I use it all the time.
Lets say I want to skip to a passage in a long classical or jazz piece (or prog rock). I can click on the waveform to skip to that location. For example: I want to skip the slow opening section of a song and get to where it begins to change, in the example below I know based on the waveform (and knowing the music) exactly where I want to click on the waveform to get to the section of the song I want to hear
If I notice that a old previously ripped CD is brick walled, I will remove it from my system and begin the search for a better version.
Roon’s LU DR number is not as useful as the waveform. (Somewhere on the forums, I posted screen shots showing that the DR used by Roon is a not an absolute indicator of brickwalled mastering back when the DR was introduced… yep, here we go:
But, a better example. I, before 1.,6 played my music while on the Album screen. This provided a quick reference to various information (including the LU DR number). On the new Now Playing screen that information is not displayed (nor is the version information but that is a different discussion). However the waveform is displayed. This is important because it lets me know which version of a song is currently being played between different mastering which I own. Referencing the waveform is a quick and efficient way to know which version you are playing.
See below. One Isaac Hayes is from the original CD released decades ago, and one if from a recent HD download purchase. Note the loudness bump in the HD version. To be honest, the original CD version sounds better.
Original CD
HD Download
