[ebjarrell]

I'm having a little problem with the s2d while using Tidal on my laptop. As you know, in order to have MQA activated, the main volume needs to be set at 100%. However, between songs, the volume reduces to 50-60%. No matter how many times I put it back to 100%, it goes right back down after the song. Any workaround??

 

[Left Channel]

I'm having a little problem with the s2d while using Tidal on my laptop. As you know, in order to have MQA activated, the main volume needs to be set at 100%. However, between songs, the volume reduces to 50-60%. No matter how many times I put it back to 100%, it goes right back down after the song. Any workaround??

The speaker icon at the lower right should be grayed out. If not, from the user menu at the upper left go to "Settings" > "Streaming", under "Sound" next to "Sound Output" click "(More settings)", and select "Force Volume".

 

[ebjarrell]

The speaker icon at the lower right should be grayed out. If not, from the user menu at the upper left go to "Settings" > "Streaming", under "Sound" next to "Sound Output" click "(More settings)", and select "Force Volume".

It's not Tidal that I have the issue with, it's my laptop. The laptop volume keeps reducing.

 

[Left Channel]

It's not Tidal that I have the issue with, it's my laptop. The laptop volume keeps reducing.

Interesting. All I can suggest is to make sure Tidal has exclusive control of the sound in that same settings panel. Can't help beyond that.

 

[ebjarrell]

It does.

 

[Rodmunch]

Try turning off loudness normalization in Tidal, assuming it's enabled.

 

[skanderborg]

Hello,

is there anyone who has tested the subjective sound quality of the Pre box S2 digital in conjunction with the JPLAY FEMTO player?
Thanks for the answers.

Skanderborg

 

[ebjarrell]

Try turning off loudness normalization in Tidal, assuming it's enabled.

I just ended up uninstalling the driver, it's OK, for now.

 

[Just85]

I had my eyes on Pre Box S2 for quite a while, but since it gets mixed reviews about bugs etc, I hesitated to buy one. A few weeks ago I stumbled on a very good deal and pulled the trigger! So far, almost everything about this unit seems to be true. It sounds really good for the price, I like the clarity and crispness. Vocals on the other hand seems to be a bit pushed back.
I really had doubts about how will MQA work on this device. So far - older songs work quite good and I get MQA on the device. If it starts dropping off, I can always switch Passthrough MQA on/off in Tidal and the device shows MQB. I can not tell the difference in sound.
I am currently running it from USB cable, but wonder does the separate power supply improves it? I would also like to upgrade the USB cable.
What would be a logical upgrade from Pre Box S2 that would have MQA? Something from Mytek? I really wish Pro Ject would come up with something like from DS2 line but with MQA support in the future.

 

[Mark Dirac]

I had my eyes on Pre Box S2 for quite a while, but since it gets mixed reviews about bugs etc, I hesitated to buy one. A few weeks ago I stumbled on a very good deal and pulled the trigger! So far, almost everything about this unit seems to be true. It sounds really good for the price, I like the clarity and crispness. Vocals on the other hand seems to be a bit pushed back.
I really had doubts about how will MQA work on this device. So far - older songs work quite good and I get MQA on the device. If it starts dropping off, I can always switch Passthrough MQA on/off in Tidal and the device shows MQB. I can not tell the difference in sound.
I am currently running it from USB cable, but wonder does the separate power supply improves it? I would also like to upgrade the USB cable.
What would be a logical upgrade from Pre Box S2 that would have MQA? Something from Mytek? I really wish Pro Ject would come up with something like from DS2 line but with MQA support in the future.

And no bugs etc?

 

[Just85]

And no bugs etc?

Hi, as I've mentioned, the majority of older MQA records work well and I have no problems. The newer ones however have a tendency to drop from MQA then back. It is annoying, but solvable with turning off "Passthrough MQA" function on Tidal. The software does the first MQA unfold and the DAC does the rest. That way you get "MQB" light up instead of "MQA" on display, but I can not tell the difference in sound quality. If you don't listen to Tidal MQA's then everything is ok.
Personally I would not pay 350-500 USD/EUR for this device, but I've got it used for 200 Eur, so I am happy with the purchase.
One more thing, but this might be just my iMac - when I switch from Tidal to Spotify and vice versa, sometimes the computer has a hard time detecting the device. Rebooting the iMac solves the issue. Maybe that is because of "exclusive mode" on Tidal, I haven't experimented much to recreate the issue.

 

[rfernand]

MQA weirdness I’ve seen (not Pro Ject Specific):

- Queen albums on TIDAL on MQA did not light up the blue light (instead always lit up the magenta one). Whether they “fixed” it or is a more honest way of saying ”Studio quality my ass, this was all done on tape with overdubs” I’ve no idea.
- Explorer2 would not do the rendering if the unfolding was done in software by Roon. Somewhere in the series of tubes it’s discussed as a firmware bug they never fixed (by spec, this should work)
- This thing was confounding, to say the least.
- The MQA/MQB flip mid-record. I assumed not all songs in an album were “Authenticated”. Never seen it mid-stream.
- Qobuz serving MQA files silently.

MQA continues to sound different to me. Better? Worse? Not touching that one.