Pontus ii and Hi Res


A bit new to streaming so apologies for a naive question. I’m streaming Tidal from a Bluesound Node into a new Denafrips Pontus ii via optical cable. Regardless of resolution (hi res or MQA), the DAC stays on 44.1 kHz x 1 multiplier. I tried setting the streamer audio to “MQA to external DAC”, but no difference. Also no difference toggling between OS and NOS  

What am I missing? If the Pontus can’t unfold MQA or resolve anything above 44.1 (x1)  is there any reason to keep Tidal’s highest res service?  The DAC should certainly recognize higher res files...no?

Appreciate any ideas. 

chocaholic

Subscribe to Qobuz.  Problem solved.  You'll get up to 196 with your setup and the lights on the Pontus will confirm it. Better SQ than Tidal too.

The pontus doesnot do mqa no big loss,  it’s not better then hires files anyway 

just go to QObuz.

My Terminator dac will not go higher than 44.1. The later models (2, Plus, and Plus 12th anniversary) will do 48K.

Pretty sure the “MQA to external DAC” option turned “on” means your Node is not performing the first unfold since it expects the external DAC to do everything, and in that case your non-MQA DAC will always see 44.1 kHz. Disable “MQA to external DAC” and the Node should do the first unfold. 

I think rockrider and dinosore are going in the correct direction.....I however only use Qobuz, so I can't confirm. My equipment Node 130 USB to Denafrrips Iris DDC, I2S to Pontus II DAC. Here is an excerpt I found:

"The way MQA describes their content is as origami with 3 folds. These folds consist of the decoding and rendering which when fully rendered will output 24-bit/192KHz audio. When streaming MQA through the Node 2i, the BluOS app will handle the first decoding stage which will process the MQA file to 24-bit/96KHz audio. The next 2 rendering steps are then handled by the internal DAC of the Node 2i which will then allow 24-bit/192KHz audio. 

When using coaxial or optical cable from your Node 2i, you are bypassing the internal DAC of the player which is resulting in only the decoding stage occurring and only outputting 24-bit/96KHz audio. To get full 24-bit/192KHz audio you will need to use the analog RCA outputs of the Node 2i to have the internal DAC of the Node 2i process these 2 rendering stages and output fully unfolded MQA".

Good luck