How many of you believe in MQA?

big_greg,

What I was referring to is the only way I can hear complete unfold using the Pro-Ject S2 DAC is to hook my PC computer to it via USB.  I wish I could understand more how it works because the dealer did not explain it well to me because he does not believe in MQA.

I am going to try using the Bluesound Node 2i hooked up RCA analogue to ARCAM and see how it sounds.  The technical people at Harmon Industries told me the DAC inside the Bluesound is better than the DAC inside my ARCAM AVR550.

I might be better off saving up my money for a DAC that can do the complete MQA unfold and be controlled by an iPhone, iPad or PC.  I think the Pro-Ject RS2 DAC has the ability to do this.  Wonder if anyone has experience with this DAC or if they have any ideas to offer to recommend a DAC that doesn't cost a fortune.

I have not yet opened the Bluesound box and I wonder if I should have gone with the Bel Canto eOne streamer.  Wonder if that has a better DAC than the Bluesound and perhaps that is why that dealer told me to buy that and not the Bluesound.  It retails for $1,600 and I wonder if the increased sell price is worth the money over the $499 Bluesound Node 2I?

Kind of on a side note, in the past when these questions came up there were always fanboys, with lots of canned counter points.

They seem to have vanished. Guess they've given up the fight?

I am enjoying MQA Masters from Tidal.  That first unfold provided by the Tidal app is all I need. More detail, kick drum sounds more real and the leading and trailing edge of bass notes are particularly well defined. 

It hasn’t cost me anything to listen to thousands of Hi-Res tracks I would have had to purchase otherwise.  I subscribed to Tidal well before MQA Masters were added to their library.  

Count me as a believer in MQA.  In general I like what I hear.  

I enjoy Qobuz also and listen to their Hi-Res selections as well.  Good stuff.  

My disclaimer is that I don’t have near the time or money invested in my hifi and music collection as a lot of others here do. I just like picking an album to play and if I wonder what the format is due to something I am hearing, I will investigate.  Otherwise it’s just the bliss of good tunes.  

I am enjoying hi-res in all the formats and consider my subscriptions to Tidal and Qobuz a bargain.  

Larry, I think you're confused about a couple of things.

First, you shouldn't need a PC in the chain.  You stream music from the Bluesound Node 2 directly to your Arcam or you can run it to the Pro-Ject DAC via a coax cable and connect the DAC to the Arcam.  You may find the Node 2i's DAC is as good or better than the Pro-Ject DAC.  Either way, you should be able to get a full unfold of the MQA files.

The Bluesound app will control streaming from music services like Tidal, Qobuz, Radio Paradise, etc. as well as stream music from your home network if you have files that you have shared on your network.  The DAC just converts digital signals to analog and passes them to the Arcam.  There's nothing to control on the DAC.

I personally would not invest in equipment with MQA because I don't want to be tied to what Tidal decides to stream in that format. And lately their new releases in classical is a couple of months behind Qobuz...