I might equate Audirvāna to a 1950’s right hand drive Ferrari I once got to drive, stripped down is right 
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You are not alone, you were never alone in that.
For me there are many things I loved about Roon, the artist bio’s, the album information, the information selectivity on a now playing screen etc. Where I take issue with the happy UI people is that a computer based software application UI should conform (roughly) to the design guidance issued by the OS manufacturer so that it appears seamless with other open applications on a screen. Roon seems designed to be run in full screen mode only, its massive fonts/graphics results in a mess with very limited information being available on a screen and a resulting excessive amount of scrolling to view information. i.e in track view on a Mackbook Pro screen running at 2056 x 1329 pixels (the more information option in macOS) I can see 9 tracks vertically in a queue or track list… in AS i get about 22 and infinitely more column information about the track than Roon gives me. I could go on but you get the drift…
If they had just allowed the user to size the fonts and graphics I would never have discovered Audirvana and its sound quality… a much more traditional iTunes like design which fits nicely on a 4K screen alongside other open apps.
I do think there is a balance here where they can increase the quality and detail in information and views without putting an excessive burden on resources and impacting SQ. I assume we are getting close to a 3.0 version of AS so I look forwarded to seeing what they do…
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I seldom use a monitor for Roon, my iPad Pro does a stellar job for the 3 different systems throughout my home, all the parameters are kept in separate memories for each device, no need to reconfigure each one manually. Roon server just plugs away without the need to even launch the application on my Mac mini. If we’re actually talking about user interface there’s absolutely no comparison.
Hopefully Studio 3.0 will release this decade and address the shortcomings that hold Audirvāna back in the user experience.
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I think most people view/use Roon on a dedicated device of some sort whether computer, iPad etc so this is less of an issue for them, my use case is different. I use my computer for work and play and as such my requirements for seemless appearance with other open apps on an Apple Pro XDR display is important to me. I will never understand when you go to album view using the sidebar the first thing Roon shows me taking up approximately 30% of the album view window is “My Albums” in massive 100+ pt font. I know I am in my albums i clicked on my library/albums in the sidebar!.. so very Windows Vista
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What’s wrong with the Roon UI design in your opinion? Mind to share more of your perspective to us? 
When will be the 3.0 version? Any information ever released yet?
Pure conjecture on my part… been a while since AS 2.0 was released. As stated though, I am in the camp of disliking the Roon UI so I hope that whatever they do in the UI, scalability of the interface is included for those of us that like more information on a screen… the Roon UI for me would have been OK if they had in addition to default (large), large (5 year old childrens book with very large fonts) and largest (the seemingly equivalent of a 640 x 480 screen resolution) had just included a small and smallest option too…
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I find album and artist information unimportant; it feels more like marketing material. I usually search online for new artists or music, and once I purchase and add a track to my collection, that becomes my usual listening journey. I rarely revisit artist bios after the initial purchase, as that information is more relevant in the early stages of my listening experience.
I tend to enjoy self-financed artists, who often lack official bios or detailed album information from record labels. What I want is a user interface that can sort albums and works by a single artist, as many artists use different aliases or collaborate in various groups. I hope for a feature that organizes songs in a playlist by album title, artist (alias), collaboration, year of release, and other relevant details. This would greatly enhance my navigation experience in Audirvāna.
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Make sense to me
It’s fairly simple. I don’t think Roon is awful, in fact it’s quite innovative in many respects, but it just doesn’t fit with the way my mind works when I look for music. I like things to be arranged alphabetically - guess that’s just what I’m accustomed to. Nice and simple.
Also, my alphabetical folder arrangement is whatever’s most memorable to me about a recording. Often it’s the artist, sometimes the composer, sometimes the conductor. So I just ask Audirvana to show me my recordings with file location as the primary sort criterion, and I’m there.
The last thing I’ll mention is that I am interested in lots of information about artists and recordings, but because I’m so interested, in most cases I already know what Roon displays about a given recording. So that part of what Roon does, which I’m sure is of great value and interest to many Roon subscribers, isn’t a reason for me to use the service.
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Good suggestion. I’m currently working on organizing the extensive discography of some artists in relation to Audirvana’s UI/UX. For example, Thom Yorke, the lead singer of Radiohead, has a diverse body of work that includes:
Thom Yorke:
1. Groups
- Radiohead
- Albums
- Singles
- Atoms For Peace
- Albums
- Singles
2. Solo Works
- Thom Yorke
- Albums
- Singles
- Dr. Tchock
- Remixes
3. Live Albums
4. Collaborations
- Featured Tracks
- Soundtracks
Given the variety of his discography, I would appreciate any insights on how to effectively structure these categories within Audirvana for a better user experience. Thank you !
Hi, sorry I have taken this long to respond. We just said goodbye to some dear old friends who’d been visiting.
To me it makes sense to make a folder in your music directory entitled “Thom Yorke.” Then make subfolders for Groups, Solo Works, Live Albums and Collaborations… In other words, make a folder heirarchy that reflects the organization you’ve outlined in your most recent post.
Then use Folders View to view your music.
Does this work? (Does Audirvana see the deepest nested subfolders? Can you get to all the music conveniently enough?)
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Thanks a lot for your advice @Jud
I am not aware that there is Folder View. Where can I access this view?
The hierarchy that I posted in earlier post, is inspired by Apple Music player and I find the experience is very neat.
I’m using the remote app. There, at the bottom left corner, where you access Settings, Local, Tidal, Qobuz, etc., the last entry at the bottom is Folders View.
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Thank you @Jud
Let me have a try. 
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If you’re using the Windows app, in the left column next to the word ‘LOCAL’ there is a small icon of a folder with an eye … that is the icon for Folder View.
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