JRiver vs Foobar - which do you prefer and why?

This is my experience as well.  JRiver sounds more live and musical to me. 

Check FUBAR in Tango and Cash movie...:)

try computeraudiophile.com forums. Massive discussion of software for both pc & mac. Cheers,
Spencer

Foobar is terrible, I’ve switched to MPC-BE (it's got a kick ass upmixer)+ explorer.

it’s not really fair to compare the softwares without telling what settings you have. I use ASIO with an ASUS essence stx and Foobar 2000 sound better than Hysolid, Jriver, and whatever else. I’ll try the new Jriver 64 bits but I don’t like the 32 but so...

Foobar and Jriver sound same to me. I use JRiver 19 because I payed for it and is far less labor intensive than Foobar--it's really a beautiful application.

Historically, the older programs did not always play FLAC files equally.  I did a comparison years ago and found JRiver was highly superior to a couple other.  I think one was Media Monkey, which sounded worse than JRiver.  If you play FLAC, there is a certain amount of overhear in processing when decoding the FLAC file into actual WAVE bit form.  JRiver does an excellent job of pre-processing this information before it's sent to the audio interface drivers.  JRiver just does an excellent job in playing and processing audio files in general (with all the DSP you can add).  I'm sure there are a few other software that are good as well.

Enjoy the music

Thanks for the input everyone.  I have been buying and ripping files in AIFF format vs FLAC since doing some research on Sound quality, including advice from Empirical Audio website, and in order to be have files easily compatible across Mac and PC platforms, although the last issue is perhaps an anachronism with sophisticated programs like JRiver and Amarra.  Still using JRiver, up to version 22 now.  I use it on a laptop that sees 3 different DACs, and the software adjusts well to each one, but wondering if there are some custom settings that could maximize performance in each case that I am missing.

I have no idea why either of these would effect sound quality if you are using a driver that passes bit-for-bit.  If you do hear a difference, you are not passing bit-for-bit in both or one of those players.

The issue with a player is to avoid the Windows kernel sound mixer/processor. Once you have bit-for-bit transfer, there can be no sound difference..... (jitter should be mitigated by your DAC or through use of a jitter reducer like a Mutec or equivalent).

So.... let’s say you install a Benchmark DAC and connect it, as you should, to your computer USB port. Benchmark has their own driver that passes bit-for-bit. When you fire up your player such as Foobar, you then go into Perferences and select the Benchmark driver. Done. Bit-for-bit. As long as the player you use allows you to select your device’s driver, they will all sound the same.

By the way, the Benchmark driver, and I would assume any new quality DAC, passes different sampling rates and word lenths.... Again, the issue just passing bit-for-bit or whatever your source file is. These DAC drivers eliminate the need for the older ASIO and other generic drivers. You just don’t need to worry about that stuff now.

This is a non-issue.

The real issue with these players, IMO, is their library management tools and speed of indexing. I have Foobar set to view by folder structure and it is fabulous. I have my huge library with a folder named for each artist, subfolders are named with their albums/CD names, then within, each song file is named starting with 01-Name, 02-Name etc. Foobar displays this wonderfully and is lighting fast... no lags etc.

I use Foobar for its library speed and its ability to use the kernel streaming drivers of good DACs like the Benchmark (or in my case now, a Mutec MC-1.2 jitter reducer and digital switch box).... but then again, any good player should do this so I am not wedded to Foobar.... if you get bit-for-bit, you win... there will be no difference in sound. Oh, and Foobar is free..... done for me.

How do you know you are listening to bit-for-bit transfers? If you are listing to music with one of these players and the Windows beeps and farts pop through (or if you fire up YouTube, you hear the vid and your music), you are NOT getting bit-for-bit because Windows in controlling the stream inside the computer and mixing sources.

Peace
Bruce in Philly

@bruce_philly 

None the less, they do. So much for theory.