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Old 01-22-2017, 12:04 PM
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Default DirectStream DAC & MQA on the Horizon?

I have had a DirectStream DAC for about 2 1/2 years, and have a lot of respect for Paul and Ted, love the idea of the FPGA-based DAC and the ability to improve its performance via firmware updates, which I apply as they are made available.

I was also intrigued by the promise of MQA after I read the articles in The Absolute Sound last year, hoping it was something of substance in moving the needle forward with audiophile sound quality.

When I read that Tidal and Warner Music signed on, my "hopeful meter" jumped up!

When Tidal announced they added some MQA albums, I ordered a Meridian Explorer2 DAC ($199 on Amazon), to see how those albums sound and can report that I am very pleasantly surprised! The MQA music I've sampled so far seems to have a little better bass, mid like guitars, violins, voices, etc. seem more rich and smooth, highs like cymbals seem to have a little more clarity and timbre, and MQA seems to have a little better dynamics.

I am not a "vinyl fan", but understand why so many audiophiles love it, as for some music the "clarity" that digital offers can sometimes sound "edgy". In my case, I just can't get over the pops, clicks and surface noise. I think the good news with MQA is that the format also doesn't seem to have that "edginess".

From the PS Audio forums, at first it seemed that Paul was not impressed with the sample equipment he was provided a while back. But judging from the comments on the forums lately, I wonder if he and Ted are putting their heads together to see how they could support MQA?

I think "the jury is still out" on the feasibility of MQA in the marketplace, but I suspect, if it gains as much acceptance as SACD/DSD, the high-end DAC manufacturers will find they'll need to support the format. Fingers crossed!
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Old 01-22-2017, 01:08 PM
Family Progtitioner Family Progtitioner is offline
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The problem is that mqa will not work with the DS DAC. I believe that mqa is an end to end format so the psa DAC conversion to dsd overrides the mqa. They would have to develop a pcm only DAC, a brand new DAC in essence.
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Old 01-23-2017, 11:06 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Family Progtitioner View Post
The problem is that mqa will not work with the DS DAC. I believe that mqa is an end to end format so the psa DAC conversion to dsd overrides the mqa. They would have to develop a pcm only DAC, a brand new DAC in essence.
I suspected that would be the case, one of Paul's hesitance in jumping on the MQA bandwagon.
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Old 01-23-2017, 02:01 PM
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I was just about to buy a DS DAC, but MQA not supported has put a spanner in the works.
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Old 01-26-2017, 01:53 AM
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Unrelated, but if all your vinyl plays with pops and clicks, you're either buying horrible used copies, you don't know how to clean records of dust before playing or your TT isn't setup properly.
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Old 02-01-2017, 09:58 AM
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Last night I had some time to do some compares, Tidal Windows desktop app, MQA --> Meridian Explorer2 DAC with "MQA passthru" set on the app vs. MQA --> PS Audio DirectStream DAC with "MQA passthru" un-checked on the app. I suspect the latter does the "unfolding" (as the PS Audio DAC shows higher res stats on the display), but not the "de-blurring" that the MQA technology offers. In every case the Explorer2 DAC sounded better, often times much better.

I've checked out the forums on the PS Audio website and the impression I get is that the technology used in the DirectStream DAC is not one that PS Audio can easily adapt, to add MQA. Having said that, Paul has been really "quiet" on the subject of MQA for the last several weeks. He's a smart business man, so I suspect he's exploring options now.

I was reading on the Mytek website about the new ManhattanII DAC, how it uses an "off the shelf" ESS DAC chip. Not being an engineer, I'm wondering if Mytek places some "MQA hardware" in front of that ESS chip, to do the "de-blurring" and "unfolding" of the MQA stream, feeding the result into the ESS chip? If that were the case, I suspect that PS Audio could do something similar, which might require that DirectStream DAC owners replace the main system board in their units.

I must say, I'm really happy with the way the DirectStream DAC handles "non-MQA" inputs, and I really really like the way that it's able to be improved with firmware updates. I hope Paul's recent silence is an indicator that he's tinkering with some options.
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Old 02-02-2017, 07:22 AM
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Did the Explorer 2 really sound better then your Direct stream DAC ? ( even with MQA)

The explorer2 is a portable DAC/AMP using the USB power supply,

Did you use the headphone for testing ?

Don't get me wrong I like the Meridian Explorer 2, I use it in the office to listen to music.
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Old 02-02-2017, 01:46 PM
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Default Yes, Probably Being MQA-capable Was the Key

Quote:
Originally Posted by imprezap2 View Post
Did the Explorer 2 really sound better then your Direct stream DAC ? ( even with MQA)

The explorer2 is a portable DAC/AMP using the USB power supply,

Did you use the headphone for testing ?

Don't get me wrong I like the Meridian Explorer 2, I use it in the office to listen to music.
I hear what you are saying, it really surprises me as well.

Playing MQA in "passthru" mode to the PS Audio DAC sounds dull and somewhat "lifeless" on my system, compared to the Explorer2. I suspect this is what the MQA folks refer to as a reduction in the "blur", but the dynamics are much improved as well.

Now, last night I did a similar comparison with non-MQA listening and the PS Audio DAC won "hands down". But when passing MQA thru that little DAC, I find the sound is better.

I do have a really nice set of headphones, but really prefer to listen to my speakers. Maybe I'll try the cans next time I have time for the comparisons.
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Old 02-03-2017, 06:22 AM
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I have done a simular test between my Ayre DX-5 DAC and the meridian explorer2 DAC, even with MQA files the Ayre sounds better than the Meridian in my system.

I am looking forward to see which DAC's are coming that will be MQA ready, I wanted to buy the Ayre QX-5 or Chord Dave, but I might delay that for some time.
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Old 02-03-2017, 09:51 AM
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When I run MQA files in "non-passthru" mode (I presume that Tidal is doing the "unfolding") to the DirectStream DAC, the DAC is showing the higher resolution, but the sound quality is "muted", regular FLAC files (of the same music) sound much better.

On one of the early PS Audio forums, I remember Paul and Ted saying that their design, based around the FPGA chip (instead of using an "off the shelf" DAC chip), was not a good match for MQA; I'm guessing they experienced the same reduction in sound quality.

So, Paul has been really "quiet" on his forums, on the subject of MQA. I wonder if he and Ted are looking at options, in case (in their judgement) incorporating MQA into a DAC becomes something a high-end purchaser will demand (sort of like what DSD is now)? It wouldn't surprise me that they are working on a solution.
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