The Switch from iTunes to JRiver

So all the songs I have ripped via iTunes I am now listening to in JRiver, and enjoying it very much. Of course, I can continue to keep iTunes in the background, even keep using it for ripping, but I am only dealing face-to-face with JRMC for library playback.

So, here's my question: Should I quit iTunes altogether and do all my ripping, organizing, storing, and playing through JRiver, or is there any advantage to keep doing what I am doing? Is it complicated to completely dump iTunes and expect JRiver to recognize all my files (24,000+)?

Also wondering if the switch to JRiver will eliminate the annoying iTunes exclamation mark next to songs it deems impossible to find even though they exist.

Using Windows 10

Much appreciate members time and commitment in this site...

 

IMO it depends on how tied you are to the Apple ecosystem, laptop system notwithstanding. If you manually load tracks to an iPhone or old iPod, you should keep your library iTunes accessible at the very least. Otherwise I'll defer to others since my home doubles as an Apple showroom (it seems).

 

JRiver does secure ripping so it's not contest there - imo, you should use JRiver for that.

And honestly, unless you have an Apple device that requires iTunes, I see no reason for it.

 

iTunes is the devil. Run away from it.

 

I certainly have no reason to keep it, but not sure how to make JRMC the default and cut the connection to iTunes.

 

I would be concerned about those files before cutting the cord! Are those song playing on the J?

 

I would run them in parallel and start moving all the files and functionality over and test everything. Make sure the files are working, that tags look OK, that your comfortable with the ripping functionality, etc.

When you feel 100% comfortable that you no longer need it, then I would uninstall iTunes.

 

Why does the OP need to uninstall iTunes? What harm in having both on your PC?

I switched over to JRiver about 5 months ago from iTunes and I find it convenient to go to the iTunes store or load stuff on my iPods or just play stuff on iTunes once in a while to compare.

JRiver has performed very well and I really like it. However, I still have iMatch working on my iphone and iTouch. It's not been a problem to keep both JRiver and iTunes going.

 

The one thing you want to make sure of is that your audio files exist in their own folder, outside of iTunes. I lost a lot of stuff years ago when I deleted iTunes and it took it's music folder with it. Ever since then, I have never used the iTunes music folder for anything, accept the odd purchase which is rare but even then, I copy it and paste it into my own music folder to ensure it's safe and exactly where I want it to be.

When I started using JRiver, I ripped my entire collection into my own separate music folder that I created, where I know it will always be. Then you just point iTunes to that folder. You can use both programs at the same time and I do, because of easy transfer to iPod, etc. but for ripping, playback and everything else, it's JRiver all the way.

 

I don't need to uninstall iTunes; I can just let it sit there and use JRMC as you say.

 

I use dBPoweramp for Mac to do my ripping. I much prefer the additional check measures of Accuraterip and I prefer the diversity of the pre rip metadata entry over iTunes rather simple metadata tools. Though I do prefer to use JRiver for playback and especially for JRemote on iPad I still maintain iTunes if for nothing more than habit for as little as I use it. Though the same files are used for both apps I do go through a two step process to import the files into each library. I first use Add To Library searching to my Music/dBPoweramp file location. Then I use Auto Import on JRiver to bring the files into that library. I have a couple of small reasons for this two-step import process. I've used iTunes, MAX, XLD and dBpoweramp for ripping but never have tried JRiver. I just have not felt or seen the need.

 

I've kept iTunes around because I use it for iPhone software updates and backup. I never buy any music from Apple, and now that I have the foobar2000 iOS beta on my phone, which can transfer my FLAC files from my PC to its library via DLNA, I store all the music on my phone in the fb2k Documents folder.

I never let iTunes access my music files. Being an Apple product, it follows the "don't worry your tiny head about the details, we'll take care of everything for you" philosophy. It's too much of a black box. I don't where the it gets the tags and artwork (probably Gracenote), and I don't know exactly how it handles imported files that already have tags and artwork. It gives me no choice about what tags to use, how to name and organize the physical files, or anything else. Yeah, it "just works", but I don't happen to like the way it works.

 

Wow, it doesn't? You can't correct some bad text from a previous user's entry?

 

This is the most important thing for the OP to know about, dBpoweramp!!!

 

Sure, you can edit the tags for an individual song, but if you want to see a real mess try importing a 4 CD "various artists" compilation set.

 

I can’t stand JRiver’s support forum. Got banned from them for saying something that was obviously wrong.

I would stay away from them if I were you.