[PaulOlivetti]

I have a question about how MQA works. I'm interested in getting the Hugo2, as well as possibly the new LG phone that has MQA built-in.

Do you get the full MQA experience by running an MQA decoder into a non-MQA DAC like Hugo2? My understanding is that the MQA decoder feeds a 96k or better signal to the DAC so you do get the full experience. Am I right about that?

And will the MQA sound of the LG phone be limited by the quality of its built-in DAC so that even if you have an MQA-enabled phone, you'll still get tons better sound by getting a Hugo2 or other good DAC?

Thanks in advance for any thoughts you might have!

 

[Left Channel]

@PaulOlivetti there are extensive threads on those topics here, but I'll pull out one of my posts for you:

Here's more on how MQA works:
* MQA Decoding Explained | AudioStream
* MQA Playback | Bob Talks

With an MQA DAC you can get up to 4x unfolding and 24/192.
With the Hugo2 you'd get 1x unfolding up to 24/96.
In both cases, especially with the Hugo2, you need the right app.

With the LG V30 you'd have an MQA DAC built-in. It may go up to 4x and 24/192.
With the LG V20 you'd get at least 1x and 24/96 I think.
With other LG phones you'd be limited to no unfolding and 48 kHz.
You can however connect an external MQA DAC to them for up to 4x and 24/192.
And again, you'll need the right app.

So about that right app: examples are Tidal desktop and UAPP for Android. Not the Tidal mobile app at this time.

You could also decide to focus on only hi-res streaming and downloads instead, and forget about MQA. In addition to Tidal HiFi, I subscribe to Qobuz and download from HDtracks. But that's another conversation.

Good luck and happy reading.


Edit: added LG V30 link and more info.

 

[Dacat]

Is MQA compelling the studios to reach back into their catalog and re-master everything as well as compile a list of AD/DA equipment used in the making of each album?

Then, ostensibly, encode ‘de-blurring’ correction into each MQA file so as to remove associated degradation?

If you think about the enormity of this process- and it could be done- it is mind boggling. How many recording/mixing/mastering devices can MQA possibly have data on? And really, who knows what the original engineers’ intent was, anyhow.

How can we be sure this isn’t a software trick that is mainly a re-EQing; and these first MQA releases aren’t just a marketing expenditure with *real* studio re-mastering to wow the consumer?

 

[Left Channel]

Is MQA compelling the studios to reach back into their catalog and re-master everything as well as compile a list of AD/DA equipment used in the making of each album?

Then, ostensibly, encode ‘de-blurring’ correction into each MQA file so as to remove associated degradation?

If you think about the enormity of this process- and it could be done- it is mind boggling. How many recording/mixing/mastering devices can MQA possibly have data on? And really, who knows what the original engineers’ intent was, anyhow.

How can we be sure this isn’t a software trick that is mainly a re-EQing; and these first MQA releases aren’t just a marketing expenditure with *real* studio re-mastering to wow the consumer?

It is indeed mind-boggling, and I can't imagine every album will be re-mastered (if that is indeed even the right term for what is being done) with the same amount of information and care. And there is a certain amount of proprietary filtering involved, if not EQing. I invite you to join the ongoing MQA threads here and here, and also to visit the heated conversations "MQA is Vaporware" and "Is Audiophiledom a confidence game?" on CA.

 

[Audiophiliac]

I just got Qobuz today. It's the other one that works in Audirvana. Player sound is more important than bitrates, and that's my favorite. Compared to Tidal, higher res sounds rich.

 

[PorscheFanatic]

Higher-Res music is the way to go. Not too fond of MQA.

 

[bagwell359]

I have a question about how MQA works. I'm interested in getting the Hugo2, as well as possibly the new LG phone that has MQA built-in.

Do you get the full MQA experience by running an MQA decoder into a non-MQA DAC like Hugo2? My understanding is that the MQA decoder feeds a 96k or better signal to the DAC so you do get the full experience. Am I right about that?

And will the MQA sound of the LG phone be limited by the quality of its built-in DAC so that even if you have an MQA-enabled phone, you'll still get tons better sound by getting a Hugo2 or other good DAC?

Thanks in advance for any thoughts you might have!

 

[bagwell359]

I had the LG v40 running TIDAL MQA/UAPP for a couple of years. Getting the first unfold out of the LG40, and going to my Gungnir MB A1 Gen5 (at the time) was far superior to the DAC on board the v40. I found the on board DAC to be inconsistent delivering details, sometimes very lucid and other times with dead wrong timbre. Repeatable and odd. Maybe it was faulty but everything else was fine...

and yeah, QOBUZ is better.