Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion MQA - Related technology, products and music MQA decoding in Tidal App

Thank you for the clarification. It confirmed my suspicion that I was listening to backwards compatible MQA encoded content.

Since I do not have an MQA decoder device I'll simply have to look at the Tidal master offerings as an opportunity to find out if I can hear any of the purported sonic benefits brought about solely by MQA encoding.

Inded, that’s a key question but one that will be very difficult to answer. It will depend upon how different your DAC profile is to the generic one in the decoding algorithm. We’ll also see what Roon has to offer with respect to MQA decoding in its forthcoming 1.3 release. It’s probable that one decoding algorithm will be on offer initially but who knows how this will evolve over time.

Then there’s the question as to what are the major contributors to the improved\different SQ of MQA in the average listening room environment. IMHO the mastering of the album will be the biggest factor. I’ve hooked up my HTPC to my 861 via USB and am enjoying some of the Master collection at 24\94 via Trifield (as I like the rear channel contribution to the sound field). I can hear the MQA purists cringe.

Why? There is absolutely nothing which suggests that MQA-encoded music shouldn't be treated in the same way as non-MQA music. The goals and principles of Trifield are completely independent of MQA.

That's certainly the way I'm going to treat it. However, I thought MQA was 'optimised' for 2-channel reproduction.

Who wouldn't want MQA in Trifield Goodness if you have a capable setup. Or just for some ambience that heightens the involvement.

Better indata with even better spatial queues will make Trifield even more convincing when fed with MQA content IMHO.

But if you use the Tidal decoder you will be able to hear unwrapped i.e. higher rez MQA.

But many people argue that the ADC DAC matching made possible with dedicated MQA systems is one of the most crucial elements to achieving the best sound quality.

But would this not destroy the bit perfect transfer that is required for full MQA processing? Of course you could apply Trifield to Tidal MQA decoding but would then miss the full benefits of full MQA. Whether this would prove significant is another but important matter.

But the upgraded 818 would give you the benefits of ADC DAC matching. I don't know how significant this is in sound quality terms but some claim that this feature is a vital part of MQA quality.

If the Tidal processing of MQA is good, albeit without ADC DAC matching, what could a Roon decode add to improve the sound? In a world of Tidal MQA streaming, what is the point of Roon?

Trouble is upgrading to 818v3 would not provide those benefits, as I understand it, because the DACs are in the non-MQA DSP speakers and thus would be unknown to the 818v3. Also they could not receive fully unfolded (24/192 and up).

That is not to say that an 818v3 upgrade would not provide sonic benefits generally across all source formats.

And this is not a complaint about MQA implementation, it is just trying to understand what is achieved by changing different parts of the physical and digital architecture to achieve various outcomes between no MQA capability and full MQA capability.

Yes, you are right. But at least the 818 has full MQA rendering for analogue output.