What is the best picture and sound quality playback player for a HTPC ? - Page 2

Looks like it mate lol.

I use WMC (because of TV/DVR) with TMT5 (for occasional BR disk playback) and MediaBrowser for movie organization/viewing. I use no additional codex/filters/splitters.

To me, the increases in picture quality gained by tweaking with additional software is not worth the effort. That may change as my knowledge increases regarding all things HTPC or until I invest in a more serious home theater environment with higher-end equipment.

If you are using WMC for your TV recording and TMT for your BD playback, there is no real reason to install additional decoders. The only reason to install additional decoders/splitters would be if you want to play file/media types that WMC does not support natively.

Confirmation bias has a bit to do with it. ;-)

Having tried all of the above, and my wife using the HTPC most often... It's JRiver for me, hands down.

Pros -

Simple initial setup
Handles ALL your content, including BR
Among the best in video quality (better than XBMC)
THE best in audio quality... I'm running an audio card and amps... This is very important to me
Excellent remote app via my iPad
Dedicated support
Beautiful 10" interface via Theater View
Extremely flexible and powerful

Cons -

Not free
Configuration Options can be overwhelming

Most of those are related to personal preference (and valid in that context) but not to the original question of video/audio quality. Ony these two address the OP But as I stated, ALL DirectShow players (with the exception of Splash Player) can be configured to give you the exact same video and audio quality because it comes down to the configured decoders/renderers, not the main application itself.

madVR has a generous license:
"The software "madVR" may be freely used as an end user application by both non-commercial and commercial end users, without buying a license, without even notifying the author about the use."

That is how it may be used by "end users" (bolded for emphasis). Distribution is different:
That aside, I have absolutely no doubt that JRiver has written approval for Red October.

In regards to picture quality, yes, JRiver is among the best. I did not say the were THE best. Rather, one of the solutions that produces great video. Certainly, you can find equally stunning video on other players. Or if you're savvy, configure your player to use the good stuff.

JRiver's audio engine is unique to JRiver, and is the best available on the market. You cannot get the same product anywhere else. It's WAY ahead of the next closest rivals. The caveat being, you need the sophisticated audio. If you're just bistreaming to a AV receiver, you may not need JRiver's audio engine. Athough in MY setup, it's absolutely crucial.

Don't forget for most people a picture is enough. It looks good, its fine. All of this fancy upscaling isn't required, or worth it in my opinion.

I did forget about their audio engine (since I bitstream almost everything). Yes, I would have to give the edge to JRiver for audio if you are not bitstreaming.

I am looking for a player (not media center) with best pic/audio quality - I'm not bitstreaming - I need a player to decode audio and send pcm to my soundcard, which is running direct to my amps. I'm not computer savvy and having touble configuring mpc hc with the lav decoders and dts decoders from tmt. would jriver decode all lossless formats for bluray and be the way to go without adding software liek madvr, lav and tmt?

Yes, although you need the dtsdecoderdll.dll file to decode DTS-HD, which is described here. JRiver will also not play encrypted blu-rays out of the box. They will need to be decrypted by AnyDVD HD or some other program.

Yes!

JRiver also has; level adjustment, speaker distance correction, bass management built in.

They have a 30 day free trial.

would purchasing tmt5 be an easier option, and I would avoid having to purchase anydvdhd and installing the dts file?

Installing the dts file is trivial. You can even obtain a copy by downloading the TMT5 trial, although I'm not sure if that's completely kosher. If you just want to play blu-ray discs with menus and not have to worry about decrypting, TMT5 works just fine. If you want the absolute best video and audio quality possible, with more adjustments and configuration settings than you can shake a stick at, go with JRiver. Keep in mind JRiver will not play the Blu-ray menus. It just skips straight to the main movie.

No, it won't. It still needs LAV to decode the lossless audio. LAV needs the dtsdecoder.dll. JRiver just makes installation of LAV easy with their Red October package. Red October does not install dtsdecoder.dll however (you have to do it manually) but LAV will decode the DTS Core without it.