Does the core decode not work in the Tidal app for eg of you output to EAPO then onto the dac? Doesn't that just mean you can't pass onto an mqa dac to do the last render?Don't forget MQA makes EQ very difficult unless you pay for Roon. Also extra cost of a special DAC which has a chance of using the broken MQA filters on all content.
For whatever reason, MQA tracks are frequently louder than standard PCM. If you’re really wanting to compare accurately, be sure to volume match using some method other than ears. Even very subtly louder tracks always sound better when making these types of subtle comparisons.I love music. And the MQA tracks I've listened to on my test-drive of Tidal have been superb. Much preferable (admittedly not blind, not by a trained listener) to the same tracks on Tidal and Qobuz "CD-quality." Testing was primarily Sting's The Last Ship, in the event anyone cares.
When you add EQ and send stream to an MQA DAC since the stream has been changed the light does not come on and the final unfold not done...Does the core decode not work in the Tidal app for eg of you output to EAPO then onto the dac? Doesn't that just mean you can't pass onto an mqa dac to do the last render?
Good point. I'll try again using an SPL app and report back.For whatever reason, MQA tracks are frequently louder than standard PCM. If you’re really wanting to compare accurately, be sure to volume match using some method other than ears. Even very subtly louder tracks always sound better when making these types of subtle comparisons.
And remember that the mqa and pcm versions may not have been taken from the same master.Good point. I'll try again using an SPL app and report back.
Measured how? That’s a pretty small difference and might not be significant.Interesting finding: max SPL on the CD-quality cut was 86.7 dbA; max on the MQA was 87.2 dbA. But average on the CD-quality was 79.98 dbA compared to 79.66 on the MQA. Suggests that the CD-quality cut was acoustically compressed in a way the MQA was not. That had been my impression before doing the measurements, actually.
I'm using the Keuwlsoft SPL Meter app on a Samsung Note 9, mounted on an angled phone stand acquired at a local health fair.Measured how? That’s a pretty small difference and might not be significant.
Try a different app. Then another. They'll give different results.I'm using the Keuwlsoft SPL Meter app on a Samsung Note 9, mounted on an angled phone stand acquired at a local health fair.
Hardly research grade stuff, obviously.
Try a different app. Then another. They'll give different results.