I am not against change. Not at all. I do work in a constantly changing industry and change is a necessity in order to develop further. I don’t think any roon user is against change on principle. But if the motivation for the change is change alone, then the reason for it is very questionable. I think it is hilarious to talk about being antiquated when a product represents the absolute industry benchmark and is praised and lauded by everyone in the highest terms.
Look, we are not talking about a free software here. In addition, many long-time customers have built an ecosystem around Roon and invested quite a bit in it. Making such a radical move out of nowhere (without any real need) and thus upsetting loyal customers is not really a sustainable business model.
Seriously, please install the Qobuz app on your iOS or Android device and tell me if you don’t notice anything? Roon now looks like a cheap copy of Qobuz. Did they hire the junior designer from Qobuz and just let him do it? It doesn’t even have the polish of Qobuz. That’s how poorly it is implemented. To be clear: Qobuz is not a reference for the best UI. But at least Qobuz shows album cover art for tracks within playlists… For me, this new user interface is 3 steps back. Now Roon is even worse than its former silent admirers (Tidal, Qobuz etc.). From an industry benchmark to a laughing stock in a single day.
And now you just have to be honest and take a closer look at the feedback in the forum. It’s not just about the UI, but also about the software quality in general. I guess that more than half of the comments contains sharp criticism. No matter if it’s UI, stability or functions: You just have to admit that Roon did a bad job here. And again as a reminder… Roon is not freeware.
I am not concerned with whether a manufacturer makes mistakes. Mistakes happen. But the way this upgrade was rolled out was so reckless and dilettant, that the dissatisfaction of its users is understandable.
I have explored a lot and found out a lot. So now I am not complaining.
Is Roon perfect? No…
Is Roon the best there is for managing a home library and combining it with quality streaming in an intuitive interface giving full integration to the music and allowing access to extensive metadata leading one to enjoying more and more music? Yes!
Does the colour mauve matter in the great scheme of things? No…
Do circle pre view pics matter? No
Will these issues be addressed and refined over time? Probably, especially if reasons for change and desired alternatives are presented in a calm and respectful manner.
Is Roon Stable? Yes
Can font size be adjusted? See above…
The font’s used all over the interface is a big mess, same is the colors used. @Roon please give the user the choice to change font and color in the app (Mac & Win)
I don’t really get that, as a Tidal user you have gained nothing from this release that I can see, so much of the Tidal functionality is missing, even the free LUMIN app gives the ‘My Mixes’ etc but Roon can’t deliver this.
As a Tidal user it’s a miss for me, I’ll be reverting to the LUMIN app and use Tidal connect to my Sonos setup.
If Roon 1.8 is a massive failure… I am happy it was not a success… because that would glue me to the stereo forever (in my mind it is a success)
I will have so many exiting hours ahead of me with Roon, Valance, Focus…
Had some startup hickups… but now I am so trilled.
Right now diving in to the universe of Antonio Forcione… but who knows where Roon will take me next.
Hey Dom, can you provide an example of such a search that doesn’t work? Somehow capture screenshots so we can compare? I’m usually able to find stuff quite well when searching by performer name, composer, a piece of the work title (like “piano concerto”) etc. My collection is about 3K albums and, granted, I do a lot of manual tag grooming.
BTW I think that the presentation of search results is MUCH nicer in 1.8 than it was in 1.7… visually speaking.
Antonio appeared in some great comedy sketch shows on BBC Radio 4 in the past… A great musician
A great album you just reminded me of and very quickly found and shared in 1.8 Brilliant
I feel devastated by this “upgrade” I can no longer suffle though my ENTIRE library tracks which was my 98% use of Roon. I loved Roon 1.7. 1.8 is a disaster for me, not usable, I don’t know what to do.
First this not a failure personally I sort of like it and plan to spend countless hours exploring ‘stuff’ I never bothered with before.
BUT… where are my purple colors my background is all white??
AND… unlike Ver 1.7 everything downloaded and installed because I was smart enough to delete both remotes on my iPad and iphone then reinstalled them but I personally don’t understand why people use ‘devices’ anyway—where can you utilize ROON anywhere but near your CORE and don’t you need a DAC AMP and really good speakers to enjoy TIDAL Qobuz or your own library. NICE JOB GUYS AND GALS @ ROON
bobbmd
(in my mind it is a success)
