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Big MQA News (Really - Tidal and Software Decoding, etc...)


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This explains the secrecy around Roon 1.3. If Tidal goes MQA only, I'm gone. Now I'm thinking it was smart to not purchase the lifetime Roon membership. Roon's way less useful to me without Tidal.

 

Looks like MQA's "crown jewels" FUD worked with the record companies :-(

 

EDIT: Perhaps I was hasty. There doesn't look like much MQA stuff on Tidal yet. So long as the non-MQA material still comes my way unmolested AND I can still get access to the equivalent non-MQA'ed 16/44 for every MQA title, I'm good. Using Led Zeppelin I as an example, there are currently both MQA and non-MQA versions of the "Deluxe Edition" available.

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Answering some of my own questions, and others:

[ATTACH=CONFIG]32079[/ATTACH]

Ok ok! So I gather that MQA is being decoded on the Tidal app to a PCM stream!

 

Can someone verify whether the output is higher res than 24/48? Thx.

NUC10i7 + Roon ROCK > dCS Rossini APEX DAC + dCS Rossini Master Clock 

SME 20/3 + SME V + Dynavector XV-1s or ANUK IO Gold > vdH The Grail or Kondo KSL-SFz + ANK L3 Phono 

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Power cables: Kondo, Shunyata, van den Hul

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Yes, there is a new option to do this in the Tidal Windows program.

Can you post a screenshot please?

NUC10i7 + Roon ROCK > dCS Rossini APEX DAC + dCS Rossini Master Clock 

SME 20/3 + SME V + Dynavector XV-1s or ANUK IO Gold > vdH The Grail or Kondo KSL-SFz + ANK L3 Phono 

Audio Note Kondo Ongaku > Avantgarde Duo Mezzo

Signal cables: Kondo Silver, Crystal Cable phono

Power cables: Kondo, Shunyata, van den Hul

system pics

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Just tried playing MQA version in Roon. See screen shot results below of difference between normal (16/44) and MQA (24/48) versions, both played from Tidal through Roon plus HQPlayer (Tidal labels the MQA version as "(Deluxe)":

 

Tidal 2.jpg

 

There is a noticeable sonic difference between the two.

Tidal 1.jpg

Synology NAS>i7-6700/32GB/NVIDIA QUADRO P4000 Win10>Qobuz+Tidal>Roon>HQPlayer>DSD512> Fiber Switch>Ultrarendu (NAA)>Holo Audio May KTE DAC> Bryston SP3 pre>Levinson No. 432 amps>Magnepan (MG20.1x2, CCR and MMC2x6)

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This explains the secrecy around Roon 1.3. If Tidal goes MQA only, I'm gone. Now I'm thinking it was smart to not purchase the lifetime Roon membership. Roon's way less useful to me without Tidal.

 

Looks like MQA's "crown jewels" FUD worked with the record companies :-(

 

 

I also have been holding off on Roon because I would use it mostly to clean up and search Tidal - I don't really need it for my personal collection. Roon won't be relavant for me unless it works with Spotify in the future - but then Spotify's UI does not need (nearly as much) "fixing" as Tidal's...

Hey MQA, if it is not all $voodoo$, show us the math!

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Just tried playing MQA version in Roon...There is a noticeable sonic difference between the two.

 

EQ does that ;)

 

Seriously, the debate will go on but it does not really matter because the actual answers are in the black box of IP/software patents/DRM. Ah well, it's for our own (sonic and otherwise) good - many (most?) will simply take our medicine and smile...

Hey MQA, if it is not all $voodoo$, show us the math!

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Using the Tidal app, streaming the MQA Led Zeppelin I, it's hitting my DAC at 96kHz.
Ok, so that's software decoding! Thx.

NUC10i7 + Roon ROCK > dCS Rossini APEX DAC + dCS Rossini Master Clock 

SME 20/3 + SME V + Dynavector XV-1s or ANUK IO Gold > vdH The Grail or Kondo KSL-SFz + ANK L3 Phono 

Audio Note Kondo Ongaku > Avantgarde Duo Mezzo

Signal cables: Kondo Silver, Crystal Cable phono

Power cables: Kondo, Shunyata, van den Hul

system pics

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There is a noticeable sonic difference between the two.

 

My initial subjective impression with a couple of very familiar recordings supports this. More spatial cues in particular. Of course, this will take awhile to sort out (again, subjectively) as to whether or not and when this difference is noticeable and preferable.

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My initial subjective impression with a couple of very familiar recordings supports this. More spatial cues in particular. Of course, this will take awhile to sort out (again, subjectively) as to whether or not and when this difference is noticeable and preferable.

 

I agree on the "more spatial cues" and on needing more time to determine whether difference is "preferable."

Synology NAS>i7-6700/32GB/NVIDIA QUADRO P4000 Win10>Qobuz+Tidal>Roon>HQPlayer>DSD512> Fiber Switch>Ultrarendu (NAA)>Holo Audio May KTE DAC> Bryston SP3 pre>Levinson No. 432 amps>Magnepan (MG20.1x2, CCR and MMC2x6)

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Just tried playing MQA version in Roon. See screen shot results below of difference between normal (16/44) and MQA (24/48) versions, both played from Tidal through Roon plus HQPlayer (Tidal labels the MQA version as "(Deluxe)":

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]32082[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]32083[/ATTACH]

 

There is a noticeable sonic difference between the two.

 

Just curious, do you currently have the means to decode MQA? Or do you have an advance copy of Roon 1.3? It seems the almost universal consensus is that undecoded MQA sounds worse than Redbook. If that's what you're hearing, I'm sure there will be a "noticeable sonic difference".

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EQ does that ;)

 

Seriously, the debate will go on but it does not really matter because the actual answers are in the black box of IP/software patents/DRM. Ah well, it's for our own (sonic and otherwise) good - many (most?) will simply take our medicine and smile...

 

The actual answers? Can you just listen and decide if you like it?

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The actual answers? Can you just listen and decide if you like it?

 

This simply is a "subjectivist" suggestion, one that leads some folks to tape pebbles onto their cables. I can take any song you would choose, add a little EQ here, perhaps just a touch of DSP (perhaps a subtle reverb) there, and have you listen and you would "like it" more (or less). I could patent it, and then sell it to you and yes subjectively you would be a happy camper - perhaps up until the point you learned of my snake oil - or perhaps even after.

 

Obviously, a fundamental "problem" or fact-of-life in High Fidelity is how the consumer relates to all this. Obviously, I (and many others) lean to "objectivists" understanding and solutions.

 

Besides, MQA is not really about SQ anyways... ;)

Hey MQA, if it is not all $voodoo$, show us the math!

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I am struggling to understand some of the negativity towards this technological advance. Sitting here listening to some higher resolution music streaming from Tidal with no price hike and to my 'lugholes', it sounds pretty damn fine... Surely that's a win, win?

 

I don't have an MQA DAC and currently Roon is not (yet) optimised for delivering this content, however it still sounds excellent, so personally I think, it is a good advance and can only get better. No need to re-purchase any content, in fact I can listen to higher resolution versions of albums I own without putting down more dosh.

 

What am I misunderstanding?

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I am struggling to understand some of the negativity towards this technological advance. Sitting here listening to some higher resolution music streaming from Tidal with no price hike and to my 'lugholes', it sounds pretty damn fine... Surely that's a win, win?

 

I don't have an MQA DAC and currently Roon is not (yet) optimised for delivering this content, however it still sounds excellent, so personally I think, it is a good advance and can only get better. No need to re-purchase any content, in fact I can listen to higher resolution versions of albums I own without putting down more dosh.

 

What am I misunderstanding?

 

I have a sneaking suspicion that there is another shoe to drop sometime, maybe price change or access change, right now is the 'hooking of the customer base" stage

Jim

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I am struggling to understand some of the negativity towards this technological advance. Sitting here listening to some higher resolution music streaming from Tidal with no price hike and to my 'lugholes', it sounds pretty damn fine... Surely that's a win, win?

 

I don't have an MQA DAC and currently Roon is not (yet) optimised for delivering this content, however it still sounds very good, so personally I think, it is a good advance and can only get better. No need to re-purchase any content, in fact I can listen to higher resolution versions of albums I own without putting down more dosh.

 

What am I misunderstanding?

 

Well, on an general level you are regurgitating the myth that "technological advance" = Good. A nuclear bomb is certainly a more efficient way to kill your enemies, therefore (by way of logical necessity) nuclear weapons = Good. Who can argue with it? It is obvious, and only anti-technological Luddites would dare to question it...(sarcasm rightly detected).

 

On a software & musical level, you are assuming that "sounds better" has no downside - that any and all SQ tweaks are obviously and unquestionably Goods to be pursued. You are not thinking about the "pros" of our current open (i.e. non-DRMed) musical digital ecosystems and the "cons" of DRM advancing first through streaming, then through digital download sales, then through the loss of even 16/44 PCM. I suspect vinyl will always be around because the industry considers it benign just like lossy digital...

Hey MQA, if it is not all $voodoo$, show us the math!

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I have a sneaking suspicion that there is another shoe to drop sometime, maybe price change or access change, right now is the 'hooking of the customer base" stage

True that is a possibility. On the flip side if they manage to market the new features well and get the mainstream on board.... Then they could grow customer base and expand the MQA content and hold pricing. Time will tell. In the 'now' though, its all good!

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Besides, MQA is not really about SQ anyways... ;)

 

Yes, they could introduce their DSP in other form if it would be only about sound. The green light show is about dragging people into the new DRM scheme.

i7 11850H + RTX A2000 Win11 HQPlayer ► Topping HS02 ► 2x iFi iSilencer ► SMSL D300 ► DIY headamp DHA1 ► HiFiMan HE-500
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I have a sneaking suspicion that there is another shoe to drop sometime, maybe price change or access change, right now is the 'hooking of the customer base" stage

 

Perhaps, but I have a strong suspicion that the actual $costs$ are not on Tidal at all - rather the lables are funding and pushing for the adoption of something (anything) that gets them some kind of DRM protection (not matter how trivial) of any music software of 16/44 or higher resolution. Tidal is simply looking for some exposure and perhaps a few more subscribers based on the hype of SQ improvement. In other words it is an "access change" and not a price hike in the near/middle future...

Hey MQA, if it is not all $voodoo$, show us the math!

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