[Dyl2525]

What is everyones opinion on mqa how much of a difference does it really make? I dont own a mqa dac but am really curious on if its worth spending the money on to try it

 

[D3soLaT3]

What is everyones opinion on mqa how much of a difference does it really make?

I look at MQA more as a feature than a necessity. If a dac was a car, MQA would be the sunroof. Not essential but it is nice to have. I own three MQA capable devices. The LG G8, Activo CT10, and I recently purchased the Earmen Donald Dac to pair with my Schiit Heresy for desktop use.

Being a Tidal subscriber I can listen to the non-MQA song and compare it directly with it's MQA counterpart (and if I own the flac or dsd I can make further comparisons). To my ears MQA does sound better than non-MQA tracks when streaming across all my devices*. However, none of that would mean much if I didn't already enjoy the sound already coming out of my devices.

My LG G8 is the best sounding mobile device I've ever heard. I've owned iPhones, iPads, and Android phones and tablets since Android 2.2.3 Froyo. The LG quad dac (ESS) is amazing. Is that because of MQA? No, it's because it sounds great. The same can be said about the Schiit Heresy and Earmen both of which measure well according to AudioScienceReview. TBH it is more important that the artist, producer, and sound engineer do their jobs well to ensure the music sound great. Then it doesn't really matter which codec you use.

The conclusion I have came to is get something that suits your needs. Do you need a dac that is balanced, coaxial, or just single ended? Then make sure it measures well, it doesn't have to be perfect just nothing that is glaringly obviously wrong, and that it falls within your budget. It also helps to purchase something that is sought after and has a good reputation. That way if it isn't for you--you can sell it-- or just purchase from a reputable seller that has a good return policy.

As you can see there are many other factors that you should prioritize when purchasing a dac.



*To be clear my preferences are local files over streaming and my prefered codecs are DSD>MQA>Flac. These are not scientific facts just my preferences.

 

[Dyl2525]

I look at MQA more as a feature than a necessity. If a dac was a car, MQA would be the sunroof. Not essential but it is nice to have. I own three MQA capable devices. The LG G8, Activo CT10, and I recently purchased the Earmen Donald Dac to pair with my Schiit Heresy for desktop use.

Being a Tidal subscriber I can listen to the non-MQA song and compare it directly with it's MQA counterpart (and if I own the flac or dsd I can make further comparisons). To my ears MQA does sound better than non-MQA tracks when streaming across all my devices*. However, none of that would mean much if I didn't already enjoy the sound already coming out of my devices.

My LG G8 is the best sounding mobile device I've ever heard. I've owned iPhones, iPads, and Android phones and tablets since Android 2.2.3 Froyo. The LG quad dac (ESS) is amazing. Is that because of MQA? No, it's because it sounds great. The same can be said about the Schiit Heresy and Earmen both of which measure well according to AudioScienceReview. TBH it is more important that the artist, producer, and sound engineer do their jobs well to ensure the music sound great. Then it doesn't really matter which codec you use.

The conclusion I have came to is get something that suits your needs. Do you need a dac that is balanced, coaxial, or just single ended? Then make sure it measures well, it doesn't have to be perfect just nothing that is glaringly obviously wrong, and that it falls within your budget. It also helps to purchase something that is sought after and has a good reputation. That way if it isn't for you--you can sell it-- or just purchase from a reputable seller that has a good return policy.

As you can see there are many other factors that you should prioritize when purchasing a dac.



*To be clear my preferences are local files over streaming and my prefered codecs are DSD>MQA>Flac. These are not scientific facts just my preferences.

Yeah ive never purchased a dac because of mqa infact i just bought a schiit jotunheim with the multibit dac addin card so im super excited to try that and it will be in tomorrow

 

[D3soLaT3]

Yeah ive never purchased a dac because of mqa infact i just bought a schiit jotunheim with the multibit dac addin card so im super excited to try that and it will be in tomorrow

Sounds like you are off to a great start. I'm sure you will enjoy the Jotunheim regardless of mqa capability. If you get an opportunity to "test drive" an mqa dac I would. If you plan on getting Tidal or another MQA service to build up your library it may be worth it for you.

 

[Taz777]

What is everyones opinion on mqa how much of a difference does it really make? I dont own a mqa dac but am really curious on if its worth spending the money on to try it

MQA is totally irrelevant to me. I like Tidal for its catalogue that aligns nicely with my music preferences. I do have an MQA DAC that I never use. One of my phones also supports MQA. However, fewer than 10 tracks in my Tidal playlists are Masters tracks. I prefer to use non-MQA DACs.

CD-quality FLAC is good enough for me. However, I do have Qobuz too and often find some of my favourite tracks available in Hi-Res format.

 

[Luke Thomas]

Might just be my set up. Mqa much better. i have a drafonfly red dac.

 

[gimmeheadroom]

Yeah ive never purchased a dac because of mqa infact i just bought a schiit jotunheim with the multibit dac addin card so im super excited to try that and it will be in tomorrow

I purchased several DACs because of MQA and I don't buy schiit because of the company and because they don't support DSD or MQA

 

[iFi audio]

I look at MQA more as a feature than a necessity. If a dac was a car, MQA would be the sunroof. Not essential but it is nice to have.

That's the perfect analogy if someone asks me. MQA provides yet another way to listen to music and enjoyable at that. Well, at least to my ears

 

[Luke Thomas]

That's the perfect analogy if someone asks me. MQA provides yet another way to listen to music and enjoyable at that. Well, at least to my ears

a sunroof doesn’t add any performance to a vehicle. MQA is more like a turbo charger . Which adds performance to the car. MQA for me adds performance to my system.

 

[iFi audio]

a sunroof doesn’t add any performance to a vehicle. MQA is more like a turbo charger . Which adds performance to the car. MQA for me adds performance to my system.

A turbo or sunroof, it's good to have

 

[airwhale]

MQA is totally irrelevant to me. I like Tidal for its catalogue that aligns nicely with my music preferences. I do have an MQA DAC that I never use. One of my phones also supports MQA. However, fewer than 10 tracks in my Tidal playlists are Masters tracks. I prefer to use non-MQA DACs.

CD-quality FLAC is good enough for me.

I'm on the same page here - RedBook audio sounds really nice through my Shiit MultiBit DAC. My issue is with albums that are ONLY available in MQA / Master quality. These sound clearly worse to me, unless I switch to the Dragonfly Red. For albums available in both formats, I will always choose the non-MQA version of any given album.

 

[goodvibes]

MQA uses compression and throws away 'uneeded' bits. I'll take a non MQA 24 bit file any day. There's a reason some of the top equipment manufacturers never adopted it.

Try Qobuz now that it's available in the USA. Whatever they're doing to unpack their signal blows Tidal away, often at lower resolutions. I've compared both to a dig master. It's the 1st streaming service that I find nearly as musically engaging as local files.

Ducks.

Oh, and their downloads are fantastic. Yes, I know it shouldn't matter.

 

[iFi audio]

I'll take a non MQA 24 bit file any day. There's a reason some of the top equipment manufacturers never adopted it.

MQA is yet another way of listening to music. The more options, the better

 

[goodvibes]

as long as Meridian makes more money. It's marketing as far as I'm concerned. I think the 15 ways we had before MQA had it covered and compatibility doesn't get better.

 

[linknet]

I like Tidal because i can use it with my smartphone and a Dragonfly Cobalt, with my KEF Lsx and also with Android Auto. One streaming service for all my need. For me MQA is a super bonus. It's great to be able to compare the same song with MQA and without.