I think that JRiver has achieved remarkable things over the years.
One huge area where it is confounding many users is on the interface. More of my customers are considering Roon, even though every computer we sell comes with JRiver installed and included in the price. A major interface overhaul would be a huge deal for existing and potential customers.
Common complaints:
The options are spread out all over the place - some need you to go to Options, and others you access from the top menu. I am used to it, and rarely do I get frustrated. But when I have to help a customer, I see how daunting it is for the new user. I appreciate all the customisation we can do. The typical "audiophile" we serve just wants one of about three or four views in standard view and wants to know exactly where to go to change the most often used settings. For example, import configurations are all under a section called Library and Folders in options, but I think Import Settings is important enough to have a whole section named after it. I know one can search in options, but that kind of misses the point that the users do not want to have to do that except occasionally.
I would like to see "where next?" be a professional reassessment of the interface, which will retain the current power and customisation of the program, but organise it in a more logical and appealing way. It's not a one hour project, or even a one month project. I often get the nagging feeling that one day JRiver will have to temporarily stop adding features and work on some intelligent design from scratch, rather than the evolution we've seen for a long time. Panel was not the answer, and I think many of us were expecting it to be quite different to what it turned out to be. I don't use it, but I do appreciate that it cold be just right for many. I bet it's never a good time to stop development and work on interface, because it would likely need a whole development cycle. However, my intuition tells me that such an update would sell. I love the program and what it can do, and will continue to support it, but I'd like to be able to continue to buy my one master upgrade licence per year - and up to 30-50 others for my new customers.
Another big deal is Tidal. I know, I know. However, I saw recently that Sonic Studios is making an Amarra product for Windows. Here is what I noticed when I tried it:
- It's a huge rip off of the JRiver MC interface
- It incorporates Tidal, even though their interface is a rip-off of yours
- It's a horrible program that just doesn't work on Windows
Given the first two points, could there be a possibility the Tidal people would be less adamant about their interface requirements now, compared to when JRiver and Tidal were in talks?
