Great video, even better timing. I bought a Pro-Ject Pre Box S2 Digital based in part on your review and have been very pleased with the SQ of MQA streamed from Roon to my MBP, then USB to the S2 -- better than DSD256 in some cases. The setup was a bit of a challenge for a noob like me but the Roon community was a great help.
From my personal view, MQA is an improvement. I do hear it and do have invest in that equipment with MQA. Thank you for your full explanation, very appreciated.
Couldn't agree more! One of the, if not the, most informative and helpful channels about HiFi. Easy to understand and not afraid to tackle complex issues!
Goede dag Hans, many thanks for this channel. I have learned more about digital audio in last 6 months than in the my entire life before. This video is also first class. More people need to watch your channel: you provide solid and well researched information. This video is a perfect example. I have a Tidal Hifi/MQA subscription, a Huawei P30 Pro with the USB Audio Player Pro (which merits a review), which does the MQA decoding + 2 DACS : 1.the Dragonfly RED which can do MQA rendering + 2. the Denafrips ARES II which (obviously as an R2R dac) cannot perform R2R rendering. Until this evening it was not clear to me to what I was actually listening to on these devices. Now I know! Thanks again. You deserve a financial contribution for your work - please let me know how to do that. En hartelijk bedankt voor uw uitstekend werk. P.S. we really love in marvellous times: I can do my daily walk outdoors these and have a portable hifi expérience for very little money (hardware, software, subscriptions (music, mobile broadband) that would have weighed kilos and kilos and would have cost thousand of euros.
Wow! I watch this video clip kind of late, but this is most exact explanation about MQA than anything else. I've been so confused with various opinion, but this clip made them perfectly clear! Thanks for deep and precise analysis!!!
Bedankt Hans Nu weet ik hoe ik MQA moet instellen in Roon voor mn Mytek Brooklyn DAC. En je hebt me weer meer duidelijk gemaakt over MQA. Ga zo door met je informatieve video's over digitale audio! Top!
I just decreased my Tidal subscription from MQA to 16/44.1 and when I listened, there was something wrong, something was bugging me. Even thou my sound system is from the 90s and not ridiculously expensive I still noticed a drop in the sound quality. Thankfully I found your video and you explained it very well.
I'm playing music from Tidal on my Smart TV through RCA cables to my reciever, so the DAC is in my TV. No hardware MQA decoding so I can only listen up to 96KHz but still, I just didn't expect to be able to hear the difference between 44.1 and 96. Thank you for the great explenation of MQA.
Hans, refreshing to get rational, documented information in this too emotional and a fear sometimes financially driven discussion. Thank you for your logical and substantiated contributions! I do however disagree on the open-source statement. Open-source has enabled a lot of innovation. See examples ranging from open-ssl to audio and video codecs, often used by software makers in the foundation of their innovations. Perhaps not clearly recognizable by the user, unless you take a look at the license notices. I would not be surprised when MQA itself is using open-source, be it a library in the software itself, in the development of the software/hardware components or in the content producing phase (analyzing source ADC and target DAC, procwssing the timesmearing correction). Without which it wouldn't be possible to have MQA, at leat not within a reasonable (lifetime 😀) timeframe.
This channel is aimed at ‘the man in the street, not the tech savvy aficionados. I find many open source programs, like MPD, unusable for most of my viewers. Of course flac is great and there will be others but in general open source is great for professionals, less for consumers.
It gets my vote what's not to like backwards compatibility to CD Red Book, Hi res ability to stream on slower connections digital files can be ripped to either WAV of FLAC container without any loss of MQA folded data so expelling the DRM rumour and the the winner for me is that you finally have provenance to the file you are listening too, since the advent of download be it MP3 16bit 24bit DSD there has been no guarantee at all that the files are from the original source and no way of finding out too potentially making them worthless, previous physical formats CD / LP did not suffer in this way so in turn still holding some value, I think that comfort alone is worth the effort put in, and why not pay for something nothing in life is free if we don't support the industry there wont be anything to play on your nice HiFi going forwards
What im wondering about the ripping to flac would be what bit depth to select. This video seems to tell me that i should rip tidal masters to 96khz but i have no clue if i should do 16bit or 24bit flac
So for a while I had an iFi audio IDSD black label portable digital converter/ headphone amplifier, which had MQA support. I went back and forth numerous times with all kinds of different material between 24192 audio off of quboz and their equivalent MQA versions off of tidal. At the end of it I came to the conclusion that MQA doesn't sound better than flack, it just sounds different. It would be like taking a painting that is kind of blurry and you have and you have three versions of that painting, you have the blurry original, you have one that was painted purple, and one that was unblurred and presented with better clarity and definition. MQA was kind of like the purple one, it basically took the original song and didn't make it sound better it just made it sound different, whereas the high res 24/192 version distinctly sounded better, subjectively. So all while MQA is certainly a curiosity and a nice proof of concept type technological exercise honestly I didn't like it. Not to disparage anybody's opinion of it or the fact that they liked it, but I guess at that point we get into a conversation about better versus different, like just because something is different does that make it better, that kind of thing.
Good video. I was looking for this info and finally found it. Great explanation! I guess I will be looking to buy an MQA decoding and rendering dac for the best sound. Thank you!
Thank you for the video. It was very helpful. I think that perhaps one reason why some people think MQA is copy protected is the use of the term "authentication". In most instances, that means it's checking to see if you are a valid user. As I understand MQA, and please do correct me if I am wrong, then in the MQA sense, "authentication" only refers to checking whether the sampling frequencies, word sizes, and encoding mode (PCM vs DSD) are as originally mastered in the studio.
I am using a Bluesound Node 2i feeding a Denafrips Ares II DAC. The Denafrips is set to OS with slow filter. Will that approximate the 'second unfolding' of MQA, or no? Thanks for your incredibly informative videos.
If you listen to mqa on equiptment that can decode it to its fullest you can hear the difference. It's like night and day. I listen to mqa on cocktail audio that has the deciding and rendering, It is unbelievable.
Great video thank you Hans! I'm very interested in mqa, there's two thing I'm looking for a explaintion, and please forgive my poorly expression regarding this manner, I'm not a native english speaker. 1.Right now, I'm play MQA file through the usb audio player pro software, which can do the MQA core decodeing, but I don't have a MQA dac yet. let's assume that I play a 96K/24bit MQA file(which I assume can be fully decode by the core decodeing) through my none MQA dac, did i missing anything except the time smearing correction for my dac? 2.While I browsing e-onkyo, I see this web site has two type of MQA file:MQA and MQA Studio, what is the difference of the two? I'm looking forward your answer, thanks again!
You are correct that when playing 96 kHz MQA without an MQA enabled you ‘only’ miss the time smearing correction. But that is just the part that with affordable DAC’s makes the biggest difference.
Very good video Hans, though still complicated stuff for a newbie in this matter as I am, thank you. So I do have a question: I stream Roon to a Rpi 4B (Ropieee). Can I place a MQA-DAC behind the Pi in order to benefit the MQA?
Yes, no problem. But the USB on the Pi is rather polluted so depending on the quality of your stereo you might consider a HAT board that offers either USB or SPDIF. Or use a USB cleaner/reclocker.
Thks for the review...just to confirm as per the 4th category u mentioned (6:26), I will I get MQA if I pair a Cambridge CNX V2 (non-MQA) with a Mytek Liberty Dac (MQA), is that correct?
Hello Hans I use a Mac mini connected to a DAC Pro-ject pre box digital S2, which I bought thanks to your review, I use Audirvana as a file player, the problem I find when I play an MQA file is that in Audirvana on the top right tells me which is a 24 bit / 192Khz file, in the DAC it shows 192Khz, but at the top left below the Audirvana controls shows me 24 bits / 48Khz DAC, the question is that it may be wrong since the DAC supports MQA for decode as to render and if there is any software configuration that is limiting me to the DAC Thank you
Hi Hans, just to nail this down regarding MQA's AVAILABILITY ON TIDAL, as you know Tidal currently says that the only way to get the Masters files (full MQA) from Tidal is to use the desktop app. Compare that with your description of how to get full MQA decoding and rendering, which is EITHER from using MQA decoding software (I assume, like Roon or Tidal) AND a MQA rendering DAC OR, IF YOU HAVE A FULL DECODING AND RENDERING DAC (say, Mytek Liberty or Pro-Ject PreBox S2), then the software is not needed to achieve full MQA fidelity. My question is this, just to nail this down in my mind: DO I STILL NEED THE TIDAL DESKTOP APP TO GET FULL MQA IF I USE A FULL DECODING AND RENDERING DAC AT THE END OF THE CHAIN? My assumption is that Tidal's MQA's decoding software is only available through the desktop app, but if I have a full decoding and rendering DAC then the desktop app is not necessary to get full MQA,. So, for example, my Allo Bridge with Sqeezelite and with Tidal enabled, can play back full MQA resolution files from Tidal, without having to resort to connecting another, let's say Windows computer to the DAC JUST to have the desktop app to play Tidal in full MQA - AS LONG AS I HAVE A FULL DECODING AND RENDERING DAC. IS THIS CORRECT? You may have felt like you covered this, but I just want to make sure I'm in full understanding before I make my next move because there seems to be a slight contradiction between your explanation and Tidal's. Thanks so much!
Any software that delivers BIT PERFECT (volume control at 100%) MQA files to an MQA decoding and rendering DAC will give full MQA quality. That goes for MQA files you bought and for MQA files that you stream from Tidal. So your setup will offer full MQA quality provided you set the volume to 100% and use an MQA decoding and rendering DAC
Hello. I want to ask you about MQA. I played TIDAL MQA from my smartphone (galaxy fold) via UAPP and paired via USB to Ifi Zen Dac V2. I played MQA songs and on my smartphone screen indicated 44.1 or sometimes 48khz. but, on my Ifi zen dac, the light indicator is turned Blue and sometimes Green. based on ifi zen dac manual book, blue means master studio and green is just mqa. what I want to ask, am I really get a master studio format ? I confuse because my smartphone still indicated 44.1/48khz. pardon my english and hope you get what I mean. thanks in advance.
What of the best videos I've seen on TH-cam, and I rarely comment! A list of fully enabled DACs would be great as I had to email this question to SMSL to see if their M400 did both but they said no? Looking at the chip and price of the unit im guessing they may be wrong. I use linux so cannot use a player to do the first unfold, i did try Roon and its great but I dont see the point of outlaying more money when I already pay for Tidal but cannot use it! Can you recommend a DAC for me?
have I understood correctly? if i connect my sonos conect (streamer) to a dac which is MQA certified via a digital cable (for example coax) and switch off the sound control on sonos then i will be able to enjoy full tidal master quality
So for me to be able to play an MQA CD to it's full potential on my Denon DCD 1500AE i need a MQA enabled Dac that supports MQA via spdif optical or coaxial?? If this is the case is this possible on a budget? And could you recommend a Dac that does it? Thank you in advance for your help 🙏
@@TheHansBeekhuyzenChannel thank you, but i still can't see if any of these dacs will do whati want them to do and that is: i want to play a MQA cd on my Denon DCD 1500AE cd/sacd player (not mqa-enabled), i know that when i put the mqa cd in the cd player that it will play the music on there, but what what i want to do is play en decode the mqa side on the cd without ripping the files to a pc or laptop etc. I just want to put the mqa cd in my Denon DCD 1500AE cd/sacd player and hook it up to a dac that decodes the mqa side of the Mqa cd, i don't even know if this can be accomplished, the mqa website if I'm not mistaken says it's possible but there's no info on how to accomplish this, there isn't any TH-cam video that explains this or shows it, I've searched for months now and to be honest I'm getting a bit frustrated by not being able to get the answer to my question, so if you could please enlighten me 🙏🙏🙏🙏
Ah, that's a simple question. Just connect the Denon over SPDIF to the MQA DAC and you're set. Please note that this way you can play normal cd's and MQA cd's over the external DAC but not SACD's. To play them you good to have the analog outputs of the Denon connected directly to your amp.
@@TheHansBeekhuyzenChannel Thank you so much, this helps me allot, so happy it's possible through this way, i don't understand why nobody covers this more often, and btw a follow up question, what's a decent entry level mqa dac i can do this with? En does it unfold the full mqa file this way or not all the way? Thanks again for your help and answering all of my questions 🙏🙏🙏
Hi Hans in the Netherlands, your information is superb, thak you for this, I'm a hughe Rolling Stones fan and therefor I ordered from CD Japan the 3 first editions of MQA from the Rolling Stones, among is Sticky Fingers. Now my question is: Is there a MQA CD player, that is affordable and will play these MQA CDs to full extent? I noticed Oppo 205, but unfortunately Oppo shuts down it's production. I also discovered Onkyo cr-n775d, this one will play MQA files off Tidal etc, but will this Onkyo also play the MQA CDs to full extent?Best RegardsEva EngelBern Switzerland
You can play MQA cd’s on any CD player but to hear the highest quality you must either connect a MQA digital to analog converter to the digital output of any cd player or look for a CD player that can decode MQA. But these are not (yet) available.
What about connecting a CD player via digital coax or fibre to a NAD C368 amplifier with onboard DAC and also with the BluOS module fitted? I know the module can decode MQA if I am streaming MQA titles from Tidal but what about MQA CDs? Will this work?
Hello Hans. Thank you for your video, as always, very informative and precise! I use Tidal app with Windows 10 from my Notebook to my DAC, using in between Audioquest Jitterbug and soon Wyred 4 Sound Recovery USB Reclocker. I like very much my stereo system and my DAC (Audio-Gd R2R-2), wich is a non-MQA authenticated one and I have no plans of changin it soon, so I'm playing MQA files up to 96 khz with Tidal app, wich sound pretty good. The thing is that I also use Dirac Room Correction, applying its filters with Dirac Audio Processor, and I like the results very much because it cleans the sound pretty much, it makes it more transparent. I would like to know if Dirac downsamples or not the MQA files to 44 or 48 khz before going to the DAC or does not affect the file at all. I mean, if Tidal app is unfolding some MQA file to 96 khz, does Dirac Processor affect that unfolded MQA file before sending it to the DAC? Kind regards,
There is a problem with MQA CDs. If your equipment can't decode the MQA you will get reduced sound quality, with and increased noise floor, and possibly other artifacts. A normal non MQA CD will sound significantly better than the MQA version on such equipment. Therefore anyone selling MQA should make a proper CD quality version available. This is different to hybrid SACD and Dual Disc (hybrid CD and DVD), where the CD layer hasn't been altered to store the high resolution version, and thus doesn't have compromised audio.
The Hans Beekhuyzen Channel It's an experience being denied me, as I wish to try Meiko's Playing Favourites album (recommended on the Steve Guttenburg Audiophiliac youtube channel), but this is only available as an MQA CD from Amazon. One of the reviewers on there said it was a bit noisy, which could well be because of it being MQA encoded, but with no way of being able to tell. I just want to buy a normal CD. Is that really too much to ask?
Hello Hans, Your videos are great. Question concerning your chart titled "Playing MQA Files" isn't there really 6 possible scenarios? the other 2 being: 5) MQA Enabled Software and MQA Core decoding and rendering DAC 6) No MQA Software and MQA core decoding and rending DAC what would be the result of these? Thanks
in 5) the DAC will only render and theoretically there will be no difference between decoding in the software or decoding in the DAC. In 6) the DAC will operate as any other DAC although in some cases the time smearing correction by MQA might be in place (for as far as I understood - and to be sure; that's a good thing)
Great video but it didn't take Linux was created in 1991 mate and it was already dominating data centres in the 2000s. The assertion that big changes can't be undertaken in the public domain is debatable, not fact as opposed to the rest of your video.
He said Linux was not user friendly until recently which is a true statement. Your statement about datacenters (run by computer scientists and engineers) only reinforces this. Still Linux is full of bugs. You get what you pay for (i.e. nothing) is his main point.
Hello, loved the explanation. I still have one question that is driving me crazy. I'm using an iFI micro dac with the latest firmware that enables mqa rendering. But when a file that is 352khz is played on Audirvana player streaming on Tidal, the output on Audirvana shows only 88,1 and the same information shows on the MIDI (apple app). But when a 96khz file is played, the input and outpur is showing 96 and MIDI is also showing 96. Is something wrong? I also checked that this happens using the Tidal app instead of the audirvana and also on windows OS!!!!!
Digital audio knows two basic sampling frequencies, 44.1 and 48 kHz. Higher sampling rates are based on these. With MQA a 352.8 kHz signal (8x 44.1) uses a 88.2 file to store the signal while a 384 kHz (8x48) signal is packed into a 96 kHz file. Using integer multiples is easier on the processor.
Great video, but I'm still a bit confused - if I have a tidal account, nas with LMS and diy streamer running snakeoil-os or daphile, will I have fully decoded mqa's with, for example pro-ject pre box s2 digital, or I'll need something like bluesound node2 and trow my little diy streamer into trash. I'm not sure if mqa can pass thru non mqa hw and sw. Also don't know if tidal LMS plugin is mqa compatible.
ANY bit perfect streamer - ie that will pass on the audio files unaltered - feeding an MQA decoder/renderer like the pro-ject will give the full MQA quality.
The Hans Beekhuyzen Channel hi Hans, I just tryied pre box s2 with nas>lms>tidal>snakeoil os streamer and there is no mqa magic. Looks like tidal lms plugin just dont support mqa or alter streamed files somehow. MQA stored on nas/lms works fine.
Hello I am using mconnect sorfware over UPnp against my NO mqa DAC. On the display of the application I only see an output of 24 bits 48khz, however the Tidal source file shows 24 bits 192khz. Mconnect application is not able to make that first MQA unfold and get at least 24 / 96khz?. Thanks you for clarifying this question
Hello Hans a great vdo, thank you. I would like your help to know if their are any portsble DAP players which do full MQA unfolding/rendering and can be used on the go including offline play.
I have not researched aptX HD so I can't say for sure. But it uses a 4:1 compression scheme so it can be used with the limited bandwidth of Bluetooth and I see no point in using compression as where full bandwidth could be used, like in the stereo in your home.
I'm having problem understanding how a mqa coded stream folded to 16bit/44.1KHz may have better quality than the standard cd's using the same bit depth and sampling frequency. I understand the principle of hiding high frequencies using the lowers bits below the noise floor considering a bit depth of 24 bits where only about 15 or 16 bits are used to contain real musical data. But if we have a piece of music using all the dynamic range available on a cd (96dBs), how will we hide the hires contents? There is no room to store the additional data. All it seems to me is that they limit on purpose the dynamic range to about 60dBs making use of only 10 bits, and using the remaining 6 bits to store the high frequency data. There is no magic here... in order to add more information we need to remove something else. And if this is true, i don't understand the benefits of mqa over a properly mastered cd using all the available dynamic range.
All I can tell you about MQA can be found here: th-cam.com/video/r_wxRGiBoJg/w-d-xo.html. But if you don't get the tech, use your ears. Go find a place where you can listen to it.
Thank you for the reply. All can understand at the moment, is that the additional data is added to the original signal, and in the absence of a decoder they will be interpretes as noise. Mqa looks to try to hide this "noise" maintaining to a very low audible level, but i think nevertheless it will ruin the original dynamic range. Only on a system with the proper decoding it looks we have real benefits. My issue is the one that says that even without a decoder the quality will be better than standard cd quality, because of time smearing resolution... but this looks to be a very simplistic conclusion.
Lately it seems like mqa is a partly lossy compression and upsampling process so calling it "master quality", a little bit odd for me. Thanks but no MQA. In the other hand, like this channel.
Hi, I have few questions. I have fiio x5lll will it play MQA and if I use DAP'S like fiio m 11 pro, astel and kern sr 15 etc, do I need external DAC, like ifi hip DAC, for decoding MQA from tidal. I appreciate your help. Thanks
Great video, even better timing. I bought a Pro-Ject Pre Box S2 Digital based in part on your review and have been very pleased with the SQ of MQA streamed from Roon to my MBP, then USB to the S2 -- better than DSD256 in some cases. The setup was a bit of a challenge for a noob like me but the Roon community was a great help.
From my personal view, MQA is an improvement. I do hear it and do have invest in that equipment with MQA. Thank you for your full explanation, very appreciated.
You are welcome!
Best explanation I have ever listened to about MQA. Especially the table. It was useful!
Glad you enjoyed it!
You honestly deserve more views.
Couldn't agree more! One of the, if not the, most informative and helpful channels about HiFi. Easy to understand and not afraid to tackle complex issues!
Nicely done. Roon now setup with my Liberty DAC. Appreciate your insights.
Damn! Your chart totally clarifies MQA unfolding and rendering better than reading hours of forums. Nice job! Thank you!
🙏
Goede dag Hans, many thanks for this channel. I have learned more about digital audio in last 6 months than in the my entire life before. This video is also first class. More people need to watch your channel: you provide solid and well researched information. This video is a perfect example. I have a Tidal Hifi/MQA subscription, a Huawei P30 Pro with the USB Audio Player Pro (which merits a review), which does the MQA decoding + 2 DACS : 1.the Dragonfly RED which can do MQA rendering + 2. the Denafrips ARES II which (obviously as an R2R dac) cannot perform R2R rendering. Until this evening it was not clear to me to what I was actually listening to on these devices. Now I know! Thanks again. You deserve a financial contribution for your work - please let me know how to do that. En hartelijk bedankt voor uw uitstekend werk.
P.S. we really love in marvellous times: I can do my daily walk outdoors these and have a portable hifi expérience for very little money (hardware, software, subscriptions (music, mobile broadband) that would have weighed kilos and kilos and would have cost thousand of euros.
Wow! I watch this video clip kind of late, but this is most exact explanation about MQA than anything else.
I've been so confused with various opinion, but this clip made them perfectly clear! Thanks for deep and precise analysis!!!
🙏🙏
Bedankt Hans
Nu weet ik hoe ik MQA moet instellen in Roon voor mn Mytek Brooklyn DAC.
En je hebt me weer meer duidelijk gemaakt over MQA.
Ga zo door met je informatieve video's over digitale audio! Top!
Best explanation of what MQA is all about. Thanks for the video.
🙏🏻
I just decreased my Tidal subscription from MQA to 16/44.1 and when I listened, there was something wrong, something was bugging me. Even thou my sound system is from the 90s and not ridiculously expensive I still noticed a drop in the sound quality. Thankfully I found your video and you explained it very well.
That makes sense if you don’t own a MQA enabled DAC.
I'm playing music from Tidal on my Smart TV through RCA cables to my reciever, so the DAC is in my TV. No hardware MQA decoding so I can only listen up to 96KHz but still, I just didn't expect to be able to hear the difference between 44.1 and 96. Thank you for the great explenation of MQA.
Hans, refreshing to get rational, documented information in this too emotional and a fear sometimes financially driven discussion.
Thank you for your logical and substantiated contributions!
I do however disagree on the open-source statement. Open-source has enabled a lot of innovation. See examples ranging from open-ssl to audio and video codecs, often used by software makers in the foundation of their innovations. Perhaps not clearly recognizable by the user, unless you take a look at the license notices. I would not be surprised when MQA itself is using open-source, be it a library in the software itself, in the development of the software/hardware components or in the content producing phase (analyzing source ADC and target DAC, procwssing the timesmearing correction). Without which it wouldn't be possible to have MQA, at leat not within a reasonable (lifetime 😀) timeframe.
This channel is aimed at ‘the man in the street, not the tech savvy aficionados. I find many open source programs, like MPD, unusable for most of my viewers. Of course flac is great and there will be others but in general open source is great for professionals, less for consumers.
It gets my vote what's not to like backwards compatibility to CD Red Book, Hi res ability to stream on slower connections digital files can be ripped to either WAV of FLAC container without any loss of MQA folded data so expelling the DRM rumour and the the winner for me is that you finally have provenance to the file you are listening too, since the advent of download be it MP3 16bit 24bit DSD there has been no guarantee at all that the files are from the original source and no way of finding out too potentially making them worthless, previous physical formats CD / LP did not suffer in this way so in turn still holding some value, I think that comfort alone is worth the effort put in, and why not pay for something nothing in life is free if we don't support the industry there wont be anything to play on your nice HiFi going forwards
Chunksville well said!
What im wondering about the ripping to flac would be what bit depth to select. This video seems to tell me that i should rip tidal masters to 96khz but i have no clue if i should do 16bit or 24bit flac
So for a while I had an iFi audio IDSD black label portable digital converter/ headphone amplifier, which had MQA support. I went back and forth numerous times with all kinds of different material between 24192 audio off of quboz and their equivalent MQA versions off of tidal.
At the end of it I came to the conclusion that MQA doesn't sound better than flack, it just sounds different. It would be like taking a painting that is kind of blurry and you have and you have three versions of that painting, you have the blurry original, you have one that was painted purple, and one that was unblurred and presented with better clarity and definition. MQA was kind of like the purple one, it basically took the original song and didn't make it sound better it just made it sound different, whereas the high res 24/192 version distinctly sounded better, subjectively.
So all while MQA is certainly a curiosity and a nice proof of concept type technological exercise honestly I didn't like it.
Not to disparage anybody's opinion of it or the fact that they liked it, but I guess at that point we get into a conversation about better versus different, like just because something is different does that make it better, that kind of thing.
Well, we can choose, luckily
Good video. I was looking for this info and finally found it. Great explanation! I guess I will be looking to buy an MQA decoding and rendering dac for the best sound. Thank you!
Glad it was helpful!
Thank you for the video. It was very helpful. I think that perhaps one reason why some people think MQA is copy protected is the use of the term "authentication". In most instances, that means it's checking to see if you are a valid user. As I understand MQA, and please do correct me if I am wrong, then in the MQA sense, "authentication" only refers to checking whether the sampling frequencies, word sizes, and encoding mode (PCM vs DSD) are as originally mastered in the studio.
MQA Authentication checks if the music file is not tampered with. MQA files can only contain pcm and not dsd. Check my playlist on MQA.
Thanks for the correction.
I am using a Bluesound Node 2i feeding a Denafrips Ares II DAC. The Denafrips is set to OS with slow filter. Will that approximate the 'second unfolding' of MQA, or no? Thanks for your incredibly informative videos.
No
If you listen to mqa on equiptment that can decode it to its fullest you can hear the difference. It's like night and day. I listen to mqa on cocktail audio that has the deciding and rendering, It is unbelievable.
Thank you for decoding the mysteries of MQA in your excellent explanation
Great video thank you Hans!
I'm very interested in mqa, there's two thing I'm looking for a explaintion, and please forgive my poorly expression regarding this manner, I'm not a native english speaker.
1.Right now, I'm play MQA file through the usb audio player pro software, which can do the MQA core decodeing, but I don't have a MQA dac yet. let's assume that I play a 96K/24bit MQA file(which I assume can be fully decode by the core decodeing) through my none MQA dac, did i missing anything except the time smearing correction for my dac?
2.While I browsing e-onkyo, I see this web site has two type of MQA file:MQA and MQA Studio, what is the difference of the two?
I'm looking forward your answer, thanks again!
You are correct that when playing 96 kHz MQA without an MQA enabled you ‘only’ miss the time smearing correction. But that is just the part that with affordable DAC’s makes the biggest difference.
@@TheHansBeekhuyzenChannel Thank you Hans! What about the difference of MQA and MQA Studio?
It's a kind of label of aprovement by the artist and doesn't necessarily say something about the sound quality.
@@TheHansBeekhuyzenChannel I see, thank you very much sir!
Hans, what are your favorite Tidal masters?
I am abroad now so I can’t check. The one I know by head is Supertramp Crime of the Century.
Very good video Hans, though still complicated stuff for a newbie in this matter as I am, thank you.
So I do have a question: I stream Roon to a Rpi 4B (Ropieee). Can I place a MQA-DAC behind the Pi in order to benefit the MQA?
Yes, no problem. But the USB on the Pi is rather polluted so depending on the quality of your stereo you might consider a HAT board that offers either USB or SPDIF. Or use a USB cleaner/reclocker.
Thank you.
Could you explain about MQA 4x to MQA 16x unfold?
This refers to the maximum output of a full decoder. 4x is 192 khz and 8x is 384 khz.
@@angelmorenofarias5086 thank you
I'm using Tidal/Roon >> Chord Mojo >> Moon Amp. So I won't hear any improvement over 24bit 96kHz. Correct?
Not entirely. MQA tracks are mastered in a different way.
Great video!
Thks for the review...just to confirm as per the 4th category u mentioned (6:26), I will I get MQA if I pair a Cambridge CNX V2 (non-MQA) with a Mytek Liberty Dac (MQA), is that correct?
Excellent explanations, thanks very much indeed
Glad it was helpful!
Nice Video!
When playing MQA music (from Tidal-Master) on a non MQA DAC, is a waste of money?
That fully depends on you, your equipment, your financial situation and so on.
Hello Hans
I use a Mac mini connected to a DAC Pro-ject pre box digital S2, which I bought thanks to your review, I use Audirvana as a file player, the problem I find when I play an MQA file is that in Audirvana on the top right tells me which is a 24 bit / 192Khz file, in the DAC it shows 192Khz, but at the top left below the Audirvana controls shows me 24 bits / 48Khz DAC, the question is that it may be wrong since the DAC supports MQA for decode as to render and if there is any software configuration that is limiting me to the DAC
Thank you
Hi Hans, just to nail this down regarding MQA's AVAILABILITY ON TIDAL, as you know Tidal currently says that the only way to get the Masters files (full MQA) from Tidal is to use the desktop app. Compare that with your description of how to get full MQA decoding and rendering, which is EITHER from using MQA decoding software (I assume, like Roon or Tidal) AND a MQA rendering DAC OR, IF YOU HAVE A FULL DECODING AND RENDERING DAC (say, Mytek Liberty or Pro-Ject PreBox S2), then the software is not needed to achieve full MQA fidelity. My question is this, just to nail this down in my mind: DO I STILL NEED THE TIDAL DESKTOP APP TO GET FULL MQA IF I USE A FULL DECODING AND RENDERING DAC AT THE END OF THE CHAIN? My assumption is that Tidal's MQA's decoding software is only available through the desktop app, but if I have a full decoding and rendering DAC then the desktop app is not necessary to get full MQA,. So, for example, my Allo Bridge with Sqeezelite and with Tidal enabled, can play back full MQA resolution files from Tidal, without having to resort to connecting another, let's say Windows computer to the DAC JUST to have the desktop app to play Tidal in full MQA - AS LONG AS I HAVE A FULL DECODING AND RENDERING DAC. IS THIS CORRECT?
You may have felt like you covered this, but I just want to make sure I'm in full understanding before I make my next move because there seems to be a slight contradiction between your explanation and Tidal's. Thanks so much!
Any software that delivers BIT PERFECT (volume control at 100%) MQA files to an MQA decoding and rendering DAC will give full MQA quality. That goes for MQA files you bought and for MQA files that you stream from Tidal. So your setup will offer full MQA quality provided you set the volume to 100% and use an MQA decoding and rendering DAC
Thank you for the prompt reply!
Hello. I want to ask you about MQA. I played TIDAL MQA from my smartphone (galaxy fold) via UAPP and paired via USB to Ifi Zen Dac V2. I played MQA songs and on my smartphone screen indicated 44.1 or sometimes 48khz. but, on my Ifi zen dac, the light indicator is turned Blue and sometimes Green. based on ifi zen dac manual book, blue means master studio and green is just mqa. what I want to ask, am I really get a master studio format ? I confuse because my smartphone still indicated 44.1/48khz. pardon my english and hope you get what I mean. thanks in advance.
Yes you do enjoy MQA when the light is blue or green. Watch th-cam.com/video/CoK7g-FwzZ4/w-d-xo.html
is MQA just for dac's or can you play mqa on bt headset/hearing aids?
Bluetooth limits the quality of the audio and is not suited for MQA.
@@TheHansBeekhuyzenChannel ok so MQA is just used with wired headphones?
Thanks for the info
What of the best videos I've seen on TH-cam, and I rarely comment!
A list of fully enabled DACs would be great as I had to email this question to SMSL to see if their M400 did both but they said no? Looking at the chip and price of the unit im guessing they may be wrong.
I use linux so cannot use a player to do the first unfold, i did try Roon and its great but I dont see the point of outlaying more money when I already pay for Tidal but cannot use it!
Can you recommend a DAC for me?
🙏
have I understood correctly? if i connect my sonos conect (streamer) to a dac which is MQA certified via a digital cable (for example coax) and switch off the sound control on sonos then i will be able to enjoy full tidal master quality
Yep. That’s the genius of MQA.
SUPER!
Many thanks!
Can MQA CD ‘s be Ripped and played back with MQA Software / MQA DAC ? ( Audivarna / ifi DSD Dac )
Absolutely.
So for me to be able to play an MQA CD to it's full potential on my Denon DCD 1500AE i need a MQA enabled Dac that supports MQA via spdif optical or coaxial?? If this is the case is this possible on a budget?
And could you recommend a Dac that does it?
Thank you in advance for your help 🙏
Here you find the MQA DAC's I have reviewed: th-cam.com/play/PLMbsmejHnP8FossVVgpLsSNOzHE4oCkUj.html
@@TheHansBeekhuyzenChannel thank you, but i still can't see if any of these dacs will do whati want them to do and that is: i want to play a MQA cd on my Denon DCD 1500AE cd/sacd player (not mqa-enabled), i know that when i put the mqa cd in the cd player that it will play the music on there, but what what i want to do is play en decode the mqa side on the cd without ripping the files to a pc or laptop etc. I just want to put the mqa cd in my Denon DCD 1500AE cd/sacd player and hook it up to a dac that decodes the mqa side of the Mqa cd, i don't even know if this can be accomplished, the mqa website if I'm not mistaken says it's possible but there's no info on how to accomplish this, there isn't any TH-cam video that explains this or shows it, I've searched for months now and to be honest I'm getting a bit frustrated by not being able to get the answer to my question, so if you could please enlighten me 🙏🙏🙏🙏
Ah, that's a simple question. Just connect the Denon over SPDIF to the MQA DAC and you're set. Please note that this way you can play normal cd's and MQA cd's over the external DAC but not SACD's. To play them you good to have the analog outputs of the Denon connected directly to your amp.
@@TheHansBeekhuyzenChannel Thank you so much, this helps me allot, so happy it's possible through this way, i don't understand why nobody covers this more often, and btw a follow up question, what's a decent entry level mqa dac i can do this with? En does it unfold the full mqa file this way or not all the way? Thanks again for your help and answering all of my questions 🙏🙏🙏
Please watch my reviews. See the link in the earlier post.
I now convert my pcm to DSD 128 and the sound is way better. Do you have an opinion .
This means that your ears demand a better DAC 😕
Hi Hans in the Netherlands, your information is superb, thak you for this, I'm a hughe Rolling Stones fan and therefor I ordered from CD Japan the 3 first editions of MQA from the Rolling Stones, among is Sticky Fingers. Now my question is: Is there a MQA CD player, that is affordable and will play these MQA CDs to full extent? I noticed Oppo 205, but unfortunately Oppo shuts down it's production. I also discovered Onkyo cr-n775d, this one will play MQA files off Tidal etc, but will this Onkyo also play the MQA CDs to full extent?Best RegardsEva EngelBern Switzerland
You can play MQA cd’s on any CD player but to hear the highest quality you must either connect a MQA digital to analog converter to the digital output of any cd player or look for a CD player that can decode MQA. But these are not (yet) available.
What about connecting a CD player via digital coax or fibre to a NAD C368 amplifier with onboard DAC and also with the BluOS module fitted? I know the module can decode MQA if I am streaming MQA titles from Tidal but what about MQA CDs? Will this work?
Hello Hans.
Thank you for your video, as always, very informative and precise!
I use Tidal app with Windows 10 from my Notebook to my DAC, using in between Audioquest Jitterbug and soon Wyred 4 Sound Recovery USB Reclocker.
I like very much my stereo system and my DAC (Audio-Gd R2R-2), wich is a non-MQA authenticated one and I have no plans of changin it soon, so I'm playing MQA files up to 96 khz with Tidal app, wich sound pretty good.
The thing is that I also use Dirac Room Correction, applying its filters with Dirac Audio Processor, and I like the results very much because it cleans the sound pretty much, it makes it more transparent.
I would like to know if Dirac downsamples or not the MQA files to 44 or 48 khz before going to the DAC or does not affect the file at all. I mean, if Tidal app is unfolding some MQA file to 96 khz, does Dirac Processor affect that unfolded MQA file before sending it to the DAC?
Kind regards,
I plan to investigate Dirac soon, together with other room correction systems. I can’t give you an answer right now.
Ok. Thank you.
I will wait your video on that Subject anxiously!
Absolutely
There is a problem with MQA CDs. If your equipment can't decode the MQA you will get reduced sound quality, with and increased noise floor, and possibly other artifacts. A normal non MQA CD will sound significantly better than the MQA version on such equipment. Therefore anyone selling MQA should make a proper CD quality version available. This is different to hybrid SACD and Dual Disc (hybrid CD and DVD), where the CD layer hasn't been altered to store the high resolution version, and thus doesn't have compromised audio.
Is this your own experience? And if so, what are the titles and where did you buy them?
The Hans Beekhuyzen Channel It's an experience being denied me, as I wish to try Meiko's Playing Favourites album (recommended on the Steve Guttenburg Audiophiliac youtube channel), but this is only available as an MQA CD from Amazon. One of the reviewers on there said it was a bit noisy, which could well be because of it being MQA encoded, but with no way of being able to tell. I just want to buy a normal CD. Is that really too much to ask?
Please don’t debit second hand opinions here. Only observations you made your own. There’s too much of it already, especially regarding MQA.
And as far as the non-MQA version: vote with your money and don’t buy the MQA version. If many do the same it will correct itself.
Hello Hans, Your videos are great.
Question concerning your chart titled "Playing MQA Files" isn't there really 6 possible scenarios? the other 2 being:
5) MQA Enabled Software and MQA Core decoding and rendering DAC
6) No MQA Software and MQA core decoding and rending DAC
what would be the result of these?
Thanks
in 5) the DAC will only render and theoretically there will be no difference between decoding in the software or decoding in the DAC. In 6) the DAC will operate as any other DAC although in some cases the time smearing correction by MQA might be in place (for as far as I understood - and to be sure; that's a good thing)
Isn't the dragonfly red limited to 96khz so you will never be able to playback anything higher resolution?
please watch th-cam.com/video/iN7fQv1qDZs/w-d-xo.html
Yes you can't get higher for sure.
I can't even distinct mqa file vs cd quality in the tidal app.
Well, perhaps the equipment or the environment does not allow it. And you need an MQA DAC of course.
The Hans Beekhuyzen Channel i do have bluesound node 2 with the following receiver marantz 5011
And did you connect the Bluesound to the Marantz using analog cables?
The Hans Beekhuyzen Channel yes
And also i am using via my cellphone with the bluesound app
Great video but it didn't take Linux was created in 1991 mate and it was already dominating data centres in the 2000s. The assertion that big changes can't be undertaken in the public domain is debatable, not fact as opposed to the rest of your video.
He said Linux was not user friendly until recently which is a true statement. Your statement about datacenters (run by computer scientists and engineers) only reinforces this. Still Linux is full of bugs. You get what you pay for (i.e. nothing) is his main point.
Hello, loved the explanation. I still have one question that is driving me crazy. I'm using an iFI micro dac with the latest firmware that enables mqa rendering. But when a file that is 352khz is played on Audirvana player streaming on Tidal, the output on Audirvana shows only 88,1 and the same information shows on the MIDI (apple app). But when a 96khz file is played, the input and outpur is showing 96 and MIDI is also showing 96. Is something wrong? I also checked that this happens using the Tidal app instead of the audirvana and also on windows OS!!!!!
Digital audio knows two basic sampling frequencies, 44.1 and 48 kHz. Higher sampling rates are based on these. With MQA a 352.8 kHz signal (8x 44.1) uses a 88.2 file to store the signal while a 384 kHz (8x48) signal is packed into a 96 kHz file. Using integer multiples is easier on the processor.
10:40 Linux is only 27 years old. The GNU project is 35 years old. Hans were did you get 45 from?
Great video, but I'm still a bit confused - if I have a tidal account, nas with LMS and diy streamer running snakeoil-os or daphile, will I have fully decoded mqa's with, for example pro-ject pre box s2 digital, or I'll need something like bluesound node2 and trow my little diy streamer into trash. I'm not sure if mqa can pass thru non mqa hw and sw. Also don't know if tidal LMS plugin is mqa compatible.
ANY bit perfect streamer - ie that will pass on the audio files unaltered - feeding an MQA decoder/renderer like the pro-ject will give the full MQA quality.
The Hans Beekhuyzen Channel thank you for prompt reply. Does it applies only to mqa's stored on nas/lms or it applies to tidal lms plugin as well?
It applies to all MQA music.
The Hans Beekhuyzen Channel thats great! time to pickup pre box s2
The Hans Beekhuyzen Channel hi Hans, I just tryied pre box s2 with nas>lms>tidal>snakeoil os streamer and there is no mqa magic. Looks like tidal lms plugin just dont support mqa or alter streamed files somehow. MQA stored on nas/lms works fine.
Hello
I am using mconnect sorfware over UPnp against my NO mqa DAC. On the display of the application I only see an output of 24 bits 48khz, however the Tidal source file shows 24 bits 192khz. Mconnect application is not able to make that first MQA unfold and get at least 24 / 96khz?.
Thanks you for clarifying this question
I don’t know the software; can’t help you. Sorry.
Hello Hans a great vdo, thank you. I would like your help to know if their are any portsble DAP players which do full MQA unfolding/rendering and can be used on the go including offline play.
I am afraid I know nothing about portable sound and the related headphones/in-ears. Sorry.
Sent you a tip, have dinner on me 👍 and you gained a subscriber!
Awesome! Thank you!
Hallo Hans,
Ik hoop dat jou filmpje helpt mijn vriendin te overtuigen.
You might risk she's more focused on my heavenly looks than on the content😂
What is mqa?
Watch this video th-cam.com/video/r_wxRGiBoJg/w-d-xo.html, there also is a part 2
Is possible to experience the best audio experience of MQA with APTXhd ?
Is It enought?
I have not researched aptX HD so I can't say for sure. But it uses a 4:1 compression scheme so it can be used with the limited bandwidth of Bluetooth and I see no point in using compression as where full bandwidth could be used, like in the stereo in your home.
@@TheHansBeekhuyzenChannel Thanks for the answer. You are making a true quality content.
hans, i have an apogee quartet how the dac works with mqa? thanks!
It doesn't do MQA
@@TheHansBeekhuyzenChannel but it plays 44.1 up to 192 and supports PCM, DSD
@@TheHansBeekhuyzenChannel how do i listen in mqa quality?
yes but no MQA.
watch th-cam.com/video/-EWUiqW5hcM/w-d-xo.html
nice , mea is best
Yes, thanks
I'm having problem understanding how a mqa coded stream folded to 16bit/44.1KHz may have better quality than the standard cd's using the same bit depth and sampling frequency. I understand the principle of hiding high frequencies using the lowers bits below the noise floor considering a bit depth of 24 bits where only about 15 or 16 bits are used to contain real musical data. But if we have a piece of music using all the dynamic range available on a cd (96dBs), how will we hide the hires contents? There is no room to store the additional data. All it seems to me is that they limit on purpose the dynamic range to about 60dBs making use of only 10 bits, and using the remaining 6 bits to store the high frequency data. There is no magic here... in order to add more information we need to remove something else. And if this is true, i don't understand the benefits of mqa over a properly mastered cd using all the available dynamic range.
All I can tell you about MQA can be found here: th-cam.com/video/r_wxRGiBoJg/w-d-xo.html. But if you don't get the tech, use your ears. Go find a place where you can listen to it.
Thank you for the reply. All can understand at the moment, is that the additional data is added to the original signal, and in the absence of a decoder they will be interpretes as noise. Mqa looks to try to hide this "noise" maintaining to a very low audible level, but i think nevertheless it will ruin the original dynamic range. Only on a system with the proper decoding it looks we have real benefits. My issue is the one that says that even without a decoder the quality will be better than standard cd quality, because of time smearing resolution... but this looks to be a very simplistic conclusion.
HDCD did the same thing 25 years ago. You are right it banks on the theory that music is already compressed dynamic range and there are unused bits.
Lately it seems like mqa is a partly lossy compression and upsampling process so calling it "master quality", a little bit odd for me. Thanks but no MQA. In the other hand, like this channel.
You might want to watch th-cam.com/video/9NHuwOgWYOo/w-d-xo.html
@@TheHansBeekhuyzenChannel Fair answer. In digital world everything is lossy. Thanks indeed.
In the analog world too....
as an mp3 user, I guess I don't need to be bothered by mqa.
No, you’re lost😬
Hi, I have few questions. I have fiio x5lll will it play MQA and if I use DAP'S like fiio m 11 pro, astel and kern sr 15 etc, do I need external DAC, like ifi hip DAC, for decoding MQA from tidal. I appreciate your help. Thanks
I don’t have hands on experience with that gear so I don’t know. Sorry