[aerosuffly]

No need for MQA hardware if Tidal can decoded via software- what was the fuzz about mqa enabled DACs

My understanding is that Tidal software decoding only "unfold" MQA stream (24bit/48kHz) to higher sampling rate (the current Tidal decoding seem to limit the maximum unfolded sampling rate at 96kHz). MQA promise the correction for timing and quantisation errors in the ADC when the song was recorded, and they claimed that this correction can only be done in the DAC because it DAC dependent.

Having heard the MQA demo by Meridian, same here.  It's a step backwards in sound quality compared to playing 24/96 FLAC and DSD files.

Did the demo compare the same system with MQA on and off? If you are comparing, for example, Meridian Explorer 2 with Micro iDSD, of course the iDSD will sound better. Our familiarity with the system is also important - a great system that we do not like might sound not as good as our home system. I am not trying to defend MQA here, but I think it is a little early to make a judgment on any tech when you can only compare apple to orange for most of the time.

 

[bmoura]

Here's an interesting article with some factual info. (Although personally I don't think it's dead yet) https://benchmarkmedia.com/blogs/application_notes/163302855-is-mqa-doa

 
And here's another from Paul McGowan, CEO at PS Audio
http://www.psaudio.com/forum/directstream-all-about-it/mqa-controversy/#p55837

 

"So far MQA decoding has only been worse and that has not changed. We suspect (as do they) that it’s because the tricks they’re using with filters to try and make the sound better (closer to the original source material in their parlance) screws with our own in the DAC. They then suggest they need to tune their decoder to our filters for best results.
 
If that’s all true then we’re out. As you’ve seen with Torreys, Ted and the engineers continue to improve the state of the art with digital filters on a regular basis – and one of the whole reasons we went to an FPGA based DAC in the first place was the freedom to improve the product’s performance over time. If we were restricted in what we could to future developments, held back because everything in the USB chain had to be “fixed” by the MQA engineers first… that would be nuts. They’ve never said that has to be so and I am merely speculating as we wait for an answer.
 
I too wish they’d just release this as software so the compressed file could be decoded and leave the DAC design to us."

 

 

[aerosuffly]

^ That I completely agree. Based on my one day experience with Tidal Master streaming, I found that the unfolded MQA stream playing through the Retro 50 sound far less superior than the Hi-Res FLAC counterpart. But now you are running into a question of whether the two formats come from the same master ...

 

[Verhulk]

Correct, but if you don't own the high res file, MQA with Tidal is a huge step forward. So I would like to play those high res MQA files with my IFI. My dragonfly red will be updated in the near future

 

[sdolezalek]

Unfortunately, I think MQA is boxing all of us into a corner.  If you subscribe to Tidal, the benefits of full MQA unfolding and decoding over the normal 16/44 bitstream are probably a sonic upgrade.  On the other hand if you are using software like HQPlayer and its superlative filters to upsample all of your content to DSD256 or DSD512 to take maximum advantage of the chips in the iDSD Pro you'll likely get even better sound from that (as long as you aren't starting with MQA-encoded material).  
 
But it means that for maximum benefit you'll need a DAC with the MQA decoding AND software that upsamples everything but MQA to DSD256/512.  Today that combination doesn't exist.  

 

[Esprit]

And iF does not support MQA

 

[iFi audio]

Boys and girls, just a quick reminder. We'll attend to UK's world famous  Sound & Vision - Bristol Show. As per usual, we'll show a new thing or two there, so if you're around, please come and visit us! 
 
 
The date: 24th - 26th of February
The place: Marriott City Centre Hotel, Lower Castle Street, Bristol, BS1 3AD
The brand: iFi Audio / suite 11
 
 
 

 
 
 
For further info, please take a look here:
 
http://www.bristolshow.co.uk
 
 
 
See you on the spot!

 

[bluesaint]

So are we any closer to iDSD PRO being released?  Is ETA still end of Q1?  Or is it now Q2?
 
Quote:

  Boys and girls, just a quick reminder. We'll attend to UK's world famous  Sound & Vision - Bristol Show. As per usual, we'll show a new thing or two there, so if you're around, please come and visit us! 
 
 
The date: 24th - 26th of February
The place: Marriott City Centre Hotel, Lower Castle Street, Bristol, BS1 3AD
The brand: iFi Audio / suite 11
 
 
 

 
 
 
For further info, please take a look here:
 
http://www.bristolshow.co.uk
 
 
 
See you on the spot!

 

[synapse09]

 

This link was posted in the ifi micro idsd thread
 
http://www.bristolshow.co.uk/news_detail.lasso?newsid=8234#.WHUqOnWi68g
 
I'm guessing the iOne is what the Pro iDSD is? Home DAC...

 

[Esprit]

 

[Vartan]

Quad Core Dual Mono DAC?

?
 
Digital Processor-777

 There is not one, but 2 distinct chipsets that define their generation; one latest generation 

High-Definition 32-Bit DAC

 to produce the best sound from 

HD

 recordings and one 

Classic Multibit 16-Bit DAC

 to produce the best sound from CD. These two "non-identical twins" deliver the best of both worlds in a way that is simply unmatched.
 
 

 

[JWahl]

  Quad Core Dual Mono DAC?

?
 
Digital Processor-777

 There is not one, but 2 distinct chipsets that define their generation; one latest generation 

High-Definition 32-Bit DAC

 to produce the best sound from 

HD

 recordings and one 

Classic Multibit 16-Bit DAC

 to produce the best sound from CD. These two "non-identical twins" deliver the best of both worlds in a way that is simply unmatched.
 
 

Unless they've made a major change, I doubt the iDSD Pro is mirroring the DP-777 in that regard.  The "Quad Core Dual Mono" is just a fancy way of saying they are using 4 DAC chips, where each chip has a mono output in a 4 channel, balanced out configuration. (each chip handling half a phase of left and right channel).

 

[Esprit]

Hey iFi, hurry up please... or we can not buy it for too many taxes.

 

[etc6849]

I still would like to buy the idsd pro to go with my pro ican. Is a q1 or q2 release planned?

Boys and girls, just a quick reminder. We'll attend to UK's world famous [COLOR=222222] Sound & Vision - Bristol Show. As per usual, we'll show a new thing or two there, so if you're around, please come and visit us! [/COLOR]


[COLOR=3399FF]The date: 24th - 26th of February[/COLOR]
[COLOR=3399FF]The place: Marriott City Centre Hotel, Lower Castle Street, Bristol, BS1 3AD

The brand: iFi Audio / suite 11[/COLOR]








For further info, please take a look here:

http://www.bristolshow.co.uk



See you on the spot!

 

[EVOLVIST]

Are those BNC inputs on the back of the iDSD Pro that I see?