Article: My First 24 Hours With MQA

[jtwrace]

Have you added Tidal to the Services in Roon? See Settings>Services.

Yes, been using TIDAL for a long time now.

 

[[email protected]]

Yes, been using TIDAL for a long time now.

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]32078[/ATTACH]

 

Does your DAC have the latest MQA software?

[jtwrace]

Does your DAC have the latest MQA software?

 

Probably not but it should show in TIDAL, no?

[[email protected]]

Probably not but it should show in TIDAL, no?

 

You can see the new MQA albums on Tidal at

What's New>Albums>Masters.

 

But you can't play MQA (from any source) unless your DAC is capable.

[jtwrace]

You can see the new MQA albums at Tidal>What's New>Albums>Masters.

 

But you can't play MQA (from any source) unless your DAC is capable.

 

I CAN"T SEE them.

[weldp]

You need to be using a native Tidal client and update to the new version released today.

[jtwrace]

You need to be using a native Tidal client and update to the new version released today.

 

In another thread the guy said he's using Roon. Crazy.

[bogi]

Can't wait to get this explaind further. Who cares about that light if the file will always be exactly the same ?

 

They are modifying the original file (Redbook or hires you can buy through usual channels) and then they signalize you with green light you received that modified "master authenticated" version.

[jhwalker]

In another thread the guy said he's using Roon. Crazy.

 

The option to show Masters *only* does not exist (yet) in Roon, but if you know which ones they are, you can easily select them and play back in Roon.

[jtwrace]

The option to show Masters *only* does not exist (yet) in Roon, but if you know which ones they are, you can easily select them and play back in Roon.

 

Ah thanks. So anything with (Deluxe) is likely MQA, right? Does it show anywhere else during playback?

[jhwalker]

Ah thanks. So anything with (Deluxe) is likely MQA, right? Does it show anywhere else during playback?

 

No, they use "Deluxe" in a lot of situations, so that's not a reliable indicator

 

I just looked up the albums in the Tidal app (updated today to include the new MQA-related code), then played back the same albums in Roon. Roon shows them as 44 / 48 / 96k / 24-bit upon playback - assume it's just playing back the "raw" MQA stream, which would work great if you had an MQA-enabled DAC, and software / player decoding will be added soon.

[jtwrace]

No, they use "Deluxe" in a lot of situations, so that's not a reliable indicator

 

I just looked up the albums in the Tidal app (updated today to include the new MQA-related code), then played back the same albums in Roon. Roon shows them as 44 / 48 / 96k / 24-bit upon playback - assume it's just playing back the "raw" MQA stream, which would work great if you had an MQA-enabled DAC, and software / player decoding will be added soon.

 

Thanks!

 

So am I correct in saying that if you downloaded MQA files then you would need "special" hardware. Otherwise you can playback via Tidal/Roon as it decodes for you. Yes?

[jhwalker]

Thanks!

 

So am I correct in saying that if you downloaded MQA files then you would need "special" hardware. Otherwise you can playback via Tidal/Roon as it decodes for you. Yes?

 

If your software / player is updated to include MQA decoding (e.g., Tidal player, soon Roon, soon Audirvana, others?), you can play back the content on any DAC, and some of the purported qualities will be enabled (e.g., decoding the full higher-rate bitstream / unfolding the origami, some of the optimization "goodness" that can be extracted with a generic DAC profile).

 

If you have a DAC with the appropriate code built-in, you will supposedly get even more of the optimization goodness; i.e., the code will presumably be optimized for your particular DAC.

 

If you don't have an MQA-enabled DAC, and your player / software is also not updated, you will simply get back Redbook-quality playback, because the player will not "see" any of the MQA encoding and will just pass through the 44/16 data.

[[email protected]]

No, they use "Deluxe" in a lot of situations, so that's not a reliable indicator

 

I just looked up the albums in the Tidal app (updated today to include the new MQA-related code), then played back the same albums in Roon. Roon shows them as 44 / 48 / 96k / 24-bit upon playback - assume it's just playing back the "raw" MQA stream, which would work great if you had an MQA-enabled DAC, and software / player decoding will be added soon.

 

This the Roon path...

 

However the LEDs on my Meridian Explorer2 show Blue/White/White.

 

My first impressions are that the MQA stream through Roon to the Explorer2 sounds better than the "MASTER" decoding through the Tidal PC app, e.g. on

 

Moondance (Van Morrison)

American Beauty (Greatful Dead)

Buena Vista Social Club

[bogi]

So am I correct in saying that if you downloaded MQA files then you would need "special" hardware. Otherwise you can playback via Tidal/Roon as it decodes for you. Yes?

I understand it so. As far as it is impossible to play the downloaded MQA content through software decoder of Tidal or other MQA capable app, you need a DAC which will decode it - or the sound quality will be worse than without MQA.

 

I listened to MQA, Redbook and hires versions of the same material from 2L site. With ordinary (non MQA) DAC the MQA version sounded me worse than Redbook version. You can try it too to get your own opinion.

[jhwalker]

My first impressions are that the MQA stream through Roon to the Explorer2 sounds better than the "MASTER" decoding through the Tidal PC app, e.g. on

 

Moondance (Van Morrison)

American Beauty (Greatful Dead)

Buena Vista Social Club

 

. . . which would make sense from what I understand; i.e., software decoding will unpack the full bitrate of the encoded content and apply some of the time smearing correction, but only a DAC with the appropriate / tweaked code built-in will unveil the full goodness

[firedog]

I CAN"T SEE them.

 

Log onto Tidal using the Tidal desktop app (not Roon) and then you can see them under "what's new>masters".

Add them to your Tidal collections and after that you can see the new editions you've added in Roon.

[jtwrace]

Log onto Tidal using the Tidal desktop app (not Roon) and then you can see them under "what's new>masters".

Add them to your Tidal collections and after that you can see the new editions you've added in Roon.

 

Evidently I'm the only one that can't find "masters". I don't get it.

[miguelito]

You can see the new MQA albums on Tidal at

What's New>Albums>Masters.

Great, thx.

 

But you can't play MQA (from any source) unless your DAC is capable.

Not true anymore. They are allowing software decoding in the Tidal native app. BYOD.

[labjr]

Great, thx.

 

Not true anymore. They are allowing software decoding in the Tidal native app. BYOD.

 

Audirvana also announced software decoding is coming is 2017. But what does that mean? I imagine you still need an MQA DAC. Otherwise what good is the process?

[miguelito]

Audirvana also announced software decoding is coming is 2017. But what does that mean? I imagine you still need an MQA DAC. Otherwise what good is the process?

Hardware decoding compared to software decoding is likely a minute difference (if it's any different at all). With software decoding you take the MQA file and decode it into a standard PCM high resolution file that any DAC can convert to analog.

[R1200CL]

Great, thx.

 

Not true anymore. They are allowing software decoding in the Tidal native app. BYOD.

 

Can you choose DAC chip, in order to get the best experience, or are we back to what Auralic did at or just after CES one year ago, where they where not allowed to use a general MQA profile ?

 

 

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[labjr]

Hardware decoding compared to software decoding is likely a minute difference (if it's any different at all). With software decoding you take the MQA file and decode it into a standard PCM high resolution file that any DAC can convert to analog.

 

Software decoding is probably no better than not having MQA at all. If it's even that good. As it is, experienced reviewers can't reliably choose the MQA over the non-encoded version. So if it's not an end-to end authenticated process then the whole thing seems like nothing but a sham to earn revenue.

[miguelito]

Software decoding is probably no better than not having MQA at all. If it's even that good. As it is, experienced reviewers can't reliably choose the MQA over the non-encoded version. So if it's not an end-to end authenticated process then the whole thing seems like nothing but a sham to earn revenue.

Nonsense!

 

For all intents and purposes, think of MQA as a way to zip a high res file into a smaller package by "throwing a few things that cannot be heard out". If you don't decode the MQA information you get something very similar to a CD. The additional information is encoded in the least significant 8 bits - MQA samples are 24 bit, CD is 16 bit, so you have 8 extra bits. The software decoder is able to make sense of those extra 8 bits and produce the higher frequency information, giving you a high res PCM stream.

 

 

BTW... I auditioned MQA at Merdian in NYC in March 2015. The files they played sounded markedly better in MQA form. The most amazing of those was one that was 24/192 originally and MQA'd to 24/192. I would deem this demo not very clear or relevant, as it was impossible to tell whether the MQA versions sounded better due to MQA or to careful remastering from the original source. I doubt that the effect was just the time deblurring, it was too big a difference. Ever since I have been very suspicious about any MQA claims (as people might recall from my other posts).

 

 

However, I am a very pragmatic person, and if Tidal ends up streaming in MQA and I enjoy that sound better, by all means gimme MQA (just don't ask me to buy a shitty DAC).

[R1200CL]

Do we get 24/192 now from Roon / Tidal. (As an example). No need of an MQA DAC. Correct ?

 

 

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