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MQA vs. ripped vs. vinyl vs. hi res

Just curious what other people think about the sound quality (SQ) of Tidal MQA vs. cd's that you have ripped (cd or DSD) or the same music you have on vinyl. It has been all over the map for me. IMO, there isn't a favorite medium or a medium that ALWAYS wins out over the others, DSD might be more favorable to me. When MQA is very good, I prefer it over vinyl. There are many many cases where vinyl is superior over anything, and there are times when my ripped sounds better (ripped by using MAX or XLD using higher bit rates). 
rbstehno
shadorne's avatar
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shadorne
7,477 posts
 
The Deluxe Led Zeppelin series on Masters is the best I have Zeppelin - drums are much clearer than other versions.  
grannyring's avatar
grannyring
6,500 posts
 
I like the two Van Morrison MQA offerings on Tidal. I use Roon also. Much better then my rips.  More natural and full sounding.  Very obvious. 
brucenewengland
20 posts
 
My system is only "Mid-Fi" (e.g. turntable is just a Pro-Ject Debut Carbon DC), and my vinyl collection is still quite small, so with that said - my experience is also all over the map. To date I mostly favor hires digital (FLAC). And ripped CDs are often surprisingly good, if well produced.

Regarding Tidal, I'm a bit irked that many times I can't find a copy of a of "masters" level album to listen to for subscription, but it is available for purchase (pricey). Do love it for the ability to play music that, otherwise, I never would've heard!
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