[SteveJ]

When I decided to go about improving the digital audio on my office system I was expecting it to be a rather straightforward endeavor. Do a little reading, compare some specs and acquire some equipment.

It started with an impulsive trial of Tidal. I liked it instantly. I had been using Pandora and Amazon unlimited so the increase in quality was immediately apparent and appreciated.

As I did a little more reading I found that having an external DAC rather than relying on the PC to convert the files to analog would likely be an improvement so I started Googling DACs. Delta-Sigma or multibit, DSD, FLAC, DSF, DFF, MQA, 16 bit, 1 bit, I can wade through that given a little time. DoP was interesting. So was looking at DAC specs and realizing that for the same DAC, different inputs will process greater or lesser bit rates and CODECs.

Disappointing as it makes sifting through the specs of different DAC's more complex but not a show stopper.

After a bit more reading I decided to look for MQA capable DACs. According to one article I read, "MQA capable" is not a universally applicable description and much to my dismay, that unless you have one of these DACs the MQA file from Tidal is not converted to a lesser quality.

Can anyone confirm this?

From the Tidal site;

HiFi audio is a superior sound, but is still limited in its resolution—44.1 kHz /16 bit.

TIDAL has partnered with MQA to deliver something infinitely better: an authenticated and unbroken version (typically 96 kHz / 24 bit) with the highest-possible resolution—as flawless as it sounded in the mastering suite. And exactly as the artist intended it to sound.

Which doesn't say the same thing.