VOX Music Player vs. JRiver – Detailed Comparison

When it comes to a Mac music player, users are often confused. That's because, for some reason, most players look like iTunes but with a broader functionality and the absence of iTunes store. We need an iTunes alternative because we want to listen to audio formats not supported by it.
Today, I'm comparing to prominent audio players for Mac – VOX Music Player and JRiver according to their functionality, compatibility, format support, interface and additional features.

Functionality. VOX Music Player vs. JRiver

Jriver

I need to say that it's full name is JRiver Media Center 23. It has a reason for this as JRiver can not only play music but videos and show images. Let's focus on playback, though. What drew my attention first is that JRiver will play over other playback sources. Unless you quit the app, you won't be able to play music on Youtube, or any other player. You can categorize your library by that many filters. You can also connect JRiver to some services like Twitter to tweet what you listen to, and Amazon and HDtracks to buy music and instantly have it in your media library.

VOX Music Player

VOX is more about playback. The app puts an accent on simplicity so that users don't get confused with how to use the app. VOX includes only five tabs: Playlist, Library, Queue, Radio, and SoundCloud. Users can log into Spotify, and SoundCloud to listen to their music library using one app. Last.fm scrobbling available to keep the listening stats and get recommendations based on played tracks on VOX. The Radio includes 30,000 stations from 140 countries.

Compatibility. VOX Music Player vs. JRiver

JRiver

JRiver works with macOS, Windows, and Linux. It has a mobile controller app JRemote for iOS and Android. The app can only be used to control the playback.

VOX Music Player

VOX Music Player has a macOS and iOS version. The functionality of desktop and mobile is pretty much the same. According to VOX developers, Window and Android version are due in 2018.
Download VOX FLAC Music Player for Mac

Format Support. VOX Music Player vs. JRiver

JRiver & VOX Music Player

Both players support uncompressed, lossless, and lossy audio formats. They include AIFF, ALAC, FLAC, WAV, DSD, MP3, OGG, APE, playlist formats and more.

Interface – judge for yourself

JRiver

VOX Music Player

Additional Features. VOX Music Player vs. JRiver

JRiver

Apart from playing music, users can:

• put tags;
• rip and burn CDs/DVDs;
• create smart playlists;
  
• convert audio formats. There are many audio setting, but unless you're a professional audio engineer or a music geek, you'll get confused just like I did.

VOX Music Player

I've already mentioned Spotify, Last.fm, and SoundCloud integration. As for audio settings, VOX offers:

• Equalizer.
• BS2B (Crossfeed).
• Track Buffer.
• Gap/Overlap.
• Sync Sample Rate.
• Hog Mode.
• Extra Volume.

Apart from that, there's an online storage for your music. It's called VOX Music Cloud. The cloud serves as the main place to keep your music and stream from it to your devices. VOX Music Cloud is an unlimited online storage. You can upload there as much music as you want. It also has no restrictions on audio formats or file's size. If your upload thousands of FLACs, it's fine. You can listen to them on your iPhone and Mac. VOX Music Cloud is available only to VOX Premium subscribers.

Learn more about VOX Music Cloud

Now that we've learned about these players, you can try any of them and see how it goes. I prefer VOX Music Player because it's easier to navigate and use in general. JRiver would suit best for audio engineers and audiophile who know things about sound equalization. But I'm not one of them.