I’d need some real convincing as bits are bits and I don’t use many or any DSP unless absolutely necessary.
Occasionally on bad or muddy recordings and with video over VLC for dialog and night listening, which is never critical…oh and… (foobar is free BTW 
This couch is free too. I’m not giving up my lazy boy just because I had to pay for it. 
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Well played…
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I’m more for spending money on nice things that I can actually sense a difference with…! But it’s your money so have at it.
If you think you hear a difference then I’m pretty sure you will…there’s a word for that but my memory is about as bad as my furniture (and yes, it’s an actual LazyBoy and it’s real leather. I only mention it as you brought it up…but I’m sure yours is better) 
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I have the exact same LazyBoy, color and leather, with my rig right next to it. Since I set mine up next to my rig and mac, I know I couldn’t imagine anything else. Can’t count the times I have fallen asleep with my headphones on.
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@ProfFalkin Haha, I’d sub that out for one that doesn’t likely have a body stashed in it since foobar isn’t that bad compared to JRMC to my ears.
@Hellenback The way I see it is that there are those with hearing much better than mine, or people trained to listen to things with a more critical ear. Mild tinnitus aside I can still reliably catch mosquito tones, but that doesn’t mean I can bet my life on being able to detect subtle shifts in pitch or catch really subtle nuances in recordings. It took me a lot of critical listening to learn how to tell apart a Chord Hugo from my Schiit BiMB, for example, whereas there are certainly others who need only a short while of listening to tell one from the other.
On that note holy crap that looks like a comfy chair. I’ve got a pretty okay office swivel chair at home, and while it’s certainly serviceable it’s not the most comfortable. Probably a good thing, though, else I’d never want to leave it!
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I agree on the subjective perception/hearing assessment but outside of EQ I couldn’t detect enough difference to warrent the cost of Jr-Media.
Also, as I detest iTunes, I think when I first installed JR to try it and it appeared to start taking over my computer, I decided it was just more than I needed/wanted. It may have (likely has) improved since I tried it and I may give it another whirl sometime.
I used to obsess more over things like this; but I felt it started to taking away from the enjoyment of the music if/when I found myself trying to discern incredibly subtle differences in the search for “audio nirvana”.
It is a hobby, so some like to spend more time and money on the technical aspect than I apparently do at this point in my life.
I’m also an old die hard when it comes to digital information (ie 1s+0s). If they’re sent intact by the assigned software I’m pretty confident that hardware is going to make more of a difference in changing even my subjective perception (and it’s not like foobar and it’s components are maintained by musical morons).
Things like jitter and other anomalies can be addressed with re-clocking etc. but I find the more time I’m being critical, the less time I’m enjoying the tunes.
I’ve done my best with Foobar over the years and actually enjoyed the learning experience and sense of community around the many different components that are available as you find you need them.
I realize JR has it’s advantages, as do some other programs. I use Neutron Player on one portable device and like it’s EQ (although that learning curve seems never ending).
Some people legitimately feel paid software it’s worth the money for the added features and functions. It’s just not something I find necessary to extract he SQ I need or want to enjoy my music library. It’s not like it costs a fortune, I’m just happy with what I hear from foobar. I simply save my extra cash for other things I personally find more value in.
I think the “JR is > than foobar” comment bugged me a little as I found it not necessarily accurate, so I expressed my opinion and tried to keep my disagreement/point of view somewhat humorous…perhaps I didn’t succeed? I could always be wrong as I haven’t compared the software in awhile.
If I start sensing I’m missing bits of the music (pun intended) I don’t mind spending a few bucks to see if I can pick them up!
To each their own and no “diss” to those who disagree 
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It’s very easy to get too comfortable for too long isn’t it? 
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[insert grumblings about how human brain cells work in hexavigesimal and NOT binary so how the hell can 1s and 0s perfectly replicate that which we perceive in real acoustic space] 
Nah but really, I don’t have a turntable yet. Interested in building an analogue system soon though, but I may work on finishing up my digital rig with a nice amp and then going back to my other hobby* for a spell before tackling that project. I’ve got some old vinyl from my grandparents and this one videogame soundtrack I bought just for the art, I figure I might as well invest in a nice table to make the most of em.
*Three guesses as to what the other hobby is, though I suppose it should be obvious from the profile, haha.
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I have this exact problem…
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I’m not actually one to get something just for the sake of pretty cover art, especially when it’s something I have no means yet of playing, but come on this is lovely.
To try and swing things back on topic a bit, I’m feeling somewhat better but still have a stuffy nose and weird pressure differences between my ears so am far from willing to call things definitive, but I do still hear a bit more congestion and harshness on f2k v. JRMC, much as I keep hoping it’s placebo. This is even evident on poorly-produced material like London Grammar or Paramore’s discography, and is extremely evident on more dynamic recordings like Michael Jackson. Harder to discern with larger orchestral works, but none of my main cans do those particularly well to begin with, I don’t think. Would be nice to hear more impressions from others who’ve both foobar and JRiver on a Windows machine to verify or refute.
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My foobar crashes or won’t play songs as of late so I uninstalled it. My time is limited and I don’t want to mess with figuring it out. I did recently grab the free winamp that just released and I’ve had zero problems with it, but I haven’t deep dived to into it either. I’m more of a let my hardware do the heavy lifting type these days anyhow. If I had a better collection of flac files I’d grab Roon, eventually this will happen…but who knows
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Thanks for actually taking the time to evaluate this and posting your impressions. It’s easy to rest on our prejudices and preconceived notions that bits are bits or that the software doesn’t matter.
In a hobby where $3500 systems are nowhere close to being considered TOTL, where a $250+ headphone or interconnect cable is entirely feasible and acceptable, or where we go to extraordinary efforts to ensure our digital files are truly lossless and pristine, I find it very concerning that our file playback software isn’t held to the same scrutiny and standards, even at a paltry $60.
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Haha, well the bottom line was I wanted to discern whether there were any sonic improvements at all, full-stop, because if there were any then $60 spent here shouldn’t be viewed any differently from, say, $60 on nicer interconnects that won’t sound like ass or a better tube for an amp. Heck, I was already tempted to buy it solely by virtue of the not-horribad DSP.
The fact that the software isn’t likely to degrade in the same manner consumables like tubes would just sweetens the deal.
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As I recall I think that was their policy before.
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I saw your other post about it being up to download. I checked it out and it was a bummer. No respect for the Mac yet. Oh well, I’ll continue to use Audirvana which serves my purpose just fine. From what I saw, owners not talking about a release for Mac. Everything else said are the typical rumours. As I recall it took a while to get mac version on old winamp.
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