MQA - Does it work?

volumio · April 18, 2020, 1:08pm

I read the spec sheet for your DAC and found something interesting: it has not any LED indication of the stream type.
So, how do you know if it is unfolding MQA?
Can you confirm?

If that’s the case, there is no way to know if MQA is actually unfolding or not, but I would assume in your case it is but Volumio is not reporting MQA logo (we never do it, for several reasons).

BTW, you see this resolution because MQA is a lossy format, and therefore it is streamed at a lower resolution.

How do you know when you stream via PC that MQA is working?

EDIT: I found out that it has a LED, and should become magenta when MQA is detected.

Now, let’s find out if this DAC has MQA unfolding or if it requires first stage unfolding, if the latter is true, it won’t play MQA on Volumio since we don’t do MQA first stage unfolding because: 1) proprietary MQA technology cannot be used in open source code. 2) We would have to pay MQA a fee.

jockspaz · April 19, 2020, 3:10am

Hey Michelangelo

Yes I get the Magenta LED on my Windows PC with Tidal Masters.

I cannot find anywhere in the literature or online if the Zen Dac requires first stage unfolding. I have sent an inquiry to AMR/ifi and will post back here once I get a response.

Cheers
John

jockspaz · April 24, 2020, 1:39am

Hi Michelangelo

This is the response I have had back from iFi:

Thanks for reaching out to us.
The Zen DAC is an MQA renderer so it must have software decoding in Tidal, then the Zen will do the rest of the unfolding.
Therefore either Tidal or Volumio not helping.
In Tidal ‘Passthrough’ should be disabled: youtube.com/watch?v=_-rMsoORSbw
We hope this helps.

So it sounds like I cannot get MQA to work with Volumio as it does not do the first unfold.

tsch · May 6, 2020, 6:27pm

Thanks a lot for this post.

I own a Zen DAC two. LED turns magenta playing a TIDAL master on my Windows 10 Notebook.
Will other external DACs also not be able to encode MQA using Volumio?

vmiguel · May 7, 2020, 4:03pm

The DAC will have to be able to do the decoding and not only the rendering.

I’m choosing between Pro-Ject PreBox S2 Digital and SMSL M500.

You can see the decoding capable DAC’s in https://www.mqa.co.uk/how-to-get-mqa, where it reads “MQA-enabled Digital Audio Converters provide full decoding for the highest possible sound quality”.

volumio · May 7, 2020, 4:39pm

I had the Pro-Ject PreBox S2 Digital and I can recommend it a lot.
One of the best price\quality DACs I’ve ever had. It has been designed by legendary John Westlake (which is also part of our community).
IMHO you can’t go wrong with that

totyc · May 7, 2020, 8:41pm

Volumio is OK for MQA playback, but the DAC need to do complete unfolding…

M500 can do unfolding of MQA data stream supplied from volumio. There are on display text MQA, green or blue circle and sampling rate… If certified MQA track is playing there is a blue dot, else green…
For example : Louis Armstrong : What a wonderful World : volumio shows : 48 kHz 24 bit, M500 shows MQA blue dot, 192 kHz.

If the data speed is not enough, M500 shows 48 kHz and normal audio data source…

Tapatalkkal küldve az én CLT-L29 eszközömről

musaziz · May 24, 2020, 11:15am

I have an SMSL M500 dac with RPi4b/Volumio which I run with mConnect on my Android phone. Up until this morning Tidal MQA files were played OK through my system, and I get either the green or blue led/light shown on my dac, but never the purple light.

However, things change for the worse (?) this morning. No more MQA indication showing on the dac display despite playing Tidal MQA files. I played about with the settings in Volumio but still no joy.

Playing Tidal MQA with my MacBook Pro with USB out to the SMSL M500 dac, I get the MQA indications on the DAC. So some things have changed in Volumio that I/We are not aware of!

musaziz · May 24, 2020, 11:25am

Ah…need to check data speed in my setup. This could be why I’m having no MQA.

musaziz · May 25, 2020, 2:48am

My Tidal/Rpi4b/Volumio/SMSL M500 is doing great again after I reinstall Volumio. When playing MQA tracks from Tidal, the dac indicates MQA being played, either green or blue lights showing on the display of the dac.

totyc · May 26, 2020, 5:20am

Hi musaziz,

nice to hear that

What can You san about M500 ? Do You like it ?

Havel · June 4, 2020, 2:47am

I send Tidal MQA tracks from Volumio (Hifiberry digi + pro) to NAD D3045 amplifier (has internal DAC) via optical spdif connection. The amplifier shows mqa led. I confirm its possible to play mqa tracks on Volumio.

Razvan · November 27, 2020, 11:10am

Hello,

I have a Project Pre Box S2 DAC with full MQA support.
I`m running the latest Volumio installed today on an Allo Usbridge Sig and on an Android Tablet.
I have configured a My Volumio account and bought the Volumio app on the tablet.
I have a Tidal Hifi subscription, with Master files.

I could not configure Tidal as Beta version, I just get an error. I have configured Tidal normally and it`s working but I have 2 issues:

After a while (20 minutes), MQA files stops showing on my DAC, it doesnt show the MQA logo anymore on the DAC display. I have tried every setting and nothing. After a factory reset from Volumio app, I can see again MQA for about 20-30 minutes, then its not showing MQA anymore on the DAC display.
The MQA files are limited to 44Khz when playing from Volumio? If I play a track from Tidal from My PC, I can see 192Khz on the DAC display, but if I play the same track trough Volumio, it shows 44Khz.

Please advise. Thank you.

Alejandro_Fraga · December 9, 2020, 5:42am

Hi, you have to install Room Bridge Plugin in Audio services menu on Volumio. Its working prefeclty for me. I had the same problem until I have activated this plugin. I have a smsl SU-9 DAC connected by USB to a Pi 3 as bridge for Roon

Panos70 · December 9, 2020, 10:22am

Why doesn’t volumio go an other approach? Do software unfolding of MQA so all DACS can be used.
The Pi 4 has enough power to handle that.

vmiguel · December 9, 2020, 11:55pm

I believe it’s a lic€nsing matter…

dvo · December 10, 2020, 10:22am

it seems around 50 us$ per unit

mashdk · January 5, 2021, 8:46am

Hello Havel!

Nice to see someone with the same setup as mine, that got it working

I have RPi3, Digi+ Pro, TosLink cable to NAD D3045.
But I don’t get any MQA in the NAD’s display.

I’m using MyVolumio Virtuoso and have a Tidal HiFi Subscription, and I’m playing Masters tracks with the M-logo.
What else do I need to do?

Are you able to see the MQA confirmed in the Volumio app, in the “now playing” section of the app? (I’m not, but I’m not sure I’m supposed to see it there )

Thanks in Advance, Havel!

mashdk · January 9, 2021, 9:56pm

Hello @musaziz,
Can I ask: What did you do to achieve this?

I have RPi3b, MyVolumio Virtuoso, Tidal Hifi, and I send the digital signal to my NAD D3045’s DAC (which is MQA compatible).

But I can’t get it to recognize it as an MQA signal.
No MQA using USB to the DAC and no MQA when sending the signal from I2S Digi+ Pro using TosLink to the DAC.

Are you able in any way to see it in Volumio, when an MQA signal is being sent?
(the NAD D3045 will show it in the display, when receiving an MQA signal, but I don’t see it in the display)

Razvan · January 16, 2021, 8:42am

Hi, thank you for the info. I have installed it, it`s better now but I still get 1 second interruptions on MQA tracks randomly. Now I have the same SMSL SU-9 DAC as you with ALLO USBRIDGE SIG streamer.
When I connect the dac to PC and use Tidal app, everything is perfect but when I play from My Volumio, I get the interruptions, only on MQA tracks. On the DAC display, when the interruption occurs, the MQA logo changes to USB logo, then back to MQA in a second. Do you have such an issue? Thank you for your help.