[kyrill]

There is no alternative sound wise I mean. There is no post on the internet I found since the inception of Jplay of a player in windows which sounds better. It is the contrarary A few cannot hear a difference but that is a property of their system. There are more than a few who found out out JPlay in hib mode makes the PC sound better than MAc regardless of the player used.

[Tyson]

Pure Player is about the same sound quality as Jplay, and is a much better interface, IMO.

[Aleg]

Pure Player is about the same sound quality as Jplay, and is a much better interface, IMO.

I have to disagree with that.

I also used PurePlayer extensively but find JPlay much better, esp. and most obviously in hibernation mode.

But as always these are just opinions formed by different people, with different ears, with different brains and different preferences listening to different music on different systems in different moods and state of mind and energy.

So don't take it all too serious.

-
aleg

[wushuliu]

Pure Player is about the same sound quality as Jplay, and is a much better interface, IMO.

Tried PP, but it kept giving me an error with Wasapi. Maybe I will give it another go. My favorite 'minimalist' interface is StealthAudioPlayer - I like being able to just right click and play a file or folder.

Also even if one does not use Jplay, I found the registry tweaks on the Jplay site beneficial...

[jseymour]

An earlier version of Pure Player also gave me an error when Wasapi was used.  The latest version eliminates the error, but I get a stutter for two seconds on the beginning of a song.  I prefer MusicBee because of the UI and cannot hear a difference between it and Pure Player.  I have a dedicated music PC, identical to the C.A.S.H. 2.0 PC (http://www.computeraudiophile.com), except with an ESI @Julia card.  I run Fidelizer on boot up.  I have tried other Music Players and I think specialized hardware and tweaked OS have a greater impact on SQ than which Music Player S/W, IMHO.

[trackball02]

I installed the JPLAY plug-in for JRiver MC 17. I can't seem to get it to work all of the time. Specifically the plug-in seems to play a track, but there is no sound and the dialog box in the system tray does not open. It's like a mute button was activated. The only way that I found to get the plug-in to play is to restart the computer, re-open JRMC and go into the start menu, select "JPLAY for JRiver", and go through the set up steps again. This is a hassle, am I doing something wrong?

[wushuliu]

I installed the JPLAY plug-in for JRiver MC 17. I can't seem to get it to work all of the time. Specifically the plug-in seems to play a track, but there is no sound and the dialog box in the system tray does not open. It's like a mute button was activated. The only way that I found to get the plug-in to play is to restart the computer, re-open JRMC and go into the start menu, select "JPLAY for JRiver", and go through the set up steps again. This is a hassle, am I doing something wrong?

Are you making sure Jplay is running before hitting play? For my setup I have to start Jplay manually right after opening JRMC. Be sure to contact Jplay support via email or their forum.

[trackball02]

wushuliu, you are correct. I contacted JPLAY support (quiet fast in replying).  I needed to re-install into a folder
C:\JPLAY. After that, start manually after opening JRMC17. I am undecided if JPLAY improves the already nice output of JRMC17 WASAPI Event and memory play to my DAC. One issue is that the volume is higher with JPLAY compared to JRMC, which may give the perception of the playback as being better. I'll need to do more comparisons.

[JEaton]

One person's test results using Audio DiffMaker, and his conclusion:

In conclusion, using my ears and DiffMaker measurement software, on my system, I cannot hear or (significantly) measure any difference between JRiver and JPLAY mini (in hibernate mode).

http://www.computeraudiophile.com/blogs/JRiver-vs-JPLAY-Test-Results

[trackball02]

Wow, interesting article. Food for thought.
I'm wondering if this technique can measure other factors in the digital chain, such as the perceived differences between various USB or Coaxial cables.

[kyrill]

JPlay is not really worth its money in a mid-fi setup. the better the system is able to send through musicality, transparency measured in 'space" then it will truly shine. JPLay is not about frequencies and stereo properties.
JEaton's link points at the simplest engineerish attitude as you should and can only  hear what you can measure. That is the main reason why so many big multinationals could not produce with their vast resources a good sounding musical amplifier ( Philips, Sony Yamaha) Those people will also tell you bits are bits, all usb cable sound equal and expensive analogue IC are snakeoil and so on. They also have this idiotic idea that tubes may sound better because of higher distortion than Solid State. Because they cannot measure "tube magic" they so easily invent it it must be in measurable classic domain. reintroducing this "even harmonic distortion" in solid state does not at all make them sound as tubes

I had a funny experience last night when listening. Always in the dark, I like it better that way. After listening for 20 minutes I felt fully uninvolved and disappointed. The magic was gone
It turned out, as I was the evening before still doing A/B linstening tests between the JK MK2 and the AP2. I still listened in JPlay with buffer sampling (KS) of 2 samples. ( the lowest Audiophilleo can handle) with the Jkenny. I set it on Direct link ( buffer sample 1) and immediately the "snappy' magic was back again.

[wushuliu]

One person's test results using Audio DiffMaker, and his conclusion:

http://www.computeraudiophile.com/blogs/JRiver-vs-JPLAY-Test-Results

the usual bait for more tired and pointless debating

[wushuliu]

Happy to say the new 4.2 with Xtreme mode is out and mean as it may sound I finally feel like I got my $139 worth. I've gotten pretty close to Jplay performance with other free software, but the Xtreme setting pulls away from the pack. I've always considered the price I paid as an investment, and now it's paid off. Real impressive. I really don't think any other software can touch it now. You could argue that other than my Alpair 7 speakers the rest of my gear is 'mid-fi', so I'm sure Kyrill will have his mind blown!

[ThuanDB]

Like you I am happy to report the JPlay 5.2a sounds really good.  I had been happy with BolderCables modded SqueezeBox Touch powered by TeddyPardo's power supply and still find it more convenient to select tracks, but sound quality wise the JPlay in mini mode is the ultimate.  Am thinking if upgrading Windows 7 to version 8 to take advantage of the beyond Xtreme mode.  Meanwhile, curious about Pure Play and others.

Happy listening!

P.S.  Most recent success in running dual PC and installing the Young driver has increased Jplay stability and SQ.  Piano, violin, bassoon, harp and vocals have never sounded this good.  The effect is like going from a crop sensor to a full frame body with high quality prime lenses.  I just can't get enough listening to music, track after track, album after album, red book to hi res.