For the longest time, we’ve been used to requiring a core for our libraries to control them in a comfortable manner. Roon is a good example of this. As a 3-tier system, it requires a core, endpoint, and control component. The core is the part that tracks the library content and hosts the database, the endpoint is where you send the music to playback, and the control element is how you control this, usually with a phone or tablet, often an iPad. If your music sources are predominantly of the cloud service (streaming) kind, you might wonder why you’d still need a core. Indeed, as Qobuz Connect and Tidal Connect prove, you can just as easily stream to your endpoint directly from your phone or tablet. But herein lies the clincher. In the aforementioned cases, you are bound to a single service. All services have their own dedicated app that does not play ball with other streaming services. Even more importantly, these apps only work via Airplay.
JPLAY solves this problem by combining Qobuz, Tidal, and local content in a single, simple, and elegant interface that offers literally all the functionality one can wish for. According to the maker, the app works instantly with nearly every streamer or network DAC on the market through UPnP AV.
The design brief was not just to create a superb user interface, but to also minimize the network traffic between the app and the audio endpoint to the absolute minimum to ensure the lowest possible network noise and, as a result, the best sound quality.
Thanks to native iOS programming and advanced optimizations, JPLAY promises exceptional speed and responsiveness. You may combine all your music in a single library or use each music server and streaming service separately.
With the latest update (version 1.0.14), JPLAY also features integration with TIDAL MAX. With the integration of TIDAL MAX, JPLAY users can now enjoy audio streaming up to 24-bit, 192 kHz, exceeding the quality offered by TIDAL Master.
The cost matter
JPLAY positively stands out when it concerns the slickness of the interface and the extra functionality that is offered. In line with most software these days, JPLAY can only be purchased as a subscription, and the amount adds up over the years. A fair question is whether it is worth the extra expense over other single-purchase apps. Andoid users have historically been served better with a choice of UPnP apps while for iOS users, Mconnect was really the only good option.
Mconnect can be downloaded for peanuts, but its very basic functionality is only barely good enough. More precisely, I found its user interface merely adequate and nowhere near as good as Roon. Still, I used it because there was nothing better for iOS.
It is widely agreed that Roon has set the benchmark with its user interface. However, Roon is a 3-prong system that requires a core for the server component, does not work with UPnP, and is quite costly. In that light, what’s offered with JPLAY starts to make a lot of sense. And that’s before we even get into the Sound Quality side of things. But I’ll get to that in a second. First, let me show some more screenshots to illustrate the app’s extensive functionality.
User Interface
When opening the app for the first time, it takes you by the hand by automatically scanning the network and showing the found renderers (streaming endpoints).
The next step is to select the desired streaming service.
After logging in with Qobuz for the first time, the JPLAY main screen is automatically and fully populated with all your personal content. Below is the Home screen in its full glory.
Is that a beautiful interface, or what? Every header, such as Playlists, Favorites, Recently Added, etcetera, has a “more” button to show more of the related content.
The beauty of this app is that it looks very clean and simple but offers all the functionality that I can think of and then some! And there is no learning curve; everything is where you expect it to be. You simply start exploring, and all is revealed naturally.
All the usual metadata sub-divisions and streaming service categories, as well as access to the app’s main settings, are right there in the main slide-over settings pane.
Every endpoint has its dedicated Settings section, along with all the adjustments you could ever need.
Once you have used Qobuz to play a few tracks, the home screen is also populated with all Recently Played Tracks.
Next: functionality Continued
Hi Christiaan,
great review, I appreciate the comparisons.
As you like JPLAY for iOS it would be interesting to know how XACT S1 server with Formula DAC compares to Linq/Formula and CH Precision.
Matt
Hi Matt, that would indeed be interesting to find out! 🙂 There’s a chance I may indeed also review the JPLAY XACT server, but no definitive planning just yet. If/when I do, I will make sure to make those comparisons.
Is it possible to listen to radio stations via Upnp through JPLAY app?
JPLAY for iOS has “radio” as in the automatic queue and shuffle function but it does not currently have internet radio stations like TuneIn and such.
Christiaan,
also for your upcomig Antipodes K22 review some comparisons vs Aqua LinQ would be very nice as both endpoints are roughly in the same price range.
The K22 review is now ready and will be online soon. I’ve not made comparisons with the LinQ as I don’t feel they are the same kind of device. (Pure streaming endpoints). The K22 can perform that function but is also a complete all-in-one server while the LinQ can only be an endpoint. If the LinQ also had a server component, I would naturally have compared them. Nevertheless, I’d be happy to comment on how they compare in the comments after the review is online.
From what I understand the moment I switch off my iPad the music stops.
No matter what I was playing, internet radio, qobuz or local storage on my server.
I that correct ?
That would be a deal braker for me; I had this in the past with the MConnect app and definitely don’t want that again.
When I start playing music, e.g. a ripped cd on my server, I switch off my iPad and switch it on an hour or so later (the moment the music stops).
No problem with the app I’m currently using.
If you switch the iPad completely off (powered down, requiring a reboot) then it cannot send URLs to JPLAY. In that case, the current track will continue to the end but after that, playback stops. If you leave your iPad on (display active or showing lockscreen), so not fully powered down, then the music continues the same was as when leaving it fully on.
Using a Holo Red with HQPlayerEmbedded I wanted to use Jplay. I select the HQPlayerEmbedded as renderer and connect Qobuz but when trying to play a song I get this error message: error sending action to renderer
How to fix this?
Hi Marc, do you only get this error message when you play a song via Qobuz? What happens when playing e.g. local media? Alternatively you could flash a micro SD Card with HQPayer NAA and see if this works ok. You’ll need hqplayer5desktop_5.4.2-12_arm64 download (Red uses a Pi4 Compute module)
In my opinion (during my listening tests) Jplay IS [now] the only [graphic and UI] Roon competitor, a part the InnuOS sense and maybe BluOS.
Fast, beautiful windows and intuitive… Ah, OK: you wrote this! (:-)
Talking about SQ, and specially vs mconnect (old school and almost obsolete today) I found exactly the opposite meaning that you found: mconnect is more neutral, and leaves the “work” to the DAC while Jplay sounds to me like Roon and therefore “softer”.
(Roon is even more so!)
Not having (yet) the TuneIn / Vtuner radio service (flac!) Jplay is not good and especially if you have to pay for the APP.
At this point, innuOS sense is #1, but only works on InnuOS.
I will wait for new releases :))
P.S. Strange that Jplay it continues to play until the end of the song if you close the APP: so does it buffer? But does it have anything to do with the “less data” for the streamer?
No, I saying this because mconnect instantly ends the music (so less data = 0 buffering?) by closing the APP.
Hi Luca, how interesting that your observations are the opposite of mine comparing MConnect to JPLAY. There must be another variable to take into account but because I heard the same differences with the Aqua LinQ as the CH C1.2, I wonder what it might be. Regarding playing the current track until the end even with the control point switched off, as I understand it, JPLAY sends the URL of a track to the Renderer which simply takes it from there, continuing the data connection with the streaming service host for that track. Only a small portion of the track is buffered while new data is transmitted more or less continuously. Without a new URL sent for the next track to play, playback stops after the current track.
Just out of curiosity I tried JPLAY for a few days and then had enough of it.
I want an app where the music continues to play when I switch off my iPad.
Not just one song, but the whole album.
The app I’m currently using works exactly like that. (hurrah).
JPLAY, like mConnect, sadly not.
That’s already a deal breaker for me. Plus several error messages that JPLAY could not detect my local server, despite the fact it was switched on and wired connected to the internet.
So I’ll stick to my dCS app.
Hi John, sorry for a very belated response. I find that the playback with JPLAY continues as long as the app remains active in the background, also with the iPad in lock/sleep with the screen off. I’ve listened to countless albums and assembled playlists of local and Qobuz material unattended, and playback has never stopped. Only when I close the app, playback does stop. I wonder what the delta is between your situation and mine.
Regarding the “server unavailable” error message you mentioned, I have also seen that and this can happen when you’re mixing and swapping between multiple servers and control apps. As long as I use the one app with the one server, operation has been rock-solid. When this message appears, even though the server is visible in the JPLAY app settings, it indicates the connection was lost (for instance after a power cycle). All that needs doing is to tap “Search Devices” to let the app re-establish the connection. After that, the content will play again.
AFAIK, dCS Mosaic also works via UPnP, so I wonder how it differs from JPLAY in terms of continued playback.
Hi Christiaan, thanks for your response.
In another response (not to me) you wrote :
“If you switch the iPad completely off (powered down, requiring a reboot) then it cannot send URLs to JPLAY.
In that case, the current track will continue to the end but after that, playback stops”.
That’s exactly my problem I was trying to explain to you, apparently not clear enough.
My dCS Mosaic app does not have that problem (flaw ?).
e.g. I can start a 2 hour playlist and from the moment the music starts playing I can switch the iPad completely off, the music keeps playing until the end of the playlist, some 2 hours later.
Saves a lot of battery charging.
Hi John, sorry for the late response. Your reply was in spam and I only found it now. Ok, in that case, it seems that dCS uses OpenHome rather than UPnP. In day to day use, I don’t notice the functionality eating into the battery, even if you can look it up in the tablet settings. I do notice it when I have music playing 24/7, for instance, to run in a product or cable. But even then, the tablet still lasts several days on a single charge.
Thanks for such a full presentation of an important option to Roon. As usual, your site does us all a valuable service.
A quick question: I’ll be visiting Amsterdam this Spring and, apart from the links on your site, are there high end dealers you can recommend?
Alas, we don’t have many true high-end dealers left. A10Audio is the only one that springs to mind to offer truly esoteric equipment. We do have HiFi Solutions, iEar, and HiFi Klubben. But most of the ones that offer the top-shelf items are outside of Amsterdam.
Many thanks Christiaan – as it is there it is here. Sad to say. Truly appreciate your quick reply and help. You do us all a real service and it’s much appreciated.
Hi Christiaan, thanks for the interesting review. As an Antipodes User (K22+K41 G4’s) I am becoming more and more aware that Roon with Roon endpoint is not the best sounding option. Using Squeeze with LMS is so much more engaging although Roon is really smooth as you said. Squeeze material skin is nice but on the player side (Web UI or iPeng) I do find it limited and reverted to Roon Server with Squeeze endpoint, which was a bit best of both worlds. And now I tried JPlay and I noticed directly the clarity and crispness and a much better UI then iPeng (and Material). A big advantage over Roon remote on the iPhone by the way is that you can see and manage the songs from the Home Screen (Roon= Unlock first). So I am considering switching to Jplay, MPD, MinimServer on the Antipodes. Would you think it will decrease sound a lot if I keep Roon server running (I use Roon Arc a lot in the car)?
Hi Richard, Antipodes has always advised to enable only the apps you need for best SQ and I agree this is best practice. Roon Server has an effect on the sound when running and connected to the network. But it’s much less evident than when actually using Roon for playback. So, don’t worry about it if you’re happy now using Squeeze as your main app and running Roon simultaneously.
Hi Christiaan, thanks. My choice will be between Roon with Squeeze endpoint and MPD/Minimserver/JPlay then.
Hallo Christiaan,
Ik luister TIDAL Max via NuPrime Omnia 300 en nu met JPlay op mijn IPad3(laatste softwareversie). Het verschil is duidelijk positief waarneembaar dat mij bijna deed besluiten om de app te kopen was het niet dat ik regelmatig een errormessage kreeg, Failed to load data from renderer- (NuPrime). Alle opties die mogelijk zijn heb ik doorlopen tot zelfs het opnieuw installeren van de app. Ik heb nog geen nieuws van NuPrime of JPlay gekregen op mijn probleem.
Heb jij misschien nog ideeën wat ik zou kunnen checken?
Hi Jan, I have never come across that error and suspect it may be something in your network. Does the app stream ok to other endpoints in the same network? Do other UPnP apps work or do they have the same problem? To double-check it’s not the server/NAS or app, you can select the iPad itself as the endpoint and see if that works.
Hi, has anyone compare Rigelian to J-play and mconnect ? Love to see more sound quality evaluations.
I have MconnectHD and JPLAY. JPLAY is way, way better than Mconnect.
Bonjour Christian et merci pour tout ces essais, je suis possesseur d’un Melco N1zh que j’utilisais jusqu’à maintenant avec l’application Linn sur un ipad et grâce à votre analyse je passe sans hésiter à Jplay,après la validation d’une une écoute comparative entre les deux la jplay c’est avérer plus organique et une véracité sur les timbres légèrement meilleure.
Merci et bravo à vous !
Hello Christiaan, wil this also work on a Sonus Faber Omnia streamer?
The Omnia is compatible with AirPlay, Chromecast, Spotify, Tidal, Roon, and Bluetooth. No UPnP, I’m afraid.
Ok, Thanks for the advice.
regards Albert
Hello, do you mind clarifying which LinQ module provided the best sound using JPlay? I am not quite sure is the HQPlaywr Core + NAA or the UPnP DLNA was the best.
I’ve only used NAA with Roon, which affects the performance. So, I do not have experience with NAA native. So far, though, UPnP always sounds purest and least editorialized to me.