[OldRoadToad]

I am wondering when Schiit will change their position on MQA and either come out with a new DAC with MQA decoding or as an upgrade option to products with replaceable boards. I like my Schiit gear but am using Tidal as my main source now and do not like missing out on 192 khz streaming. Sure I can find 192 khz files elsewhere but Tidal is so convenient and inexpensive I see no way that MQA will not become the preferred option for audiophiles streaming music. By not supporting MQA Schiit is missing out on sales. Right now it seems if you want a decent sounding DAC with MQA decoding the only option is Mytek Brooklyn at $1995. There is a hole in the market under $1000 that Schiit could fill with a DAC that should fly off the shelves. I am so fond of Tidal I am debating pulling the trigger on a Brooklyn so I can enjoy full 192 khz.

I am biting my tongue. And toads have one hell of a tongue...

MQA = ENC. FTN.

ORT

 

[anson67]

I am wondering when Schiit will change their position on MQA and either come out with a new DAC with MQA decoding or as an upgrade option to products with replaceable boards. I like my Schiit gear but am using Tidal as my main source now and do not like missing out on 192 khz streaming. Sure I can find 192 khz files elsewhere but Tidal is so convenient and inexpensive I see no way that MQA will not become the preferred option for audiophiles streaming music. By not supporting MQA Schiit is missing out on sales. Right now it seems if you want a decent sounding DAC with MQA decoding the only option is Mytek Brooklyn at $1995. There is a hole in the market under $1000 that Schiit could fill with a DAC that should fly off the shelves. I am so fond of Tidal I am debating pulling the trigger on a Brooklyn so I can enjoy full 192 khz.

I don't see it, but never say never. I for one am not affected by this FOMO and do not care to pursue that path, but if you do purchase a Brooklyn to check it out, please do and report back!

 

[mike138]

I am wondering when Schiit will change their position on MQA and either come out with a new DAC with MQA decoding or as an upgrade option to products with replaceable boards. I like my Schiit gear but am using Tidal as my main source now and do not like missing out on 192 khz streaming. Sure I can find 192 khz files elsewhere but Tidal is so convenient and inexpensive I see no way that MQA will not become the preferred option for audiophiles streaming music. By not supporting MQA Schiit is missing out on sales. Right now it seems if you want a decent sounding DAC with MQA decoding the only option is Mytek Brooklyn at $1995. There is a hole in the market under $1000 that Schiit could fill with a DAC that should fly off the shelves. I am so fond of Tidal I am debating pulling the trigger on a Brooklyn so I can enjoy full 192 khz.

TIDAL has 1% of the market share of paid streaming music as of January of this year. And don't forget they have two plans, one of which doesn't include MQA. There just isn't the possible customer base that would make it possible or attractive to a price-disruptive company like Schiit. Companies that produce more expensive gear can do it because they charge an arm and a leg anyway. Schiit gave it a shot when DSD was supposed to be the be all, end all of audio and that went nowhere.

Add to that the stupid requirements that MQA wants equipment manufacturers to abide by and I can see why Schiit would take a pass on something that's bound to be a niche product anyway.

 

[OldRoadToad]

TIDAL has 1% of the market share of paid streaming music as of January of this year. And don't forget they have two plans, one of which doesn't include MQA. There just isn't the possible customer base that would make it possible or attractive to a price-disruptive company like Schiit. Companies that produce more expensive gear can do it because they charge an arm and a leg anyway. Schiit gave it a shot when DSD was supposed to be the be all, end all of audio and that went nowhere.

Add to that the stupid requirements that MQA wants equipment manufacturers to abide by and I can see why Schiit would take a pass on something that's bound to be a niche product anyway.

Well said and truly inspirational. As for Tidal Bowl, they and their cadre of backers (read: lying, worth less fooktard frAudio typists) can go intercourse themselves to Hades. Not even Schiit can make that cRap sound good.

These typists jump on and off codec band wagons like a flea does from ass to ass at a dog and pony show. DSD. HDCD. High Rez, Mid Rez, Low Rez, No Rez, DVD Audio , Dolby Surround music and the Großvater of them all, Quadrophonic. For such as these profits of frAudio, the veil has been lifted more times than during the nuptials of Zsa Zsa Gabor and Liz Taylor combined.

They've sold their soul more times too. And all to salve their pathetic imitation of life egos.

ORT

 

[mike138]

Well said and truly inspirational. As for Tidal Bowl, they and their cadre of backers (read: lying, worth less fooktard frAudio typists) can go intercourse themselves to Hades. Not even Schiit can make that cRap sound good.

These typists jump on and off codec band wagons like a flea does from ass to ass at a dog and pony show. DSD. HDCD. High Rez, Mid Rez, Low Rez, No Rez, DVD Audio , Dolby Surround music and the Großvater of them all, Quadrophonic. For such as these profits of frAudio, the veil has been lifted more times than during the nuptials of Zsa Zsa Gabor and Liz Taylor combined.

They've sold their soul more times too. And all to salve their pathetic imitation of life egos.

ORT

Don't get me wrong. I subscribe to TIDAL, just not for MQA. Their catalog is really good and the software lets me save music to my devices.

 

[JoeKickass]

..The Gadget sits between streamer/PC/Mac and DAC and even with no turning applied, it could serve as an affordable USB-S/PDIF converter or S/PDIF re-clocker.... According to Schiit’s press release, the Gadget will sell for somewhere in the region of US$200...

Does this mean the Gadget would be able to replace the Eitr (usb Gen 5)? Or maybe the Gadget has an equivalent of USB gen 2 or 3?

Surly they SHARC processor and Gadget's tuning circuitry cost more than the $30 price increase...

 

[OldRoadToad]

Don't get me wrong. I subscribe to TIDAL, just not for MQA. Their catalog is really good and the software lets me save music to my devices.

That is fine and your choice. I have no need for that "service". On top of that, I find their owner ship to be disgusting cRap farteests and would eschew them for that alone. But MQA is just a land grab by a bunch of thieves wanting to sell us all the White Album again.


ORT

 

[exdmd]

TIDAL has 1% of the market share of paid streaming music as of January of this year. And don't forget they have two plans, one of which doesn't include MQA. There just isn't the possible customer base that would make it possible or attractive to a price-disruptive company like Schiit. Companies that produce more expensive gear can do it because they charge an arm and a leg anyway. Schiit gave it a shot when DSD was supposed to be the be all, end all of audio and that went nowhere.

Add to that the stupid requirements that MQA wants equipment manufacturers to abide by and I can see why Schiit would take a pass on something that's bound to be a niche product anyway.

Schiit is already a niche company selling niche products to audiophiles. My point was the audiophiles who have the money for $2000 DACs may very well vote with their pockets and buy MQA certified DACs rather then Schiit offerings. Yes there are licensing fees involved but you bake those into the retail price of the product. The customer is always right remember.

 

[AudioBear]

I have Tidal. I like their catalog and the real 16/44.1 rez. I can tell no difference with MQA enabled on Audirvana Plus out of my 2016 MacBookPro->e-i-t-r ->gumby->liquid carbob-> HD800s or Staxsr-l700. No difference. None.nada. And there shouldn’t be. MQA is a lossy compression codec that cuts bandwidth needed to stream (maybe) and allows access to frequencies we can’t hear. What a waste. It was basically invented to sell licenses, gear, and fees by the industry knowing that there is a pre-formed pool of people who will run out and buy anything new that makes fantastic claims.

Schiit will not adopt MQA! Unless of course it becomes impossible to sell a DAC without it. I refrain from quoting PT Barnum.

 

[ScottFree]

I am wondering when Schiit will change their position on MQA and either come out with a new DAC with MQA decoding or as an upgrade option to products with replaceable boards. I like my Schiit gear but am using Tidal as my main source now and do not like missing out on 192 khz streaming. Sure I can find 192 khz files elsewhere but Tidal is so convenient and inexpensive I see no way that MQA will not become the preferred option for audiophiles streaming music. By not supporting MQA Schiit is missing out on sales. Right now it seems if you want a decent sounding DAC with MQA decoding the only option is Mytek Brooklyn at $1995. There is a hole in the market under $1000 that Schiit could fill with a DAC that should fly off the shelves. I am so fond of Tidal I am debating pulling the trigger on a Brooklyn so I can enjoy full 192 khz.

This will be a quick post and I'll type a longer one later but in terms of MQA, this seems to be the official word on the subject from Schiit - CLICK HERE. In terms of 192khz support. There is ABSOLUTELY no AUDIBLE benefit for anyone to be recording in 192khz.. 24/96 is enough to get every bit of resolution needed.This magic 192khz figure is simply bull. bull of the highest order.

When it comes to albums that claim to be recorded at 192khz, the only example I can provide is Hans Zimmer's soundtrack album for 'The Dark Knight Rises'. I know Hans and I also know that when they recorded the soundtrack which for TDKR was at AIR they recorded at both 24/48 and they archived a recording at 24/96. So I don't know where the extra 96khz of audio data came from.

Addendum. On Hi-Res I highly recommend this video from Dr Mark Waldrep about "High Res Audio". Please watch to the end I think you will be surprised.

 

[mike138]

Schiit is already a niche company selling niche products to audiophiles. My point was the audiophiles who have the money for $2000 DACs may very well vote with their pockets and buy MQA certified DACs rather then Schiit offerings. Yes there are licensing fees involved but you bake those into the retail price of the product. The customer is always right remember.

Licensing fees and insight into the device manufacturing.

And like I said, this is all the same nonsense people said about DSD. Even if MQA is somehow better, and that's far from established, the cost of converting music to MQA probably won't be worth it for the handful of audiophiles who want it. It'll end up like SACD, 5.1 surround mixes, DSD, etc. A handful of recordings that almost no one knows about.

Customer may always be right, but if it's only a few thousand customers the format isn't going to take off in any meaningful way.

 

[ScottFree]

Licensing fees and insight into the device manufacturing.

And like I said, this is all the same nonsense people said about DSD. Even if MQA is somehow better, and that's far from established, the cost of converting music to MQA probably won't be worth it for the handful of audiophiles who want it. It'll end up like SACD, 5.1 surround mixes, DSD, etc. A handful of recordings that almost no one knows about.

Customer may always be right, but if it's only a few thousand customers the format isn't going to take off in any meaningful way.

And we hear see a visual representation of the Village Of Dead File Formats.

 

[Ableza]

Does this mean the Gadget would be able to replace the Eitr (usb Gen 5)? Or maybe the Gadget has an equivalent of USB gen 2 or 3?

Surly they SHARC processor and Gadget's tuning circuitry cost more than the $30 price increase...

If you read Mike Moffat's posts he says it will include the Gen 2 USB board for cost reasons.

Here is Mike's post: https://www.head-fi.org/threads/wha...n-robert-hunter.784471/page-311#post-13723654

 

[Ableza]

Why are people still talking about MQA on this board?

 

[ScottFree]

Why are people still talking about MQA on this board?

It's like Hydra. Cut off one head. Two shall it's take it place.