Search

MP3 Encoders
MP3 Decoders
MP3 to CD

Commercialware
Shareware
Freeware

Linux MP3 Converters
MAC Converters
WMA Converters

Downloads

MP3 encoder downloads
MP3 decoder downloads
CD burner downloads

Tech Info

Bitrates
Inside the MP3 Codec

Home

MP3 Decoder Review - Media Jukebox

Media Jukebox by J. River
 -- Review courtesy of David Robinson

Version: 5.0.601 © 1998-2000 J. River Inc.

Settings: convert to uncompressed wave
Similar products: none
Verdict: Excellent
VBR: All
Full file: Always
Major Flaws: none
Minor Flaws: none
Output level: correct
1-bit relative accuracy: Excellent
1-bit absolute accuracy: Excellent

"Media Jukebox, "The one that plays it all", is a full featured jukebox program, in competition with the likes of Music Match Jukebox. Visit the official website for more details of its extensive features.

Media Jukebox will convert mp3 files to wav files, and also burn mp3s directly to audio CD. However, rather than decoding the mp3s on the fly (as they are written to CD) it converts all the mp3s to temporary wavs before burning the CD. The whole process is automatic, but more time consuming than on-the-fly decoding. See The FAQ for the pros and cons of this.

The decoding quality of Media Jukebox is excellent. It installs the ACM 1999 codec, but appears to use a different (accurate) internal decoder instead. Whether converting to wav, or burning to CD (which is does by creating temporary wav files anyway), there are no faults in Media Jukeboxes mp3 decoding.

One word of advice: Disable Skinning (from the skins menu) - this speeds up the software on slower systems. My system usually runs very quickly, but crawled with skinning enabled. Also, be warned that Media Jukebox is primarily a jukebox - though it will convert mp3s to wavs, it requires you to add the mp3s to its playlist, then convert them. This two step process can become annoying if you don't require the jukebox features.

The CD recording feature produces CDs in Disc-at-Once mode (if your CD recorder supports this) - this a recommended for audio CDs. Unfortunately it will not resample non-standard mp3 files to CD format - it will only record 44.1kHz sampled files to CD, rejecting all others. However, the majority of mp3 files are already CD format, so this will rarely be a problem - only speech (especially comedy shows) are usually recorded at a lower sample rate.

In conclusion, media jukebox decodes mp3 files faultlessly, and is recommended, especially for burning to CD."

-- Review courtesy of David Robinson

 

 

 

Privacy Policy © 2000 Copy and Copyright