|
|
Post by Boomzilla on Dec 19, 2018 16:30:29 GMT -5
There's MUCH to like about Roon, but I'm rapidly finding out that there's much to DISLIKE as well (especially of you're a Mac user).
What used to be a slam-dunk when using jRiver is an absolute NIGHTMARE in Roon. Disk ripping is the prime example.
In jRiver, this was a one-step process. Put the disc in the drive and select import. JRiver would select the right album name, track names, and cover art from online, create the folder and index it, rip to the format of your choice, and you were ready to go. Roon, on the other hand:
Has no built-in ripper
Requires an external ripping program (the Mac selection is slim)
Requires manual indexing of the album location on the library disc
Requires YOU to correct any errors in the metadata
Requires YOU to find & associate the correct album artwork
Is convoluted and SLOW at every step
In short, what used to be a three to five minute process is now about 30 minutes per disc. This doesn't merely suck, it SUUUUUUUUCKS! Even if I had a GOOD Mac ripping program (haven't found one yet except for jRiver's), the multi-step import process would still throw me off Roon.
And although Roon may be a far superior streaming source to jRiver, its convenience features are conspicuous only in their absence.
So having paid for it, I'll use Roon for the year that I've paid for, but the likelihood of my renewing it after the first year is increasingly slim.
What a PITA!
|
|
|
|
Post by wilburthegoose on Dec 19, 2018 16:35:45 GMT -5
Roon simply doesn't rip CDs. To me, that'd be like a sports car with snow tires and chains. If you want to rip, use the best - dbPoweramp: www.dbpoweramp.com/cd-ripper.htm Yes, it works on Macs.. And it handles metadata perfectly. When I buy a CD, I'll rip it with dbPoweramp, which has access to all the leading metadata databases (includes album artwork). Open Roon, and it loads perfectly every time. |
|
klinemj
Emo VIPs 
Official Emofest Scribe
Posts: 15,095
|
Post by klinemj on Dec 19, 2018 16:58:08 GMT -5
I'm confused...while Roon does not rip, once I had Roon - I've just ripped a CD and Roon automatically found it and found album art linked to it. With all my previous approaches, I had to rip the CD and either run a step to update my library or wait for it to happen automatically later. Roon does it and finds the new rip immediately for me. For me, Roon is actually faster to go from "Start of rip" to "play it".
So, I'm confused why you are saying there are extra steps. Can you elaborate?
Mark
|
|
DYohn
Emo VIPs
Posts: 18,493
|
Post by DYohn on Dec 19, 2018 17:10:45 GMT -5
Everything is tough in boomzilla's world. Funny how it works great in mine.
|
|
|
|
Post by Boomzilla on Dec 19, 2018 17:22:03 GMT -5
Everything is tough in boomzilla's world. Funny how it works great in mine. If you have integrity, nothing else matters. And if you do not have integrity, nothing else matters. - Robert Mueller |
|
|
|
Post by Boomzilla on Dec 19, 2018 17:26:11 GMT -5
I'm confused...while Roon does not rip, once I had Roon - I've just ripped a CD and Roon automatically found it and found album art linked to it. With all my previous approaches, I had to rip the CD and either run a step to update my library or wait for it to happen automatically later. Roon does it and finds the new rip immediately for me. For me, Roon is actually faster to go from "Start of rip" to "play it". So, I'm confused why you are saying there are extra steps. Can you elaborate? Mark Ripped in "Audio Converter Pro for Mac" Despite having "use internet data" turned on, this program found nothing and when I manually had to rename the tracks, the order got scrambled When I tried to import into Roon (which found NOTHING automatically), it told me that "nothing matched" and wanted me to use their funky "up one - down one" method of re-ordering the tracks. Further, the Roon listings showed some track times that matched nothing on the CD. Finally gave up - deleted the folder & files - began looking for something better. |
|
|
|
Post by Loop 7 on Dec 19, 2018 17:35:07 GMT -5
dbPoweramp and even XLD seem to get the metadata right most of the time. In other words, once ripped in either of these tools, I don't experience issues in Roon.
|
|
|
|
Post by Casey Leedom on Dec 19, 2018 17:41:40 GMT -5
My friend who does a ton of CD Ripping for eventual use withing Roon, just uses iTunes for the original RIP (with the right settings like Gapless, etc.), and then "Yate"[1] for Tag Management. I'll point my friend at wilburthegoose's reference to dBpoweramp's CD Ripper to see if that makes his life even easier. Casey [1] Edit addendum: I believe that this it the " Yate" that my friend referenced ... |
|
DYohn
Emo VIPs
Posts: 18,493
|
Post by DYohn on Dec 19, 2018 17:47:49 GMT -5
Everything is tough in boomzilla's world. Funny how it works great in mine. If you have integrity, nothing else matters. And if you do not have integrity, nothing else matters. - Robert Mueller Except of course if you are trying to use audio equipment. Then it's not about integrity...  |
|
|
|
Post by Loop 7 on Dec 19, 2018 17:56:52 GMT -5
My friend who does a ton of CD Ripping for eventual use withing Roon, just uses iTunes for the original RIP... In my experience, iTunes does a really decent job in the metadata department. Even though ALAC has been an open standard for years, I have an illogical preference for FLAC. I'm glad Roon supports so many codecs and containers. Of course, Ballet, Classical and Opera metadata is a complete fiasco, regardless of ripping tools. |
|
klinemj
Emo VIPs
Official Emofest Scribe
Posts: 15,095
|
Post by klinemj on Dec 19, 2018 17:57:58 GMT -5
I'm confused...while Roon does not rip, once I had Roon - I've just ripped a CD and Roon automatically found it and found album art linked to it. With all my previous approaches, I had to rip the CD and either run a step to update my library or wait for it to happen automatically later. Roon does it and finds the new rip immediately for me. For me, Roon is actually faster to go from "Start of rip" to "play it". So, I'm confused why you are saying there are extra steps. Can you elaborate? Mark Ripped in "Audio Converter Pro for Mac" Despite having "use internet data" turned on, this program found nothing and when I manually had to rename the tracks, the order got scrambled When I tried to import into Roon (which found NOTHING automatically), it told me that "nothing matched" and wanted me to use their funky "up one - down one" method of re-ordering the tracks. Further, the Roon listings showed some track times that matched nothing on the CD. Finally gave up - deleted the folder & files - began looking for something better. Sounds like your ripper is a dud. I don't know Mac environment well enough to recommend anything there, but every ripper I have used in Windows to rip to FLAC has ripped w/o errors, provided proper metadata including album art. And, as far as Roon goes, I don't ever have to "import" anything to it. I have Roon set to look to a specific drive on my network, and once I rip a file to that drive - when I search for the album or artist in Roon - the newly ripped album automatically shows up in my library (which is really nice). Track orders and album art are always what I expect, so I don't have to do anything but rip the CD. Mark |
|
DYohn
Emo VIPs
Posts: 18,493
|
Post by DYohn on Dec 19, 2018 18:00:19 GMT -5
Use iTunes. Roon handles those files just fine. And if for whatever reason you don't want to use iTunes, www.macworld.co.uk/feature/mac-software/best-alternatives-itunes-for-ripping-cds-mp3-3659456/Remember that whatever you use, you are only ripping. Don't do anything else. If you have to do meta data edits for whatever reason, do them inside Roon. There is no "multi step ripping process." And if you like using jRiver to rip, then use it. Me, that has never been an issue except for one CD: Roon identified the Bob Welch power trio Paris as the political rapper Paris. It was an easy fix. |
|
DYohn
Emo VIPs
Posts: 18,493
|
Post by DYohn on Dec 19, 2018 18:20:25 GMT -5
Has no built-in ripper Requires an external ripping program (the Mac selection is slim) Requires manual indexing of the album location on the library disc Requires YOU to correct any errors in the metadata Requires YOU to find & associate the correct album artwork Is convoluted and SLOW at every step 1) Roon is a server and client/server software package. Use iTunes to rip CDs 2) manual indexing? Not if you rip the CD to the Roon "watched" folder. Sounds like operator error 3) You are not required to correct anything, this is your choice if you do not like the way Roon tags something. 4) I have over over 10,000 CDs indexed by Roon and can think of one or two instances where it failed to automatically attach album art, and these were some obscure punk recordings 5) It's only convoluted if you do not understand it or if you are trying to make it work in ways it is not designed to work. I recommend you relax, rip with iTunes into one watched folder (which can span several drives if you know what you are doing) and enjoy the music. |
|
|
|
Post by Loop 7 on Dec 19, 2018 21:53:45 GMT -5
|
|
|
|
Post by jdmusante on Dec 19, 2018 23:50:24 GMT -5
Roon simply doesn't rip CDs. To me, that'd be like a sports car with snow tires and chains. If you want to rip, use the best - dbPoweramp: www.dbpoweramp.com/cd-ripper.htm Yes, it works on Macs.. And it handles metadata perfectly. When I buy a CD, I'll rip it with dbPoweramp, which has access to all the leading metadata databases (includes album artwork). Open Roon, and it loads perfectly every time. I second dbPoweramp. Been using it for years. Rips perfectly to your music folder associated with Roon. By the time it is complete, its available in Roon to play. I have some issues with it identifying some things but it's only my live music, most of which isn't a major record company release. It's easy to amend Metadata with it though. My feeling is you don't like Roon, you're looking for a Unicorn and it doesn't exist. It's by far the best thing I've used and I've been streaming music for 10+ years, starting with a Sqeezbox. |
|
|
|
Post by wilburthegoose on Dec 20, 2018 8:39:53 GMT -5
I've loaded about 2,500 CDs into Roon. I had a problem with exactly ONE - it was a Target-only Garth Brooks box set. None of the big metadata providers had any info on it, so it wasn't odd that Roon had a problem.
Each and every other disc, including some ancient 'CD-45's" (really tiny CDs with only 2 songs) imported perfectly.
Other than that one box set, I've never, ever had to edit metadata.
With all due respect, you're using a crap ripping tool. Try dbPoweramp for free.
|
|
|
|
Post by Boomzilla on Dec 20, 2018 22:18:15 GMT -5
Thanks, but I think I've found a convenient solution - Use jRiver Media Center for ripping & then let Roon do its import.
JRiver may nor (or actually may) be as good as dbPoweramp, but it works reliably and there's no learning curve since I'm already familiar with it.
Thanks for the feedback.
Boom
|
|
|
|
Post by Loop 7 on Dec 21, 2018 0:14:57 GMT -5
If discs ripped in JRiver are importing nicely into Roon (little or no manual identifying or matching needed), you may have found your perfect workflow. Obviously, JRiver is ripping securely so there's no reason against it.
I know disc ripping has been mentioned in the Roon community but I have no idea if it's in their backlog - rather doubt it.
|
|
|
|
Post by Boomzilla on Dec 22, 2018 4:10:58 GMT -5
If only one could get J-Roonriver! LOL
|
|
|
|
Post by wilburthegoose on Dec 22, 2018 10:20:01 GMT -5
Ever since I discovered Roon, I deleted my paid-for JRiver. Couldn't find anything I preferred there (and I had always used dbPoweramp - in fact, I used it's batch ripping capabilities to rip about 2400 CDs to FLAC (after I had originally ripped to MP3 back when disk space was expensive)
|
|
