Best MQA Desktop DAC - preferably ~$500 though up to $1K

[MarkF786]

I don't know I've fully bought into the MQA hype, but I'm looking for an MQA DAC for desktop use that offers full MQA support (full unfolding, etc). I have several good non-MQA desktop DACs, though I do have a few MQA-compatible dongles.

Any suggestions?

 

[staticV3]

Any suggestions?

Don't. It's a waste of money.

 

[HarmonicTHD]

Why MQA?

For the rest, just pick one where you like the looks and price out of the blue and green category from Amir’s many DAC reviews.

Audibility thresholds of amp and DAC measurements

Introduction A recurring theme on ASR is whether or not the various measured qualities of the devices are audible. In this post, I'll present some clear and visual thresholds for when those imperfections can be considered a potentially audible concern. I will not explain the basics of amp/DAC...

www.audiosciencereview.com

 

[Dunring]

If you must, I'd recommend the Topping e50 because it's really nice anyway and you can always put the volume down 1 percent on your player to disable the mqa if you want. Also Amazon has had a good sale on them lately. I've had a couple of them and no problems or surprises.

 

[DownUnderGazza]

MQA is a lossy, flawed solution (increased noise floor and distortion, inband aliasing errors due to poor filter) to a nonexistent problem.
Lossless streaming platforms such as Apple Music render MQA redundant.
Buy an ASR recommended DAC instead.

 

[TonyJZX]

yeah you are not going to find 'helpful' discussion of mqa here because the vast majority of people here hate it

its institutionalised snake oil

bob stuart is trying it on and he's been able to convince a slew of big manufacturers and even the chinese that mqa is a 'thing'

and it seems a whole team of savants have latched on and on the other side of the coin companies like Schitt have called them out

but if there's money to be made separating coin from audiophile rubes then there's an every greater amount of companies who are in on this scam

 

[Chrise36]

I don't know I've fully bought into the MQA hype, but I'm looking for an MQA DAC for desktop use that offers full MQA support (full unfolding, etc). I have several good non-MQA desktop DACs, though I do have a few MQA-compatible dongles.

Any suggestions?

I stopped Tidal and switched to other platforms. You dont need the problems MQA brings.

 

[trondav]

I stopped Tidal and switched to other platforms. You dont need the problems MQA brings.

Same here - went from Tidal Masters to Qobuz - never going back. MQA is not true lossless.

 

[MarkF786]

Thanks for the good feedback. I did more research on MQA last night and can better understand the criticism now.

I too have been using Qobuz recently, though recently restarted my subscription to Tidal to compare. Maybe I'm better off canceling it. I also subscribe to Spotify and Apple Music, though mainly for their large library and convenience, mostly listening to them via Bluetooth while walking or in the car.

My primary desktop DACs are Schiit Bifrost 2/64 and Modius. I am curious to try the Topping E50 now as @Dunring recommended. Doing some research, it seems to be the most affordable high SINAD amp. Though I'm more in the "Schiit" camp of valuing subjective sound over measurements, I have been dipping my toes in the other camp. That's why I bought the Modius, as it was well rated/measured here.

 

[verendus]

Thanks for the good feedback. I did more research on MQA last night and can better understand the criticism now.

I too have been using Qobuz recently, though recently restarted my subscription to Tidal to compare. Maybe I'm better off canceling it. I also subscribe to Spotify and Apple Music, though mainly for their large library and convenience, mostly listening to them via Bluetooth while walking or in the car.

My primary desktop DACs are Schiit Bifrost 2/64 and Modius. I am curious to try the Topping E50 now as @Dunring recommended. Doing some research, it seems to be the most affordable high SINAD amp. Though I'm more in the "Schiit" camp of valuing subjective sound over measurements, I have been dipping my toes in the other camp. That's why I bought the Modius, as it was well rated/measured here.

I am probably a minority here, but most MQA haters are just echoing what others have said and made up their minds. I can understand why people would get in on this hate train, but I, for one, have tried several lossless services. It's really an overgeneralization to say that one is better than the other. MQA when fully rendered by a DAC does sound really good. I've done some extensive comparison. So try it for yourself. Trust your ears before making a conclusion based on all the opinions stemming from an echo chamber.

 

[Chrispy]

No real sense in supporting mqa....

 

[Chrise36]

I am probably a minority here, but most MQA haters are just echoing what others have said and made up their minds. I can understand why people would get in on this hate train, but I, for one, have tried several lossless services. It's really an overgeneralization to say that one is better than the other. MQA when fully rendered by a DAC does sound really good. I've done some extensive comparison. So try it for yourself. Trust your ears before making a conclusion based on all the opinions stemming from an echo chamber.

Not all opinions stemm from an echo chamber as you say. MQA brings limitations on dac choise smartphone choise car systems (dsp etc) incompatibility and also sd card storage in some phones. Other services provide better quality or compatibility so why stick with Tidal?

 

[verendus]

Not all opinions stemm from an echo chamber as you say. MQA brings limitations on dac choise smartphone choise car systems (dsp etc) incompatibility and also sd card storage in some phones. Other services provide better quality or compatibility so why stick with Tidal?

This is not to insinuate any feeling of judgment. And you don't need to reply to this question. It is for all those who have made up their mind about MQA. May I humbly ask if those of you have owned an MQA-enabled DAC and subscribed to Tidal master for at least a couple of weeks to listen critically and perform comparative testing? Or is your conclusion based on what others have said or their own testing and experience? Even that does not prove whether or not MQA works as everyone can perceive and process sound differently.

And I am also having a hard time understanding how offering another technology or a feature brings limitations on equipment choices. Their are plenty of manufacturers who chose not to get in on the technology.

 

[staticV3]

@verendus
MQA verifiably, undisputably degrades the audio signal.

Doesn't matter how you unfold it, 1st, 2nd, 3rd unfold, core decoder or full renderer, or no unfold at all.
The result is always objectively worse than straight FLAC or WAV.

Now, perhaps you like the way MQA degrades the signal. There's nothing strange about that.

But most of us here are after a sound that's true to the final master. Lossy audio isn't the way to get there, no matter how you twist or turn it.

 

[Chrise36]

This is not to insinuate any feeling of judgment. And you don't need to reply to this question. It is for all those who have made up their mind about MQA. May I humbly ask if those of you have owned an MQA-enabled DAC and subscribed to Tidal master for at least a couple of weeks to listen critically and perform comparative testing? Or is your conclusion based on what others have said or their own testing and experience? Even that does not prove whether or not MQA works as everyone can perceive and process sound differently.

And I am also having a hard time understanding how offering another technology or a feature brings limitations on equipment choices. Their are plenty of manufacturers who chose not to get in on the technology.

As i said there is more than home audio...

 

[MarkF786]

This is not to insinuate any feeling of judgment. And you don't need to reply to this question. It is for all those who have made up their mind about MQA. May I humbly ask if those of you have owned an MQA-enabled DAC and subscribed to Tidal master for at least a couple of weeks to listen critically and perform comparative testing? Or is your conclusion based on what others have said or their own testing and experience? Even that does not prove whether or not MQA works as everyone can perceive and process sound differently.

And I am also having a hard time understanding how offering another technology or a feature brings limitations on equipment choices. Their are plenty of manufacturers who chose not to get in on the technology.

FWIW, using a DragonFly red, I compared a Tidal MQA track to the same hi-res track in Qobuz and couldn’t hear a difference. My only other MQA DACs are a FiiO BTR7 and a iFi Gold Bar. I’ll have to repeat the comparison with them.

Watching the youtube video by GoldenSound about MQA has convinced me though that MQA is lossy - and I can’t fathom how a lossy format could sound better than the same recording in a hi-res lossless format. So all things considered, I understand now the criticism of MQA. Maybe it’s good enough though if you enjoy the Tidal library and app over the alternative lossless streaming platforms.

 

[antcollinet]

This is not to insinuate any feeling of judgment. And you don't need to reply to this question. It is for all those who have made up their mind about MQA. May I humbly ask if those of you have owned an MQA-enabled DAC and subscribed to Tidal master for at least a couple of weeks to listen critically and perform comparative testing? Or is your conclusion based on what others have said or their own testing and experience? Even that does not prove whether or not MQA works as everyone can perceive and process sound differently.

And I am also having a hard time understanding how offering another technology or a feature brings limitations on equipment choices. Their are plenty of manufacturers who chose not to get in on the technology.

It is not about "making up my mind". It is knowing that PCM/Flac (or other lossless PCM formats) can perfectly reproduce the encoded material with higher resolution than any human can make use of.

At its best, MQA cannot do better than that. In addition it comes with increased costs, lack of transparency, compatibility issues, and serious questions about performance as described in the video linked above.

So why on earth would I even be interested in looking at it?

 

[TonyJZX]

There's people out there that use streaming services and those services work with MQA so therefore they might want an MQA dac to decode this... thus giving that placebo effect of having superior sound due to MQA "working down the chain"...

I wouldnt want to even try MQA unless it was for curiosity factor so I would be suggesting a SMSL C100...

C100

Foshan ShuangMuSanLin electronics Co., LTD. founded in 2009 which located in Shenzhen, China. And our branch company VMV Technology(HK) Company Limited registered in HK in 2013. Our company is specialized in the audio DAC, stereo headphone amplifier, power amplifier, and with own R&D...

www.smsl-audio.com

which would work as a good dac by itself but at $120 for mqa thrown in for free it'll be the most i'd ever want to give to Bob Stuart.... and this is from someone who actually has some of his gear... that operates quite well.

 

[Anderlfs]

To be honest, even this Lossless and excess of purism should be take with a grain of salt. I’ve some old mp3 that are better than any today FLAC, DSD or whatever nowadays format. The reason is that they were ripped from the very first press, before going through countless remastering processes.

That said, I’ve had some great time listening to MQA with a iFI nano Black Label DAC, and -for me - some are better that the same album available in Qobuz. So, I assume that any iFi DAC do well with MQA and that’s my recommendation focused in your question.

 

[trevintheaudioboy]

I don't know I've fully bought into the MQA hype, but I'm looking for an MQA DAC for desktop use that offers full MQA support (full unfolding, etc). I have several good non-MQA desktop DACs, though I do have a few MQA-compatible dongles.

Any suggestions?

Love how he just asks what mqa dac to get and all answers just besmirch MQA. Clearly the mqa discussion is not as black and white as ASR wants to think it is, because science is truly not black and white

Regardless, i think Gustard X16 fits what you are looking for perfectly Mark.