Would 30 days have really made any difference to how much evaluation you could do ?
So you did what I did the One Year paid Trial 
Good album Deja Vu 
Yes. i am not complaining. Just commenting on some hilarious statements that the software can be evaluated in 10 minutes.
But the [Moderated] censors have deleted that.
I recently signed up to Roon lifetime and I have to say that I am struggling to understand why their are a few discontent with the program.
I have Plex and Roon and I believe Roon wins hands down. The information provided about the artists and similar artist in itself is worth the $120USD per year.
Other pluses is Roon Radio and the ability to connect both Tidal and Qobuz streaming to the app. Plex only allows Tidal which is a little restrictive.
The sound quality in my opinion sounds a little crisper than Plex.
With regards to the buffering of Tidal through Roon, I can’t say I have ever experienced.
The user interface is simple which I like. It was not a huge learning curve which is great for those less computer literate.
I for one am extremely happy with Roon. In time I think it will only get better and I thank the Roon devs for such a great platform to play my music.
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Crickets.
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What Roon does is unique, there is nothing that provides the audio quality, enhanced metadata and seamless integration of local and streamed content, available ready to go with such a wide range of high end audio products. That’s why I use it every day and have a life subscription. I am a massive Roon fan.
The user interface, though, is awful. The workflows are illogical, with functions bolted on in odd places as an afterthought, it breaks on standard equipment with erroneous error messages when the platform settings aren’t quite what it expects (we do use our IT stuff for other software, it shouldn’t be so picky) and I agree most of the stuff in the OP’s post. The response that the devs “simply don’t share your views about problems and priorities regarding the current UI” is utterly inappropriate, there are standards within every environment that all software should comply with and Roon doesn’t. Products should align to customers’ expectations, not what the tech team thinks is important. Leave it to technical staff and you will always get “interesting” functionality prioritised over user experience.
For software products to meet user expectations, there must be formal user acceptance testing, which use scenarios (“use cases”) that anticipate and test against prescribed workflows. It’s obvious that this isn’t a part of the Roon development process. It’s sheer arrogance on the part of any software developer to think that their products can be released without it.
My credentials? 35 years in commercial software development, including heading up the test practice in a £500million turnover company.
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Agreed, if we’re talking about the implementation of a business process in a company. But we’re not. And we have a wide range of user expectations in the approaching 100,000 users of Roon, with a wide range of perceived workflows.
BTW, I don’t mean to imply that Roon Labs don’t use use case testing in their development process, I don’t know, not being an employee. They do apparently have a group of beta testers who presumably kick the tyres on any new releases and presumably give feedback.
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One of the problems I have with ball-part complaints about Roon’s UI - for example your assertion that the UI is “awful” - is the perceived assumption that everyone who uses Roon feels (or should feel) the same way.
There are quite a few people on this forum who regularly criticize or even lambast Roon, but in the context of Roon’s users these posts constitute a tiny percentage of the overall Roon base. Many people also post to the effect that the Roon UI works extremely well for them, and I suspect (just conjecture on my part - I have no proof) that the silent majority who do not participate in this forum, but who have voted with their money and subscriptions feel the same as I do. It would be interesting to see stats outlining the percentage of users who run Roon for a year and then jump ship. I suspect it’s not a huge number in percentage terms.
One of the comments that a number of people make is that the Roon UI is old fashioned, and does not sit well with a so called ‘modern’ UI such as that employed by Apple. I for one find some modern interfaces to be illogical and irritating. Will Apple listen and react to my complaint? Certainly not! They have a huge user base and have no interest in addressing individual complaints. Roon is a mirror of this on a hugely smaller scale. They have a user base which is perfectly happy with the product. Why should they make wholesale changes at the request of a few vocal individuals, when the very changes that are requested may very well be anathema to the existing contented user base?
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Seamless integration …hmmm…
Maybe under certain conditions and for some users. I mention this because while I love what Roon does for my use case (multiroom / manual sync tweaking / DSP / Sound quality), integration has not been seamless for me. The problem for me can be summarised as follows:
- Almost 35-40% of my local library (total of 9000 tracks) is unidentified by Roon (these are mostly AIFF and AAC itunes tracks, no idea why they remain unidentified). This affects Roon radio as well as No 2 below.
- There is no way that I have found to identify if a Tidal track already exists in my local library version. I browse Tidal and add tracks to my library only to later find out that I have the same track in my local library. I understand why this happens (slightly different version of the same track + unidentified tracks) but the end result is that I end up with masses of duplicates (Tidal - Local library) with no easy way to sort / clean. Back when I was using iTunes, I was able to have my local tracks ‘matched’ with cloud versions so when i was browsing the iTunes store I could easily see the tracks already in my library. iTunes was able to identify everything in my library.
As a result of the above, I have not found a seamless way to integrate my local library with Tidal unfortunately.
Mods are volunteer users, not Roon staff so this was not a response by Roon. It was my view as to why Roon has not responded to previous mentions of issues by the OP. If the tone of those previous mentions was the same as the first post in this thread then that may be another reason why he has not received a response.
They must be in deep sleep most of the time - assuming they really exist. Time to shift ‚em.
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Very well said. Far too many ‘bolt-ons’ in the UI. For example, I really like the new recently played/added function on the overview screen, but many times now I’ve used it, thought of something else in my collection I’d rather play, saw that there’s a funnel on the screen to use - but then it only funnels down the recently added/played. So I have to back out, go to the menu, go to albums, and then filter down. Why not a universal filter!!! Why do so many things involve backing out, going to a menu (and sub menu after that), etc etc? Just think, for one example, if for metadata fixing one could have a pop up panel over the album/track to enter the info? No drilling down in a sub menu each time. Or a side panel(s) one could tab/un-tab in order to do that.
I’m a heavy Lightroom user, which uses a one screen module, tab and panel approach. I think there is an “old fashioned” approach, like Roon, that maybe makes one feel they are getting more value because of all the screens, menus, excessive clicking etc. But that’s a false value - value lies in simplicity and saving time and brain power. Why does Roon take three or four clicks to get anywhere when others can do it in one to two?
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And btw, just so I don’t come off as a complete hater, I love what Roon has done for me for music discovery and the ability to play music to different sources. I’m a lifetime subscriber.
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Thought several times before responding to this. When I come across posts like this I usually just pass on by and stay out of it. This is on the basis that whatever you have to say is never going to be accepted at face value (unless you agree with them), or perhaps the person concerned was just having a ‘moment’ or a bad day and (hopefully) all that anger has passed already.
However, perhaps against my better judgement, all I wanted to say was that, after 2 months of an extended Trial of Roon (after buying a Chord Mojo) I have been so impressed that I not only decided to ditch using Sonos once and for all (and will use Roon to serve my devices instead), I even stumped up $699 for a Lifetime subscription! So, why would I do this if it were really as bad as you make out @MatthewS2077 ? (Note: just in case you were wondering - that was a rhetorical question. I honestly don’t need any answers from you)
Personally I would like to applaud Roon and all it’s staff (including @danny ) for not only making a 1st class product that has the love of listening to music at its heart, which has helped put the joy back into listening to my collection and discovering new music again, but also for providing super fast and helpful advice and responses whenever I have needed it, and for making available a huge resource of information on all sorts of levels (technical and none technical).
Fortunately I haven’t come across many similar ‘rants’ from other users on here, but I applaud the moderators for allowing @MatthewS2077 to express his opinion, however poorly judged or angry his tone. That said, I do hope you calm down and regret the way you approached this, or you can instead find happiness elsewhere (as you have cancelled your subscription). I’m sure listening to your favourite music will make you feel much better than venting your spleen at a forum for a service that you no longer use.
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+1 Stephen… +1
5 years later and the look and feel of the GUI hasn’t improved, despite of all the wishes and requests of the users. There are clear areas where it could be improved. its just not ‘slick’.
I’ve been roon lifetimer for 3 ish years now.
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I think Roon is extremely good value for money and has a fantastic UI. Sure, it’s not perfect but it is constantly evolving and improving. I’m very happy with my experience with it.
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