JPlay - a Player for Windows

[MetalNuts]

A player without GUI. It has 64 bits and 32 bits version but does not support XP.

 

Is there anyone using it? Please comment.

 

http://jplay.eu/

 

 

[blaine78]

tried, but didn't work with Ayre QB-9.

 

 

[Marcin_gps]

Hi blaine78,

 

Could you tell me, why Jplay didn't work? So far we have troubles with Antelope Zodiac+ DAC only, but it's been sorted out.

 

Best regards,

Marcin

 

 

[blaine78]

I tried it maybe a month ago, the error message was due to software not being the same bit rate to match the dac. Ayre requires 24bit only.

 

[Marcin_gps]

So I have a good news for you We added 24-bit output in our latest version, which appeared yesterday.

You need to add "force24bits 1" line to jplay.settings and it will work.

 

Regards,

Marcin

 

[qualiton69]

Hi Marcin,

 

i guess im asking a question from the hart of many Mac users... ARE YOU PLANNING TO ISSUE A MAC VERSION ??

 

it is interesting - we made an A - B test last weekend between a Roksan Kandy CD player, and a Mac-Audirvana combo (same Dac, and analog at the end..) , and got to the same point we had gotten several times before : no mather 24 bits, 192khz, extream expensive Dacs, etc., etc., the result is the same : the CD still (audibly)outperforms the computer source for long time listenings ... We tried to word the reason, and gotten to the following result : it feels the CD sound is just a relaxing fluid flow of data / music, as opposed to the computer, where you keep "feeling" the issue of not having 100% correct data flow - timing wise . This causes (specially after longer period of listening) a kind of fatigue in your brain, because it needs to "correct" the false-timed-data .

Before anyone attacts this observation, please make the same test carefully with a good CD player .

Im not going back to CD, and trying to find the most accurate source possible on my Mac . After reading the specs of iPlayer, i thought wow, this is very interesting - theoretical answers to the issues we raised, but there is no Mac version , and im sorry, i never by a Pc (with respect to all Pc users..)

so just repeting my first question : any Mac version on the horizon ?

best

q

 

[blaine78]

How is your DAC connected to the computer?

 

 

[One and a half]

= no interest, zero.

 

[Marcin_gps]

Jplay can work as a stand-alone player and together with 3rd party music management software. It works great with mp3toys. Eye-catching GUI is not our priority. See FAQ at our site - http://jplay.eu/faq/

 

The best sound quality from PC can be achieved in hibernation mode only and for that any GUI is needless.

 

Regards,

Marcin

 

[Marcin_gps]

qualiton69,

 

Unfortunately we do not plan to release the Mac version, at least not now. It would require writing the player from a scratch and we don't know whether it would be possible to 'hibernate' OS X in a way it is on Windows. But as far as I know, you can install Windows on your Mac and try JPLAY; it's possible since Apple decided to put Intel CPU-s inside their machines.

 

Cheers,

Marcin

 

[medman711]

I have been using JPlay for the past week, and am quite impressed with it. Particularly in its "hibernation" mode wherein most non-audio processes and threads are eliminated, music playback comes out of a much quieter background, focus is improved, and the overall sound draws one in more.

 

A trial version is available at http://jplay.eu/

I did end up paying for the full version. Their blog has some interesting tweaks.

 

______________________

medman711

 

Lynx AES-16>Berkeley DAC>Classe Model 10 amp>Martin Logan speakers. Windows 7 J.River

 

[Marcin_gps]

medman711, thanks for the kind words! You should grab JPLAY V3 as it boosts SQ to completely new level

 

Regards,

Marcin

 

[sarinaa]

I also try to use this player but it is not working on Xp. i have xp so later i will try this on windows 7. by the way i mostly use vlc player and vlc player plays all type of file and it is really very good player.

 

 

 

[AudGuy]

And I am listening to the demo version, it's a bit clunky to get working but once things are sorted it's pretty straightforward. I am using the W7-64 version.

At this point I cannot say whether it's worth the fuss, but I will work with the demo a little while longer and see if there is any sonic merit to using this tool.

Note: the demo is crippled and will interrupt music playback every 2 mniutes or so.

 

Initial reactions are that it does lack an interface, appears to be able to play music in a variety of ways and supports at least WASAPI. I think it can do something unusual and play while in Hibernation mode. This is supposed to be the lowest jitter mode a PC can manage. ???

 

Initial sonics are quite good but I will have to work with the tool to get a better idea about whether I want to fork over the 99EUR that the authors want. That is kinda steep, as these things go, but it may have sonic attributes that warrants the cost.

 

Since I am quite satisfied with JRMC, JPlay will have to go some to win me over.

 

 

 

[Marcin_gps]

Hi AudGuy,

 

If I may recommend some settings. Try Kernel Streaming with lowest buffer your audio interface can handle (for PCI devices it's few samples or even 1 sample for RME AES-32) and once you establish the lowest buffer, enable Hibernation and Overdrive modes. Then compare it to JRMC or any other player available, you may be surprised

Let me know how it goes. If you're serious about pc-audio under Windows, you might also be interested in some tweaks, which I published on our blog.

 

Regards,

Marcin

 

[firedog]

Hi-

Tried JPlay. Compared files running on a regular windows desktop to same files running on my dedicated music server running Vortexbox (Linux) and through dedicated hardware player. Both sources to same DAC and amp.

 

How does it sound? Good! Different. Music sounded like it came from a blacker background, with nothing around it. Sort of stark sounding. I could hear some background instruments like cymbals a little more clearly. Never had sound as good as this from this Windows machine. But I'm not sure it's "better" or "more accurate" or "more natural" sounding than what I usually listen to.

 

But based on SQ only, I'd be interested in auditioning it more and trying to decide which sound I like best. However, from a POV of convenience, picking tracks to play, switching selections, etc. - it just doesn't cut it. Part of the fun of CA for me is the ability to do just those things. Without that user interface, part of the enjoyment of listening is lost. And it's not made up for by a (possible) small improvement in SQ.

 

But the ideas here are clearly worth developing for Windows and other machines: Run only most minimal processes possible on PC - better sound. You can clearly use this program to get very hi-end sound using a standard Windows PC - even one that isn't tricked up for audio at all.

 

If your music playing habits tend to full albums, one at a time (mine don't), this might be just the thing for you.

 

[Marcin_gps]

Hi firedog,

 

Did you try the latest version with KS, hibernation and overdrive? If not, then I'd highly recommend it

I agree that it's not the easiest player to handle, but jplay is not about convenience, it's about ultimate sound quality. Although some users equate using jplay with going to their CD rack and putting CD in CD player's tray, hehe

Next year we'll work on pre-configured mini server controlled by a tablet, but for now we are pushing the player to the limits.

 

Regards,

Marcin

 

 

 

[firedog]

Marcin-

 

Listened some more. JPlay on a totally standard not tweaked Windows machine sounded very good. Way better than this machine has ever sounded before. ALMOST as good as my dedicated Linux setup with an expensive hardware front end. Not as good, but not so far off. That's saying a lot.

 

I realize you were kidding, but it is sort of like going back to putting CD's in a player. Not for me.

 

But if you come out with the mini server controlled by a tablet, then I might be very interested.

 

[amily]

Nice information, many thanks to the author. It is incomprehensible to me now, but in general, the usefulness and significance is overwhelming. Thanks again and good luck! THX Speakers

 

[Elprior]

Hi,

 

this thread caught my interest, and I decided to give it a try yesterday evening.

 

I've been activating the tips I could find on the website (which is a nice slick one btw).

 

I'm using an HiFace Evo with an external linear power supply. W7 SP1 64bits. Jplay starts with the Evo has the current interface, nice.

 

Out of the box, v3.2 succeeds in allocating 1GB of memory. I'm not sure why it doesn't try to get more, as I'm loaded with 8GB, and I doubt only 1 continuous GB is accessible, but that should be fine for one album anyway.

 

Dedicated core and overdrive on, KS with 32 buffer size, and River mode. This is sounding ok, but I can't tell much difference with JRiver MC15 in KS and buffer size set to 50ms.

So I guess this is a nice player, but nowhere near JRiver at this point.

 

Now enters the hibernation mode. This one is very impressive. Definitely the best sound I have ever experienced from a computer.

 

But, there is always a but, it keeps on not responding anymore every two or three uses of the space key. It has nothing to do with the hibernation mode, except that in this mode, well, I can't kill the process, and am good with hard-rebooting the pc

 

Anyone having the same issue here, or an idea as to why and what I should do ?

 

Thx,

Elp

 

[Marcin_gps]

Hi Elp,

 

You can increase the filecache by editing jplay.settings file in the folder where you keep jplay. If it's not there, you need to close jplay, by pressing 'q'. Now this is very tricky, if you start few memory-hungry apps, have AV software running, there maybe problems with allocating higher amount of RAM using Large Pages. It's just how Windows works. The best practice is to start jplay right after your PC boots, prior to running any other apps.

 

Glad you like the sound, it's going to be even better. Right now I'm testing new beta, which allows for playback at 1 sample, even for hi-rez stuff (24/96) for most PCI/USB audio interfaces. We called it DirectLink - music samples are transported one at a time to DAC. That's 10 microseconds for 24/96 tracks, how about that? (5000 times lower than JRiver)

 

Hibernation 'kills' everything under Windows and you can't use the keyboard or anything until the playback finishes unless you copy jplay to an USB stick and start from there. Then you can stop hibernation by removing the stick from your USB port. For best results try USBmode at 0 in jplay.settings.

 

Cheers,

Marcin

 

[Elprior]

Hi Marcin,

 

You can increase the filecache by editing jplay.settings file in the folder where you keep jplay. If it's not there, you need to close jplay, by pressing 'q'. Now this is very tricky, if you start few memory-hungry apps, have AV software running, there maybe problems with allocating higher amount of RAM using Large Pages. It's just how Windows works. The best practice is to start jplay right after your PC boots, prior to running any other apps.

 

That I understand perfectly from your website.

 

Hibernation 'kills' everything under Windows and you can't use the keyboard or anything until the playback finishes unless you copy jplay to an USB stick and start from there. Then you can stop hibernation by removing the stick from your USB port. For best results try USBmode at 0 in jplay.settings.

 

That I understand too

My issue has nothing to do with hibernation, which is the real killing feature in terms of SQ.

 

I'm trying to be more specific so that you can understand it.

 

I'm selecting a first track from MC15, and play it within JPlay => it works fine, that's cool.

 

Now I'm selecting a new track from MC15, and play it within JPlay => it loads the track in memory, but then nothing happens. I can't call for the menu anymore, nor can I switch to next track (if any). I just have to kill JPlay (from ProcessExplorer).

Of course, this is even worst in hibernation, as JPlay seems to be stuck (whether hibernation mode is on or off), and removing the usb stick does nothing.

 

Elp

 

PS : Wow, even better sound ? You really need to help me on my issue.

PS2 : What about asio support, would that make any sense ? I'm about to test the new Diverter HR, which is provided with asio drivers (IIRC).

 

[Marcin_gps]

Huh, that's sth new. Do you have the latest drivers from m2tech? We've had some issues in this area..

Do you mean that jplay crashes? Does it crash with MC15 only or if it works as a stand-alone player too? And finally, does it crash with all tracks or some specific? Let's not make a mess here Please send your reply directly to us at [email protected]

 

Regards,

Marcin

 

PS: Yep. ultimate clarity, transparency and control

PS2: We don't really see the point of using ASIO, while KS is the best streaming method - the lowest latencies, low CPU usage, doesn't even need Windows Audio services running. So why add new layer on top of this?

BTW, Josef, the mastermind of Jplay uses previous version of Diverter, he seems to like it a lot (used Off-ramp 3 before).

 

[Elprior]

Marcin,

 

ok, I'll switch to the provided email.

 

Nevertheless, for CA readers, I'll be posting a reply as soon as I can find what causes the trouble.

 

Elp

 

[Elprior]

As promised, I'm posting my findings here with regards to Jplay.

 

First of all, anything that I write here only applies to my system, and as usual, people are encouraged to test by themselves. Jplay does offer a trial version, that has the annoying feature of cutting the sound every two minutes (or so), but that should be enough to get a glimpse of what Jplay has to offer. What's more, I am not affiliated in any way with the people at Jplay. I have not even (yet) purchased a license.

 

Back to the player itself.

All my tests are conducted with Redbook material.

I'll share my system details if it can be of interest to someone.

I won't even try to describe precisely the differences in sound, as I'm not versed in this art at all (and I don't understand much of what I read from people trying to do it).

 

I was testing v3.2 initially.

My issue with the player being stuck was linked to my choice of buffer size.

At this point, I found JRiver MC15 to be sonically equivalent to Jplay in normal mode, and Jplay hibernation mode to be superior.

 

So I had to find the correct buffer size for good sound and stable performance. I didn't have to play too much for Josef did provide with a first v3.3 beta version that allows for the use of a buffer size of 1 sample.

 

It has been working fine with both the HiFace Evo and the BelCanto UsbLink so far.

I will test it with the Weiss Int202 soon.

Sound wise, I would say this is more or less the same animal as version v3.2, although such a buffer size should play an important role according to Jplay fathers.

 

Anyway, I still had a problem with getting out of hibernation sometimes (even though the usb stick trick does work for me when Jplay is not stuck). So Josef has made two debug versions to try and nail the issue.

 

Recently, Josef has provided me with a v3.3 beta4 version.

I can't really speak for the difference in technical terms, but basically, you get the sound of v3.2 in hibernation mode, without having to use this mode in v3.3.

 

This is a huge improvement has you don't have to live with the inability to change track, or simply stop it.

I still have to play with hibernation in this version, as it provides with extra features such as overdrive. I have been trying it a bit, and it seems to be still a bit better than normal mode (to be confirmed).

 

The good news is that v3.3 should be released by the end of the week.

With this version, you are able to get fantastic sound out of your (windows vista/7) pc, without being forced into using the hibernation mode.

 

Just trying to describe the sound a bit (read my warnings yet ?) : everything comes from a quieter background, the soundstage is better defined, and the harmonic richness is most welcomed.

 

As a conclusion :

- Josef did provide with 4 different versions in one week, each time with improvements. In the meantime Marcin was very helpful with a lot of information and tips. I think you could call it being serious

- The sound of v3.3 in non-hibernation mode is very good. I still like MC15 very much, and find it much more convenient, but Jplay is just better (SQ wise).

- Jplay is the exact opposite of iTunes like players, focusing on SQ only with unique features.

 

Granted, some improvements could be made, such as writing to the console the track being played (when loading many ones in memory), or being able to come back to a previous track. With the current level of v3.3 in normal mode, I think they might even be able to provide with remote control or UI without compromising the SQ.

 

But it deserves more press, and is very well worth the price with its unique features and resulting SQ.

 

Elp

 

PS : As a consequence, I will buy my license, as soon as I figure out which usb/firewire spdif interface to use with the rest of my system