ROON Best in Class: Which functionality do you see / hear in ROON that leads the pack? Please note, any improvements suggestions should be recorded in Feedback part of this forum. Thank-you.
ROON BEST IN CLASS: ROON Picture manager with Valence Artist Images coupled with TV:Remote Extension by Russell V. Awesome to play ROON on my quality stereo system while showing the artist album and relevant rotating pictures on my TV. This is a huge reason still keeping me off of Apple Music 100%.
Detailed metadata / credits including musicians and production personnel.
Ability to add and edit metadata where missing/incorrect, including streaming content over which there is otherwise no control at all if not using Roon
Clicking on said metadata to browse around. If I like the organ player on an album, just click on it and learn more about them, like a short bio and other albums they worked on, then simply play this with a click.
Detailed ratings, not just favorite yes/no. I can give 1-5 stars, a heart, and pick, all of which have meaning to me. My real favorites are “hearted” but I can also remember other albums by giving them stars without them cluttering my hearted favorites. Seminal albums of historic importance are picks and I can remember them even if I don’t love them personally.
Ability to filter for all this data, so I can have Roon display, e.g., all albums where a certain artist performs, but only from the years 1960-70. Or all albums on a particular label in my library. Or all albums that I gave 3 stars or more.
Tagging albums and artists with my own tags, which can be completely arbitrary and don’t have to conform to file tags. Like I can tag all artists I have seen live, all record covers I love, etc.
Combining these filters and tags and saving them as a bookmark, so I can bring them up with a single click.
Distinction between original release date and reissue release date when sorting by date, something the streaming apps still don’t understand.
Integrated lyrics
It knows about compositions being a separate category from tracks/songs, so it displays how many cover versions exist of the song, and can list and play them. (Most of the time unless there are weird issues with recognizing tracks as compositions)
Valence pictures are pretty good but I can still replace the pic if I relate to an artist only in a specific period. (Can’t wait for Roon quantum timelines)
Many other things. In summary, I have no idea how I would have control over my library without Roon, and it continually teaches me things about it that I didn’t know, like who worked with whom, etc.
I wouldn’t say it’s a year late. Danny’s post was in Dec 2021 and he said that he would write more about it in a year, not that it would be delivered in a year, and we are just a few months over that. There was also the other post about “great things coming in 2023”, which may or may not include quantum timelines.
Im not sure you can call Roon best in class?
In reality nothing else does what Roon can, Yes a vast number of players exist but nothing compares to Roon, if something did people would be comparing the two.
The only comparisons seem to be sound quality rather than function…
I would tend to agree with that. Where Roon stands out is the overall package of features. But there it is quite unique so I am not sure there is really a “class” into which roon fits that it can be considered best of.
As far as individual features are concerned I am also not sure that there are any where roon is best in class. “Search” anyone? I do not know every corner of roon, it became too complicated over the years, but with the bits I am familiar with, my experience is that roons’ development often follows a “good enough” 80/20 principle that works for most of their user base before they move on to something else. There are usually better specialist apps for particular areas but that doesn’t detract from the uniqueness of the overall package.
He said in Dec 2021 he’d write about it “early next year” which would have been early 2022. As he hasn’t written about it in early 2023, I’m making the call that it’s a year late
True but somehow I always figured it meant a year from then. Anyway, no hurry, they delivered a lot in 2022 IMHO and it keeps getting better. I suppose the necessity to implement IPv6 for ARC also got in the way, just guessing
I think ARC definitely trumped all other features. And as I’ve just bought a tiny little DAC for my phone and use it in my car, I think it was the right call
Self-praise stood in the corner
And continued to speak in this manner:
“I am incredibly capable,
I have the most beautiful clothing,
My face is glowing with health,
When I say something, I mean it,
When I respond, I do so wisely,
I have the best grades in school,
I sing better than in opera,
I ride a bike brilliantly,
I catch flies excellently,
I know where the Vistula is on the map,
I am clever, I am agile,
Supple, sweet, and charming,
And in addition, I give my word,
I have an exceptional family:
My dad reaches for the stove,
My mom - so strong and sturdy
My sister - so small,
And I am - a self-praise!”
