I set up a Roon based player this week. Previously we (my wife and I) had been using either iTunes, or just playing CD’s. We’re very happy with the player.
However…
My wife finds it confusing to navigate through our music collection with the pictures (album covers, artist photo) displayed. She would greatly prefer a simple list, all text.
Is it possible to configure her account to display our music content in a simple text list format? I.e., similar to what Roon does for tracks, except using that same style for all navigation paths (artist, genre, album)?
The pictures and text is the whole point of Roon. To get away from lists and enjoy a richer experience. Like back in the day scrolling through vinyl albums in a store. The visual cues assist in stimulating memories and knowledge of the music.
I would advise spending time with a new way if your not used to this or have never been exposed to it.
I know this won’t suit everyone but there are many offerings that just do lists and who knows what the future holds.
Thoughts, Chris
I tend to agree with @Chrislayeruk, but if you really want a text-only listing, it’s available. From the “hamburger,” select “Tracks.” All the way at the right end of the Tracks header there’s a blue “v” thingie. Click/touch that, and you can turn the columns you want to see on and off. Say you want to sort by album — make sure the Album column is turned on, and then, if you click/touch the Album head, it will sort the list alphabetically by Album. Touch the column head again to switch the sort order from ascending to descending. You can narrow the listing (by format, genre, performer, etc.) by using the Focus feature.
I mostly use this view for utilitarian purposes and go with one of the more visually rich views for listening enjoyment, but chacun á son goût.
(If you want to look for a particular album or find music by a particular artist or composer, it’s pretty quick and easy to just start typing in the search field.)
I’m with you about the pictures, and I’m sure it’s annoying to field questions about how to disable the richer user experience you’ve been busting your butts to create.
I’m just trying to ease the transition for my wife.
I will show her the thing with the Tracks listing, and will probably also have her watch over my shoulder when I do some searches so she can get more of a guided tour.
I love the product and am really pleased to be using it.
Version 1.8 and now Version 2.0 certainly does not offer that rich experience compared to the original Roon which indeed was rich and immersive visually
James_I
(The truth is out there but not necessarily here)
7
It is still a visually appealing and graphical oriented interface. But I would agree that Roon has definitely de-emphasized development of the GUI and its capabilities in favor of pleasing the mobile crowd.
I would also say that none of Roon’s currently available displays is as good as the one that had the album cover relatively large with “up next” as a thumbnail album cover also displayed. That was the best one - having “up next” only on the queue screen (and only relating to radio) is not nearly as cool.
I do wish that Roon would give us more configuration options for display of “now playing.” It’s not bad but it actually was better in the past.