Tidal Masters & MQA Thread!
Dec 9, 2019 at 2:06 PM Post #736 of 1,853
I'm getting a sense that 5000 dollar RCA cables could add some value here :wink:

No..... the small budget of 5 grand can be spent elsewhere first...then tweak :)

The fact that MQA can only be decoded by a small group of DACs via USB implementation is quite sad. Go read some reviews on how poorly a 20,000 dollar Berkley dac sounds like a typical hyper detailed solid state dac far from what you'd experience from a live show. A good percentage of MQA dacs on the market is your average 1000 dollar + dac with a licenced decode chip. Some move up the line to a Yggy, PS audio or Bryston that all have that omission of air around the instruments due to the solid state nature with laser pin point location of instruments. Depending on my mood I'll listen to SS or holographic Tube.....

A tube amp with no feedback will provide a different sensation of musical enjoyment vs the solid state hyper detail of most SS dacs. People have their preferences.
 
Dec 9, 2019 at 2:17 PM Post #737 of 1,853
Yes, this is what I meant.
 
Dec 11, 2019 at 8:52 PM Post #738 of 1,853
I haven't tried stereo tube amp yet. I do have tube headphone lamps and enjoy their sound very much. Hopefully I will have a chance to purchase tube amp for my stereo in near future. Bluesound Node 2i is definitely keeper for me and I just attached USB harddrive with bunch of my FLAC music files and plays beautifully just like Tidal`s MQA streaming.
 
Jan 12, 2020 at 12:55 AM Post #739 of 1,853
Hi, I want to run Tidal android app on my laptop using Bluestacks emulator and output to Pro-ject Pre Box S2D to get MQA in offline mode. I have tried without the UAPP and cannot get MQA quality.
Has anyone tried this with the UAPP? Unfortunately UAPP doesn't offer the trial version anymore for me to try. Thanks!
 
Jan 12, 2020 at 7:34 AM Post #741 of 1,853
I'm also a big fan of it. I don't know whether they are using better masters or whether MQA is really better on its own, but it sounds good to me. I think the compression part is dumb but at the end of the day it sounds good.
 
Jan 12, 2020 at 9:04 AM Post #742 of 1,853
Hi, I want to run Tidal android app on my laptop using Bluestacks emulator and output to Pro-ject Pre Box S2D to get MQA in offline mode. I have tried without the UAPP and cannot get MQA quality.
Has anyone tried this with the UAPP? Unfortunately UAPP doesn't offer the trial version anymore for me to try. Thanks!
dont think it will work in emulator mode cause audio out of emulators still goes through windows mixer, then to hardware, like 2 layers of decode
 
Jan 12, 2020 at 11:50 AM Post #743 of 1,853
is It true that some don’t notice a difference or think the mqa is better. I’ve had great luck with mqa. Will use it as much as possible with the dragonfly or a ibasso160 digital player

Everyone's ears are different, and not everyone can hear it. In some ways I'm jealous of people who can't hear it. Their wallets stay fatter. :)
 
Jan 12, 2020 at 9:54 PM Post #745 of 1,853
Everyone's ears are different, and not everyone can hear it. In some ways I'm jealous of people who can't hear it. Their wallets stay fatter. :)
Yes, but I also think it must be your equipment. As for me it’s not even close. MQA is much cleaner and more vibrant. At times with the 800s it’s a end game, and I’ve owned a few big dollar cans.
 
Jan 12, 2020 at 10:56 PM Post #746 of 1,853
Yes, but I also think it must be your equipment. As for me it’s not even close. MQA is much cleaner and more vibrant. At times with the 800s it’s a end game, and I’ve owned a few big dollar cans.

There have been controlled studies of MP3 vs. CD vs. Hi-Res where everyone listens to the same equipment. This is my favorite: http://www.doc.gold.ac.uk/~mas03dm/papers/SoundQuality_WilliamsonSouthMullensiefen_ICMPC2014.pdf

If 320 kpbs MP3 sounds the same as the others to someone, they won't be able to get into a discussion with you of CD vs. MQA, or MQA vs. regular Hi-Res. But they will probably save a lot of money. :)
 
Jan 13, 2020 at 12:06 AM Post #747 of 1,853
I think most of the MQA bashing is from people without MQA hardware or based on (justified) loathing of DRM or objection to other technical aspects. That does not change the fact MQA sounds great :wink:
 
Jan 13, 2020 at 7:47 AM Post #749 of 1,853
A few months ago I downloaded the latest firmware update to my OPPO-205, which included MQA processing. Thing is, I still don't have any interest in MQA or Tidal, since my OPPO's DAC processes AAC from Apple Music which is indistinguishable from 24/192 AIFF I have residing in my iTunes Library.
 
Jan 13, 2020 at 12:03 PM Post #750 of 1,853
Could be. I bought a $200 dragonfly red. I did have to subscribe to Tidal. Would like to know if MQA are available elsewhere.

I think there are some MQA CDs and there are like 2 songs on Deezer hifi. MQA is mostly a Tidal thing AFAIK
 

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