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MQA issues

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keith79

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So As short as I can to explain this, I use Tidal to stream my music right now. I have the app on my Iphone as well as a PC. I was told by Tidal and read on a few websites that the Iphone can fully unfold a MQA track with an MQA certified Dac. The pc Tidal app I use does fully unfold (through the use of the passthrough setting). My Iphone, however does not. I was told to use the usb camera converter cord that Apple manufactures. Its basically a lightning to usb adapter. Anyway, my Dac will display MQA if it can unfold it. Pc does this just fine. Iphone displays p.c.m only. As far as I can figure, the iphone dac in the phone or the lightning port screws with this. I have explained to Tidal several times about this and still get the run around saying that my Dac has to support MQA. Am I doing something wrong? I have sent 2 requests for a passthrough on the iphone app but, well, you know

Dac is a toppping d70s
 

Jimbob54

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So As short as I can to explain this, I use Tidal to stream my music right now. I have the app on my Iphone as well as a PC. I was told by Tidal and read on a few websites that the Iphone can fully unfold a MQA track with an MQA certified Dac. The pc Tidal app I use does fully unfold (through the use of the passthrough setting). My Iphone, however does not. I was told to use the usb camera converter cord that Apple manufactures. Its basically a lightning to usb adapter. Anyway, my Dac will display MQA if it can unfold it. Pc does this just fine. Iphone displays p.c.m only. As far as I can figure, the iphone dac in the phone or the lightning port screws with this. I have explained to Tidal several times about this and still get the run around saying that my Dac has to support MQA. Am I doing something wrong? I have sent 2 requests for a passthrough on the iphone app but, well, you know

Dac is a toppping d70s
I dont think you are doing something wrong, but annoyingly for you this seems to have been an issue a while!


Just out of interest, does the DAC say what sample rate its receiving at? If its at 44/48 then the app on iphone isnt doing the first unfold , its it 88/96 then it is, so you're half way there.
 

sonitus mirus

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A few people have reported that going into their iPhone's Settings - Accessibility - Audio/Visual section and temporarily moving the balance slider fully to the right and back into the center somehow resolved the problem. Easy to try.
 
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keith79

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I dont think you are doing something wrong, but annoyingly for you this seems to have been an issue a while!


Just out of interest, does the DAC say what sample rate its receiving at? If its at 44/48 then the app on iphone isnt doing the first unfold , its it 88/96 then it is, so you're half way there.
well I do get some mqa to play at 96 on the iphone so maybe it just isn't displaying proper on my Dac. The issue with this is since your post I now see that a lot of MQA are playing, on the pc app, at 48Khz (Moby's reprise) for instance. Forgive my ignorance as I am very new to this. thank you
 
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keith79

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well I do get some mqa to play at 96 on the iphone so maybe it just isn't displaying proper on my Dac. The issue with this is since your post I now see that a lot of MQA are playing, on the pc app, at 48Khz (Moby's reprise) for instance. Forgive my ignorance as I am very new to this. thank you
I am planning on removing the iphone all together from my set up. I know its not ideal but other than the PC, its all i have at present.
 
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keith79

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Have you considered coming at this problem from the other direction - remove MQA from the equation?
I have and im either getting 48 or 44.1. Some serious audiophiles have argued that MQA is just a gimmick but i do notice a difference, though, mind you, the new and remastered albums coming out in dolby atmos blows mqa out of the water. The pc app does not offer atmos but as a work around, i download the albums on the iphone app and play them on the pc app.
 

NiagaraPete

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MQA is just a gimmick
There are probably more than a few of us that think that. But really it’s highly unlikely a human can hear the difference between 16/44.1 and 24/192 anyway.
 

Mtbf

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Some serious audiophiles have argued that MQA is just a gimmick but i do notice a difference
It is, it’s marketing. In a 2016 note on the Benchmark site you can already read it isn’t lossless, and reduces high-res to 17 bit at 96 kHz, at best.
And when you notice differences, the question arises what differences you notice. There are versions that sound different, because they were remastered. The vast majority however isn’t, way to costly. There is a report on this site of versions being louder by 0,5 dB, and louder generally is perceived as better. You pay extra for it when you buy a compatible DAC, and you get HF noise as a gift because of the used filtering.
They even make environmental claims now to promote it, which Archimacho calls « distasteful », see:


You could dump Tidal and choose Qobuz if you don’t want to be bothered, and prefer real hi-res.
 
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keith79

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There are probably more than a few of us that think that. But really it’s highly unlikely a human can hear the difference between 16/44.1 and 24/192 anyway.
Dont know about that. Maybe most. I suffer from slight hearing loss in my left and I notice subtle differences. Its harder for me with dsd but it does aound slightly different
 
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keith79

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It is, it’s marketing. In a 2016 note on the Benchmark site you can already read it isn’t lossless, and reduces high-res to 17 bit at 96 kHz, at best.
And when you notice differences, the question arises what differences you notice. There are versions that sound different, because they were remastered. The vast majority however isn’t, way to costly. There is a report on this site of versions being louder by 0,5 dB, and louder generally is perceived as better. You pay extra for it when you buy a compatible DAC, and you get HF noise as a gift because of the used filtering.
They even make environmental claims now to promote it, which Archimacho calls « distasteful », see:


You could dump Tidal and choose Qobuz if you don’t want to be bothered, and prefer real hi-res.
If its ever available in Canada I will check it out. Thanks for the suggestion
 

Peterinvan

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IPad Pro, iOS v15.6, Tidal app, into Cayin RU6. “Master” tracks show 88.2Khz or 96Khz.
I assume this the “first” unfolding in the Tidal app.

Sounds fine to me. I have hundreds of hours invested in curating my Tidal playlists, and I back them up using Roon to export to .CSV files, suitable for Soundiz uploading if we ever get Qobuz here in Canada.

Meanwhile Tidal is getting better and better in making recommendations based on my listening history :)
 

Audioisnobiggie

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This is the way MQA is brilliant. They make people who subscribe to JAY-Z's streaming service buy gear that puts an extra chip before anything else that they say makes it sound like the original, without him having to send it all, because there will be people who will still go for it.
 

NiagaraPete

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Yeah it seems like MQA is a scam from front to rear, in my opinion.
 

Peterinvan

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I use Foobar2000 and/or FLAC Player to play my ripped CD collection. If needed I can add parametric EQ to taste.

Most of the time I listen to the Tidal app on my PC. No EQ available in the Tidal app.

I suspect that these three apps serve up the music slightly differently (i.e. with no EQ applied), resulting in a slight difference in sound. There is a noticeable difference in volume (Tidal being louder). I listen to the Tidal "Masters", just because of FOMO.


My old ears cannot really pick out a significant difference in sound quality. Nothing distracting anyway. Just enjoy the music.
 

RayDunzl

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I did not contribute to their bankruptcy.

Or did I, by not contributing to their solvency?
 

RayDunzl

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you should be ashamed

I have enough of that going for me already without adding even more misery to the troubles of the world.

.
 
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