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How many of you believe in MQA?

I have recently purchased a Bluesound Node 2i.  The dealer suggested I connect the Bluesound by way of digital coax to a Pro-Ject S2 DAC by way of RCA anologue to my ARCAM AVR550.  However, I found out I will not be able to control my Bluesound with an iPhone, iPad or PC notebook.  The only way to hear MQA completely unfolded is to plug in a computer USB.  This would mean I would have to get up from where I am sitting, go to the computer to change songs and albums.  I believe the Pro-Ject RS2 DAC would work, but not sure what the sales price is or if this is a good option.

The dealer asked me why I wanted to even bother listening to MQA completely unfolded when the DAC sounded better than the DAC inside the Bluesound.  He thinks MQA is way over rated and it may not be around a year from now.  If I hook things up with the Pro-Ject S2 DAC I will be able to hear one unfold which would be at 24 bit/88.2 kHz.  If I do this, I will be giving up the opportunity to hear MQA recordings recorded at 24 bit/96 kHz or 24 bit/192 kHz.  

How many of you are enbracing MQA?  
128x128larry5729
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larry5729 OP
1,011 posts
 
Do you have a Bluesound?  If you do, did you connect it digital coax to an external DAC to your amplifier or receiver?

The Bluesound can play up to 32 bit just like my DAC.  i have switched the RCA's back and forth between the Bluesound and the Pro-Ject S2 DAC and I think the bass sounds tighter and the highs more detailed than the Bluesound DAC.  However, when I select an album from Tidal that is MQA recorded at 24/192, the maximum bit and sample rate I will hear is 24/88.2.  I still might go back to using just the Bluesound and hear this supposedly superior quality MQA sound.  I it difficult to know by using the DAC I am only able to hear up to 24/88.2.  However, I just can't hear the difference playing MQA.  I think most hi res music must be released in 24/96 and 24/192 is kind of rare.  

Amazon's roll out of their Amazon Music Unlimited HD prompted me to try the DAC because they offer Ultra HD up to 24/192 and they don't offer MQA.  So, if I stream a Ultra HD song at 24/192, it won't matter because I will get the full benefit of 24/192.  If this is the case, Based on this, I should have purchased an ARCAM R-Play streamer and connected that anaologue.  The frequency response plays down to 29 Hz and I wouldn't have had to add a DAC.
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larry5729's avatar
larry5729 OP
1,011 posts
 
I have been thinking since the Bluesound is MQA certified and the Pro-Ject S2 DAC is MQA certified, why would the dealer I purchased the Pro-Ject DAC tell me by connecting the Bluesound by way of digital coax to the Pro-Ject DAC which is also MQA certified why I will not be able to realize the complete unfold of MQA since I am transferring electronic data from one device to another.  This does not seem intuitive, unless the dealer is wrong about this statement.  If the dealer is correct, why then didn't the manufacturer of the Project design their DAC with an RCA in and an RCA out.  It must have something to do with with the digital coax cable bridging the two devices?

When I attached the DAC to the Bluesound it delivered more treble and I was not sure I liked the sound.  However, I began to think maybe the increased detail in the highs is what is in the recording and this is the first time I have heard my tweeters deliver greater detail in both the highs and mid voicing.  I began to notice the shimmer sound of the cymbals for the first time.  When switching back between playing the Bluesound analogue out to my ARCAM, I also noticed the Bluesound sounds more bassy and more boomy.  When playing the DAC has a much tighter BASS.  Since I added two REL S3 SHO subs to my system, I have plenty of bass to work with.  Perhaps recalibrate the gain to achieve slightly more bass if needed.

Hope you guys can let me is the dealer correct or is my thinking correct, as I had hoped to hear the MQA offered by TIDAL.
larry5729's avatar
larry5729 OP
1,011 posts
 
Hi Audio Jedi,

I thought MQA played through a non certified MQA DAC defaults to 24/88.2 max vs the 24/96 you posted?
larry5729's avatar
larry5729 OP
1,011 posts
 
Here are the specs for the Pro-Ject:

Features
  • Dual mono construction
  • High end ESS Sabre ESS9038 dual DAC
  • Proprietary clock circuity design
  • Organic polymer capacitors and thin film miniMELF resistors
  • MQA hardware decoding
  • DSD64, DSD128, DSD256 & DSD512 (DoP, DSD512 native)
  • Up to 24bit/192kHz for optical & coax inputs
  • 8 selectable digital filter characteristics
  • 1 proprietary optimum transient digital filter
  • Headphone output on the front (6.3mm)
  • Synchronization of all internal oscillators
  • Jitter as low as 100 Femtoseconds!
  • Gold plated four layer PCB
  • Full alu/metal sandwich casing in silver or black

More to discover