Anyone tried JPlay?

[Ken Moreland]

Anyone tried JPlay http://jplay.eu/ ? A trial download is available from this link and it's pretty easy to set up and get working. The sound is fabulous and much better than HQPlayer or Foobar etc. I tried the free download and was stunned with the first track I played through the JKHiface/Benchmark Dac etc. There's no fancy front end , you copy the tracks you want then run the program . With the right settings the computer hibernates , all other processes including disk access shut down. The copied tracks are stored in RAM only so your computer need 3 or 4Gb especially if you're playing 24bit/96khz material. The trick is to have no programs running, reboot the computer and run JPlay immediately which secures a large amount of available RAM before the computer fills it with rubbish. Best to run the program from a memory stick because if the computer hangs up in hibernate it can be tricky to get working again. Overall the sound quality is well worth it and highly recommended.
KM

[Fran]

I've tried it and it does sound very good - but only have had the chance to try it on headphones which just won't give the soundstage. On headphones its not much different to pureplayer. Install and use is very easy alright.

I'm getting more and more tempted to get meself a laptop.....


Fran

[james]

There is a review of it in this weeks tnt-audio

http://www.tnt-audio.com/sorgenti/jplay_software_e.html

[Ken Moreland]

Pity he didn't get it to work properly on Vista, I have it working fine on Vista and going into hibernate mode because as well as shutting down all other processes it enables overdrive.

"Hibernate mode: Hibernation eliminates dozens of OS jitter-inducing processes & hundreds of threads. You will not be able to use your PC until music playback is completed, unless you start JPLAY from an USB stick. If JPLAY is run from a flash memory, you can quit hibernation by removing the stick from USB port during playback. To enable Hibernation mode, simply press ‘h’ in JPLAY.

Overdrive mode: [0,1]. Overdrive mode applies only to Kernel Streaming in Hibernation. It pushes your CPU to the limits, providing the highest sound quality you have ever experienced. Please note that this feature is extreme and using it with laptops and small HTPC cases with poor cooling capabilities may lead to instability (blue screens, restarts)."

Moving it to a 64bit W7 system next week so will update on progress.
KM

[Sligolad]

Tried it on a laptop with Vista and it has to be the best upgrade ever for 99euro.
Absolutely blown away by the sound coming from everything i threw at it.

For anyone using playback from a PC it is a must, way better than PurePlayer.
It finally gave me the opportunity to open up my Young DAC using 384 kHz tracks.
Back to listening to CD rips again at 44 kHz and sounding like i never heard them before.

If only it was around several years ago when i was foolishly spending thousands on cables for small improvements!

[Ken Moreland]

Right now I'm using and old ,relatively low powered laptop on Vista and it has just enough juice in it to run Jplay on DirectLink (no buffer) for 16 bit CD material. The sound transformation on CD material is unbelievable with clear fresh music on every CD. I found the impact was greater on CDmaterial than HiRes.

I think the key factors are;

1 minimum buffer size playable(if your system cannot handle a low buffer size you get clicking and popping) go for DirectLink if you can
2 hibernation + overdrive (if you're playing in hibernate mode activate the player from a memory stick and if it pops or clicks you can stop it by pulling out the memory stick).

KM

[Sligolad]

Hi Ken,

SNAP....i am also on an old vaio with Vista 32 bit which manages to run all the setings you listed.
Only slight issue is the CPU fan is working overtime but i can live with that for the moment.
Spent the weekend listening to lots of 16 bit 44 kHz albums and have had a lot of difficulty pulling myself away from the music.

Best upgrade in years and i am looking forward to listening to lots of music, i kind of like in a perverse way having to get up and copy the tracks and hit the spacebar.
You then have no distractions when the PC goes in to hibernate and you just sit back and listen to amazing sound.
With my modded Touch and Ipeng on Ipad i was more likely to be jumping around tracks before they even finished.

Can not say enough on how good this little discovery has been and how good my system now sounds.

[jkeny]

Yes, guys, it's my preferred playback software - Foobar sounds thin by comparison. I thought I posted about it here but it seems not.
I too had a great reluctance to part with €99 for software but in sonic terms it's worth it.
Ken, are you using it with Kernel Streaming on the JKHiface?
Do you find Hibernation & overdrive make a difference? I haven't noticed it but haven't done real tests to evaluate.

[Ken Moreland]

Hi John, yes, using it with KS on the Hiface. I can get the buffer size down to DirectLink on CD material but not with HiRes which needs a buffer of 2 or 4 samples. I have everything set to optimum conditions including Hibernation and Overdrive, clock and buffer to minimum. All of this made my old PC roar in pain so I temporarily use the laptop. I haven't tested any intermediate positions.
KM

[jkeny]

Yes, I think getting to 1 sample depends on the PC's processing power/latency? It might be worthwhile checking your latency with this tool http://www.thesycon.de/deu/latency_check.shtml

Overdrive will cause the CPU to be pushed hard & I don't know if it offers noticeable benefit - I haven't noticed it on a cursory listen!