Use legacy 1.2 iTunes method or not?

Support
1

I see that 1.3 has a different approach to watching iTunes libraries, and that the “legacy” method is preserved by default when upgrading from 1.2 to. 1.3. My upgrade was flawless but now I am wondering about pro’s and con’s of letting go of the old method and adopting the new method of iTunes integration.

I don’t really have much invested in my iTunes metadata (other than a few dozen customized genres, which I assume will be preserved no matter what I do). I am relatively new to Roon and have yet to create any new metadata of my own in it. But I love it, bought a lifetime license and plan to learn and use it extensively.

For me, it feels like I don’t have anything to lose by “starting over” and using the new method of iTunes integration, and that doing so would likely be a smart move in the long run. Does that sound right?

If that’s the case, how do I do switch over? Just disalble the existing watched folder (which notes it is using the legacy 1.2 method), reboot, and then point 1.3 at the same folder? I didn’t see anything about how to do this in the documentation. Sorry if I missed it.

I have a simple setup with a 70k track itunes library on my synology NAS.

Thanks to all for any help in thinking this through.

2

Here’s a KB article: https://kb.roonlabs.com/iTunes

I don’t know if we preserve genres using the 1.3 iTunes approach. I think it would depend on whether iTunes writes them out to the file tags, I don’t know if that happens or not.

Generally, I think you’ll get better results in terms of system stability and especially change detection by using a normal watched folder instead of the legacy iTunes one. If all your iTunes music is in one or a few directories than it should be a simple switch.

My advice is to use Roon’s backup system to make a manual backup of your database, then just try disabling the iTunes folder and adding a new watched folder and see how it goes. So long as you have a backup there isn’t much to lose, and it will be better to be on the non-legacy version long term.