Because it is finally a nice intuitive environment to listen to music, not an old rigid database program only.
5 Likes
Actually from a software perspective, Roon is extremely rigid and I feel they missed the boat when they did the initial software development.
There are several ways people would like to use Roon (from those that want an attactive, simple to use music player without all the data masturbation it has, to those that want all of the data/drilldown).
If they had been smarter with the internal GUI framework, Roon could have had several personalities that match different use cases.
I have tried roon several times but I found it cumbersome to use and it presented too much data.
But I did like some of its features.
If I could pick how I wanted to navigate and what data I wanted to see, then I would be a user.
Peter
3 Likes
I don’t get it either. What’s all the fuzz about?
And why, why they made it so ugly I can’t stare at it.
That overwhelming purple. As if we are children.
I realy think the developers of the GUI only uses tablets and developing only for tablets.
Well, there I am with my 32inch monitor. Realy realy, it looks like crap and worse!
They are so full of themselfs they think everybody likes what they come up with.
Give people at least a choice to choose there own colours!
I used to recommend Roon to my friends. I stopped, because I can’t no longer explain why I use it, instead of Foobar (for example)
Don’t use streaming services. For me that’s an cheap all you can eat-concept. My library is enough for me. I tried Tidal and Qobuz. The only thing you get is that people want more and more and more. Without carefull listening and enjoying. And thats what you do with classical music which I listen to 80% of the time.
There I am after 3 years with my lifetime membership, Roon drifting away from me.
12 Likes
on the contrary!
Qobuz app, introduced when many were asking for Roon/Qobuz integration and getting as reply from Qobuz “We are developing our own app à la Roon”, is pretty good (visually) and has most of what used to be in Roon but v1.8 scrambled
Not only this but… v1.8 looks, graphically, a bloated and less informative copy of Qobuz app 
and, btw… Qobuz still is the best streaming service for classical music… “fans” 
oh, and… btw 2… Qobuz’ own editorial content is so good that I wish we could have it in Roon too!
2 Likes
You feel wrong sorry, there are some technical issues which makes it impossible or harder to hear my music.
Impossible! How come? Unless something is wrong with your computer? Or your HIFI does not function any more?
But
For many users Qobuz has missing content.
Mobile app is rubbish.
CarPlay does not work.
Offline content on mobile does not work
Playlist are rubbish unless you are French.
No Station function
No radio function - leaving that to Roon, what about non Roon Users?
Suggested albums for you?
Suggested artist for you?
Its simply a point and play service miles behind Tidal in terms of functionality.
1 Like
If your rose isn’t growing the way you want, you need to prune it back. That allows it to grow better in the way you want.
The pruning looks jarring at first, but it’s best for the plant and it’s future.
1 Like
To complete : their database is not worthy of a service “in love” with music. if you are a young artist no chance of being discovered unless the publishers like you. Their editorial line is anecdotal and inferior to that found on read.tidal or Presto Music. They promise changes that never come.
I have one windows pc and nothing is wrong with it, it´s a new setup. After going to 1.8 Roon does not start, and nothing more has changed. I am not alone with this problem so do not say something is wrong with the PC. My notebook with Windows 10 too, has no problem. One more point is that Roon lose connections to the endpoints, so I have to restart roon core several times a day. Not enough? There are a lot more points.
1 Like
Because it is a vastly improved user interface. It really is not fundamentally different to 1.7 under the hood. All I experience is a far easier access to Qobuz and a much more effective interface for handling my music library information system. I’m struggling to undersatnd what the fuss is about - perhaps I’ve been lucky, but I do have a wide variety of devices so I’m struggling to see that too.
3 Likes
It has been with 1.7 already, I see no game changing improvements here, but downsides.
3 Likes
I have to agree. I much prefer the Qobuz app on all sorts of levels to roon. I less and less have a need for anything at all to manage a local library. Old habits really. Roon will stand or fall on systems integration and the discovery, recommendation and radio tools. Just as well really as I don’t see any significant improvements in the library management tools going forward.
1 Like
That is perhaps my biggest gripe. After 18 months(?) of waiting, it’s just a change of clothes. So many great feature requests made during that period; all seemingly ignored.
8 Likes
it works
works fine here
and since Roon doesn’t let you download to your mobile… Qobuz app, here, wins hands down
but I never said Qobuz app is better than Roon: I only said it works fine and in a few (limited) aspects is better than Roon v1.8 (same Artist albums in “album’s page”, to name just one)
Roon v1.7 was hands down far better than Qobuz app in every aspect (but, maybe, editorial content) and I never even just thought comparing them
and I always found Qobuz’ suggestions more relevant/appropriate (for classical music) than Roon’s
Somebody in the threads surmised the changes to 1.8 are exactly what a company would do to make their product more attractive for a big buy out. It might sound paranoid, but I can’t find fault in this reasoning either.
On a separate, and more reasonable note, I think Roon is trying to fulfill its original promise, or at least one of them. I see some people in this thread making fun of Roon making a magazine of their own library, but that was very much one of the first things Roon promised and advertised, and in fact one of the things that attracted me in the first place. Presenting you YOUR own music in a new format as a first step to further discoveries.
I still like that original concept. I still rummage in the “collaborated with” and “inspired by” sections when I find a new album I like. The integration with Qobuz and Tidal is a boon for that, it makes Roon a fantastical tool to go on a musical journey.
Alas, the new UI does not make that journey easier. In fact, a lot of the stuff that I found easily accessible is now one more click or a few more scrolls away.
And this where everything falls apart. The magazine aspect is what you are meant to see, but Roon still pretends to be a complete tool, from managing your sound system to managing your library. This latter has always been somewhat deficient, and I don’t think the devs quite realize that will just not work. Roon can look as good as it wants, if I have to labour with a subpar interface when adding new tracks, sweat when I want to manage tags, and cry when a box set is unrecognized, people will complain, and eventually leave. You can’t make your software this expensive and screw up on those little but essential things.
I don’t know what the devs think of the outcry. I really hope they don’t minimize the issue by seeing this as a minority being upset by the color purple, because while I don’t think “Roon is a massive failure”, I also think it runs deeper than that. You can’t ask for a $120 subscription and not listen to your customers, it just won’t fly. They have to start tackling the list of things that Roon just does not do well. It might not be sexy work, heck, it might not be very visible work, but it’s sorely needed.
On a final note, I don’t actually have much hope to see that happen. One of the things that have stricken me over the years is the feeling that the devs don’t quite use Roon the way I, and many users, do. Or maybe they have a misplaced feeling of pride for one’s own contraption, but when I see basic things working so poorly and never being attended to, I can’t help but feel the devs and I aren’t on the same page.
15 Likes
I don’t use streaming so I just don’t relate to it. I like to own my content. That way the artists get more.
At a time in the USA when LP sales are at their highest ever, Roon focuses on streaming. I’m at a loss to understand why. Meanwhile, useful feature requests Roon users have been asking for over many years are ignored, and other important features removed or buried in a space wasting UI.
4 Likes
So my GUESS, and that’s all it is, is that Roon is trying to grow their business. If I had to hazard a hypothesis, it’s that they saw significant growth in folks for whom mobile (phone & tablet), and streaming are preferred modalities / use cases. And they were looking at competitors for whom content & social are important drivers of success. And so if that were all true, then 1.8 would be a smart way of taking the company towards a world in which they can gain more new customers in a competitive marketplace. Unfortunately, they only have the assets & resources they have, so they (a) can’t do a perfect job with execution, and (b) end up doing some things that really tick off their existing user base. To be frank, I think they prioritized a set of use cases that they optimized around smartly, and which do not necessarily overlap perfectly with their most longstanding users AND they kind of had a sloppy PR-driven roll-out. Now I’m certainly in the camp around whom they optimized, and I just purchased a lifetime late last year reading the tea leaves and guessing they would move further towards my particular use case. But if I was in the “large monitor”, “lots of tag curation”, “bookmarks & tag-driven finding”, “just show me my library” group, I’d be irate about having spent all this money for a thing that was getting worse for me. I’ll bet they actually invest some effort in making it better for that group - but I would also bet that they continue to move towards “mobile/touch/small screen”, “stream first or at least equally”, “discovery”, “consume as content”, etc. If I’m right (and no one elected me king or gave me particular insight), then this will eventually mean that mobile is a definite feature they’d need - because they need the experience to be absolutely pervasive to pull off that vision. And lots of folks would like that, even among the ‘other’ camp. (And yes yes yes I know there aren’t actually 2 simple camps, I’m trying to oversimplify to make this easier for me to understand).
The buyout seems to me to be separate. Yes, maybe they’re readying for a different capital structure / exit, but I think more fundamentally they’re prioritizing growth.
So that’s my guess as to “why 1.8” and “what’s going on”.
3 Likes
I’m not sure this is exactly true. I know a lot of people believe this. For example if everyone who listened to a song by an artist purchased their LP/CD than I can see this. But this doesn’t happen. I know I am listening to music via streaming that I would have never listened. Also a lot depends on the deal/contract the artist has with the record label. There is nothing wrong with owning or wanting to own an artist’s music. I have tons of LPs and CDs in cabinets.
1 Like
I believe Roon put out an update because they are trying to improve their product. I personally don’t see anything wrong with that and I welcome the update.
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