JRiver Digital Playback for Beginners by marpow March 2021 on Quadraphonic Quad Step 1

My suggestion is to create a simple little library. Take 3 CD's and rip them, store them organized and then we can download the newest version of JRiver and start with playback, as you can see already a lot of people are very advanced but we will stay focused to get all included.

Some computers have internal CD/DVD/Blu Ray and some do not. My PC laptop I use, does not. I use this Pioneer External Ripper

(https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01I21C1KU/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1&tag=forumy ield-20) and connect USB into my PC. You might want to think ahead and get a 4K Blu Ray ripper like this one:

https://www.amazon.com/Pioneer-BDR-XD07UHD-Blu-Ray-Player- Burner/dp/B0849YZYDX/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?dchild=1&keywords=Pioneer+external+4k+ripper&qid=1616036552&s=elect ronics&sr=1-1- spons&psc=1&smid=A5C7I211CAD5J&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUExTU5JRDk1UFUxODEmZW5jcnlwdGVkS WQ9QTA3MjY0MDBURlZIM1BOUEFMSjcmZW5jcnlwdGVkQWRJZD1BMDcyMjUxNjFXQVNOTUxFNkxCWUwmd2lkZ2V0T mFtZT1zcF9hdGYmYWN0aW9uPWNsaWNrUmVkaXJlY3QmZG9Ob3RMb2dDbGljaz10cnVl&tag=forumyield-20

Let’s not get to concerned with deals, prices , etc. - this is just to get you going.

You can rip and burn directly with JRiver using the ripping machines but I have never done this as my library is large enough that only an external hard drive NAS is suitable.

Then you will need a software program installed on your computer; there are fancy ones, but I just use what my PC came with. It is called Windows Media player. I only use this for ripping CD's nothing else.

In Tools>open options> choose FLAC (lossless). Remember we are just beginners, doing CD's now, we will get more advanced later.

Choose a folder on your PC where your rip will go to after ripped. I choose Downloads. I only use it as a temporary folder. From there after inspected, maybe rename the title, whatever - I then move to my storage vault.

So for today, very simple baby step. Rip CD, to folder on your PC, then let’s see if we are successful at 3 or 4 CD's and next we can start importing to JRiver and setting up for playback.

Screenshot of very simple Windows Media Player:

Step 2.

Hopefully you have been successful in ripping a few CD's or better yet some other format rips. You have either stored them on your computer PC or MAC. Better yet on an external storage device, hard drive, NAS, etc.

I encourage you to watch Ted's two videos, post #3. ( https://youtu.be/PkgWfO1U9nQ and https://youtu.be/1SpfwOk3bXQ ) They are good for the basics. Even they are MC19 versions, much has changed now we are at MC27. One thing I liked what Ted showed in his videos was the versatility of what he has done, his organizational skills. My set up like his can be complicated to the beginner, so my screen shots are not going to be my one that I actually use, but a new start so we can figure out together. Going to be bare bones basic so that you the beginner can go at this slow and easy.

We have got are free trial download. There are options for Windows or MAC downloads. When comes time you will be able to purchase a variety of options, Master, Linux, Personal, etc. I think the basic personal version with 10 access availability's is good enough, as Ted explains in his video #1. Each upgrade maybe one a year will cost you again. I personally don't mind as I feel it is a company that puts out a great program and I like to support them. This is a deal breaker for some, I understand.

When you open you will see this, always no matter how many times you open.

The next step is to configure how you import from wherever to JRiver. Top left, click Tools>Import. A page pops up. Select middle, "Configure Auto Import" This function sets the standard for how you import in future, which as it says, auto imports. I have done many ways, I have done nothing and auto import works well, but a little slow. I have done "Run Auto Import Now" probably a good idea if you are populating a new hard drive, lots of new rips, etc. I have evolved to only using "Import A Single Folder" I have a very large library and I like things neat and tidy. I rip, I move to NAS, I import a single rip, look at it in JRiver, make sure it's all tagged correctly, dates, etc. I'll get into all that later.

In this next shot you will see my two drives, the top is my drive on this PC that I am using for educational purpose, the M drive is my NAS, where all my music is stored, which is located downstairs. You can see the boxes I checked, for now that is all you need.

Todays last screenshot is a populated JRiver. Just press "Recent Albums" in the Blue Audio section. I hope you now have your screen populated as I have. I hate to cut off now as I know you are ready to play, but remember baby steps.

Side Note: Before we set up zones for playback I thought I would add a couple notes. JRiver is like much of the media software you own and can do the same thing multiple ways. If I knew every way to work my phone, PC, and JRiver I would be super smart and I am not. When we go through this education you most certainly will be able to custom make JRiver to your own personal needs and lifestyle. I will get you started.

Tagging your music is much improved from when I started using JRiver. Programs like Mp3tag are not needed anymore. The programs I use for ripping the various formats are all real good.

I went on YouTube and looked at all the JRiver tutorials, a mixed bag of information ranging from not helpful to pretty good, to outdated.

While I was on YouTube I was reminded of the King of all things digital playback, Hans Beekhuyzen, he is a little dry, but highly informative and very knowledgeable. He does talk about Roon, Kodi, and JRiver, but it is his digital gear and digital playback that really makes him stand out, some over my head.

Hans Beekhuyzen YouTube Channel ( https://www.youtube.com/c/TheHansBeekhuyzenChannel/featured )

My goal today is to work with you to set up playback zones so by end of weekend you should be playing back your digital library. At least with CD's. I think that most of us, the greater part of our library is CD's? I could be wrong.

Step 3. Understanding playback zones.

This is where your JRiver plays back on the device that you choose. My everyday playback is on my full functioning home theater rig. I listen to 2.0, 2.1, 3.0, 4.0, 5.0, 5.1 & Atmos. The .0's are no LFE.

I have three zones that I named (you can name them any way you want) Stereo, Multi Channel, Atmos Zone. You do not need 3 zones but I will explain why I have 3 zones.

Stereo Zone. I get into moods where I only like listening to stereo, it sounds great and it does not engage me as much as the other two zones. I also can turn off 2 of the 3 amps, just leaving the 2 channel amp on. It is purely a state of mind only.

Multi Channel zone is my most used as I can play all my music except Atmos through this zone as it reads the same way as the stereo zone. If I am just bouncing around and I don't care about mood, or amps or anything, and I am going from stereo to any MCH source (not Atmos) this zone will play all.

Both these two zones play through a MCH DAC that handles all files, FLAC, DSD all rates except DSD512, WAV, etc. This is connected USB out from the PC to the DAC and then 6 RCA outs to the 7.1 in section of the PrePro. Both these two zones are Bitstreaming set to DSD.

Atmos Zone is not used that much as I do not own that much Atmos music. Unlike the two other zones this must be set to Bitstreaming HDMI and goes directly to back of Pre/Pro. I can play all my music through this zone but if I do I have to bypass the external DSD capable DAC and I do not want to do that. I believe my external DAC performs better than the internal DAC for all digital file music.

I will show you setting up two zones, again you can name them any name you want, a MCH zone in Bitstreaming DSD where you can go either to an external DAC like I do or the back of your AVR, or as some have questioned back of an OPPO for instance, this all must be USB out, that said depending on your AVR or PrePro you need to find out what offers you the best ability for playback and/or sound quality. Chances are you will need a USB A to USB B cable like this Audioquest Brand (https://www.audioquest.com/cables/digital-cables/usb-a-to-usb-b/pearl)

You can also just go one zone only for pure ease of function, not concerned with the absolute best sound and that is to go HDMI out from your PC to your AVR or Pre/Pro or OPPO, etc. Setting up a HDMI bitstreaming directly to your player, assuming your player will handle all that you throw at it will allow you to set up one zone for all. There will be some little pop ups that come up regarding play back but JRiver now has the ability to detect the information and adjust, so just let it buffer and it will start playing.

I hope this outline will help you in getting ready for zone set up and play back. This will allow you to look at your equipment and purchase any cables you might need, put some notes down on paper, basically get ready. I don't want anyone to feel discouraged by getting half way through it and find there is no playback. As beginners we can anticipate pulling in and out a few cables to get JRiver and devices to become as one.

Here is a picture of my set up. The larger black box is my fanless PC (holds my JRiver) that is connected USB out to the silver MCH DAC 6 RCA outs to back of Pre/Pro and also connected HDMI out to the AUX HDMI zone in back of my Pre/Pro. With this set up I can use the JRiver remote app or what I do daily is remote in from the laptop I am using now via a remote access program called Splashtop, works great. The others are all HDMI connected, DirecTV and Amazon Fire Cube. Sorry I got a little sidetracked here but I wanted you to get a general understanding of what you are about to do. We will also have to learn all the ripping techniques of all the different formats but we are making good progress.

Step 4, setting up a zone.

Disclaimer, all the below can be done a variety of ways, I find my way very simple. I am going to name two zones, DSD Zone and HDMI Zone, you can do what's best for you.

We will be working on the left tree screen, if not already done left click and expand the PLAYING NOW.

You may see a variety of items below in the overview. Most of my equipment is all ethernet connected and my view has a lot of items, disregard, we will set up our own playback zone/s.

Very top, left click Player, scroll down to Zone left click Add Zone, new window and name your new zone, I named our first DSD Zone.

Click OK.

Your new zone is now in the "Playing Now" group and you are ready to create your DSP and Playback options.

What is best is to hook up your cabling to your desired playback gear now, either USB or HDMI or if not going to a playback system, you can just do as I am for now and playback via my PC. The reason is jRiver only recognizes what you are hooked up to.

Right click your new zone, down at the bottom is Playback Options, left click to open, it is not necessary to open the DSP Studio above as it is also in the Playback Options.

Select Audio Device, choose your device, a DAC, AVR, OPPO, your choice. Select Device Settings, choose Default Channels (recommended), check out the other options. Select DSP & output format, you can do as the screenshot shows or play around with channels including the first choice which is Source Number of Channels. By checking the For Stereo Sources Only, only mix to 2.1 that can be good for stereo.

In mixing I always select no upmixing or downmixing. Let's say you were listening to Chicago Quadio which is a 4.0 FLAC PCM source and you have the upmixing/downmixing selected it will play back as 5.1. I personally am a purist and I only listen to how my rip was intended to be.

Output Encoding, None. Input/Output, you can just leave or select No Change. When you first start and playback different sources sometimes you will get a pop up that says, not recognized---, just let it buffer in a couple seconds and all will be fine. Once you have played a variety of sources this will stop.

All the other things on the left tree are cool and you can check them out later as they are not necessary for initial playback.

Change Bitstreaming to DSD. Switch Tracks to Gapless. The rest of stuff is self-explanatory and you can play with it.

Same process for HDMI, just switch Bitstreaming to HDMI.

The rest of the steps will be organizational skills, this where it gets fun as you can create your own look, vibe, personal tagging and the way you playback using all the different formats. If you have been successful getting this far, congratulations.

Side Note: Ripping.

Before we go to Step 5, tagging and your look, let's talk a little about ripping discs. I have been doing this for a while and I have had great success. I will list my ways with the different formats.

Purchased downloads: I use exclusively NativeDSD, HDTracks, (Acoustic Sounds, there download site is no longer in business). NativeDSD and HDTracks both have what is called a downloader app that works on your PC, both companies are very efficient. If both companies happen to offer the same release, they will, mostly with the 2xHD Fusion releases, I always choose NativeDSD as you also get the booklet. I have also purchased digital downloads from other companies and have been successful. Some use DropBox, etc.

SACD (Stereo & MCH): Only one way for me and that is the Sonore and OPPO combination. Works perfect. MCH and Stereo.

DVD Audio: I use DVD Audio Extractor (DVDAE), never a problem. MCH and Stereo.

DTS Audio: Foobar 2000 with the added DTS Component. Can be a little wonky but has to do more with the DTS surround discs themselves. People on QQ can help. MCH and Stereo.

Blu Ray Audio: For all Blu Ray surround and stereo including (Atmos TruHD Atmos Codec) I use MakeMKV for the actual rip, works perfect. I then use Music Media Helper (MMH) for the track splitting and tagging. Works perfect. Our own QQ member Homerjau is the inventor of MMH and his help is well, lets just say flawless.

CD's: I use Windows Media Helper, works perfect. Stereo only.

All my rips are set to FLAC except SACD are set to DSF.

All my rips, I set to send to my Downloads Folder, why? I don't know, just because. I then open them up on the PC and look at them, make sure they look good and change anything I want, this will help when it finally gets imported to JRiver.

If ripping multiple discs always look at them one at a time as sometimes the same music from the same box set will morph together in your desired folder.

Let's say you rip a 3 CD box set, sometimes they come out titled all weird and different. So as they enter my desired folder one at a time, I make sure they are tagged as I want, Black Sabbath Vol 4 Super Deluxe (Disc 1)- Black Sabbath Vol 4 Super Deluxe (Disc 2) and so on.

With other rips say a Dutton Vocalion release you would rename as Mott The Hoople-The Hoople 4.0 SACD DV and Mott The Hoople-The Hoople 2.0 SACD DV. By renaming them properly in your PC folder it not only helps when it finally gets to JRiver but also helps if you ever need to find exactly what you need in your eventual storage place.

Then I move these ripped files to my NAS in my case the M folder. as shown in the screenshot. When my download folder gets about 20 or so rips I move these again into an external hard drive that I only connect to when I do this. This external hard drive is for backup storage only, I then disconnect the external hard drive and delete the files on my PC hard drive. I now have two copies of all my music, the NAS and a disconnected hard drive. If there is a fire or earthquake it is one of the items I need to take with me as I run out the door.

Step 5. JRiver, your personal look.

I'll show you a few things that will help you have a nice organized look. In the post above this, @HomerJAU says "I’ve put so much time into converting discs and correctly tagging my music and collecting album art, disc art and artist fanart". Yes, this is true, when you have a large music collection you will spend a lot of time organizing, you will likely develop your own style over time. What I hope to do here is get you to not completely redo things as it can be a real pain. Some easy things in RED.

Top Right Search Box: Type in anything, Boz Scaggs, DSD64, 4.0, on and on and wham, all that you own of that search comes right up. This will be reflection of how well you tag EVERY album. Do a lousy job, you'll get lousy results. this is why I can't stress enough to do proper tagging as you import, one album at a time. Tagging each album is easy and we will get to that.

Top Right Slide Bar: Move this right to left, back and forth and you lock in your album panes. In my screenshot I show 17 albums per row. My prefered view is 8 per row. This view is from Recent Albums, you can have a different view using the slider from all the Blue Audio Tabs.

Top Left VIEW: This expanded view shows all the little things you can do, skin color, different views, etc. Some are really into this stuff, I am not, I am most interested in recorded information and playback.

Middle Left Audio Tree: In my actual working JRiver I only have Albums, Artists, Genres, Recent Albums, I have deleted the others.

Video: Files is where my Atmos Video files are kept. I have Video files that are either Chapters or Full Length, when ripping a Atmos music disc, as of this writing JRiver does not playback gapless, even though it is there in the Playback Options tab. Most music this is not that big of a deal and I actually like chapters playing back music with the individual video screens, but like The Beatles Abbey Road, gapless is a must so I watch/listen to the full length.

I like my JRiver to look about like this.

I forgot to mention the Top Left volume slider bar: You can activate this or not. If playing back on PC OK to use, mostly a redundant function though. On my full rig it is not activated.

Side Notes: Some little things before we go to Step 6. Notes correspond with red lines.

Top Left: Help button. Self explanatory, but this is where you can jump right to the JRiver Forum, helpful yes and no, just like QQ you can get people saying the way the say there stuff. How To: very good, access to the Wikipedia Link. Registration Info. Plus other stuff.

Middle Bar: Put your cursor anywhere on this display bar and right click, now you can customize this display.

Lower Left: Display, you can collapse, expand and make full screen with different views and lyrics.

Top Right: As you can see I just typed in Bruce and everything in my library with Bruce in it popped up, Springsteen, Hornsby, Jack Bruce, etc, etc. Middle Display Bar: This is where Step 6 will be focused on. This is your everything place for all that will be important to you, everyone will be different.

Step 6 - Part 1

First let's go back to our download folder, or your choice, and review how we do our file name. This is the foundation of tagging and storage. This example the most recent CD rip of The Black Crowes, came out perfectly right from the rip, I consider that rare. Most of the time when you rip especially from box sets they kind of end up morphed together and is a hassle separating them. Rename your file as it comes and is easy, one at a time.

Here in the filename you want to rename exactly as it is, if it is a digital download and they send to you as the album name and some numbers you don't want that, you want to rename that file as it is, as example David Elias-Acoustic Trio-DSD Sessions 2.0 DSD256 if there is another version of the same just name it that and change 2.0 to 4.0 for example.

Before we really get into that center black, tagging bar, not even sure what it is called.

This is a great example of not doing one at a time and even though the file names on the hard drive are named correctly, JRiver morphed them together. The Band-Stage Fright.

First I will highlight all of the DSF file which is a Mobile Fidelity SACD stereo rip, then I will highlight all of the FLAC file which is a 5.1 BluRay from the recent box set.

I am also going to add a Description Box in the center black bar, by right clicking that bar and checking Description.

All I did was highlight, right click, rename, and within a second, done. Note: this view is just my JRiver used for instructional purposes only, so little things like the thumb nails disappearing on the left not a concern. Not at all necessary to go to the tagging side bar for any tagging.

Let’s say, I want to look at all my MOFI 2.0 SACD's, I go to the Search Box top right and start typing 2.0 MOFI and even before I can finish SACD the list populates, awesome. If I type DSD256, guess what, every file I own that is a DSD256 will populate, 2.0's and 5.0's or 5.1's.

Step 6 - Part 2

In this step we will change the middle black tagging bar.

I will show you a completed bar of what I like, this may not be what you like, there are many choices all easy. First put your cursor anywhere over the black bar and right click, you will see a window populate like below, see lots of choices, too many.

What you see first in this screenshot starting from left is Image (small thumbnail)-Track #-Name-Artist-Album-Duration- Description-Bitrate-File Type-Genre-Date-File Name. Very important, always keep Filename.

You can take your cursor, there is a very small bar, almost hard to see, and you can slide these descriptions back and forth if you happen to not like the order they are in.

When you are done, click Presets, here you can save your tagging bar, you have the ability to name and save different presets. One is good enough for me.

At any time if let’s say your preset is expanded (it is too long) you can change it by sliding tabs to smaller or larger, for Instance Dynamic Range is a long two words, but the numbers for Dynamic Range are only two numbers, so I shrink the Dynamic Range box down to only DR, it's my JRiver and I know what it means.

The screenshot I show below this one is what I like for viewing.

These next two screenshots are what I like, too long for one screenshot so there is a left and right view. I tried making one but too small for viewing in our classroom.

Notice the dates, I have three, Date is the year of the first release, Date (release) is in this case the date of the box set release, Date created is when it from the NAS to the JRiver. I believe everything else should be self-explanatory. Remember this is fun so create your own look with the many choices.

See more below.

In this example I wanted to change the Album name. NativeDSD sent the file as Warren Vache' but Bucky Pizzarelli also plays on some tracks, so I renamed all the tracks to include Bucky. Now, he really doesn't play on every track and I could have named each track individually, but I got lazy.

Highlight all, right click, left click rename and do so as screenshot below this one shows. You can rename any box you want super easy.

Notice what I did in the description box 2.0 DSD256, I need to go back because what I really wanted was "2.0 DSD256 NativeDSD'

If done this way, again back to the search box, just type NativeDSD and bang, they all show up.

Step 6 - Part 3 This final step will be three super easy things, Cover Art, Analyze Audio and Lyrics.

Cover Art: I do mostly one of two ways.

Right click anywhere in your highlighted section as shown, click Library Tools, click Cover Art, there you will get two main choices, either Get From Internet or Add From File. Lets say JRiver gives you nothing when you import, or JRiver gives you the old cover art and not the new box set cover art, whatever you either got nothing or you don't like what's there. Try Get From Internet, sometimes works well sometimes not, what I do almost exclusively is I go to Discogs, Amazon, the download sites I purchased from, right click on the cover of choice, save as, then go back to JRiver do the above mentioned and click, Add From File and bang, all done. Sometimes on a box set I will do different covers of that box set that I get from Discogs.

Analyze Audio: I love this feature. You can add this in under Import>Configure Auto Import if you would like. I don't.

This feature also adds many things in it's own black tag bar, that you can add or subtract, more stuff than even know what they are, all kinds of leveling and DR's and wavelengths, too much for me. The second below screenshot has what I do, remember a cool thing in your play back is the Dynamic Range per track, you can only get that information, by Analyze Audio. You can see Analyze Audio in the below function, another Library Tool.

Lyrics: Either same place as Library Tools or can right click on any track, press Lookup Lyrics, (Note: Jriver will only populate 10 tracks at a time with Lookup Lyrics if highlighting an entire album, I honestly don't use the feature that much, unless I am listening to a song and I think, how do those lyrics go? JRivers lyrics can of course be hit and miss, if it is a super random album, maybe you won't get anything, however in the last three years greatly improved.)

See all the way below for Lyric Screenshots.

Analyze Audio Screenshot:

These Lyric screenshots are from the Display: Dreamstate View Right click on Display, click Track View and create your own.