After reading the J River MC review on computeraudiophile, I decided to give it a try. I'm using Windows 7 SP1 with a Bel Canto USB Link and I've been using WMP. My music collection is currently all WMA Lossless and I would like to try some higher resolution and FLAC (HDTracks, etc.).
After some futzing, I've gotten J River to work stably, but I am noticing a sonic difference between J River and WMP. J River is sounding like it has slightly crushed dynamics. I can't convince myself it's not different (on headphones and speakers). I've extensively sound tested WMP vs. my CD player in the past and I'm satisfied I can't hear any difference. (I'm using an Arcam AVR350 DAC/amp, Grado PS500 phones and Kef XQ20s)
My question is why the difference with J River? I am using a v16 (trial), and I have the following settings on Tools | Audio:
- Output Mode: WASAPI
- Output Mode Settings:
- Device: Default (USB Link plugged in)
- Open Device for Exclusive Access: YES
- Flush Device Buffers on Startup: YES
- Flush Device Buffers on Pause: YES
- Present 24-bit as 32-bit: NO
- Buffering: 0.50 sec
- DSP and Output Formatting:
- Resample: No resampling
- Bit-depth: 24 bits (after reading USB Link post)
- Prebuffering: 6 sec
- Play silence at startup: None
Is there a volume difference possible between J River and WMP? I have the volume on both set to 100.
Also, I get a large 'thunk' and playback interruption when I start playing on both (identical). Is there a way to avoid this with J River?
Thanks,
Yaamon
