Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion MQA - Related technology, products and music HELP! Meridian DSP5200.2 (V3.16), Bluesound Node 2i & Tidal Master for MQA

Hi All,

I am looking for some technical help &/or experience from other HHs after a long time of trying unsuccessfully with patience. I will be so grateful for assistance.
The advice so far has been from a terrific fellow HH, but they have no knowledge of the Bluesound Node 2i. Blusound have been unable to assist too, with little or no knowledge about Meridian products.

I have a Bluesound Node 2i & Tidal Hi-Fi service that I have enjoyed through a Meridian 800 Ref into legacy DSP5200s.

I recently bought a pair of DSP5200.2 (3.16 firmware) and wanted to stream MQA.

The Bluesound is correctly set to stream MQA files from Tidal.

I tried connecting the Bluesound direct to the DSP5200.2 using the digital output (RCA) from the Bluesound to the digital input (RCA) on the Master DSP 5200.2, but the display shows PCM 44k on the speaker display.

I have tried playing through the 800 Reference initially too. On standard music material from Tidal it shows PCM 88k and on Master quality material from Tidal PCM 96k on the speaker display.

I don't have any Meridian "core" devices (MC200 for example) but wondered if I bought a Meridian 218 and fed the digital output (RCA) from the Bluesound into the digital (RCA) input of a Merian 218 and then connected the 218 to the DSP 5200.2 Master by speakerlink, if this would then play MQA quality?

I don't even know if the DSP5200.2 displays "MQA" when receiving and playing MQA material...

Views and/or suggestions would be very welcomed!

Regards,
Step

What is decoding the MQA in this setup ? If nothing is decoding it will just appears as whatever the FLAC file is.

Ps
That you were seeing 88 and 96 when routing through the 800 is possibly the upsampling in the 800.

The node 2i lists that it can handle MQA but I don’t see anything about decoding.

Thanks Nick, Your reply assisted me in a further search and I found this...
Sadly this doesn't mean much to me!

Are you using the BluOs app to send music to the Node 2?

In your setup the Node2 will not be permitted to decode MQA and transmit it digitally to the DSP's. The only MQA processing will be done by the BluOs app and I have no idea if that is done in such a way that the DSP's can render it any further.

If using the BluOs app there may be some settings to check in that. I've never seen it so can't really comment on options there.

Maybe others have more experience with it ?

Hi Nick, Yes, I'm using their App to control the Bluesound and have the settings as suggested by Bluesound themselves. It seems to me that the Node 2i plays MQA using the analogue RCA outputs in an analogue setting, but it's more involved if using the digital output. Regards, Stephen

I think you've put your finger on the issue.

Amazing - for a few minutes yesterday with the Bluesound connected through my 800 Ref by Toslink optical cable and 800 connected to the DSP5200.2 (using a cable converter from RCA digital output & 5 pin DIN comms to RJ45 speakerlink), the Master speaker behaved strangely with the display going random and amber light flashing. It then became stable again and showed OFs 96k whilst playing a Tidal Master track! I haven't been able to get it to do this again no matter how hard I try!

Have you disabled any volume or tone controls in the Node setup?

You need that Node to do the decode without any other changes to the signal, and then it should pass the decoded MQA output to the DSPs to render, which will then show OFs in the display.

I have a Powernode but that doesn't have the same settings. I used an Aries Mini before and with the decode done in Roon and when passed through the Aries untouched it worked OK on DSP5200.2s, showing OFs. Using a Meridian 210 over MHR it shows MQA.

[I think passing it through the 800 might be a red herring, although I don't know what that might actually do.]

S

OT but would you expect a non SE speaker to display 'OF'?

Yes, with .2s and latest (rendering) firmware.

Hi, Thank you for your post - yes, Node 2i all set up correctly as suggested by Bluesound & I appreciate your additional information & thoughts too. Regards, Stephen

Hi, Thanks for your thoughts - 3.16 firmware should allow .2s to do MQA. Regards, Stephen