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Mqa
I know there is quite a bit of discussion one way and the other regarding MQA. I am looking for listening experience please.
If you have listened to MQA, especially on Tidal, what are your impressions with respect to sound quality? Were you listening on a DAC that can perform the final rendering? I am using Tidal and am looking for a low end MQA DAC, Pro-ject Pre Box S2, Mytek Liberty or Brooklyn DAC + for my office computer system. |
#2
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A full MQA is nice feature to use and does up the sound quality. I don’t listen exclusively but like it. I have full unfold on my DAC and partial on my Aurender.
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#3
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The Brooklyn DAC+ is a very solid choice. I borrowed one from a friend and found it to be a good performer.
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Main System: Amati Futura Mains Amati Homage VOX Center, Proac Response 1sc Rears, Three MC2301's for L,C,R MC 602 for the rears C 1100, MX 151, MCD 1100, MR 80 Nottingham Dais with Wave Mechanic Sumiko Palo Santos Presentation SurfacePro 3, RPi 4, ROON, WW Starlight Platinum USB, Schiit Yggdrasil, Benchmark DAC3 HGC MX 151, OppO BDP-95, JVC RS-500 DILA projector, 106" diagonal Stewart Luxus Screenwall Deluxe with Studiotek 130 G3 material. Lake House: Ohm F, MC 275V, C2300, MR 77, Rega P3 OnDeck: McIntosh MAC 4300v |
#4
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I listen through a Bluesound Node 2i which can do the full MQA through its analog outputs, but I find the coaxial digital out to my Marantz SA-10 to sound better, so I guess I get the first unfold. I'm listening at 96/24 or thereabouts, I think.
It sounds good and comparable to Qobuz HiRes although I like the Qobuz sound a bit more - both from the analog outputs and digital outputs of the Bluesound. Tidal sounds really good and has a great music library.
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Christian south: Mark Levinson No. 52 pre, Bricasti M28 amps, Lumin A1, Oppo BDP-205, Pioneer CT-43, Sony SS-AR1 Speakers, Audioquest Dragon PCs, Audioquest speaker cables, Audioquest interconnects, HB Power Design Powerslave Star Galaxy power distributor north: Vitus SIA-030, Luxman D10X, Sony TC-KA3ES, Harbeth 40.2, Siltech cables |
#5
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Thanks for all the replies. I'm leaning toward the Brooklyn DAC+. That seems to be the entry level for hi end.
W9TR, you have a Yggdrasil, I'm guessing have an affinity for vinyl, and liked the Brooklyn DAC+? |
#6
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Hi Steve,
I own a Benchmark DAC3 HGC and borrowed a friends Brooklyn DAC+ to do a shootout. They sound very similar to each other. The Benchmark was slightly more engaging on Redbook than the Brooklyn. For hi-rez pcm they were identical. The Brooklyn DAC+ gets the edge for MQA decoding as expected. I also own a Yggdrasil and to my ears, on my system, it provides a more satisfying and organic result in terms of the sheer enjoyment of the music I play through it. No DSD or MQA, though. But this thread is all about MQA. I can certainly vouch for the Brooklyn DAC+ as a solid decoding engine for MQA. Tom
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Main System: Amati Futura Mains Amati Homage VOX Center, Proac Response 1sc Rears, Three MC2301's for L,C,R MC 602 for the rears C 1100, MX 151, MCD 1100, MR 80 Nottingham Dais with Wave Mechanic Sumiko Palo Santos Presentation SurfacePro 3, RPi 4, ROON, WW Starlight Platinum USB, Schiit Yggdrasil, Benchmark DAC3 HGC MX 151, OppO BDP-95, JVC RS-500 DILA projector, 106" diagonal Stewart Luxus Screenwall Deluxe with Studiotek 130 G3 material. Lake House: Ohm F, MC 275V, C2300, MR 77, Rega P3 OnDeck: McIntosh MAC 4300v |
#7
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Quote:
The two main takeaways for me have been (1) classical via MQA is uniformly improved and (2) everything else is hit and miss. For non-classical files, I've heard MQA sound really good and I've heard it sound worse than redbook, typically due to problems in the lower frequencies (bloated or ill-defined bass). I now view MQA capability as a nice thing to have but not at all essential. When MQA first came out, I thought that its real promise lay in hi-res via streaming. But with Qobuz now available in the US we can now get hi-res via streaming without all of the technical manipulation. So.... Last thing: I've recently found that I prefer MQA files unfolded once and fed to a Chord Electronics DAC using a Hugo M Scaler much more than MQA files fully unfolded and rendered with an MQA-capable DAC. I'm not entirely sure why this is, but there you go. (Disclaimer: I'm an authorized dealer for Chord Electronics.) |
#8
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Quote:
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Peter Lie - LUMIN Firmware Lead |
#9
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I'm with audphi. I heard a couple of MQA demo tracks at my dealer, and they were terrific compared to Redbook.
But listening format impact--MQA, Redbook, SACD, etc--is small compared to mixing and mastering quality that exist across releases of the same material. This is especially true for rock music that has fallen victim to the Loudness Wars. Plus you've got variations on streaming vs CD rips, and certain DACs such as the Yggy offer huge sound quality value if you sacrifice MQA. MQA may be nice, but should not drive your decision
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Clearaudio Ovation with Tracer Dynavector KARAT 17DX Naim Uniti Core Schiit Yggdrasil McIntosh C22/MC275 Wilson TuneTots B&W DB3D Nordost QKore/QBase/Frey 2 Transparent Super IsoAcoustics GAIA II Stax SR-009S with SRM-700T |
#10
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I decided to ditch Tidal/MQA when I bought my Yggy and only stream Qobuz now. I’ve been very happy with the combo.
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Focal Sopra 2, MC611’s, C1100, MCD1100, Zesto Andros, Feickert Woodpecker/Kuzma Stogi Ref 313 VTA, Hana Umami Red, HRS, HiFi Rose RS130, Schiit Yggy, AQ Niagara 5000 w/Hurricanes, Cardas, WireWorld Silver 7's. |
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