Probably, but my library is not just my local files. So how does folder browsing help me with the non-local part of my library - it doesn’t. Infact it is raising a barrier that does not currently exist.
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I agree totally with you. To be able to find something that you don’t know where it is, but you know dozens of things that can help you to find it, is great. Fantastic. Wonderful.
But if you know exactly what you are looking for, where it is, and Roon is unable to find it using actual system…why must you lose the option to listen to it?
Imagine another situation different than yours:
You have dozens of Tubular Bells - Mike Oldfield albums: Normal edition, japanish edition, 20th anniversary issued by RCA, 25th edition issued by Sony, SACD version (DSD files), MFSL Gold CD edition, remastered edition by Steve Hoffman (DCC Gold), remastered editions (comercials), vinil rips in HR…
If you have a folder structure with Japan Records, SACD, normal editions, MFSL, DCC GOLD, etc folders…how ask you to Roon to find the exactly edition that you wish to listen to?
I am sure that the audiophile world shall be happier if you can find Années de pèlerinage and I can find the exactly edition of Tubular Bells, both of us at the same speed
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I’m sure that you are able to read correctly: the proposition is adding folders search to the other options. No one has talked about to stablish only folders search.
One thing must be clear: Roon database for searchings is amazing. But it’s useful for several kind of search and never for all of them.
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Exactly, as long as Roon knows which folders to watch it creates it’s metadata and presents it to the user allowing various search/sort/tag functions.
So the owner of local files can establish their own folder/file structure as complex or simple as they wish, for their own reasons. Roon seem to think this approach is worth investigating further & as always I expect subscribers will be able to use or ignore the option (as they do with many other Roon settings).
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How would an optional feature raise a barrier to anyone?
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They aren’t in folders, so it is not applicable. But if you do know that you have a file of a certain track, in a certain location, that you can’t find using Roon’s current options (maybe it is misidentified, or not identified at all) being able to navigate to that folder, and see what does Roon identify your file as, or why is it not importing it, could be valuable.
I do not see what relevance the existence of streaming tracks has here.
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I have already said that I am not against it being added. I will just have no use for it and hope that any implementation is done such that it does not impede those that don’t want to use it.
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I do not understand why folder browsing or not leads to such an extended discussion.
Obviously folder browsing is not complying with the browse&search methods implemented in roon so it cannot be part of the album coverflow, focus, artist lists and alike. On the other hand some people want it very much because roon seems not to be able to reach a part of their library.
So why not have it as a separated browsing method which you specifically have to activate? Just like ´Discover´ originating from a very old version of roon, being imcompatible with current roon but nevertheless implemented. You either activate it, or you ignore it completely.
Maybe another question would be what people in need of folder browsing would accept as an alternative. As mentioned, folder structure and names are static. If roon could be able to identify these to a bare minimum (just like it identifies disc numbers of a boxsets by folder name) and thereby integrate all possible information in the folder names into its search algorithm even for unidentified, untagged albums, would that be sufficient for you?
When I still had my full library active in roon, I was sometimes also wondering if folder browsing would not make my life easier. In the end of the day I opted for the opposite way and cut my library to a core selection and tried to tag and identify all albums within this selection. Things like bootlegs, demo or single tracks, vinyl rips and exotic boxsets I sorted into different folders which are usually disabled in roon. If I need one of these, I activate this one specific folder temporarily.
It might not be working for everyone, but since that moment roon runs faster, it is much more fun to have only albums with full information, features like composition search are a pleasure as well and I tend to spend less time on searching but more on listening to music. Maybe a variant to consider for some users.
Because for the last 7 years it always has done ?
This subject has been raised any number of times, until now Roon (@Danny) have been absolutely against it as it goes against the design of Roon as a library manager. To me nothing has changed. Watch this space we will be getting DLNA next 
Put it in by all means , I will never use it , Roon already does a great job for me .
Audirvana Studio added a while back, I have no idea what it looks like - nuff said
This thread was a genuine question from the OP as he didn’t know what was being discussed . It’;s now the normal flame war between those who want and those who don’t
Back to Music maybe …
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Nope, it’s just a repeat discussion (For me at least), I see can why people might want the folder option but I really don’t give a …… Hoot, either way…
I can as well understand why people want it and I found myself in exactly that position of not finding several untagged albums or lonely tracks. I just do not think folder browsing is the most elegant way to solve the problem. Hope one day roon will find a Roon-worthy solution to access everything in your local collection.
When I ripped a boxset, let’s said a 6-CD boxset, ripped and stored in style of First Level named XXXXX Collection, each ripped disc in second level folders named CD1/CD2/CD3/CD4/CD5/CD6, when imported into roon will give inconsistence results, like only 4 Discs imported and another 2 Discs imported as difference album whuch is published in double disc album before, Roon relied on results hitted with their metadata providers, instead of all discs we organized under the same folders as small subset of same collection.
Some music resources like digital single, demo, Vinyl rip never get a hit with ROON import result should able to rediscivered in other way, we can broswe a photo in ROON with folder broswer for an album art and cover, why not for a music files?
It it well documented that Roon has problems “importing” boxed sets (Especially Classical sets) but this area is under review pending further development…
We’re paying attention to neglected aspects of the product – prioritizing performance enhancing the way Roon handles box sets
I have no use for folder browsing in Roon. I fail to see why someone who wants/needs folder browsing would be interested in Roon in the first place. Why pay a premium for something that you don’t need when there are many other free or low cost solutions that are folder/file-centric?
I chose Roon because I wanted to free myself from folder browsing! And it works. I have a local library of over 5000 albums, and they are all organized very nicely in Roon, and searchable in multiple ways. And yes, I have lots of box sets, multiple versions of the same album, etc, and they are all well organized by Roon. I even have about 1000 albums that Roon cannot identify, yet they are still well organized and searchable based on the file metadata.
I have no problem if Roon adds folder browsing, as long as it’s something that can either be disabled, or hidden so that it doesn’t take away from the Roon experience. And also - it should not be implemented if it impacts performance.
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And this, I think is the basic misunderstanding in most, if not all of these folder threads. Why must it be a binary choice? I’m a lifetime Roon purchaser who really likes its main mode of operation/design, and most of its feature set. But there are also certain use cases, for some of my library, where a folder view and playback option would be beneficial. Why can’t both of those things coexist? Why should I have to leave Roon entirely to playback part of my library?
Some of the, “if you hate Roon so much, why don’t you go somewhere else” type comments are not only inaccurate, but come across as condescending and elitist.
It’s an optional feature, and only one among many optional features in Roon already. Hardly the end of the world.
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We fully agree about it then…
Other than “there’s a folder browsing workaround, so we don’t need to fix import problems” argument, I do not really see how adding it could break things that we currently value Roon for.
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I agree, although I don’t really buy the ‘so I don’t need to fix import problems’ bit of that argument. If you have a problem with your library that requires folder browsing to solve, surely you would want to fix it anyway so that the album in question becomes fully integrated into Roon’s model? Or do the folder browsing advocates want to leave it be such that folder browsing always has to be used to find it (and, as a consequence, not properly integrated into the Roon library)?
In principle, as a retired software developer, I do have some sympathy with the ‘we don’t know how adding such a feature as a short term fix would compromise the ability to add other new features’ argument. However, I don’t really think that this applies in this case. The Roon database already has path information in it - otherwise it would not be able to locate the file to play - so this is just a different ‘presentation’ of the library data just as we can already choose to view by Album, Artist, Tracks, Composers and Compositions.
It’s not enough for the path to be in the database, you would also need an index on it, and that can be done more or less efficiently and with scale in mind. That being said, I also don’t see now adding this would compromise anything.
I have learned to use Roon without folder browsing and I am ok with that.
I have a question about the folders.
Since folder navigation is permitted, can you navigate to a USB drive or a CD drive and play from there?
–MD
I think the question is whether Roon will allow playback of files that are not in the library. If they don’t, it won’t take anything away from folder browsing in my opinion.
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