Using your computer as a main tool for playback can leave you with a hard time trying to find a media file. Luckily, with the help of specialized applications such as J. River Media Center you are able to organize all media files on your computer and fully enjoy them.

Running the application for the first time manages to impress, first with the visually appealing interface, then through the amount of features you discover. In terms of visual elements, it sports a modern and fresh look, with various skins you can choose from and even customize.

Visualization is also neatly designed, as it puts several 3D animated frequency spectrum composed of pictures you insert, and a breathtaking amount of common ones.

If you've put your operating system's media folders to good use the application has no problem identifying items you wish to add to the library. You can rest assured that nearly any known audio, video and image format is supported by the application.

A side panel lets you quickly navigate through available categories such as now playing, audio, images, video, podcasts, playlists and a few more. You are able to carefully create and manage libraries in which your media files are stored.

Several view types are put at your disposal, one more attractive than the last. You can switch to a mini view, display, theater and cover, each suitable for a certain type of media. The most interesting of all is the theater view, which brings a whole new interface you can easily navigate through by connecting a remote control and using 5 buttons at most.

Amongst its abundance of features, you can also rip tracks from CDs or even burn custom ones, convert audio files to various formats, edit tunes and even go online with the help of an integrated browser.

To sum it up, J. River Media Center is a powerful multimedia workstation that is definitely worth keeping on your computer if music is more than a means to pass the time. There is a lot more that can be said about what the application can do, but the true magic is being surprised with every click you press.