The new David Bowie album Blackstar is missing in Roon/TIDAL?
Forgive me if this issue has been gone over before with other new releases, but is there a reason for it and should we expect it to be the norm? Is it simply a matter of waiting for Roon to update its indexing of the Tidal database?
It can be frustrating to have the latest tech hardwire and software and yet not be able to listen to the latest music releases. I feel your pain.
My workaround for this - I also run a MacMini headless - is to use an app called Real VNC. It runs on the Mini in the background and an app runs on your iPad. You can control the Mini using it. Works great. It takes a little setup and using the iPad touch to operate a virtual mouse/keyboard takes a little patience. I am pleased at how robust the connection is and how Iâve started to use it for other chores like checking the backup status, etc. Iâve been using the free versions.
This is how I listen to new releases off Tidal while the Roon database catches up. Once I âfavoriteâ an album in Tidal, It shows up in Roon shortly.
Bowieâs Blackstar release date has been on the calendar for months. It seems like Roon could have certain titles pre-loaded so that their availability is immediate on release. But given everything else, for me, itâs a nitpick.
Good listening!
Hi dbtom2. I have splashtop on the iPad to mirror the desktop but find to difficult to actually work in apps besides the simplest functions. Scrolling and stuff like that may just not work or very slowâŚnot the nicest way to work.
Yes. But drilling down in Tidal and playing an album is a skillset Iâve been able to master. There is some latency in the screen refresh, and scrolling etc is like learning how the play the piano. The wifi here in the countryside is without interference (except when using the microwave oven) so my environment may not translate to yours.
The whole effort though is similar to yours. Sometimes, I got to have my tunes. You know, without, like, getting up from the chair. 
Got Blackstar queued up now, about to strap on the headphones.
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This is an ongoing issue with all new release dates. Usually something gets missed. Even the Beattles release was delayed but the Roon guys fixed it within 24 hours. I can tell Roon has been actively working on reducing delays but still doesnât help the frustration if you were looking to listen to an album just released and itâs not there.
There used to be delays by 1-2 weeks and now think reduced to 1-2 days. They have also got the allmusic info sync up much faster. Iâm still hoping they figure out a solution to prevent delays from happening like being able to auto sync twice a day to pick up any missed albums.
Yes, Mike Scheinkman. Exactly what I was thinking. Roon is much better at this than in mid 2015. The rate of improvement in this area has made me adjust my expectations and happier with Roon as a result.
Hi guys,
Iâm pretty sure weâre not going to improve Tidal/Roon album sync by swapping personal remarks. Please donât descend into that.
It is helpful to the devs and other users to know cases where new releases arenât appearing. Although improvements have been made I understand that Tidal and Roon still have a batch sync system which will always involve some delay. Real time is not feasible because of the need to populate meta-data etc. There has been some discussion by devs of why this is in other threads.
The most we can do as users is clear the Tidal cache which forces Roon to get the most up to date Tidal sync available and have some patience while the batching catches up. By all means post discrepancies as you see them (helps others know itâs not just them) but we canât expect real time sync at this stage.
I agree. I actually quit TIDAL a few months back because of this lag issue with major releases and just signed back up Jan 1 and as a lifetime Roon membership, Roon is far more important to me than TIDAL and with a headless mac setup and a VNC for my iPad which does not always work well with apps⌠TIDAL may not just be for me until 100% real time is possible, although I hear the lag is getting better. I may just cancel TIDAL and play local files until this issue can be resolved, no disrespect meant, just paying $20 a month and not being sure if all new releases are being added concerns meâŚ@danny, @brian, @palbratelund.
We just had a meeting with @palbratelund and the team over at TIDAL on how to fix this problem permanently. There will always be a lag, but in the common cases every week, we should be able to turn this into minutes/hours instead of days/weeks.
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Carl and I have moderated this thread. Please observe the forum guidelines (FAQ in menu) when posting.
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Thanks for the update on this as well. I just fired up Roon looking for the new David Bowie and was disappointed to see it wasnât there. WIll clearing the cache get it for me?
Edit: Nope. Clearing the cache got me other new releases from today, but no Bowie. Sigh.
With all do respect, I think we should expect real time sync. At 10 pm on release day we should expect to see new releases if we manually clear the cache. These arenât free products.
@fritzg: Unfortunately, in many cases TIDAL canât tell anyone about a release until it goes out to the public, including its partners. This is a requirement from the record labels.
So you can âexpectâ it to be real time sync, but it is impossible with the current business model where Roon and TIDAL are 2 different companies⌠and there is no plan or desire for us to merge into one.
Right now the sync can be a few days off. We want to get that to be a few minutes off. But that will take some work to achieve. We have no schedule for release yet.
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So, how did Roon know about the release âStraight Outta Comptonâ, but not David Bowieâs âBlackStarâ? That doesnât make any sense to me.
From what I understand, Roon does not see the new releases until after they come out. I noted that one release from January 8 has been synced and another has not. I guess wanting to know the technical details is boring.
But I will move on. Good to know we should not expect new releases to show up day of release.
Please do keep us posted when this is fixed. Because I probably will cancel TIDAL until it works and will have no way to know when it does.
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TIDAL gives us full database dumps on a periodic basis. We then take those dumps and process them into a large virtual library. Itâs kinda like a big import of everything they have. There are thousands of places where things can go wrong.
Technical details can be interesting, but this is really low level stuff. Youâve seen us post technical details often, and Iâm not shy about being open with you guys, however, to explain these details would be monumental.
Just know we are working on it, and it will get better.
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[quote=âdanny, post:33, topic:6628â]Unfortunately, in many cases TIDAL canât tell anyone about a release until it goes out to the public, including its partners. This is a requirement from the record labels.
[/quote]
Different labels / albums = Different release criteria, itâs a comersial constraint which affects:
- When Tidal update their systems.
- When Tidal publish their updated data.
Then Roon asynchronously to Tidal:
- Ingests all of the Tidal data
- Cross references it with all the metadata Roon has access to.
- Builds the matrix
- Validates the results
- Publishes to its subscribers
Roon performs this entire process every few days. Due to the huge amount of data being processed it is not possible to significantly reduce the cycle time.
Now that said, the Roon devs know that the current latency leads to issues with new releases, and a âfast trackâ auxiliary process is also required to manage new releases. This process does not exist at present, hence the recent discussions with Tidal to identify what can practically be achieved with collaboration.
EDIT: I drafted my reply before Danny re-posted.
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Carl pretty much nailed it.
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If this situation really bothers people - and I suppose it might be frustrating if itâs what youâre relying on for your music and need latest releases - maybe as a special case workaround you could just keep a âliveâ panel into Tidals new releases? Not pretty, but probably prettier than forcing users out of Roon and into an external ap/VNC? Just an idea as a temporary fix if the real solutions a huge deal.
I only had this situation once and it didnât bother me really, but I guess people just expect real-time everything these daysâŚ