This thread is intended to provide a vehicle for discussing the merits (and demerits) of various software programs available.for playing music on computers and for developing and maintaining music libraries.

Some examples of these software programs include: Foobar, 5K Player; Windows Media Player; MusicBee; The MusiCHI Suite. There are other programs, some of which are free and some of which must be purchased.

I have extensive experience with both MusiCHI and MusicBee. All of my digital music is stored on an external hard drive. I used MusiCHI to develop my digital music file system, including ripping all of my CDs and creating the libraries. MusiCHI has a fine player in the suite which I have used extensively. MusiCHI is not free (although there is a 21-day free trial of the full-featured program).

Recently, I have begun using and exploring the features of MusicBee. MusicBee is a free program and there is a related website with helpful information and monitored by knowledgeable users who are willing to answer questions. MusicBee also has a fine player. I became interested in MusicBee because the MusicBee player will play consecutive tracks without a momentary sound dropout. This feature is important to me because I have a number of classical recordings which are divided into many tracks because of the nature of the music, but the sound is continuous across the tracks.

Perhaps other folks might want to comment upon their experiences with various music players and library systems.

In my opinion, Windows Media Player (latest version) is by far the best. I have tried 5K, VLC and some others.

I have no scientific basis for why I feel Windows Media Player is best, however, as the Grateful Dead say, "some things you just know"

Also, in my case, gap-less playback is an absolute must have.

This article provides some rather useful info on this subject/thread:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_audio_player_software

FWIW, GoldenEar has used and can recommend the JRiver software: www.jriver.com/index.html

Moderator Dude,

I've heard users have compatibility and hardware issues with JRiver. Has GET experienced this? I know you have Uber smart folks on staff that can likely figure it out easily enough, but is it user friendly for the average Joe?

Cheers,

T Cobe

Moderator wrote: FWIW, GoldenEar has used and can recommend the JRiver software: www.jriver.com/index.html

Can you comment further as to why GE has chosen JRiver software?