[SilverEars]

John Darko footnotes in his article that he is assuming only a bit-perfect stream would turn on the MQA authentication light on his HELM Bolt DAC.
He's streaming Tidal using LG V40 connected via USB to HELM Bolt DAC.

So, is this why he thinks the newest roll-out of Tidal is bit-perfect? Why would MQA authentication prove bit-perfect? If MQA is detected, this means sampling has not changed? Can somebody explain this in detail, I'm not convince unless there's details on this. Because shallow statements don't mean anything.

 

[rkw]

So, is this why he thinks the newest roll-out of Tidal is bit-perfect? Why would MQA authentication prove bit-perfect?

Darko's assumption is that resampling or other processing would destroy the MQA signature encoded in the stream. MQA authentication is evidence that it might be bit-perfect, but it is certainly not proof. At least it passes a test now which it did not before.

 

[waveSounds]

Anyone else having an issue with exclusive mode randomly turning off?

YES!!! For the last month (well, maybe like 3 weeks or so) I have been going nuts with this. Tidal (and Amazon Music) desktop app DOES NOT remember exclusive mode settings after I close the app. I have to reset the settings every time I open these two apps (Settings - choose DAC, then More Settings, and I find everything set to off again). I have to manually set everything to on again every time I start the app - this includes settings for Exclusive Mode, Loudness Normalization and MQA Passthrough. I have tried this on two windows machines with different windows update versions and an old mac laptop - they all have the same issue - which leads me to conclude either there's something server-side or there's a ghost in my home network turning settings off every time I quit the Tidal or Amazon music apps! previously this was never an issue - I set the settings on the Tidal app once, and they are remembered after every restart. ASIO settings on Foobar2000 are still there and work flawlessly. I have tried uninstalling and reinstalling multiple times, the Windows Store version, the tidal Website version, Mac OS version, restting the app, clearing the cache, deleting the Tidal folder in %APPDATA% etc etc. Problem persists.

Please, if someone can check/verify this or has a workaround, it would be much appreciated.

Issue with these settings being forgotten happens when using my Surface Pro - sometimes they turn off even whilst playing which is pretty annoying - but no issues at all on my desktop. Also my playlist sorting order is never remembered/frequently forgotten across all devices.

 

[Innoinno31]

Hello,
i use tidal master, for the moment i let tidal in exclusive mode. I like it because it changed automatically my bitrate for the dac.

My dac/amp is a burson reference 3, but it's not MQA and i dont know if i have to disable or let it enable ( default ) on tidal?

And lastly, i want to EQ some of my headphones ( with peace EQ and APO ), so i think that i can't use EQ and exclusive mode? do you have any advice?

 

[YellowCows]

Issue with these settings being forgotten happens when using my Surface Pro - sometimes they turn off even whilst playing which is pretty annoying - but no issues at all on my desktop. Also my playlist sorting order is never remembered/frequently forgotten across all devices.

I am at a loss as to why the Exclusive Mode/Force Volume/Passthrough MQA settings on the desktop app are always forgotten ever single time I re-open the app. I have tried uninstalling and re-installing so many times. I have tried removing and re-installing my DAC USB drivers multiple times, using different DACs, etc - problem persists.

I do recall this all started when I updated my PC to the latest 21H1 windows update. But I have tried downgrading all the way back to version 1909 and back up to 20H2 but the problem persists. Prior to the update, I had no issue with the settings being lost.

If I am the only one having these issues, there must be some sort of fix - perhaps in regedit?? - I would like to avoid wiping the whole system and reinstalling Windows fresh which would be a drastic move to just to restore this functionality.

Any thoughts from anyone?

 

[YellowCows]

As an update to the above, I have found this thread on reddit. Apparently I am not the only one, especially as I have found the same issue on Mac OS:
Tidal Exclusive mode and MQA Confusion

 

[boxster233]

Just got email that Tidal offers lyrics. One step to getting me to switch back from Apple Music. Just need them to lower that family plan price.

 

[peterinvan]

Tidal Stuttering Issue (solved)
Windows Desktop App...

I couldn't figure out what was causing Tidal to stop/start and stutter.
I tried all the recommended solutions on-line.
Finally I paused the Western Digital NAS drive sync process. Problem solved!

 

[MrWalkman]

Hello,
i use tidal master, for the moment i let tidal in exclusive mode. I like it because it changed automatically my bitrate for the dac.

My dac/amp is a burson reference 3, but it's not MQA and i dont know if i have to disable or let it enable ( default ) on tidal?

And lastly, i want to EQ some of my headphones ( with peace EQ and APO ), so i think that i can't use EQ and exclusive mode? do you have any advice?

Just let Exclusive mode selected and MQA Passthrough off.

Even if your DAC doesn't support MQA, Tidal will do a first unfold, usually to 88.2 or 96 kHz.

 

[thecrow]

Hi all. I am new to this thread so apologies if this has been asked 200 times before.

if albums are listed as Master Quality, and do not have a second listing that is not Master Quality, and i change my subscription from hifi plus to hifi, can i then still stream that album (obviously at cd quality) or does that album disappear and hence not playable/visible for me?

 

[rkw]

if albums are listed as Master Quality, and do not have a second listing that is not Master Quality, and i change my subscription from hifi plus to hifi, can i then still stream that album (obviously at cd quality) or does that album disappear and hence not playable/visible for me?

The album will not disappear and you can play it at CD quality. You just won't be able to apply MQA decoding to a higher resolution.

 

[thecrow]

The album will not disappear and you can play it at CD quality. You just won't be able to apply MQA decoding to a higher resolution.

great - thanks for confirming what i was hoping

 

[Sonic Defender]

great - thanks for confirming what i was hoping

Not to mention MQA is simply BS and not at all worth thinking about. And I own a DAC that is capable of full MQA hardware decoding and I still wouldn't waste a moment of my life on it.

 

[Luke Thomas]

Bummer I like MQA

 

[thecrow]

Not to mention MQA is simply BS and not at all worth thinking about. And I own a DAC that is capable of full MQA hardware decoding and I still wouldn't waste a moment of my life on it.

My dac does not do MQA and auralic, in their lightning ds software, may have dropped MQA “processing” (their own style) off but i’ve decided to downgrade to tidal hifi (from plus) and trial qobuz and perhaps revisit spotify for some tracks that are not with tidal and for spotify connect too.

So just playing with options and moving away from MQA at this point in time