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MusicMatch Jukebox Deluxe 8

MusicMatch Jukebox Deluxe 8

List Price: $29.99
Your Price: $29.99
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Version 8.2
Review: I've got Version 8.2 and have had none of the problems mentioned in previous reviews. I've tried all the big names (itunes, napster, realjukebox, windows media player) and this is my software of choice.

Faster rip & burn than the others makes it #1 with me!!

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: MusicMatch Does Not Deliver
Review: MusicMatch Jukebox Deluxe 8 did not deliver as promised. The enclosed software did not display properly; though, a download of EarthLink's co-branded MusicMatch software fixed the interface problem. The promised three month trial of MusicMatch MX Gold using the User ID and Password supplied on the CD envelope resulted in nothing: no trial period, no upgrade to CD quality sound from MusicMatch Radio and no access to MusicMatch MX ArtistMatch. I had been pleased with the free MusicMatch Jukebox software, even with its limitations; I am very unsatisfied with the buggy software and false promises of the purchased software.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Do Not Buy This Product!!!
Review: On September 29, 2003 Musicmatch released version 8.1 of their product and in December, 2003 they released version 8.2. The retail box says "New V8" and it turns out it's 8.00.010 which is two levels behind. Even though you just bought the software Musicmatch wants an additional fee to get to the current level (8.2) of Jukebox Plus! You can get the current Jukebox Plus level by loading the Jukebox Basic for free from the Musicmatch website and then paying the upgrade to Jukebox Plus (and you'd be at the current level instead of two levels back). So don't waste $29.99 for the retail version!

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Quirky: When it functions properly, it's decent.
Review: The first MMJ version 7.5 functioned properly. MMJ suggested an upgrade to 8.0 with a fee ($19) and an upgrade key. After the upgrade, MMJ bombed: MMJ Server problems, screen freezes, hangs and plenty of reboots. Because I was able to burn 36 songs, I uninstalled MMJ (the initial downloaded version) and purchased the boxed version for an additional $30. I've downloaded more than 100 great classic songs (another $100) and frankly MMJ needs to modify their software. The boxed version MMJ, with ANOTHER upgrade to download, burned 4 cds and then crashed again. MMJ Tech support frankly wasn't helpful. Online message boards/forums state MMJ is prone to popups, registry corruption and spyware that interferes and/or corrupts MMJ. Jeez gents can't your programmers solve your software issues? MMJ 8.2 is a decent program when it functions. However, in its present form, it's a software crap shoot. I still use MMJ 8.2 plus but I run spyware/adware and registry correction software after 3 uses and each time we find spyware/adware and changes to the windows registry. Jeeez. MMJ fix the glitch; make more money. Satisfy customers.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Works Fine for PCs/MP3s
Review: There is one issue with some MP3 players that can cause endless frustration: some only play MP3s burned to a CD-R or CR-RW in strict alphabetical/numberic order, and that fouls up the order of the albums that you burn, and really messes up the order of tracks in a multi-disk set.

I have used MusicMatch JukeBox 9.0 (upgraded free through MusicMatch from the store-bought 8.0 version) and it works just fine, though (with the fix below). It is a bit quirky, but you can get used to it. All it does, really, is copy audio files to your computer and then allow you to convert them to MP3 formant, and burn to CD-R/CR-RW disks or download to an MP3 player. The interface is not perfect, but you can get used to it pretty quickly IF your computer has enough juice. I gave up on MusicMatch once before on my old computer, but on my new, fast (and surprisely reasonably priced) Dell, it works fine, with one big caveat. On some players (apparently the lower-end, walkman-type CD players), the tracks are burned and played in strict alphabetical/numberic order. Your albums and your CDs with your choices of burned selections play in a seemingly arbitrary order. However, with MusicMatch, there is a fix.

Specify in the Settings in the Recorder feature to name the tracks in the following order: Artist, Album, Track # (you have to check the appropriate boxes and then use the up/down arrows until you get this order; you must have all three elements--trust me after many hours of monkeying around with this). Note that this is the Recorder feature that copies your audio disk's tracks onto the computer, not the Burner feature, which burns tracks onto a blank CD. You won't see any effect from making this election until the audio files are converted to MP3 files; when the audio files are shown on your MusicMatch playlist, they have the complete information but somehow the files are tagged so that when they are converted to MP3 files, the appropriate naming then takes place. That cost me another few hours to figure out.

In this way when the audio files are converted to MP3 files and are burned onto a CD, they are named, for example, Thelonious Monk - Monk's Dream - 01, etc., and then Monk's Dream (a specific album) will play in the original album order. After those tracks, then Thelonious Monk - Straight, No Chaser - 01, etc. will play in order (the actual MP3 titles look a bit different than that, but that's the effect). If you burn multi-disk sets, you may have to play with the disks' titles a bit to get this to work, because of the way that MusicMatch edits long titles. For example, if you want to burn your Stan Getz's The Bossa Nova Years, which is on four disks, you might want to manually rename each disk Bossa Nova 1, Bossa Nova 2, etc., since Music Match can cut off the "(1 of 4)," etc. in the title and then everything gets mixed up again.

This took me many very frustrating hours to figure out, and MusicMatch--which is a very good product and apparently a good company--doesn't explain this in any FAQs or online resources, although they do explain that in the Settings on the Burner you also need to uncheck the box that specifies that tracks should be burned in alphabetical order. This is irrelevant, though, since for whatever reason some players only play in alphabetical/numberic order. (The disk will play in the correct order on your computer using MusicMatch, but in Windows Media player on the same computer or on the player the tracks revert to alphabetic/numeric order. Causing one to pull one's hair out in frustration. With the fix above, it works fine.)

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Would be great, if there were no bugs
Review: This review is in reference to MusicMatch Jukebox Basic 8, 9, 10 and Jukebox Plus! 10.

Great jukebox, lots of cool features, much better than WinAmp. Can rate each song, easily create playlists using AutoDJ, can look up CD info, rips songs easily in any format. Capable of burning songs, but never used this feature. Also comes with a Volume Levelling feature, so that all songs will play at the same volume.

However, this program comes with a lot of bugs, and these bugs were not fixed in its latest version (10). First of all, whenever the program looked up CD info, it would get the info, and then somehow cause my internet service provider to lose its internet connection (I have a dial up modem). So every time I inserted a new CD, if I wanted to get the CD info, I'd have to reconnect with the internet. Very annoying, not to mention time consuming.

Second, I have Windows XP, and when someone logs on as a user other than the administrator, a Runtime Error message box is displayed. This message is caused by MusicMatch Jukebox, and displays when logging on and logging off.

I looked at the faqs on the musicmatch website, and none of them helped me with my issues.

I paid $20 for the Plus edition, so I can get personalized tech support through email. When I tried to request support though, the form I filled out wouldn't go through. I tried several times, and it still didn't work.

Well, I asked for a refund, and hopefully I won't have any problem with that. Uninstalled the program from my computer, and I am now using RealPlayer free edition version 10. Performs the same functions as MusicMatch Jukebox, only much more efficiently.

Gave the product 2 stars because of the cool features it has.

Your best bet is to go with Real Player. The only thing Real Player seems to be missing is a volume levelling feature, but its a minor thing to miss.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Quirky: When it functions properly, it's decent.
Review: Unlike most of the others who took the time to review this product, I have to say that I found it to be everything I hoped it would be. I was in the process of thinning out my cd collection and was looking for a program that would allow me to turn all of the songs my one hit wonder cd's into MP3's and this software delivered exactly that. I like the way it organizes the music and can honestly say that it has done everything I asked of it. I think the difference between myself and the other reviewers is that I have only a marginally effective grasp of the inner workings of my computer. My expectations were naturally lower, and I have to call myself a satisfied customer.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Depends on one's expectations
Review: Unlike most of the others who took the time to review this product, I have to say that I found it to be everything I hoped it would be. I was in the process of thinning out my cd collection and was looking for a program that would allow me to turn all of the songs my one hit wonder cd's into MP3's and this software delivered exactly that. I like the way it organizes the music and can honestly say that it has done everything I asked of it. I think the difference between myself and the other reviewers is that I have only a marginally effective grasp of the inner workings of my computer. My expectations were naturally lower, and I have to call myself a satisfied customer.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: This would be great . . . .
Review: WITHOUT THE UPDATES! You just get used to the look and feel of Musicmatch and how to do things and then BAMN there is a new version available. These new versions are not just bug fixes. It ALWAYS changes the colors of the player and it changes how you do things like adding music to the playlist (you used to be able to select a bunch of songs and double click them now you have to drage them). It doesn't sound like a big deal but it is a HUGE pain in the [...]. A message for Musicmatch. . . Pick a horse! I dread getting these updates because it will take me anywhere from an hour to several days (over time, of course) to figure out how to do things I already know how to do. I need to switch to something else.


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