@givin2u I agree with you about customer service. I never did hear back from Tidal about the difficulties I was having. A human to interact with is not too much to ask. They aren’t a startup anymore.
In terms of SQ, after a few days listening to tracks, both MQA and CD quality, I have to say that it really varies from song to song. I can hear the tonal richness with the MQAs, the extra depth across the frequency range, but in many cases the codec seems to overly smooth things out. I don’t have the precise language to describe but it’s a homogenous filter that robs the music of energy. The CD tracks on Tidal sound a bit harsh, jagged in comparison, but have more energy and intensity. I’m not satisfied either way. As you all have mentioned perhaps I’m running into the limitations of the Node2’s DAC.
I’ve started reading about digital music. Oh my! Never realized what a labyrinth I was entering. Looks like MQA is going to become the standard just as Redbook did for business reasons not musical ones. Arguments about PCM vs DSD, the limits of our ability to hear differences etc. It almost reminds me of the debates surrounding GMOs. I am not well-enough informed but it seems that the analogue mastering process is more “organic” whereas the digital codecs are allowing/forcing sound engineers to fiddle with the genetic structure of the music. What I’m sometimes hearing is Franken-music. All the parts are there but in an arrangement that just seems “off”. Maybe there is no “right” just “different”. I’ve never contemplated this in such stark terms before. Hi-fi as a means to philosophical contemplation...