Best search strategy for compositions

Paolo_C · April 11, 2021, 6:09pm

so at the end beloved people from Roon forced me/my system to update to 1.8 … and I have to share how much I’m happy with this new version… really really something everybody would like to have …

just one example that help to understand and appreciate the fantastic job they have done… I remember with 1.7 I could search for different versions of the same compositions going through usually, hundreds of them and then trying/compare them… and that was a very important and pleasant experience, the discovery of something new, the comparison of different recordings of the same composition, sometimes you could consider not just listening the last, and unique, release of the last idiot rapper of the day…

well… Brahms violin concert 77… here is the fantastic performance of the super-fast new Roon search engine…

so I started with an unwanted typing error… click… waiting… 5 seconds… 5 result (!)… ok… search again with the same text… wait… 5 seconds again… this time I’m more lucky, 6 results and on the right angle “di più” (means “more”)… fantastic! … how many? less then 50

Ok… impossible… only less then 50, my failure for sure… let type in properly… brahmS… enter… wait… 5 seconds (maybe more)…

WHAT???
… search again, same text… Brahms violin concerto 77… wait… again more then 5 seconds… tah dah…

Ok, there “di più” on the right… click… 55 results …

Really???
so you people in Roon obliged your customer to accept a new awful looking interface and, as benefit, also highly decrease the performance of your software??? Where are all the other versions? I’ve done the same research in Qobuz and had 103 results!!! That was the result I used to have with the 1.7 and in less a couple of seconds…not those absurd 5 + 5 + … seconds!

What buggy, and at the moment really terrible, piece of software do you oblige us to install? What is the target of your new release… to have unhappy customers?

to be clear, I’m connected with very well working high speed internet connection (20Mb flat) and never had a frustrating/bad experience like with this new 1.8 nightmare-release in the past

Geoff_Coupe · April 11, 2021, 9:39pm

I think that there is a better way to accomplish what you are trying to do in 1.8. I did the same search for Opus 77 of Brahms - and got the composition returned as a top result:

So I picked it and went to the Composition page, which tells me that there are in fact 190 recordings of the work (and I have selected for complete recordings only, and not included excerpts).

I scrolled down to the list of recordings, and here I see that I can use both Focus and/or Filter to refine the list.

Using Focus, I can look for, for example, Performers, Conductors, Ensembles, Producers, Labels, or a combination thereof:

BrianW · April 12, 2021, 8:55am

The general, magnifying search, only ever returns a maximum of 50 or so results for each category. If you want a more exhaustive listing, then @Geoff_Coupe’s method is the way to go.

Christiaan · April 12, 2021, 1:56pm

YES!!!: I have been saying this since 1.7 but it seemed like no one was bothered by it. See also my earlier post: Roon 1.8 (build 778) Feedback - #323 by bbrip

Guido · April 12, 2021, 1:57pm

Hi Jim,

I haven’t used Roon in a while since I didn’t like the new graphic. But I agree it is much better now. regards

Paolo_C · April 12, 2021, 2:11pm

thank you Geoff for your kid help… unfortunately I don’t have the same results… searching exactly “Opus 77 Brahms” I had, again, a poor 6 results…

selecting “di più” in “album” I got 34 results…

then I tried “Composizioni” (composition) , that shows 6 results, selecting “di piu” on the right gave me only 12 additional results, nothing more then this and none of them about violin concerto 77 (???)…

then, at the end, selecting Compositore (compositor) and then “Dalla mia libreria” (from my library) selecting “Composizioni” …

and then selecting “violin concerto etc etc.” I got, finally (!!!), the result of 187 feedback

my god… I’m all sweaty… so to have this kind of results I have first to add an album to my library and then follow this convoluted procedure instead of just a couple of click like with 1.7? WOW

there should be a way to define HOW the user want the search engine works, what kind of feedback… do you want to see big pictures and few results? here they are… do you want to see small pictures but have a complete overview? et voilà… with couple of click, not a gimkana challange

Paolo_C · April 12, 2021, 2:53pm

thank you Brian… I’m wondering… have you ever seen the movie “Les douze travaux d’Astérix”…

immagine

do you remeber when Asterix and Obelix try to have a document and have to go trough an huge/absurd numeber of officies and employees?

why comparing the search engine, and how to obtain results, 1.7 vs 1.8 I remeber that movie about Asterix? mah

BrianW · April 12, 2021, 3:35pm

They did succeed though…

Geoff_Coupe · April 12, 2021, 3:55pm

No, you don’t. I don’t have a recording of this in my library, so that has nothing to do with it. I notice that your search this time was “Brahms Opus 77”, whereas what we tried the first time was “Brahms violin concerto opus 77”.

The quickest result is when a General Search (the magnifying glass) returns the composition as the Top Result - from there you can jump straight to the Composition page, and then refine the recordings to get the album you’re looking for.

As @BrianW says, the General Search only returns 50 results.

If you’re looking for a particular recording of a Composition, and the General Search doesn’t list the Composition as the Top Result, then the best strategy is to go to the Composer page, click Compositions and then use Filter and/or Focus to get to the particular Composition that you want.

Roon lists all the Compositions for a Composer. The Composition Browser will only list compositions that are represented by albums in your Library.

Edit: I fear this is getting off-topic; can a moderator help split this out into a separate topic (e.g. Best Search Strategy for Compositions)? @moderators

BrianW · April 12, 2021, 4:27pm

Done for you.