Hi Art, T Cobe . Not to speak out-of-turn, but there is something I can add here regarding JRiver. I've heard of it as many members in the audio club I'm associated with and audiogon members also use it and absolutely sware by it as being the "best".

I believe the claim-to-fame as to what distinguishes it as best - which also speaks to T Cobe's point about compatibility/hardware issues, is that the software "commandeers" - or at least tries to - the operating system. By this I mean all other unessential - from a music playback perspective - computer processes are temporarily disabled so as to devote full resources to the playback.

In many instances this does have practical advantage because without disabling unnecessary resources, invariably other software can produce unwanted results that are audible. For example, in a Windows 10 environment despite that I use Windows Media Player, should the OS decide to download an update at the time I'm listening, I could detect a momentary (less than a second) "pause" in the playback. In my case this happens few and far between, and I'll be moving off the computer playback platform anyway, that I live with it. Of course, software in this space offer many other features like library organization, equalizers, and so on but realistically the playback is of utmost importance (IMO).

I'll be curious whatever else the Moderator or others can add to this thread. Nevertheless, I use Windows Media Player. All things considered (and JRiver is not "free") I'm rather happy with it.

I looked at the JRiver website. I did not see anything there that would make me purchase that software package. I can understand GDHAL's points about JRiver commandeering the software, but, in my case, that capability is not only not needed, but probably would be detrimental. I frequently edit data in my music files, while listening to music. I have done so without any noticeable effect upon playback. Also, I have a dedicated computer handling playback and that computer is running Windows 10. I have not experienced any interruptions.

I have listened to at least four different software players, in addition to Windows Media Player. I cannot tell any difference in sound. I originally purchased the MusiCHI software package because of it's editing features and it's comprehensive library management tools. I used these tools to rip and catalog my entire CD collection into lossless FLAC files. I am very pleased with MusiCHI. both as a database management system and as a player. The only issue for me with MusiCHI is that the player will not play adjacent tracks without a momentary sound interruption. This issue is significant for me because of the number of classical recordings I have with music continuing across adjacent tracks.

MusicBee plays these type of tracks without sound interruptions. MusicBee was also able import all of my database into its library system. Updating both programs is quick and straightforward, once I understood how the software programs operated.

Art

ArthurDaniels wrote:

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?

Exactly what GDHAL said, it was considered "the best" performing, most universal, most compatible, and most highly praised in audiophile reviews, of the software choices available at the time. That was probably 5 years ago as well, things certainly have changed I imagine, but we just use what we setup originally. Updated occasionally but always worked fine, no issues and no particularly advanced "IT Intelligence" required.

Thanks Mr. Moderator. I don't have any experience with music players, except over the past year and a half, so I cannot comment upon how they might have evolved or improved over a 5-year stretch.

However, I can offer the following thoughts:

1. Both MusiCHI and MusicBee support WASAPI playback, which I understand, is supposed to provide better sound.

2. Both MusiCHI and MusicBee move files selected for playback into RAM - which might explain why I can edit while playing and why other computer operations seldom, if ever, cause problems.

I believe that these two features might be relatively recent developments, but I don't know that to be a fact.

The goal, I believe, for playback purity is bit-perfect data transfer. If a software player approaches or achieves that goal, I'll bet that other playback "bells and whistles" might be a bit decorative.

I am running a high-quality external DAC, being directly fed by the players and bypassing the internal laptop sound card. I suspect that this combination has more effect upon musical quality than which player software I use.

I have read several reviews and discussions of the general issue of selecting a software player. I have not detected any unanimity of opinion on the subject. Once again, beauty seems to be mainly in the ear of the listener.

Happy listening.

Art