J River media centre

[colin.hepburn]

Hi All
Is anyone still using the J River media center software these days
At the time I just tried out the 30-day trial but found it to be chunky and bloated with stuff I would never use It would be better if there was a lite version just with the necessary stuff which is why I was asking if anyone still uses it if not what would you recommend today https://jriver.com/
Colin

[colin.hepburn]

Originally Posted by colin.hepburn

Hi All
Is anyone still using the J River media center software these days
At the time I just tried out the 30-day trial but found it to be chunky and bloated with stuff I would never use It would be better if there was a lite version just with the necessary stuff which is why I was asking if anyone still uses it if not what would you recommend today https://jriver.com/
Colin

17 views and no comments

[bob orbell]

Didn't know of its existence until you posted Colin, but I don't do streaming . Bob

[Richard]

Hi Col, it was a name that was mentioned around here by some members maybe 10 or more years ago but I wasn't streaming at the time either.

I went the Squeezebox route which uses Logitech Media Server for your own software and gets you out onto the web for Paradise and other sites.

For ripping there are standalones such as Exact Audio Copy and Mp3tag, FlacSquisher etc.

I guess it's what you get used to and what job you need doing.

Yes, this looks chunky, what are you wanting to do?

[colin.hepburn]

Hi Bob/Richard
thanks for the replies
I don’t do streaming either bob it was just at the time as Richard referred to some members maybe 10 or more years ago who were using it so was just putting the feelers out to see if anyone was still using it and what they thought of it still today as I only tried the full version 30 day trial at the time

I just used it mainly to copy my CDs/DVDs to a hard drive and as backups only at the time but didn’t take it any further and I have since lost that hard drive with all the backups but still got all the original CDs/DVD In the cupboard funny how they tell you to backup your data all the time to keep it safe

But anyway my reason for posting this question was that My new DAC has the USD input and I was just thinking of giving the J river media another go as I now use the likes of Netflix and others for streaming moves and TV and I am also considering getting a mini PC or a Raspberry Pi 4 to take care of the move streaming side and the CD DVD and Blu-ray backup’s but that's as close to streaming I will probably get to tv yes music not so much
Colin

[Richard]

Hi Col,

Perhaps the main, maybe only real, advantage of wifi connected systems such as Squeezebox and Sonos is being able to use several around the house in kitchen, bedroom etc. They can be a bit involved to get working though and may need a computer also for the digital music files and web connection for streaming.

If you only want one hifi system though things can be much easier using a PC or laptop hooked by USB to your dac in the stereo system,

For playing your own digital files Foobar 2000 is great. My music files are set to use it by default so I can just double click any track from the music library to open and play, or open Foobar first and choose from there.

https://www.foobar2000.org/download

My music is stored on C drive as,
Music >
Flac Classical > Artist Name > Album > Track
Flac Pop > ditto
Mp3-V2Classical > ditto
MP3-V2Pop > ditto

A shortcut on the desktop to Music then drill down to a track to play directly by Foobar on the computer, or select by remote to play by Squeezebox on the hifi.

I get Radio Paradise through the Squeezebox app for the hifi or directly from the computer on,

https://radioparadise.com/listen/channels

Scroll down for the 4 categories of music and the controls/settings are along the bottom edge. Don't miss the i info button there(!) it gives great info about the artist. This is where I find a “radio” programme is so good for folk like me who missed so much good music. Even if I had a subs to a mega streaming site I wouldn’t know where to start with the choice! I’ve actually bought many CDs after hearing the artist on RP and yes I do send them a few pounds every so often

There are so many ways and such a variety of playback/streaming sources and devices that we can only say what works for us