please please add fast forward

a473497 · Sun Oct 23, 2005 9:20 am

OK, add me to the "yeah I'd like to have that" on the fast forwar/fast rewind.

Honestly, I can't for the life of me understand why it wasn't there from the beginning.

What audio playback device in the last 20 years hasn't had this feature???

How about a firmware revision that allows wired Roku users to put a CF memory card in and buffer the content to the CF card? Don't know the mechanics, but if you can't easily ff streaming, then download the whole mp3 to ram and play like the other 99.99% of audio media players?

Anyway, I imagine every Roku user, whether they visit the forums and comment or not, have wondered "why doesn't this thing ff????"

Thanks.

frodopopodo · Sun Oct 23, 2005 10:22 am

For me, it's the MOST important feature, the soundbridge should have in addition to the basic features. So it's really sad, ROKU didn't manage to add this feature in any firmware yet.
Since i bought my Soundbridge, there were 5 friends of mine who wanted to buy the M1000 too, but i had to advise them not to buy it, until ROKU adds the FF feature....

Spook · Wed Dec 28, 2005 9:11 am

Audiobooks is a big reason I got the unit. Some of these suckers are an hour long. It would be great to be able to zip ahead/back to where I left off.
-Thanks

dshelton · Wed Dec 28, 2005 11:23 am

this gets my vote also

mlomker · Tue Jul 18, 2006 7:44 am

Spook wrote:
Audiobooks is a big reason I got the unit. Some of these suckers are an hour long. It would be great to be able to zip ahead/back to where I left off.

I primarily use my Roku's to listen to podcasts, all of which are 1-2 hours long and are undoubtedly constant bitrate MP3 files. I really only have the option of listening to them all the way through...if I stop them for any reasons then I have to fire up a computer and use iTunes to listen from where I left off.

If it is too complicated to support variable bitrates, transcoded files (which I assume is a server-side performance issue and not the Roku's problem), and files that don't provide proper data then don't! I'm not sure why every permutation would have to be supported to add a feature.

macdanger · Sat Aug 05, 2006 2:49 am

Hi,

i bought my M1001 yesterday and i was very disapointed by missing BASIC features that I didn't even check before buying. One of them is fastforward and rewind. I use the mt-daapd and with the iTunes client there is no problem to fast forward but my M1001 can't.
The other basic feature is WPA in WLANs but this is another problem...
As far as I can see, the fastforward feature request is older than a yeah! This feature should have been impelented right from the beginning and it's still missing?!?!?
Guys, sorry, but how long do I have to wait until I get this basic feature? I just thinking of returning the M1001 and exchange it with some other player...

Greetings Markus

jovern · Sat Aug 05, 2006 2:06 pm

I also would like this feature being added. Every now and then I'm missing it and I'm inclined to use my CD-player javascript:emoticon(':oops:')

richdunlop · Sun Aug 06, 2006 4:50 am

macdanger wrote:
As far as I can see, the fastforward feature request is older than a yeah! This feature should have been impelented right from the beginning and it's still missing?!?!?

If you do a search on this subject you'll find an interesting post from RokuMike (possible even in this thread) explaining that implementing fast forward and rewind is non-trivial for a streaming music player. You also need to take into consideration the fact that the Soundbridge must deal with multiple communication protocols.

I agree that its a very desirable feature and even essential for listening to audio books and podcasts. I'm sure Roku realise this too. However, I think we have to appreciate that it may not be that 'basic' a feature to implement.

wombat66 · Sun Aug 06, 2006 11:00 am

Yikes! I just ordered an M2000 Soundbridge yesterday and NOW I see this. I just assumed that this thing would have ff and rw. You know what they say about when you assume...

Anyway, it's my understanding that the Squeezebox supports ff and rw. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong. Good thing there is a 30 day return policy. Now if only the Squeezebox had a huge display like the M2000. Decisions Decisions...

fizze · Sun Aug 06, 2006 11:29 pm

The Squeezebox doesnt support it, but their slimserver backend.
I heard that the soundbridge is also capable of FF with this backend.
:wink:

wombat66 · Tue Aug 15, 2006 10:41 pm

Oh well. I gave the M2000 a try but the lack of FF and RW was a showstopper for me. Using Slimserver is not an option either as it is just too weak compared to JRMC.

So my Soundbridge is going back to Roku for a refund. I am getting an Axim 51V, NetRemote and a long direct digital connection through the walls to connect my PC with JRMC to my stereo. I know there are some wireless options I could employ with this configuration to push audio but this will keep the airwaves cleaner and the audio pure. This will cost a little more but the extra control and the ability for gapless MP3 playback (and/or crossfades) will be worth it.

nickw · Fri Nov 10, 2006 3:51 pm

So, any updates on this? We've heard it's a difficult issue and we understand the techicalities. That said, it seems like it's been almost 2 years since the kindly folk from Roku said "We're working on it" and we've heard nothing since.

I'd really love to know wether this is a possibility that we'll see in some future version of the software, or been given up on as just to difficult to implement
by the developers.

As others mentioned, the increasing availability of long MP3s in the form of Podcasts has made a ff/rewind feature ever more desirable.

Thanks,

- Nick

basilisk · Fri Nov 10, 2006 4:57 pm

Hmm, did Roku ever actually say that they were working on it, or just that they had recognized the demand for such a feature?

RokuMike · Fri Nov 10, 2006 5:07 pm

It's still on the "want to have" list, but there's no ETA to report. It's a very hard problem. Not all codecs are seekable, and transcoding and DRM add extra complexity.

markwill · Sat Nov 11, 2006 12:01 am

RokuMike wrote:
It's still on the "want to have" list, but there's no ETA to report. It's a very hard problem. Not all codecs are seekable, and transcoding and DRM add extra complexity.

Given that this thread is a couple of weeks short of two years old, is it perhaps time to step back and consider some secondary solutions? If fast forward is so difficult technically, what about a very low tech, simple skip feature? I have no idea of what's involved technically but I have to believe that the smart minds that put the Sopundbridge together in the first place can come up with a "skip x forward" feature - where x is either a time or a % of the track. A time-based skip would be preferable but even something as basic skip 50% through the track (or 25% or whatever) would be something.

Anything. Except nothing :-)

Thanks.

Mark

please please add fast forward

Fast forward/reverse

Re: Fast forward/reverse

Still not implemented??

Fast forward and rewind

Re: Still not implemented??

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