[Puma Cat]

Originally Posted by ufguy73

i know the Schiit is very well regarded. I was a little wary of knowingly going into a digital platform that did not support MQA. I realize it’s debatable (both in terms of concept - which Schiit addresses fairly fully - and as a format, itself) but all things being equal I would prefer support for the format. After all, part of this would be the journey of hearing different playback, etc.

I'll be honest with you: the two most important factors for a digital recording are 1) the quality of the recording and the 2) quality of the mastering. These two factors alone exert more impact on the listening experience by far than the bit depth and sampling rate or any specifi format (PCM, DSD, MQA, etc.). I remember a comment I read at Elusive Disc about mastering guru Alan Yoshida, who developed the XRCD protocol, which is 16/44 Redbook PCM. The comment was if Alan Yoshida had mastered every digital recording ever released, we would have never needed SACD, HD-CD, DVD-Audio, MQA, blah, blah. I agree. And, as for DSD & MQA...Schiit is completely correct: why develop support for formats e.g. DSD or MQA that is less than 0.5% of all recordings?

Originally Posted by ufguy73

Is the Schiit so good, for the price point, that you guys would forego the MQA format entirely?

Yes. MQA will go the way of DSD, which had a similar brou-haha made about it 10 years ago. MQA is a scheme by Meridian to get paid at every step of the recording/mastering/distribution/mfr. licensing chain.

Originally Posted by ufguy73

Also, how would you say the Rega compares to the MT2? There is some precedent for spousal approval on Mcintosh aesthetics that could be quite handy

I'd get the Rega. If you ever decide to move up the TT ladder, the Rega will be considerably be easier to sell. I don't know of anyone buying used McIntosh TTs; used Regas get sold every day of the week.