MQA with authenticated DAC and RPi

dknk -

listening now - for what it’s worth, my primary listening route is through a hip-dac (another ifi product, with MQA and balanced headphone output) and Sennheiser 660s through a custom balanced cable.

and - yeah - on the Tidal app I cannot tell exactly what is going on beyond the fact that the dac recognises the MQA stream - but it sounds just lovely …

so - if nothing else - I have another Fleetwood Mac album in master quality that I didn’t know about.

That was worth the effort by itself… :smiley:

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If you look, all of the early Mac albums are MQA. Stevie Wonders early 70’s albums are MQA and sound great.

The latest version of Volumio on a RPi4 using Tidal Connect passes bit perfect MQA to my SMSL SU-9 which does the full decode/unfold.

As mentioned elsewhere I now get a better sound from the RPi4 using a high quality USB cable to my DAC than coaxial from the Allo DigiOne HAT.

Bye Bye Roon.

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So in your opinion how better is the auralic? I also considered a Lumin or auralic but there is a huge difference between them and the pi so if the difference is not huge it is not worth the money.

Ha Ha - so - guess what popped up on my news feed this morning?

iFi are bringing out an update to the Zen Dac in May - the key difference being that the core chip is upgraded to a 16 bit (this is the control chip - not the DAC itself - the key transform happens with more bandwidth - the tech behind it as all laid out in detail) …

which allows it to function as a decoder as well as renderer for MQA

now - this DAC is about the same cost as a year’s sub to Roon, and it sounds fabulous…

so, the game is back on…

One question pls.,
If you listen same song in mqa format then in flac hi res, 96/24 or 192/24 which format is more nice to ears? Mqa or hi res?
Thanks for your response.

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This is almost perfect flame bait - but I’m sure that wasn’t the intent.

Short version - I doubt most people could tell in a blind test. For me, the few songs I have that I think are authored to the same source standard - I slightly favour the MQA version, but I’m also completely sure that this is my own bias talking, and someone who thinks MQA is proprietary nonsense is likely to swear that the FLAC file sounds better.

It’s a huge difference between CD quality and high res (on a well recorded track)
It’s a significant difference between MQA played without being decoded and being properly decoded and unfolded, and being handled properly (will definitely sound worse than the equivalent high res FLAC)
There are then reports that the MQA played over ROON sound better than without (because it handles all the digital transport timing)
Beyond that - you are quickly into diminishing returns.

Then - some of the information in the MQA file (reported as distortion, possibly with some justification) is there to inform high-end DACs (which I definitely don’t have) how to set up the filter to best handle the track - and that may or may not colour the sound in some way on equipment that is of lesser pedigree.

At this point - room acoustics and your own hearing capabilities make far more of a difference than the switch between FLAC and MQA.

but - either way - both sound amazing …

Hi, I am asking because I have non mqa Dac and qobuz… But tidal is cheaper, then I need to buy a mqa dac… Thanks

Hi, I need help with MQA, I am using the Zen V.2, that is supposed to be a MQA decoder, I am using the latest Volumio version, but i am unable to get the Raspberry Pi to stream MQA to the DAC. I tried with hardware mixer and 100 volume and with no mixer and 100 volume but no cigar, the MQA light never turns on and Volumio show 44khz 16 or 24 bit but never MQA, I am completely sure the track is MQA. I tried using Tidal on the app (via the browser), and also using Tidal connect, but could not get it to work.

I see that is a new dac from ifi and they are saying it is able to do a full MQA decode. Is the switch on the back of the dac set to fixed and you are connected via USB cable from the Rpi?

I just bought this same DAC, and have successfully used Tidal Connect to play MQA files. (the green led lit up), so it should be possible.

BTW, Volumio doesn’t show ‘MQA’ anywhere. I only know because of the green led on the ifi DAC.

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But on the manual says that green ir red book, MQA is magenta.

Thanks for the help, yes is in the fixed position and I tried both a usb 2.0 and 3.0 cable from the Raspberry to the DAC with no success. Volume at 100 all the time

Not in the manual I have.
Green=MQA
Blue= MQA Studio
Magneta=MQB (I think this mean software has already done the first unfold)

Your talking about the recently released Zen DAC v2 right?

Sorry, sorry, I am so stupid. I do not know where did I read that information. I just downloaded the manual from iFi and you are right. Thanks a lot, you have been of great help. You have saved me from hours of work and frustration.

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Thanks to Xhorder i just found out I was wrong, the DAC is working fine. thanks a lot for your help and prompt response.

Hey, it’s a new dac, no need for apologies. You have it set up correctly and now know the meanings of the different colors. Enjoy.

I have the Gustard X16 too, playing through an asus tinkerboard via usb. When I play 192Khz hi res tracks they show correctly on the Gustard as MQA 192, but in the display in Volumio 2.878 they show as 48Khz 24bit. I was thinking its just a software glitch. Sounds good to my old ears!

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I have the same setup! Works perfect!

I am not sure if you compare apples and apples. You talk about MQA files properly unfolded. Did you actually try this? I did. And even before the time of MQA I tested what makes the biggest impact:

  • oversampling (48 against 192 khz for example)
  • 16 against 24 bit.

The second makes usually the bigger difference. As far as I know the basic NOT unfolded MQA Master files are 24 bit anyway, so they sound very well to start with (provided that the base studio recording was on a good level). Did you maybe compare to NON Master files of 16 bit?

I agree the 16 bit files sound usually worse than their equivalents.

But then to add even more confusion :)… Listen for example to a Porcupine tree song “Rainy taxi”. 16 bit" sounding as if “24 bit”.

I have Roon too and if you avoid jitter coming from optical or usb connections (or use a good decrapifier) I do not believe it can technically be much better. You have always some colouring of sound that people tend to prefer and then they say it sounds “better”. Personally I think you also have to get used to a sound as well. It is still an artificial reproduction which your brain tries to imagine.