MQA on Mcintosh DAC

[jdandy]

Originally Posted by Kalle Klovn

I would not mind a firmware update to my C48 that allowed full MQA rendering up to the capacity limits of the DAC. That would be a great gesture from McIntosh and a strong support of its customers.

Kalle.......Don't hold your breath.

[j3brow]

Originally Posted by Still-One

Does your v6 currently see MQA passed from Tidal via your N10 to the 808? If you are connected via USB (Tidal to N10) I'm not positive that Tidal knows how to send MQA to your 808 endpoint. If it is showing up on your display properly (MQA.) then I guess it is.

Will find out soon enough. My system should be up and running by early next month. From what my dealer gathered from Aurender, the app will pass the MQA file to the Meridian endpoint but it takes a work around. Apparently I will have to use the desktop Tidal app to search out Master albums, then save to favorites. Then, when I access Tidal via the Aurender app, it will be able to "see" the Master albums in my favorites. At this point, Aurender app can't search for the master titles. I have no idea why .... they are working on the fix. Time will tell if it works for me. If not, maybe a Mac mini can be used to interface between Tidal/MQA and v6.

Jason

[MainAnalog]

If an Audioquest DragonFLY USB dongle can be upgraded via firmware then it just comes down to SW. Does McIntosh outsource their DAC SW?

[xv21]

A different opinion from Linn blog: https://www.linn.co.uk/blog/mqa-is-bad-for-music.

[1KW]

[1KW]

Originally Posted by Still-One

Does your v6 currently see MQA passed from Tidal via your N10 to the 808? If you are connected via USB (Tidal to N10) I'm not positive that Tidal knows how to send MQA to your 808 endpoint. If it is showing up on your display properly (MQA.) then I guess it is.

From what I read on the Aurender N10 and N100H that both are bit perfect when using the usb output so passing MQA is not an issue if the dac can decode MQA. So it sounds like the N100H and N10 are hardware compatible for MQA with usb .

[1KW]

I found this on another site: "MCD500 will take 24/96 on the coaxial digital input and convert to analog.

thanks,
Ron-C"

I had thought the digital input on my MCD500 was limited to cd quality, which may be only for the optical input. According to the above I am good for 24/96 with my halide bridge going to the coax. input which is what I am seeing on the Aurender app. and front panel of the N100H for Hi Res. files. I am now on the fence as to whether to upgrade my MCD500 and wait for a MQA DAC ? I can understand not upgrading if I already had a high resolution DAC that was not MQA certified not wanting to upgrade, thoughts ?? Suggestions on a MQA certified DAC ?

[ejr1953]

I am really smitten by MQA, so much so I bought a Mytek Brooklyn DAC for MQA, while enjoying my PS Audio DirectStream DAC for everything else.

Basically, there are two main benefits of MQA, 1) delivering a hi-res file in a smaller file size and 2) if you have an MQA capable DAC, doing the "end to end" MQA "de-blurring".

Software decoding can only result in benefit #1, and only up to 96k/24bit. To get benefit #2, you must have a DAC whose hardware does the MQA decoding.

In my experience only benefit #2 produces significant improvements in sound quality.

Since McIntosh (and lots of other audio electronics companies) use "off the shelf" DAC chipsets (ESS in McIntosh products), I suspect that since Tidal, Warner Music and now Universal Music have signed up for MQA, that companies like ESS will incorporate "end to end" MQA encoding into their future DAC chipset designs.

[rob_rector]

I too am waiting to see what ends up happening with MQA. Also waiting to upgrade my cables to "MQA Certified" cables. Laugh now, but you know someone will try it

[xv21]

Another article: http://www.soundstagehifi.com/index....more-questions.