[ejr1953]

I must admit, when Tidal first started streaming MQA, I bought one of those inexpensive "Explorer2" DACs to see what all the fuss was, and many of the selections I auditioned "knocked my socks off".

When it seemed that MQA was gaining more acceptance in the marketplace, I sent the "Explorer2" to a friend and bought a Mytek Brooklyn DAC (for MQA), in addition to the excellent PS Audio DirectStream DAC I've owned since it first came on the market.

As more and more titles have become available on Tidal, I'd say that most, but not all of the MQA masters sound "better" than the CD & SACD quality versions I own (when I have both to compare), but I would not say that "all" MQA masters sound "better" than the non-MQA versions. When I play most SACD's with my PS Audio hardware, I'd say those versions almost always sound better than the MQA versions, but that might not be an "apples to apples" comparison, as the MQA streams from the USB port from my Windows10 Pro machine into the Brooklyn DAC, while the SACD's DSD output from my PS Audio DirectStream transport make their way to the DirectStream DAC with an I2S interface (where the timing is separated from the "bits", something that's not being done with the USB pathway).

Though I really enjoy having "physical" CDs and SACDs to play, I know that the future is probably one where we will increasingly "rent" our music, instead of owning it. Enough of the MQA masters sound better than the older versions that I'm "rooting" for MQA to succeed in the marketplace.