When Roon was first installed on a 2017 iMac (OS X 11.6.2) that also has Ableton Live 11 Suite (11.0.12) installed, Roon imported the Ableton sound files in addition to iTunes Media from the path I specified in Roon before enabling the Roon import.
In the Roon Settings>Storage menu, under the default “Music” folder, the path added is “Macintosh HD>Users>(User)>Music>iTunes>iTunes Media.” No other path is specified.
When I “get info” on one of the many Ableton files imported, it shows “Storage location Music Folder,” “Path to file Ableton>Factory Packs>…”
Does anyone know how to safely purge the Ableton files from the Roon library? Is the best way to uninstall Roon and then reinstall with some setting different?
From Roon, click the ellipsis adjacent to an offending track, and select View file info… to identify the precise location of the files. If, as you suggest, Roon is only pointing to your iTunes library, then it is likely that iTunes imported the media files.
Furthermore, please confirm the storage settings in Roon =: Settings > Storage.
It’d be really helpful if you shared screenshots.
Thank you for the response Martin.
Screenshots below show Roon is only pointed to the iTunes Media folder. I’ve been ripping CDs to iTunes for at least 20 years, use it regularly and no Ableton files have been imported. To be sure I searched the iTunes Media folder (that Roon is pointed to) for some known Ableton files, with no results found.
The Ableton folder containing the offending files is also in the same top level OS X folder, “Music” (screen shot below of file folder within Macintosh HD>users.(user)>). Specifically the Ableton sound files are in Ableton>Factory Packs.
Also see a screenshot of the Roon “get info” result of an Ableton file imported to Roon. It clearly shows Roon go the file from the Ableton Factory Packs folder.
It seems clear that Roon inspected the top level “Music” directory and pulled the Ableton files as a result. Note that Garage Band is also in this Music directory, but it contains nothing as I don’t use it.
Do you work for Roon? It seems to me this is a bug, specifically that Roon searches folders on its own that it is not pointed to by its user. I could be wrong of course. Any further help much appreciated.
Martin one further point. Note that the Roon Storage screen shot shows “9544 tracks imported.” This is close to the number in the Apple Music application shown for its library, of “9593 items.” I am not sure what the small difference is.
However, in the Roon Music Folder on the same screenshot, it says “19,378 tracks imported.” I don’t know if the difference (9834 tracks) is the Ableton “tracks” or not, but seems likely. The Ableton sound library is very large.
Seems like removing the “Music” folder from roon watched folders would fixyour problem.
If you install the All-in-one Roon software package to have the Core installed and operational on a Mac or Windows PC, then it will add the user’s Music folder as a watched folder by default.
That’s what has happened here. As @SKBubba suggests, remove the Music folder from the list of Watched folders, leaving only the iTunes Media entry.
Many thanks @SKBubba and @Geoff_Coupe! I noticed the Roon “Music” folder was there as default, and since no path was specified, I assumed it was a folder created somewhere by Roon, as opposed to the actual (User)>Music folder created by OS X.
I “disabled” the folder in Roon Settings>Storage as suggested, and indeed the offending Ableton files disappeared.
I add that I installed Roon on trial, and am impressed by how well it works. Existing obsolete Airport Express streamers are detected and work as endpoints, existing Mac laptops, including a very old one, work fine as Roon bridges. Furthermore, iTunes, Qobuz and Tidal bit width/sample rates are displayed properly on my Benchmark DAC3s when bridged by the laptops, same as running the applications natively. Sound is as expected- no dropouts. The DACs don’t support MQA, but Roon appears to unfold same as the laptops do, running Tidal.
I’d like to see more UI options, e.g. a “column browser” mode as iTunes has. Once Raspberry PI 4bs are available again, I intend to try them out as bridges.
Regards
I don’t know how much you use Ableton, but if you are making productions, then it’s quite a help to have Roon scan say “my masters’ as a directory you have created under ‘my music’… this way you can test your masters on your various Hi-Fi systems using Roon as well in your studio…
it’s what do here… the only thing is Ableton doesn’t yet insert metadata into your master files.
Thank you @Simon-in-Suffolk, excellent idea. “If it sounds good on a transistor radio as well as a nice Hi-Fi, its a good mix,” indeed. Cheers!
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Hi, what are you producing?
Me I do chill type EDM … (Ableton is a great tool for this sort of work) just about to publish a track if all goes well, and used this method to check the master (can only afford to master my own currently)
I am puzzled about how Roon saw those files in the first place. I have never had any such issue with Roon and Ableton suite on my MBP and I have my Ableton factory packs in music along with loads of other sample libraries.
Caveat, I havn’t upgraded to Live 11 yet. Also my factory packs are all ‘package’ files - one per pack, so even more puzzled.
Simon I’m a recent retiree (engineering) who played piano growing up. Also an Ableton amateur, so far only putting some sketches together using keyboards in my living room. I call my iMac spare bedroom setup the “EDM studio” as it has the 3 Moog Euro modules and a 61-key Novation Launchkey. Looking forward to spending time with that setup soon.
Very cool you’re doing EDM seriously! I’m convinced Ableton is a great DAW for numerous applications.
Adam that’s a good question. I’m not sure how much Ableton picked up, but appears it drilled into everything in the music folder. Brief screen shot below. As Roon didn’t show the path for it’s default folder, I didn’t wake up to where it was until @Geoff_Coupe pointed out the install points to it.
Correction: “I don’t know how much Roon picked up…”
Good stuff - I have been playing around with electronic music since I was a kid in the 80s with splicing on a four track and home made electronics. Back then it was all about producing fanzines and cassette tapes, no WWW - getting a record cut of any quality was so expensive - its so much simpler now. My buddy who I created tracks with has since gone on to be a professional musician with all the streamers carrying his albums… and I am glad to say he is still as experimental today as he was back then. Me I am a relative tinkerer in terms of music production and earn my main living as a computer and networks design engineer - but I still keep my hand in and in the last 12 months undertook mixing and mastering courses - that has really been useful.
BTW with regard to the Moog style Euro Rack modules - have you tried current software synths? Again easy to drive from Ableton - some of them are truly fantastic - a vast palette of creative options. Spectrasonics’ Omnisphere and Xfer Record’s Serum are my goto synths/wave table samplers currently
Simon the only SW synths I’ve used recently are sounds in Ableton driven by a Novation Launchkey. The Moog Mother-32, DFAM and Subharmonicon are billed as “performance” synths. So far I’ve programmed some patterns into the Mother-32 and “performed” only for myself and occasional friends who stop by. Thanks for the SW synth suggestions- will check out in time. Cheers.
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