JRiver Media Center Owner's Thread

Well, i don`t know about the HDAV, but the Xonar DS/DX work fine with J.River, i use a DX with JRMC on my desktop using WASAPI and playback has been stellar.

JRiver is a deep well. I have it running on 4 boxes here at my home. I have a couple of others I will also install it on. I am excited about the tight integration on the video side with madVR. I have a pipe dream that Cetons will get support at some point. I know that JR is open to that and are at least quietly investigating how to make that happen. With madshi's passion for rendering we can only hope that all video played by JRiver will eventually get the full advanced Red October filter stack. ATSC looks great rendering by madVR.

I think one has to realistically say that as a PVR/DVR JRiver is not WMC or Sage. It is pretty apparent that that until recently audio is the main focus for them.

Audio is their first passion and they are deep into it. I think they understand to continue growing they need to embrace their inner vidieo player so to speak and hence Red October. One thing you can count on is great audio support for video.

So now they have an oustanding video player. Personally for me at this point MPC-HC seems like a crude amatuerish thing. I don't have to screw with HR MC to make my video play at the highest quality possible. That part just works. Everytime there is a new version of MPC... I never know what to expect.

Just don't make the mistake of jumping into JR thinkng it is a subsitute for the PVR capabalities of WMC today. I don't doubt that TV/PVRis going to get a lot of JR focus soon. They are quickly getting the video playback fully built out and underhood is a great database so all the capabilities for a great PVR are there, it just has not been polished.

Rightnow for me if it is ATSC content I am going to watch through JRiver because of the LAV CUVID madVR playback quality.. Cable specific content than back to WMC...


I have had some weirdness with HD Homerun's plaing throuh the JR MC. It plays properly on two of the boxes I have installed it on, two others their is something going on that causes it to have trouble with some stations. This is a JR specific problem as WMC and HD QuickTV play these channels properly on these same machines.

The machines working properly are a Sandy Bridge desktop with intel mainboard and a Dell i3-530m. The other two boxes are first gen i3 on intel boards and use the same intel nic. I think some nic setting on these two is causing a timing problem. They are buying a HD Homerun to do some testing wth.

I am in the process of coverting a giant CD library to all Flac.. I think I can trust that JR won't mess up all my carefully buitl tags. WMC sometimes just looks at a directory and goes beserk and screws all the tags up..

JRiver really needs a grand overview document, so one can understand the thinking behind the architecture. It is just so vast you don't really know where to start. I think they need to create a wizard that is aimed at the entry level HTPC user... the kind of folks who are trying to get MPC-HC and Media Portal integrated into WMC. I know I screwed with that and getting all the high bit rate audio formats to play properly was a pain, JR handled the audio like a champ.

I too have been reading about the ability to use JRiver with a good sound card as a pre-pro. I have a very good two channel amp, but have not used it for lack of preamp/preprocessor.

The JRiver experience reminds me of the old parable about the blind men describe an elephant by the part they touch.

At first glance, second glance and third it is almost overwhelming.

I am a newbie with it. I suggest peopel who are jumping in the pool to pick a focus area to get started. You will be pouring over their forum... if there was ever a case of you don't know what you don't know that is JR MC 16.

I have been known to get a bit fussy over there when I don't feel I am getting an answer.

Link to the old thread:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1351742

I can remember well the frustration when I first tried to use MC. I too ended up screaming for a manual to know where to start from and as others have mentioned there just is none. You have three resources:
- Play around and see how you go
- Look at the Wiki (it is user contributed and while the content is good, much of it is old)
- User the Forum (the community on the forum is very good).

Anyway I'd suggest a bit of a structured approach in exploring each of the various areas.
1) Rip a CD into the Database and make sure it plays well. Look at the various options and tweak them to get your Audio Output and DSP setting working like you want.
2) Have a look the Views in the Std View, move stuff around, add columns, even create a view to see how the view engine works
3) Have a look at Theater View and likewise have a play with the options for displaying content in this.
4) Import a video file, make sure they play well / repeat the above. Note how it creates a sidecar XML file for tags
5) Now try ripping a DVD , or importing a Blu-ray already ripped to your HDD and make sure they play well / repeat the above
6) Have a play with the online media stuff, setup your accounts (including LastFM etc)
7) Add a TV Tuner and make sure it plays. Add an EPG (you may want to see the forum on this as it can be complicated pending on where you like in the world and the EPG services that are available)
8) Add some Pictures and have a play with some of the features there
9) Turn on Media Server and using the Media Network features, try to sharing your content over the network to other MC clients or DLNA Devices and make sure they play OK. Try controlling MC's playback from another device (like an Android Phone or Tablet)
10) Plug in a Handheld and see how to convert and sync stuff (It you are an Apple users then you are going to have to read the forum on this as Apple have made it harder)

That should cover the basics and there is a fair bit to play with!

I am a JRiver user.
One question is that madVR will cause a lot of drop frame for 1080i60 content on Intel Graphic.

Is there anyway around this?

Yes. Add an nVidia card.
That's what I'm about to do.

There is a thread discussing various GPUs http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/inde...0374#msg440374

I find my 60i content the "toughest" on the various CPU/GPU configs and while I was surprised how well my Intel i7-2600K 3000 IGP worked, it is hard to recomend with madVR. Your best bet will be to use madVR in Exclusive mode then try some of the options to trade performace for quality.

Subbed to this thread. I just finally got my desktop PC with NVidia GPU built and up & running, so I plan on testing out JRiver along with MadVR/LAV for a writeup in the very near future. Looking forward to!

I have MC14 and have it launch MPC-HC. Is MadVR available for v14?

Dbone -

It's great to see you on the forums again, and I'll look forward to your guide...
I just converted to JRiver after:

XP's MC -> Vista MC ->7 MC -> Media Browser -> Media Portal -> XBMC -> JRiver
with a few interludes with Arcsoft TMT3 -> Media Player Classic -> HD PVR, etc...

I have always looked forward to and used your guides...
After spending the better part of the last week with JRiver, I'm sure you'll love it!

Other than the above mentioned TV support, I have found it to be an unparalleled solution to my needs, out of the box. If there's anything I can help with, please PM me here... Like if you're having trouble with WTV files, use the Red October with additional filters setting, change up the audio decoder to ffdshow and the video decoder to Microsoft DTV. The beauty of the JR stack is that this is simple to set up just for WTV (microsoft based) videos, and leaves all other formats set to MadVR!

I would love to see if you are able to get the HD-PVR from Hauppauge to work within the JRMC... Also, definately check out the Splashstream to tablet application of the Theater View in Obsidian mode... The browsing speed and quality of audio/picture is awesome...

Just a shame I'm gonna have to $ pay for it, but for me - these guys deserve it.

Looking thru their website at: http://www.jriver.com/purchase.html
It seems as though 1 license can be used on all of your home's computers.... per

Q: Can I install on more than one PC?
A: During the two-week period after you have purchased or restored, you can use the Install Key you received to activate the program on your other PC’s. You may use the program on your work PC and on your home PC's with a single license.

If anyone can confirm that this is the case, I'm in for life!

Always my best,
Brian

This is a big topic, but I think you'll really like using JRMC as a prepro. You get ASIO (recommended with Asus hardware) or WASAPI, Room Correction, volume protection, surround mixing, VideoClock, and a lot of other great things for all audio and video.

I personally use analog outputs to a power amplifier, so use JRMC for all processing. I also use the Parametric Equalizer built into JRMC to bi-amp and equalize (Linkwitz, etc.) a subwoofer. The sound quality and level of control is amazing.



Red October is one of the major new features of Media Center 16. This provides "just-works" video playback using the best-of-breed components like madVR, LAV, etc. It also includes goodies like VideoClock, refresh rate changing, Room Correction, etc.

Sorry, but this isn't available with older versions of Media Center.



That's right. You're free to use a license on any of "your" computers.

Thanks for thinking of purchasing.

I'll repeat what I said in the closed thread about it, my demands are FAR simpler than most for JRMC, but I've yet to find a better alternative.

Specifically, I only use JRMC 1-3x/year, when i'm on vacation. I use the theater view for a great and easily customizable 10' GUI, so I can plug the laptop into the hotel TV and watch ripped movies/TV shows using a windows remote & USB receiver which I also bring along. (that remote is also only used 1-3x/year, i don't need it the rest of the time). I tried using CQC & SageTV (Which I also own and use every other day of the year), but for the narrow purpose of video entertainment while in a hotel, I've found JRMC to be unbeatable. I really like the ability to customize it with a nearly trivial amount of effort.

Inevitably, I upgrade every November, as I'm getting ready for the upcoming vacations. I don't actually need to upgrade, but I realize that i'm getting ongoing value for this, the upgrades are typically only $10-$20ish, so I don't mind throwing some $$ into the kitty. Well, not in a blatant "donate" fashion, but this way I get something, they get something.

I look forward to seeing how it all works out!

That being said I have heard that JRiver was good for audio collections...I was wondering if anyone knows how well it does for audio and playback. My end goal would simply be able to play my entire audio collection continuously, similar like a radio station except non-stop music.

Fantistically well; better than anything else I've run across.

It defaults to bitperfect playback from any lossless file, perfect playback from any audio file, several choices on how you select what to playback.

You can manually select files, ctl-a to play them all if you like.
Play doctor will play similar music to a seed selection of music, similar to Pandora
You can create smartlists with any criteria you can imagine, as long as the metadata is in the tags, or in JRMC's database, you can filter for it.

for example, you could create a smartlist of
all flac files
that are unrated
from the 80's
that have not been listened to more than twice
in the last 90 days.

it can go on and on if you like.

and it's dynamic, so as tracks come into and out of matching the criteria, they show and don't show in this playlist automatically. so, as soon as you listen to a song in this list, it won't show again for at least 90 days (see last criteria).

There's more, but that'll get you started

Sounds very interesting! Seems similar to the SAM Broadcaster software I have used where you can custom-tailor your music to play however you like. I will look into this further, seems like a viable option!

That's correct.

According to the website I read that JriverMC also works with Home Server....would this mean WHS? If so how is it intergrated for automated audio playback?

I'm all in for life when the support for DVB-S becomes reality...

I live in PAL land and digital sat is one of the true means of escaping the ever hungry cable providers.

As much as I hate the inflexibility of 7MC, I've had to learn to live with it since it is the only one that offers the one stop shop solution that meets WAF somehow...

I'm bitting once DVB-s support is confirmed...

I'll answer your second question first. You can install the program on multiple computers (within your home) buy purchasing just one license. I asked this question specifically on their forum and Jim said "no problem - within reason" (which I interrupt to mean you install it on "your home" computers but not your friends, relatives, etc. I have MC16 on three computers.

Your first comment was on the Hauppauge PVR. I installed the Hauppauge Colossus on JRiver. It worked. The guide downloads fine (I was using the Directv guide - there are other choices as well). The remote and recording function worked fine. Since the Colossus is not a Tuner, the MC setup screen was not intuitive. I had everything working fairly quickly but I had an audio-visual sync issue. I didn't know if it was in the JRiver program, Colossus, or my Receiver but I only had 30 days (really 4 days since I only play around with this stuff on the weekends) so I decided to send the Colossus back to Newegg. JRiver definity needs to work on the TV/PVR stuff. However, I do have two computers with Hauppauge TV tuners that work perfectly with MC.

Lastly, I agree it would be nice if everthibg was free. I don't think anyone objects to paying for AnyDVD, TMT, PDVD, etc., when there isn't a better free program available. I don't think there is currently a better free program than JRiver MC16 at this time. IMO.

You would run Media Server on the WHS. Here's a page that describes the servers MC has.
http://wiki.jriver.com/index.php/Servers

on trial of JRMC at moment - but already decided to buy it

as an audio processor - best I've tried so far - so many options and features its great.

I'm now using it with multichannel FLAC into my Pioneer 59TXi - the best bit being that JRMC allows me to add 10dB to the LFE (LFE not subwoofer which is the key as most don't differentiate) as the Pioneer doesn't add the 10dB to the LFE

also the Parametric Equalizer is great - so I can remove the 9dB narrow peak I have at 41hz

JRMC also allows me - at a higher quality to re-sample before outputting to the Pioneer as well

only slight annoyance is the video going slow every 10 minutes or so(I have smooth video enabled) - when it happens - if I press space to pause and space to un-pause again it immediately goes smooth again - for another 10 minutes anyway !

oh and the $50 odd to buy the program has saved me more than $2k dollars !

why as I finally get full 8 channel lossless with pre-corrected LFE channel into my 59TXi

When will JRMC support DVB-T2 and DVB-S2 tuners..?

That sounds like a problem related to a screensaver. Could you start a thread on our forum?

Thanks for your purchase.

First, thanks to all that have contributed to this and the now closed thread. Because of it, I am giving this software a try. I was disappointed in it's PVR system so for now, will continue with WMC with my HDHomeRun Dual.

I like the video playback a lot except for one thing I couldn't figure out so maybe someone can help me. I rarely watch a movie straight through. I could not find any kind of resume feature in the software available to pick back up with I left off the previous day unless I just left it in pause mode. Is there a way to do this, and if so how?

Also, do any of you have their remote and how do you like it?

Do they charge for software upgrades, or are upgrade always free?

Thanks for your help.

By default any long video will resume from the last played position.

You can configure this in Options > General > Resume playback using bookmarks. It is also possible to have the program ask, or to disable bookmarking.

You can also control bookmarking on a per-file basis by editing the "Use Bookmarking" field for a file (Action Window > Tag, etc.).

If you're not seeing videos resume, make sure you have imported the videos into the library. The library is used to store the bookmark. Also, make sure it's a long video. Bookmarks are not used for short videos (unless you manually tell the program you want to for a given video by setting the 'Use Bookmarking' field).

Thanks.