The sound out of jplay 6 is astonishing

Depends on how you set things up, jplaymini is the player. But I use foobar -> 64bit aaio -> jplay. I don't use the streaming features.

You can use asio bridge for apps that doesn't support it. I use MPC-BE -> wasapi asio bridge -> jplay for video.

The difference at this point in windows should be instantly noticeable. Assuming you got a 5k+ audio setup of course.

Had you tried previous versions and this one blowed you away more than earlier ones?

I ask because I tried it in my system and couldn't hear a big difference, despite me wanting to. Might try it again.

For the record, my system is a very much optimized PC running WS2012R2 with Audiophile Optimizer and JRiver. The optimized (hardware) server made a big difference vs the previous laptop running JRiver. Running WS2012 in core mode made a big difference. The Optimizer made a huge difference. JPlay, even running from JPlaymini in the mode that blocks you out of the PC, etc, etc, made a marginal improvement. Not worth the hassle at the time.

But JPlay is still on my future list to try. Been chasing other shinny stuff though.

So the question whether you tried previous versions is very relevant to me.

I had been using Jriver on my Zuma computer for a year. A few weeks ago I switched to JPlay v6/Jplay streamer, with minimserver, using bubbleupnp as the control point. That combo is blocks ahead of Jriver in terms of sound quality -- I agree with Coli completely. The folks at JPlay have taken quite a bit of flack from those who contest its technical description -- I'm not qualified to add or subtract anything from that discussion. But it is free to audition, and well worth the effort to do so, IMHO. -- David

The magic bullet seems to be an optimized machine like CAPS running Windows Server 2012 with latest beta AO, Jplay 6 and throw in the latest Fidelizer as well. My friend just recently updated and those who have heard his system claims it's the best digital sound they have heard. I run a dual server setup and am quite happy with the sound I am getting now so I am holding off the updates for a bit.

While I am strong advocate for this kind of setup, this definitely isn't for novices. It requires just as much finicking and tweaking as a good turntable setup to get best sound.

I actually think the problem is my DAC being sensitive to input jitter, so if your DAC handle crappy input better, then jplay would not be needed.

I'll be getting a different DAC in a month time so I will find out...

Also going to be trying out AES vs the USB that I'm using right now.