Audiophile Roon newbie - coming from JRiver

John_Rocke · February 25, 2025, 2:10pm

I am an audiophile. I have been using JRiver for over 10 years now on a Windows PC which is directly connected to my DAC. I also did build an Intel NUC with ROCK a couple of years ago to try with a Roon capable integrated amplifier.

I really have only used Roon minimally, mainly because I am so familiar with JRiver and I like that I can control JRiver from iPad (as I can with Roon) but also with a standard remore via USB IR receiver connected to my PC. I already really like the 1-5 rating capability with JRiver and I have many views setup in JRiver that utilize these different rating filters.

So my questions with Roon are as follows.

I know there is a heart capability for tracks in Roon but is there a more elaborating rating scheme too?
Is there a way to create views or filters utilizing ratings? I store the rating in a tag in my FLAC files as JRiver will update the FLAC’s as I rate them when listening.
Is there any sort of article/guide/etc for starting to use Roon from an audiophile’s or JRiver user’s perspective?

Mike_O_Neill · February 25, 2025, 2:32pm

Welcome to the light side

I have been a Roon user for 8yrs, coming as you did from JRMC. I still keep JRMC active and up to date

Simply, the answer to your 3 questions— NO, NO, NO

Roon bears no resemblance to JRMC, the first thing to learn.

The Roon “views” are what you see in the LHS menu. You will very soon learn your way around. They are not configurable ala JRiver there is no Expression Language

The first thing you need to know is that Metadata is automatic, the second is that JRMC remains your friend for editing.

Search the Roon Knowledge Base and you will see many references to imported metadata

Best Advice —

1 - FORGET JRMC , don’t try to compare the 2, learn Roon’s Oddities. The 2 weeks trial is not enough to dig, extend your trial by getting a monthly sub until you are happy, you will be …

2 - subscribe to Tidal or Qobuz, the magic of streaming integration is the big JRMC missing link, when will JimH learn

3 - Avoid Search, it’s a mess, FILTER tool and FOCUS tool are your friends

4 - use the forum, there are 300k users out there that can help, it’s an active community that does help, it’s nearly as good as JRiver

5- ASK, ASK, ASK, before you think that Roon can’t do it

6 - “Never Give Up - Never Surrender” (Galaxy Quest)

BTW I am MikeO on the JRiver forum , if you feel more comfy there

John_Rocke · February 25, 2025, 2:57pm

Thanks Mike for the rapid response. I did buy a lifetime Roon subscription two years ago as I figured I would eventually end up using Roon more than Jriver but just never got there. I’m planning to move within the next year and am probably going to simplify my main hifi rig from preamp + DAC + monoblocks to an integrated amplifier that is Roon Ready (Boulder 866) so I’m tryiong to get more familiar now.

So with JRiver I usually use my rating filters to add music I am familiar with already to a playlist that I just kind of keep adding to for a while (it’s about 500 tracks right now) and scroll through that when I’m sort of casually listening.

I’m trying to understand the concept of “skipped tracks” that shows up when I add a bunch of albums to Roon then skip over swaths of tracks if I decided I want to listen to something else but not remove items from my playlist at the moment. It’s almost like the tracks look like they are then in the playlist twice (once skipped and once not). Do you have some good guidance on how skipped tracks works?

Abrahams_Bogere · February 25, 2025, 4:32pm

Used to use JRiver. Roon is light years ahead of them.

David_Snyder · February 25, 2025, 5:17pm

Albums seem to come with their own rating. I’m not sure where Roon Labs sources this data, but you are able to override with your own 5-star rating if you want.

If you also “heart” the albums that you rate, you can build filters for them. For example:

These filters can be “bookmarked” to make them easy to recall, even from the Roon Remote smartphone app:

Suedkiez · February 25, 2025, 5:25pm

TiVo/Allmusic

SandsOfArrakis · February 25, 2025, 5:51pm

Nowadays I am using JRiver for tagging and it is my home cinema for watching my movies and series.

Roon for pretty much everything else.

Playing my local collection, combined with both Qobuz and Tidal. Streaming to 3 different streamers and I can also listen to Roon at work on my iPhone. (Roon ARC).

I went lifetime two years ago after 2 annual subscriptions. I’ve never regretted it. I do keep JRiver up to date next to it. As I have a master license which means I can install it on all my systems at home. Running Windows, MacOS or Linux.

Mike_O_Neill · February 25, 2025, 6:52pm

Skipped tracks are normally where Roon determines a corrupt file , hence it skips them

Settings> Library > Skipped Files

in my case an image file , Named “bACK” rather than “Back”

Other ones are simply jpeg files so I am not sure why , in my case 20 out of 120k

John_Rocke · February 25, 2025, 7:22pm

Just wanted to say thanks to everyone that has responded so far. These are great features/functions that will help me to use Roon more. Keep them coming!

John_Rocke · February 25, 2025, 7:26pm

These are definately not corrupt items. This is when I skip over part of my playlist. So I’ll add say 10 albums then start listening and at some point I decide to skip a few albums and start playing at a specific one - this is when the “skipped items” appears. But it seems they are then in the playlist twice (once unplayed and once skipped).

Mike_O_Neill · February 26, 2025, 6:07am

That is a new “Skipped Tracks” to me but I rarely if ever use playlists. As my excuse ( ) playlist has been revitalized recently , the term I see is "Skipped Item’, not skipped fie.

The skipped files I am referring top is when Roon detects a corrupt file while IMPORTING an album, it shows then under Library as I indicated.

What do you see if you expand the 106 skipped items. Red Unavailable ?

More Info came the cry, are these local tracks, ie in your own local library or streamed tracks from say Qobuz or Tidal.

If streaming , Roon holds “Link” to the album in the streaming library , if that album changes the link changes.

Qobuz has had a reputation of late of updating versions leaving an “orphan link” which shows an album as Unavailable (in red on the album page). Similarly Tidal have dropped MQA totally and have been replacing MQA albums with conventional Hi Res albums with the same effect

Serge_Tse · February 26, 2025, 6:54am

These are just skipped items in the current listening queue.
You can expand and play them.

Geoff_Coupe · February 26, 2025, 6:57am

@Mike_O_Neill - the “Skipped items” is a standard thing in the Queue display, and it’s been there since the early days of Roon.

It just shows that the listener has skipped over listening to some tracks in the queue by skipping ahead in the queue.

And yes, it is expandable to list the specific tracks that have been skipped.

Mike_O_Neill · February 26, 2025, 7:23am

thanks , I never use playlists, so the skipped tracks are the users choice ?

I thought he was referring to Skipped Files on Import

Geoff_Coupe · February 26, 2025, 7:26am

It’s the Queue that he’s showing in his screenshot.

Mike_O_Neill · February 26, 2025, 7:55am

Obviously I never use the queue either I do tend to listen full albums and NO Roon Radio