So, here’s why I’d like this. And by the way, I’ve been a product manager for many years, among other things.
If one is going to make a product, and one has to get lots of other bits and pieces to get it to work, it’s a component, and no a solution. It’s just a fancy lego block, and the customer has to create the full embodiment of what is needed to meet the needs of the user.
Roon launched a CD ripper function with the ROCK OS. But it’s not a complete solution. In fact, most replies here are "yes, editing metadata in Roon is painful. Go outside to dbPowerAmp or the like. Now the ripper function in ROCK is useless. And my cost of deploying my solution is now up by the cost of dbPowerAmp or whatever, the cost of ownership of this product has just gone up, but what, $50?
Now I’m finding that the way that ROCK creates files, especially for boxed sets, is exactly COUNTER to Roon’s own KB articles. I didn’t code how they write to disc, nor do I code how boxed sets are dealt with. But Roon has created a system where thier own ripping processes aren’t compatible with the way it imports files. As a product manager, I’d have to say… “Mistakes were made…”
I’ve got two teenage kids, and a wonderful wife that is bad at tech. I looked to Roon to set up a home based system to bring chaos to the mess. And I’m finding it pretty good, but lacking in some very fundamental ways.
I’m here to try to learn (and that’s hard, documentation isn’t great) and as I come up with things, some will be because I’m ocationally an idiot, but I’m also someone looking for a SOLUTION, not just one more brick I have to build a solution out of. Roon seems to be a good way down the path to being a solution, and it’s good enough I’ll stick with it. At least for a while.
But it’s rough on the edges. Things like boxed sets aren’t rare, and they are a royal pain in the ass for which Roon could do some minor things to fix (like a better disc metadata editing interface, including the ability to move multiple tracks at once) the problem from a show stopper to something that I could live with. And I’m not alone. I searched on the boards before posting, and this issue of track editing also comes up in playlists, where one has to move tracks one at a time.
For the case of multiple CD rom drive support being a resource hog, maybe that’s valid, maybe not. One could prioritize based on CPU load, and then at least the drives could all be loaded at once, and it would find it’s way through ripping them as clock cycles allowed. But whatever the truth is, Roon isn’t yet a solution. It’s still in the hobbiest stage because lots requires knowldege outside of Roon (mapping network drives in a multi-platform enviornment isn’t easy for many. Heck, I’ve got a PhD in Applied Physics and I’m still having problems connecting my music repositories to Roon.)
I’ll keep plugging away, pointing out where I think it falls short. As to if others agree or not, well, if they do they’ll speak up, and if not, I’ll be a lone voice. That’s fine. Roon isn’t just for me.
and the more the merrier.