles-397411922 (http://dirhael.deviantart.com/art/Modern-Cards-Updated-2014-09-19-New-styles-397411922)
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I think MetroX is ugly as sin.
Here's a skin that actually makes some attempt to blend in with Yosemite..
http://dirhael.deviantart.com/art/Modern-Cards-Updated-2014-09-19-New-styles-397411922 (http://dirhael.deviantart.com/art/Modern-Cards-Updated-2014-09-19-New-styles-397411922)
I was moving too quickly on my way to my lunch break - Modern Cards is what I use.
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I was moving too quickly on my way to my lunch break - Modern Cards is what I use.
lol.
I noticed there's a new Dark Version of Modern Cards out but I can't get it to work properly in OS X so far. It's only at the Beta stage though so I'll wait.
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Also, this is a solid improvement in the meantime: http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=74434.0
Yeah I used the MetroX one for awhile. I don't like the white backdrop (preferring "dark" themes) but you can get that darker by fiddling with the settings to get that color inverted or something like that (been awhile). I think I remember them removing all or some of the skin editing options they used to have.
Basically, I'd like a Tidal or Spotify kind of look.
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Yeah, it can all be changed when you know where to look. Dark suits me too but not black. That's too much.
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Not sure why Musicbee doesn't get much love, but I love it.
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I gotta say, the latest Audirvana+ is really good. Great SQ and very few bugs/annoyances. Newest release introduces a remote app for iPhone/iPad. (have not tried but the forum reviews are favourable)
IMO and after trying out all the alternatives (Pure Music, Amarra, VOX etc..) it's the best choice on OSX with everything else a pretty distant second.
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Chris beat me to it. I have used Amarra for 3 years and I used to get the occasional glitch e.g. songs being "stuck" a la a stylus stuck in a groove on vinyl. Switched to Audirvana + and has been very smooth thus far. SQ has improved not too subtly and more of a spacious engaging sound.
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It's 2015, we have dual and quad core PCs, a music player shouldn't have hiccups when playing back a track.
Edit: Jesus christ, ESPECIALLY if your software costs $75.
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It drove me nuts. I bought the Wyrd, used it with the Bifrost, then Gungnir, then Yggy. tried it with the Geek XFI. The odd song would have the problem.
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You know what I've never had playback issues with? Every media player I've ever used. But winamp, iTunes, wmp, musicbee, foobar, or media Monkey. Sounds like a crummy app if you ask me.
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I was using MediaMonkey and Foobar when I was running Windows, but now that I'm using OSX I use Clementine. I don't like it was much as the former two, but it does the job and it was the best player I could find for free. It does stutter sometimes though. I also notice that my Geek Out gives me a lot more volume in Windows 7 than it does in OSX. And it doesn't give me any weird noises in TCM filter. My audio experiences with OSX have been disappointing, to say the least.
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It's 2015, we have dual and quad core PCs, a music player shouldn't have hiccups when playing back a track.
It's 2015, we carry suppercomputers around in our shirt pockets ...and DPC Latency (http://www.thesycon.de/deu/latency_check.shtml) still exists.
To be honest, I don't know to what extent it still happens with current motherboards, but, a few years ago I had a PC/audio-hardware combination that was essentially throw-away. Stuttering, drop outs, unlistenable, unusable.It made me dream of PCs that I had thrown away for no better reason than they were old.
I still sometimes think that my first audio PC, with its first serious (RME) soundcard, was actually my best. But in reality, that is probably some kind if nostalgia.
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The more powerful the supercomputer, the lazier and bloated and more brutish the coding. Maybe not the media player itself, but everything else running around in the background eating up precious computing power and tracking our every movement.
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The more powerful the supercomputer, the lazier and bloated and more brutish the coding. Maybe not the media player itself, but everything else running around in the background eating up precious computing power and tracking our every movement.
This is exactly why there is a lot of talk of digital transports in the thread about alternatives to CD and USB PC.
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Which brings me to one of my deepest held beliefs: There is nothing so great that software can't ruin.
Oh, and yes, I do happen to write software for a living, why do you ask? :)p8
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I've never had a dropout with MPD on Debian... But it's essentially the only thing that box does.
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JRMC19 works perfectly for me on my Mac mini & it always has. Foobar2000 always worked perfectly on my Windows machines previously.
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I've had no good experiences with JRiver. I've given it a go 3 different times with massive time gaps in between, the latest being last week. The software is horribly coded, clunky, and prone to error. Which sucks, because when it works, it works really well. I keep being driven back into the arms of foobar2000.
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I've had no good experiences with JRiver. I've given it a go 3 different times with massive time gaps in between, the latest being last week. The software is horribly coded, clunky, and prone to error. Which sucks, because when it works, it works really well. I keep being driven back into the arms of foobar2000.
Could you be specific?
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Sorry, didn't see this earlier.
JRiver intermittently freezes for a few seconds now and then, usually before music is playing.
I've had it crash twice in its latest incarnation.
It magically opens itself when I open certain programs.
It also feels loose to interact with. It's hard to describe or put a pin on it, but the software feels bloated and unpolished. I'm a stickler for perfection in software (I'm a game designer at Blizzard--I have it baked into my soul).
Maybe it has poor compatibility with Windows 8.1, but that's no excuse. My computer is super awesome and runs everything I throw at it perfectly.
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I don't have issues in 8.1Pro or 10 unless USB loses sync like getting knocked during playback. My problem is if i do a forced shutdown, it closes but keeps running a hidden instance that lags behind so I can't restart immediately all the time.
I'd say you definitely have a compatibility issue or some interaction going on there. You might have a crappy usb cable?
It feels a lot slicker than some of the WoW patches, game mechanics and dungeons I've had to deal with over the years. I mean logging into ShitWrath or Dalaran back in the day? Are you kidding?? ;) It can be fickle, but I assure you your experience isn't universal so it might be worth investigating if you give enough of a rat's ass.
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Moving my main server to a daphile with a realtime kernel eas pretty good. Designed out of box to be headless, it just works great.
I use Audirvana+ on my MBP and Jriver on my Windows machines. Honestly, most work great. Most problems I've run into have been a case of PEBKAC
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I don't have issues in 8.1Pro or 10 unless USB loses sync like getting knocked during playback. My problem is if i do a forced shutdown, it closes but keeps running a hidden instance that lags behind so I can't restart immediately all the time.
I'd say you definitely have a compatibility issue or some interaction going on there. You might have a crappy usb cable?
It feels a lot slicker than some of the WoW patches, game mechanics and dungeons I've had to deal with over the years. I mean logging into ShitWrath or Dalaran back in the day? Are you kidding?? ;) It can be fickle, but I assure you your experience isn't universal so it might be worth investigating if you give enough of a rat's ass.
I'll give it another try after I upgrade to Windows 10. Also, you can't blame me for back in the day. :P I've only been here for a few years, and all of my stuff has zero bugs and is 100% fun all the time.
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Moving my main server to a daphile with a realtime kernel eas pretty good. Designed out of box to be headless, it just works great.
Tried Daphile this week too, following the advice of Sorrodje. Destroys Jriver in my system.
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Yes .Daphile is great. It works perfectly on my old (Ten years old) intel based Mac Mini.
Only concern, the main dev hasn't enough time to develop it anymore.
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Music Bee because it's easy to use p:/
Ali
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I'm using Fidelia for MAC - I think I can hear an improvement over iTunes, integrates and transfers lists ok and is cheap.
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Sorry, didn't see this earlier.
JRiver intermittently freezes for a few seconds now and then, usually before music is playing.
I've had it crash twice in its latest incarnation.
It magically opens itself when I open certain programs.
It also feels loose to interact with. It's hard to describe or put a pin on it, but the software feels bloated and unpolished. I'm a stickler for perfection in software (I'm a game designer at Blizzard--I have it baked into my soul).
Maybe it has poor compatibility with Windows 8.1, but that's no excuse. My computer is super awesome and runs everything I throw at it perfectly.
You should give MusicBee a try, and also give my WoW account free gaming time =D
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JRiver Media Center 21 was just released about a week ago, huge plans and upgrades for this release!