Question on how DAC’s work...

larry5729.
Please see my earlier post in this thread. Via its digital outs, be it Toslink or Coax, Bluesound kit, even first generation Bluesound kit will unfold MQA all the way to 96K when hooked up to a non MQA DAC.
To my knowledge, the current state of the art for streaming hi res via Qobuz or Tidal tops out at 192k, and there is currently precious little material available to stream at 192k, be it via Tidal with MQA or via Qobuz at native resolution without MQA. And from 96K to 192K is just the one last unfold. I’d argue that most of the goodness is already available shy of that last unfold. And I can tell you from experience, that full unfold of MQA via Bluesound kit’s analog outputs, although very nice, is not as good in terms of SQ in my opinion as that provided by a high quality non MQA external DAC hooked up via Toslink or Coax such my own Bryston BDA1 or Chord Qutest.
At that point, it’s really no contest. That has been my own personal experience. YMMV.

I agree with jazzman7....Node2i sounds lot better when connected with a high quality non-MQA external DAC. To my ears, Qobuz native high resolution files beyond 16bit/44.1kHz spec sounds incredible when compare to MQA files. They sound natural and devoid of digital ‘sheen’ present on MQA files.

And those in the camp, “Modern DACs don’t benefit so much from high resolution data” should pursue better Streamer/DAC or get their ears unclogged from excessive wax 😊

arvincastro

IMHO feeding RedBook flac on up to a better DAC  will result in better SQ  than expanding compressed MQA ever.
Period.

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jassman7,

I just read your reply.  Are you saying if I connected my Bluesound Node 2i to an external DAC using digital coax, I could achieve complete unfold of MQA?  When I attached a ProJect S2 DAC to my Bluesound, the bass sounded thinner.  I think the highs were crisper.  However, when I played the Bluesound by itself, especially listening to MQA, it sounded better and the sound stage really improved.  Unless, more expensive DAC sound a lot better I must not be listening correctly.  Why do I think MQA sounds more lifelike?  It seems like I am the only one who hears the difference with MQA.  Maybe it is smoke and mirrors.  The dealer I purchased my REL subwoofers suggested buying a Belcanto streamer.  He told me it is significantly better sounding than the Bluesound and worth the money.  I never hear anyone in this group mentioning the name Belcanto.

I have lots to learn.  I am not sure how many of you have wives that would divorce you if you purchased a $3000 streamer?

I just read your reply. Are you saying if I connected my Bluesound Node 2i to an external DAC using digital coax, I could achieve complete unfold of MQA 

To get the complete unfold of MQA with an external DAC  the external DAC needs to be MQA compatible, some DAC's will do a partial unfold to 96k.