Has anybody given this a try?
 If so what do you think about it? Are there better programs?

                                                  Cheers
                                                   Charlie

What is wassapi?

                                Cheers
                                Charlie.

I had just bought another piece of software Charles when Steve told me about WASAPI and I downloaded the demo, got it working and heard the difference which was like night and day, as you spend more time with the software you'll find all kinds of other great things it does too....worth every penny as far as I'm concerned.

Steve:
  All my music is in itunes. Can I transfer that to a laptop and run jriver media? If so will this Wasapi be running with jriver? Or is it a waste of my time doing this because itunes is itunes and it can't be improved on no matter what program.

                                                    Cheers
                                                   Charlie

All my music is in itunes. Can I transfer that to a laptop and run jriver media? If so will this Wasapi be running with jriver? Or is it a waste of my time doing this because itunes is itunes and it can't be improved on no matter what program.

I still use iTunes to import and organize my files and to synch my iPod.  In J.River, you can set "watched" folder locations (Tools > Options > Library & Folders > Auto-Import > Configure auto-import).  This is normally filled by default with paths to all media on the computer.  I remove all of those and add my iTunes folder location.
 
You can use J. River to import CDs, and if so, you would want to set the General File import folder location to same as the watched library location if you want to keep all the files off of the same root folder.  But if you use J.River to import files, they won't show up in iTunes, as it does not automatically "watch" folders.
 
The sound driver that J.River uses is selected in Tools > Options > Audio > Output mode, and it is here that you can select the WASAPI mode.
 
What file types are you using in ITunes?  WAV files do not store album information or cover artwork in the file, so those files will be seen in J.River (and other players) as the songname only, without artist, album or artwork under Unassigned.  For that reason, I have converted my library to AIFF files.  J.River can also read and play Apple Lossless files.
 
Although iTunes does not have to store artwork in the iTunes database for AIFF or Apple Lossless, it still does so if the artwork was obtained through online database lookup as opposed to copying or dragging artwork into the iTunes artwork window.  So when I am ripping CDs to AIFF in iTunes and it gets the artwork automatically, I then copy and re-paste the artwork in the artwork window so that it will be stored within the song file itself, rather than the iTunes database.  You can also download artwork within J.River for missing covers, but I haven't tried that.
 
So yes, you can copy the entire iTunes folder to your laptop, and then in J.River set that library folder location and the general file location if using J.River to rip CDs.
 
Steve

I checked my itunes import settings and apple lossless is the one that I'm using now. Should I switch to AIFF?

No, Apple Lossless works fine.  Some people have a preference for one file type over another, even uncompressed WAV over AIFF or vice-versa, but compressed lossless ALAC or FLAC are also bit-perfect upon playback.  I was just checking to see if you were using WAV, which would not contain album and artist metadata tags.
 
Steve
 

I am using Windows XP and I can only get sound out using direct and wave direct. When I try kernel streaming there is no sound. I am guessing there are other things that need to be switched?

I am going to play around with it again today. There are other things in the audio section that might need to be changed to activate kernel steaming.

I've been using JRMC for several years and LOVE IT! I have been primarily using it for audio as I believe it to be the highest fidelity player out there for Windows and they are continually improving things. I also like that I don't have to use a separate ripping program - their secure ripper does an outstanding job. They also have extensive control for Bass Management, PEQs and can use VSTs as plugins. We only use a small portion of it's organizing ability which is massive.

JRMC also handles video, photos and TV. This may be OT here but with many recent improvements the video is supposed to be outstanding. TV is probably their weakest area. With the demise of SageTV many users are hoping that JRiver will take up the slack so that we can have one excellent player for all media

Their documentation is lacking and there is a bit of a learning curve, but the Forum is incredible. I have had a lot of help there and have been able to offer a bit on occasion. A friendly bunch of bright people! Its also been neat to watch several features develop online with the interaction of JRiver, outside developers and users.

Re the cost. The initial fee is quite reasonable I feel. If you renew with the new major version approximately once a year it's very inexpensive to always have the latest. And there are lots of ongoing improvements. In our case we have all media on a WHS machine with several clients. The cost per client becomes very small since only one license is required for the server and many clients.

Did I mention I LOVE JR Media Center? I do! Try it, you may also learn to love it!

Cheers,
Rod