I’ve decided it’s time to clean out my library of duplicate albums (various remasters, varying formats etc.) so used Focus to identify duplicates, decide which to keep and cull the rest.
After culling around 20 albums (with 100’s more to go) I’ve realised the current workflow will take many, many hours and considerable effort including heavy reliance on human intervention (which is by its nature error prone). I’ve got a few suggestions I’m hoping the Roon team will consider implementing, which will greatly ease the task for anyone and simultaneously make it less susceptible to human error (whilst not impinging on existing functionality and workflow):
- make the duplicate album listing togglable to a list format similar to the track listing, except it shows albums, grouping the duplicates.
- include therein the same information that currently appears in the duplicate popup view, but add Program Loudness - this will enable quick identification of the louder of multiple versions, and in conjunction with the existing DR score provides for easier decision making re which duplicate(s) to cull
- the duplicate view and selection logic can leverage ranked user preferences (Prefer: Higher Resolution, Higher DR, Lower Program Loudness)
- Based on these rankings Roon can deploy a decision tree and add ability to auto select/ toggle candidates for deletion
- The user can then review and toggle/change/unselect the selections made
- the act of deleting is then a single operation covering all selected duplicate albums, with the usual confirmation before doing the deed
Short work of an otherwise tedious process.