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JRiver and JPlay
#1
Anyone using JPlay with jRiver? Can JPlay be used with AIR or is that impossible? I'm guessing ASIO can't be daisy-chained somehow to another device/process.

Does JPlay improve sound quality? There's a rather sniffy warning on the jRiver site about using it!
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#2
I tried this combination 2 weeks back. I could not hear any improvements and got a lot of stability problems. Not sure if there could be an improvement with AIR at all, I think it will only improve the sound if you use USB. But even with USB I could not hear a real difference...
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#3
Jplay works with AIR. Just select air as output, and increase buffer size.
Kii Three, dCS Network Bridge, Roon Nucleus, Kuzma (Stabi S, 4Point), Soundsmith StrainGauge, Stromtank, Echole Cables 
Istanbul, Turkey
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#4
Thanks! I shall have to give this a try...
Another option instead of JPlay is Fidelizer is it not? I've read mention of it on Computer Audiophile anyhow. This is all very much new territory for me.
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#5
(22-Aug-2014, 13:01)Rufus McDufus Wrote: Thanks! I shall have to give this a try...
Another option instead of JPlay is Fidelizer is it not? I've read mention of it on Computer Audiophile anyhow. This is all very much new territory for me.

Hi Rufus,

I'm a newbie myself but in a worse condition than you are : I know nothing about serious audio too. Imagine my surprise as an IT'er when I sorted the audio USB cables on price high to low and the first one that came up costed more than the Devialet 200. Smile

The selection between a purpose build solution (Aries, Moon Mind, Autonomic, Sonos) and a generic selection is difficult : the advantages of the first are the drawbacks of the other and vice versa.
We (wife, kid and myself) ended up with both solutions : we use a Sonos Connect, added to a multiroom audio system with speakers in every room and a Sonos Connect that feeds the Devialet. The Sonos user interface is great and even my four year old can select a playlist. The sound is ok for the price we payed and good-enough for background music.
For serious listening sessions, we decided to start with a generic solution. I have the distinct impression that the streaming market is not mature yet. The established vendors like Linn have no dedicated streamer so one ends up paying for functionality that will not be used. You see a lot of new solutions, but the most innovative are from players that have not a proven track record, there is nothing known about support quality AND they have an unclear financial picture. If one buys a generic solution, one has at least an accessible hardware platform if the vendor goes bust. Computer Audiophile is a great forum for this, and CAPS-descriptions gave good technical baselines. I found http://www.thewelltemperedcomputer.com a very good place to start on the software side, especially if you like classical music. Some parts of the site are a bit outdated, but they add new content frequently.

You might want to take a look at http://www.highend-audiopc.com The software costs 100 euro's. You buy essentially a tuning kit for Windows 2012 that helps you in a wizard alike way to disable all unnecessary services and optimise the system for best audio playback. Before installing the software, a reboot on our system took 35 seconds, after installing the software a full reboot cycle takes 7 seconds! This gives an indication about the services it turned off. It has 3 reference architectures :from stand-alone PC to full JPlay implementation.
On Server version versus Windows client : my ears are not exactly high end-compatible, but even I can here the difference between a tuned Windows 8 Config and an untuned server 2012 Config. After using the optimiser, the quality gap became wider. Both USB and Air are working with the solution, but we do experience the white noise syndrome (7.1.1 and Air 2.12).

The free manual is very interesting, even if you don't decide to buy the tool. It gives an architectural overview on how Jriver, JPlay and the optimizer interact. There is nothing in the software that you cannot find after reading support threads, Microsoft TechNet etc. but finding it will take time. It is the package software and support that make it worthwhile. Support from 'audiophil' is very good. The support thread is on the Jplay forum, and customers receive a support email address. Four questions received concise and to the point answers. Audiophil recently started offering a separate support contract that covers more than only product support. It cost 50 euro.

We use a 400 euro fanless Intel NUC as server. The results on a purpose build audio platform should be even better. I've read a raving review about the AudioAanZee music server (between 1200 euro's and 1800 euro's) but the price difference with a NUC is noticeable. JRiver has now an appliance, based on the Intel NUC and the Jriver Linux version, so the NUC cannot be that bad. The NUC has an issue with Windows 2012 and network drivers but that is quickly solved. If you want to use JPlay, the NUC is not a good solution, because JPlay needs multiple Nic's. Be aware that the full-option JPlay implementation requires at least two PC's, preferable three. Also be aware that Jriver and Foobar are basically saying that JPlay is a scam. I am not qualified to make a judgement.

Disclaimer : I am not convinced yet that JPlay adds anything to my listening experience, so I use the stand-alone Jriver option. A lot of people say they can hear a difference. I have no relationship whatsoever with high-end audio PC except as a customer.
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#6
Thank Georgethesixth! I have to admit I've had my eye on a NUC. I'm currently running it off my regular PC which is a bit of a gaming monster. I have an old Asus Eee PC which is doing nothing and might transfer to in the interim. I've run jRiver on this in the past and surprisingly it wasn't too bad. I'm aware it's not audiophile-optimized though, having spinny disks rather than SSD for instance.
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#7
(22-Aug-2014, 18:27)Rufus McDufus Wrote: Thank Georgethesixth! I have to admit I've had my eye on a NUC. I'm currently running it off my regular PC which is a bit of a gaming monster. I have an old Asus Eee PC which is doing nothing and might transfer to in the interim. I've run jRiver on this in the past and surprisingly it wasn't too bad. I'm aware it's not audiophile-optimized though, having spinny disks rather than SSD for instance.

Your gaming monster has probably a lot of memory : you can configure Jriver to preload tracks in memory. That way, most issues with disk latency can be dumped.
Our music is stored on NAS-box with spinny disks. I did a load test (bandwidth, memory and CPU) on the NAS while playing music from memory in Jriver : no quality issues whatsoever. One track started late because Jriver could not prefetch the number but that is to be expected.
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#8
Ah yes, I've got 16G of RAM so setting in-memory tracks seemed a prudent use of memory Smile
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