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Setting up Mytek Manhattan II with Bluesound Node 2 for MQA

All,
I just installed a Mytek Manhattan II into my system (Bluesound Node 2, Parasound JC5, PSB T3 Imagine Towers). It sounds very nice. I kept the Bluesound because I also have a second system anchored by the NAD M32 with a BlueSound card installed. I didn't want to change up the Bluesound ecosystem - it works fairly well for me and I mostly stream Tidal at this point (but curious about Qobuz).
I have configured the Node 2 to act purely as a streamer and following Bluesound's directions, shut off MQA decoding so that it should, in theory, pass an MQA stream as-is to the Manhattan. I want to use the Manhattan's DAC to do the entire MQA decoding. The Node 2 is attached to the Manhattan via an Audioquest RCA coax cable.
When I play Tidal songs listed as being MQA, however, I see no indication on the Manattan's minimalist screen  that it is receiving an MQA file. It just consistently displays PCM 16-44. So my question is, have I set this all up correctly? Am I missing something and not getting  the full value of MQA through the system? I know issues arose with an earlier version of the Manhattan firmware but I upgraded to the latest version prior to installation so that's not it. Or is it that the Manhattan II just won't indicate it is receiving and decoding an MQA stream (I thought the Brooklyn did so and would find it odd the Manhattan would not although the Manhattan's display is much more minimalist.)
Thanks for any advice/suggestions.
128x128jaswartz55
2 responses Add your response
jnehma1
111 posts
 
You aren't getting MQA if that's what the DAC is showing. Did you enable MQA in the Manhattan settings menu?

From the user manual:
8.2.8 MQA
• ENBL (Enabled) – MQA decoder is activated. The filter is fixed at a minimum phase.
• DSBL (Disabled) – to enable Mastering menu the MQA must be switched off.
jaswartz55's avatar
jaswartz55 OP
3 posts
 
Thanks for taking the time to respond... appreciate it.
I double-checked but I had set the Mytek's MQA decoding correctly. So that wasn't it.

But I did figure it out last night. When I installed the Mytek, I switched around the Node 2 and the NAD-M32. I wanted to rename them in the BluOS app to reflect the change. This is where I think things went haywire. Long story short is that I don't think they were set-up properly after I moved them around and tried to change  few things in their settings (including disabling MQA decoding on the Node 2).

I went back in and decided to just reset both to factory settings and set them up from scratch. That seemed to help as the Mytek started giving me different displays about the digital stream than just 16-44.

One last tweak, almost accidental, brought out the MQA display on the Mytek. For some reason, you have to have the volume of the Node 2 turned all the way up to it's max setting through the iOS app, otherwise the Mytek shows PCM and relatively higher sampling and bit rates (e.g., 24-98). But with the volume maxed on the Node 2, I got full MQA decoding while steaming Tidal Masters. Problem solved!

I think the Node 2 allows you to set fixed volume and this might also work but I like having the option of adjusting the volume through the app.

Thanks again for your suggestion.
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