Tidal Masters & MQA Thread!

[miguelfcp]

If your device has MQA support then yeah, select Passthrough MQA

But when I use that option the light is blue while before was magenta.... Anything wrong ???

 

[gimmeheadroom]

But when I use that option the light is blue while before was magenta.... Anything wrong ???

I'm not sure, post a screenshot and we'll have a look

 

[miguelfcp]

These are my configurations at the moment

 

[gimmeheadroom]

Looks good. I recommend turning Force Volume on and controlling the volume with your playback device

 

[miguelfcp]

Looks good. I recommend turning Force Volume on and controlling the volume with your playback device

DragonFly has no volume controller. I tried once that option and almost blew my ears.

 

[gimmeheadroom]

Ok, YMMV

 

[Left Channel]

Hello guys.

I have a question. I have DF Black v1.5 which as far as I know the device has MQA decoding. So my question is in Tidal should I deactivate software decoding right?.

Thanks

If your device has MQA support then yeah, select Passthrough MQA

The original DragonFly Black did not support MQA, but if there's a firmware update or if you get a DragonFly Red or Cobalt, all those products are "renderers" not full decoders, and require upstream software decoding by the Tidal app. See the printed instructions that come with your DragonFly, or go to the AudioQuest website for more information.

[Edit: possible firmware update for the Black]

 

[miguelfcp]

No, sorry, that answer is wrong. Number one, the DragonFly Black does not support MQA. Two, if you get a DragonFly Red or Cobalt, those products are "renderers", not full decoders, and require upstream software decoding by the Tidal app. See the printed instructions that come with your DragonFly, or go to the AudioQuest website for more information.

I always thought that DF did MQA decoding...

Then I've reverted the options. I unchecked the pass-through MQA option.

 

[Left Channel]

I always thought that DF did MQA decoding...

Then I've reverted the options. I unchecked the pass-through MQA option.

No worries, most people can't hear a difference between 1x software "unfolding" and higher unfolds anyway. Enjoy what you have, I'm sure it's far better than sound directly out of your computer or phone, but if you do upgrade let us know if you perceive any difference at all.

 

[BobSmith8901]

miguelfcp--I had a look at Audioquest's comparison page for the black, red and cobalt and the black is indeed a renderer of MQA. (I had no idea until I looked at their site). It is NOT a full hardware decoder, like, say, the Meridian Explorer2.

So you should set Tidal up to NOT allow passthrough MQA. So, do NOT click that passthrough button to the right as you do NOT want to disable the Tidal software doing the first unfold. The DragonFly Black should then do the rendering (or second unfold) of the masters file and you should see the purple/magenta color light up.

I have the nano iDSD Black Label that I have to set up this same way.

https://www.audioquest.com/resource/1105/dragonfly-spec-sheet.pdf

 

[miguelfcp]

miguelfcp--I had a look at Audioquest's comparison page for the black, red and cobalt and the black is indeed a renderer of MQA. (I had no idea until I looked at their site). It is NOT a full hardware decoder, like, say, the Meridian Explorer2.

So you should set Tidal up to NOT allow passthrough MQA. So, do NOT click that passthrough button to the right as you do NOT want to disable the Tidal software doing the first unfold. The DragonFly Black should then do the rendering (or second unfold) of the masters file and you should see the purple/magenta color light up.

I have the nano iDSD Black Label that I have to set up this same way.

https://www.audioquest.com/resource/1105/dragonfly-spec-sheet.pdf

Got it!

But to be honest I can't hear difference between the option turned on and off. Even between master and hi-fi can't detect any difference... I don't know which differences should be noted...

 

[BobSmith8901]

Got it!

But to be honest I can't hear difference between the option turned on and off. Even between master and hi-fi can't detect any difference... I don't know which differences should be noted...

I can't really either. To my ears, once a track is at the 24/96 level, or even 24/44.1 or 24/48, MQA or not, I can't really hear any difference either, although I guess it's there. If I had better equipment maybe I could tell.

I think I bought into the whole MQA thing as it seemed to be a way of at least attempting to insure that, at the relatively low cost level that I can afford, that I could take a stab at the highest streaming quality possible. I certainly have been fairly happy with Tidal and I hope they stick around. I can't get Qobuz here so it's all I've got.

 

[Left Channel]

miguelfcp--I had a look at Audioquest's comparison page for the black, red and cobalt and the black is indeed a renderer of MQA. (I had no idea until I looked at their site). It is NOT a full hardware decoder, like, say, the Meridian Explorer2.

So you should set Tidal up to NOT allow passthrough MQA. So, do NOT click that passthrough button to the right as you do NOT want to disable the Tidal software doing the first unfold. The DragonFly Black should then do the rendering (or second unfold) of the masters file and you should see the purple/magenta color light up.

I have the nano iDSD Black Label that I have to set up this same way.

https://www.audioquest.com/resource/1105/dragonfly-spec-sheet.pdf

I have a Black and it never worked in MQA. I stopped using it. If a new firmware update adds MQA, as you say he should still rely on the Tidal app to do the first unfold because these are renderers not full decoders. And I think we can all agree there's usually no audible difference between software decoding and full unfolds, especially with these little devices.

 

[BobSmith8901]

I have a Black and it never worked in MQA. I stopped using it. If a new firmware update adds MQA, as you say he should still rely on the Tidal app to do the first unfold because these are renderers not full decoders. And I think we can all agree there's usually no audible difference between software decoding and full unfolds, especially with these little devices.

Totally agree! Now that you mention it I do seem to recall that Audioquest did have a firmware update that gave the black and red MQA capability.

edit: just googled it, yes they did provide a firmware update.

https://www.audioquest.com/page/aq-digitalupdates.html

 

[squishware]

I changed the settings on Tidal to disable MQA. It was just a source of additional noise on my non-MQA DAC (Schiit Universal Multibit Card). Lossless/FLAC 16/44.1 just rings like a bell (in a good way) on my system running ASIO>Audirvana.