[Convolver]

My Diablo works fine on a stock 7.0 firmware. All led colors are correct: mqa - green, mqa studio - blue. Running it out of ROCK on NUC (Roon Linux based OS).

My early serial numbered unit came back from service today after they "flashed the PCB" to fix the LED color issue. The good news is that now MQA always shows magenta, where before it seemed to be randomly yellow or whatever.

I tested Diablo using PCM only (no DSD) to discover that indicator colors have changed, but are still not correct:

44kHz and 48kHz files result in a yellow LED, not green as described in the literature.

Other sampling rates produce white, not green (88,96), and not yellow (176, 192, 352) as described.

I did not try 384kHz (supposed to be yellow) or 768kHz (supposed to be white).

All could be forgiven if the promised MQA decoding through SPDIF input had been enabled, but that didn't happen, either. Oh well.

EDIT: I do get green with basic MQA and blue with MQA Studio at any sampling rate (as qsk78 says above) when not using DSP after Roon does the first unfold.

 

[Dgowland]

Any news regarding incorrect mqa led behaviour? My unit shows yellow led when playing "second level" mqa (green dot). MQA Studio (blue dot) led status is shown correctly - Magenta. Changing dac setting from decoder to renderer when playing "green dot" mqa corrects led to magenta but also alters the sound slightly when used with ASIO driver. My question is if this is only issue of correct led status, or is it a firmware issue and "green dot" mqa's are not decoded at all - therefore no magenta...
Another point of interest, when playing mqa 24/192 audirvana shows 32/48 at the dac's end with asio driver.

I had this issue for a couple of days. After some tinkering with settings and downloading USB Audio Player with the MQA add-on it was fixed straight away.

 

[Convolver]

QUESTION: When firmware with the GTO filter is used, do we still enjoy the same MQA benefits plus whatever GTO brings to the table for non-MQA material? Or does that firmware produce a different sound from MQA files as well?

I am running version 7.0 and would rather not change it unless others are reporting significant improvements across the board.

 

[justanut]

QUESTION: When firmware with the GTO filter is used, do we still enjoy the same MQA benefits plus whatever GTO brings to the table for non-MQA material? Or does that firmware produce a different sound from MQA files as well?

I am running version 7.0 and would rather not change it unless others are reporting significant improvements across the board.

Difficult to say which sounds better unless someone rocks 2 Diablos with different firmwares. I’ve tried flashing to n fro. But auditory memory is fleeting.

 

[qsk78]

EDIT: I do get green with basic MQA and blue with MQA Studio at any sampling rate (as qsk78 says above) when not using DSP after Roon does the first unfold.

Mine is a Decoder and Renderer in settings, so no Roon involvement into unfolding process

 

[Bob Parish]

QUESTION: When firmware with the GTO filter is used, do we still enjoy the same MQA benefits plus whatever GTO brings to the table for non-MQA material? Or does that firmware produce a different sound from MQA files as well?

I am running version 7.0 and would rather not change it unless others are reporting significant improvements across the board.

7.0 sounds way better than GTO 7.0c. Period!
I compared both firmwares sound a few posts above...

 

[iFi audio]

QUESTION: When firmware with the GTO filter is used, do we still enjoy the same MQA benefits plus whatever GTO brings to the table for non-MQA material? Or does that firmware produce a different sound from MQA files as well?

MQA can't be processed in any way to remain MQA, which is why our GTO filter doesn't affect it.

 

[fsi22]

@iFi audio What is Line Output Voltage?

 

[Convolver]

Mine is a Decoder and Renderer in settings, so no Roon involvement into unfolding process

You must also have “Enable MQA core decoder” turned off in Roon audio settings. Otherwise, Diablo will act as a renderer.

 

[qsk78]

You must also have “Enable MQA core decoder” turned off in Roon audio settings. Otherwise, Diablo will act as a renderer.

Ok. Got it. Now it is fully on Diablo side)

 

[Sebastien Chiu]

Ok. Got it. Now it is fully on Diablo side)

Glad you got it sorted! Roon can be a contraption in itself.

 

[KaOs492]

Does this look right?

 

[Bob Parish]

Does this look right?

Why the limited wasapi and not the much better sound ASIO driver?

 

[KaOs492]

Why the limited wasapi and not the much better sound ASIO driver?

Why the limited wasapi and not the much better sound ASIO driver?

How do I change that?

 

[greentea76]

if you have installed ifi driver it should show as separate audio device in roon. you just need to enable it