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JPLAY - It aint subtle

Tried it awhile back and just couldn't get it to work consistently. When it did work, I could hear that it was doing some good things. Recently however, I was browsing ComputerAudiophile and saw that quite a few their members were using it so I decided to give it another go. It seems that they have done some improvements up to the current 5.1 version. It only took me 5 minutes from download of the trial version through set up.

I am not one for audiophile jargon so let's just say that what I heard would be comparable to what I would expect to hear if I had thrown some serious money at upgrading a major component. Needless to say I went ahead and spent the $130 to purchase the software.

My setup has been using two computers. One simply acts as a fileserver streaming files to the other pc. I had figured that reducing load on the pc doing the processing couldn't hurt the sound. Jplay also recommends a dual-pc setup, so I went ahead and tried their configuration and what I heard was yet another step above what I got with the single pc.

Now, I know that there is major controversy brewing over what exactly Jplay does and how to explain it. Jriver actually generates a warning page specifically citing tests that shows that Jplay has no benefit whatsoever. However, I am one of those audiophiles that follow what my ears tell me and not what some measurements show. Having said that I'd like to limit this thread to generating some feedback and discussion from others who have tried the software and want to share with others.
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cerrot's avatar
cerrot
1,606 posts
 
Lew,

I am using JRiver 19 on a custom gateway PC running windows 7. I am using a Juli@ ESI PCI sound card. The soundcard, via apogee spdif cable, goes into an esoteric upsampler (to 192) and reclocked, into an Esoteric K03. I am not using audiophils optomizer. I was using Jplay but find the music sounds more natural w/o it. I am absolutely thrilled with the sound. totally resolving and detailed and very transparent, musical and totally non-fatiguing.
The upsampling/reclocking and not using USB is key.
vladimir
346 posts
 
I tried the alternate version but still prefer the official one. My system has never sounded better than with JPlay 5.2, both as JPlayMini or as ASIO driver for Album Player 2.99.
lewinskih01
793 posts
 
Cerrot,

Thanks for the reply. I recalled from prior exchanges, a good while ago, you had the Juli@>Esoteric reclocker>DAC, but didn't know if this was still your current setup. I wonder if the reclocker isn't the key difference here. Nevertheless I will use your input and try WS2012 + Optimizer + JRiver and then compare that to same + JPlay. In fact if I find the time to do so I want to try comparing what I have today (old laptop with Win XP with JRiver into Audiophilleo into Metrum Octave) to same hardware running WS2012 + Optimizer + JRiver, and eventually compare this to the purpose built server running the same software. Should be interesting, although it will be nowhere near A/B testing considering the time between trying alternatives.

Turning off all processes and services that are not required for music playback makes sense to me - at the gut level, no technical knowledge to support that. Have you considered WS2012 + Optimizer?

Cheers!
cerrot's avatar
cerrot
1,606 posts
 
Thanks, Lew. I actually haven't. The PC is sounding pretty awesome and I think the next step for me in the digital world is to go with something like a Baetis. But thats a bit away, as I would like to upgrade my vinyl rig.
davide256's avatar
davide256
362 posts
 
Lewinskih01, I pretty much run the PC- DAC setup you plan to evaluate except I have abandoned Jplay in favor of DLNA because of better mid range fidelity and vocal nuance sophistication. I often A/B with musicals where as much is said in tone and pacing of voice as is sung in actual words. If you have a newer Oppo or better device you could borrow to trial as a hardwired Ethernet Digital Media Renderer you may be pleasantly surprised and being able to run your PC at any point in the room is nice vs being tethered with short, expensive USB and coax cables.
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