MQA now on Tidal

[rbbert]

It seems likely that any Warner Music title currently available for hi-res download somewhere has a MQA version on Tidal, even if not listed in the Masters section. As noted, they do say "Master" on the bottom status bar

[La Dolce Vita]

I am not a MQA haters... quite the opposite. I am in fact someone who tries to take an objective view and play devil's advocate. If a product proves itself to me then I am just as vocal exclaiming their virtues.

If Tidal fails I believe it will be a huge issue or hit for MQA. The streaming, Tidal using audiophiles are exclaiming it's second coming status, as well as they should since it is like comparing Redbook CDs to high resolution.

However, the few head to head comparisons that I have seen done; comparing a MQA file running through a MQA DAC, of reasonable price level such as the Brooklyn or the Explorer 2, against the same album in high resolution download running through a similarly priced non-MQA DAC have preferred the high resolution download. Honestly I have not seen many of these true head to heads done, but every one I have seen have came to this conclusion.

I also totally understand those who have the insanely expensive Meridian unit will fully exclaim the second coming... that is to be expected since obviously they are drinking from the Meridian kool aid... just kidding, just kidding.

I also believe that if Tidal does really go down some one will step in and buy them. It is very much a needed and popular service. Everyone had better hope it is not Apple though.... they will bring it into the Apple fold and using other manufactures products will slowly fade away.... I can see an Apple MQA DAC .... it will become part of iTunes...

I also believe if Tidal is in as serious shape as you say then Meridian has to be looking elsewhere since streaming really is the only way for MQA to truly make in roads into the audio market.

Randy...regarding Apple I hear you! My point is that we are going to see consolidation. Not necessarily those mergers or acquisitions. Perhaps instead Spotify will merge with TIDAL. Something along these lines.

Have you actually heard decoded MQA? Especially through a MQA decoding DAC? I don't think you have as of yet. But when you do...well...look out! You'll be speaking like Bob (Rhapsody) - hehe - in no time!



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[BayStBroker]

Just completed with my wife a rather fun shootout using Joni Mitchell's "All I Want" (Blue, Track 1). Focus was MQA (unfolding at 24/88.1 by Tidal through Macbook Pro to PS Audio Directstream DAC) vs PCM 24/96 downloaded from HD Tracks (Aurender N100H to the PS Audio DS). Same Nordost Heimdall USB for both. We agreed the PCM from the Aurender was superior in every way. But we also felt that the mastering we were listening to was very different. The MQA stream sounded brighter and guitar and voice levels were higher. The presentation was not as cohesive as the PCM, which sounded decidedly more balanced and musical. The MQA is very impressive though. Joni's voice is dynamic and detailed and lovely in its nuanced high frequencies. For fun we streamed the Redbook HiFi version from Tidal. The "Master" (MQA) killed it when it came to detail, separation, and air. No doubt the noisy Macbook Pro is part of the problem for the MQA feed. Says something about me that I just got back from a week's vacation and this is the most fun I've had so far in 2017. The year ahead promises good times for audio enthusiasts!

[Randy Myers]

Nice comparison... thank you for you and your wife's impressions.

[j2020]

Just completed with my wife a rather fun shootout using Joni Mitchell's "All I Want" (Blue, Track 1). Focus was MQA (unfolding at 24/88.1 by Tidal through Macbook Pro to PS Audio Directstream DAC) vs PCM 24/96 downloaded from HD Tracks (Aurender N100H to the PS Audio DS). Same Nordost Heimdall USB for both. We agreed the PCM from the Aurender was superior in every way. But we also felt that the mastering we were listening to was very different. The MQA stream sounded brighter and guitar and voice levels were higher. The presentation was not as cohesive as the PCM, which sounded decidedly more balanced and musical. The MQA is very impressive though. Joni's voice is dynamic and detailed and lovely in its nuanced high frequencies. For fun we streamed the Redbook HiFi version from Tidal. The "Master" (MQA) killed it when it came to detail, separation, and air. No doubt the noisy Macbook Pro is part of the problem for the MQA feed. Says something about me that I just got back from a week's vacation and this is the most fun I've had so far in 2017. The year ahead promises good times for audio enthusiasts!

Many thanks, BayStBroker, for sharing your observations.
Most certainly a fun year ahead for everyone here.

[mep]

It seems likely that any Warner Music title currently available for hi-res download somewhere has a MQA version on Tidal, even if not listed in the Masters section. As noted, they do say "Master" on the bottom status bar

Rob-Are you changing your mind regarding the quality of sound from MQA?

[wklie]

Another comparison of redbook vs MQA vs DSD on Mytek Brooklyn:
http://www.psaudio.com/forum/directs...age-10/#p65707

[rbbert]

Rob-Are you changing your mind regarding the quality of sound from MQA?

I'm pretty much in a holding pattern as far as opinion goes here. The partially decoded MQA is nicer to listen to than CD, not necessarily than hi-res PCM though. For me to be convinced that it is not just a gimmick I think I'm going to have to be able to do more extended listening with a good MQA DAC; I'm not sure when that will happen though. The big question, I think, is content. If Warner's entire catalog becomes available on Tidal in MQA (with only limited amounts in hi-res PCM) that alone makes it attractive. We'll also have to see what the other major labels have in mind; streaming hi-res FLAC is certainly possible, it's being done on a limited scale, file sizes are only a little bigger than MQA. The other question is more firmware related: can or will Meridian work out some way to make MQA work with DAC's that can continually upgrade, like PSAudio's?

It's interesting that as far as measurements go, it appears that even properly decoded MQA has a high frequency cut-off (essentially a low-pass filter) in the low to mid 20's kHz, with a lot of noise above that. The fact that it sounds better than CD suggests that it is not the high-frequency content of hi-res PCM or DSD that improves the sound, but rather something in the digital filtering, or perhaps something about the increased bit depth in the "audible" frequency range. That's really not a big surprise.

[Rhapsody]

Just want to be the Yang, if the Yings are doubting MQA and it's sonic results. I am NOT telling you that MQA sounds better than 16/44.1, I am suggesting that anyone that has not heard MQA in either 24/48, 24/96 (SW decoded) or 24/192(Hw decoded) even with a non MQA dac to give it a try for yourself. If you have the opportunity to hear MQA through a MQA DAC again I would suggest that if you have the opportunity again try it out for yourself.

Who knows if someone else's opinion would jive with yours? Especially people who for whatever reason are "doubters". That's totally fine if the "doubters" feel that way for themselves, it is certainly their prerogative, but I am cautioning anyone that has not heard MQA in a good system to not be negatively influenced by the "doubters".....try it for yourself and have your own opinion.

[mep]

Just want to be the Yang, if the Yings are doubting MQA and it's sonic results. I am NOT telling you that MQA sounds better than 16/44.1, I am suggesting that anyone that has not heard MQA in either 24/48, 24/96 (SW decoded) or 24/192(Hw decoded) even with a non MQA dac to give it a try for yourself. If you have the opportunity to hear MQA through a MQA DAC again I would suggest that if you have the opportunity again try it out for yourself.

Who knows if someone else's opinion would jive with yours? Especially people who for whatever reason are "doubters". That's totally fine if the "doubters" feel that way for themselves, it is certainly their prerogative, but I am cautioning anyone that has not heard MQA in a good system to not be negatively influenced by the "doubters".....try it for yourself and have your own opinion.

I respect your opinion, but I certainly feel we should all be doubters when it comes to marketing claims for new products or technologies we are potentially interested in until we see them, touch them, or hear them ourselves and form our own opinions on the claims being made. Otherwise, we would just all be sheep blindly following the herd.

[Rhapsody]

I totally respect your opinion as well. All that I am saying is that people should try it for themselves nothing more nothing less.

I would also even respect your opinion more once you hear it in a good system with the full implementation.

Mark, honestly I mean NO disrespect, it's a personal itch that after a week of being available for a 60 day trial you or anyone could just download Tidal, set it up (maybe 20 minutes total at most) if you have any kind of 24/96 and play it for yourself. Then let's talk about the +'s and -'s, which there are. I have several issues with the Tidal rollout and available MQA tracks in the Master section and when they are going to make more available.

I think discussing the positives and negatives, of MQA are fun and useful to others, once you have heard it. Again, if you choose not to do so, that's totally up to you, I just want to make sure that a first time reader is not put off by the "questioning" of the new technology and gives it a try for themselves.

[joeinid]

I have to say that I don't know, yet, if I'd buy MQA massaged download files if offered, for example, over hi-res or dsd. But I am ecstatic with getting even a modest bump in sound quality for my streaming sessions via software in the desktop Tidal app. If purchased MQA music played back through a proper hardware dac is even better, count me in. When I hear Tidal MQA Masters in their full glory through a proper dac, I am sure it will be a new day. I love what I hear now.

I totally respect your opinion as well. all I am saying is that people should try it for themselves nothing more nothing less.

I would also even respect your opinion more once you hear it in a good system with the full implementation.

[rbbert]

Just want to be the Yang, if the Yings are doubting MQA and it's sonic results. I am NOT telling you that MQA sounds better than 16/44.1, I am suggesting that anyone that has not heard MQA in either 24/48, 24/96 (SW decoded) or 24/192(Hw decoded) even with a non MQA dac to give it a try for yourself...

I would not characterize MQA in terms of bit depth and sample rate, as you are doing here. "Partial" (or "software") decoding and full (hardware) decoding is more appropriate and more accurate, since analysis of fully decoded MQA files appears to show that sampling rate is somewhere around 48 kHz no matter what, and bit depth is hard to determine exactly (maybe 19bit equivalent?).

[Rhapsody]

I would not characterize MQA in terms of bit depth and sample rate, as you are doing here. "Partial" (or "software") decoding and full (hardware) decoding is more appropriate and more accurate, since analysis of fully decoded MQA files appears to show that sampling rate is somewhere around 48 kHz no matter what, and bit depth is hard to determine exactly (maybe 19bit equivalent?).

Fine, I was on a treadmill when I wrote that. Let's use your definition instead.

[Rhapsody]

I have to say that I don't know, yet, if I'd buy MQA massaged download files if offered, for example, over hi-res or dsd. But I am ecstatic with getting even a modest bump in sound quality for my streaming sessions via software in the desktop Tidal app. If purchased MQA music played back through a proper hardware dac is even better, count me in. When I hear Tidal MQA Masters in their full glory through a proper dac, I am sure it will be a new day. I love what I hear now.

Joe, that's a great point. I probably would NOT buy MQA files, it's just a personal thing. I don't like buying DSD or High Res PCM either. They sounded better than 16/44.1 and I didn't buy them so even though (to me) MQA is a mind blower I would not buy MQA files, ESPECIALLY because I am a Tidal Addict......I've been a Tidal Addict for over a year and have never enjoyed music more than the last year and that goes back to the 50's and 60's!

A LOT of my enthusiasm with MQA is that it is available in Tidal. For a few days I was frustrated with the amount of Tidal/MQA albums that became available. Over the last few days I am totally happy and grateful to even have the 500 titles available in the Masters list on Tidal.

At night I've started to listen to the Masters list, at least a track or two, starting with Beyonce (that lasted 10 seconds) and then moved to the second album Sturgill Simpson, who I never even heard of and ended up listening to his entire album and really enjoyed it. I plan to at least play a track or two from all of the albums that I have never heard in the list of current 500 and search for new treasures.

Anyway, good point about buying MQA files, personally that would not make so excited.....MQA on Tidal does.

[rbbert]

... I have several issues with the Tidal rollout and available MQA tracks in the Master section and when they are going to make more available...

And who knows how many are actually available?? For sure, way more than are listed in the Masters section

[Rhapsody]

And who knows how many are actually available?? For sure, way more than are listed in the Masters section

This point is driving me crazy I saw that list that had almost 800 actual titles that are available, but finding them is too much effort and not really knowing if they are even there. Even looking for an album in the 500, unless you fav it, is a pain. Tidal has not done a good job with the user experience, but personally I am grateful to have what we have for now. Hoping it gets clearer in the future.....and a lot more available titles.

[joeinid]

Well said Bob. The fact that MQA makes my streaming sessions soooooo much more enjoyable is a treat. Seeing all the new music available, it's broadening my horizon and getting me to try new artists that I never would have clicked on before. The bonus is that there is a lot more great music than what's in my comfort zone.

[Rhapsody]

Well said Bob. The fact that MQA makes my streaming sessions soooooo much more enjoyable is a treat. Seeing all the new music available, it's broadening my horizon and getting me to try new artists that I never would have clicked on before. The bonus is that there is a lot more great music than what's in my comfort zone.

Agree totally.

What irritates me the most is that Tidal just says they will be adding more titles on an on-going basis. They surely have some type of roll-out plan, why don't they just give some idea about the roll-out of new titles......"we will be adding more titles on an on-going basis" is irritating to me

[rbbert]

Supposedly, Warner Music has finished encoding its entire music library to MQA, although as we have seen one doesn't know until you listen which mastering of a given recording you will get. I suspect Tidal just keeps adding them on a daily basis, but whether or not MQA titles end up in the "Masters" section is pretty hit or miss.

[Rhapsody]

Supposedly, Warner Music has finished encoding its entire music library to MQA, although as we have seen one doesn't know until you listen which mastering of a given recording you will get. I suspect Tidal just keeps adding them on a daily basis, but whether or not MQA titles end up in the "Masters" section is pretty hit or miss.

Thx. That's sort of sucks on one hand and then good on the other hand that at least they are adding more titles. Hopefully Tidal starts identifying them for us!

[mep]

Thx. That's sort of sucks on one hand and then good on the other hand that at least they are adding more titles. Hopefully Tidal starts identifying them for us!

Do you mean you can't tell the difference between a regular "Master" title and an MQA "Master" title by looking at the list of albums under the "Master" category?

[mep]

I totally respect your opinion as well. All that I am saying is that people should try it for themselves nothing more nothing less.

I would also even respect your opinion more once you hear it in a good system with the full implementation.

Mark, honestly I mean NO disrespect, it's a personal itch that after a week of being available for a 60 day trial you or anyone could just download Tidal, set it up (maybe 20 minutes total at most) if you have any kind of 24/96 and play it for yourself. Then let's talk about the +'s and -'s, which there are. I have several issues with the Tidal rollout and available MQA tracks in the Master section and when they are going to make more available.

I think discussing the positives and negatives, of MQA are fun and useful to others, once you have heard it. Again, if you choose not to do so, that's totally up to you, I just want to make sure that a first time reader is not put off by the "questioning" of the new technology and gives it a try for themselves.

Bob-I will try it eventually. Right now I just started reviewing the VPI Avenger table and I've had the loan of a vdh Colibri cartridge for several weeks that I have to take advantage of before I send it back next week. So for now, I don't have time to monkey with downloading another app, getting it to work, and playing around with partially unfolded MQA files. I will report back my findings at a later date.

[Rhapsody]

Bob-I will try it eventually. Right now I just started reviewing the VPI Avenger table and I've had the loan of a vdh Colibri cartridge for several weeks that I have to take advantage of before I send it back next week. So for now, I don't have time to monkey with downloading another app, getting it to work, and playing around with partially unfolded MQA files. I will report back my findings at a later date.

Cool!!!

[Rhapsody]

Do you mean you can't tell the difference between a regular "Master" title and an MQA "Master" title by looking at the list of albums under the "Master" category?

It's a mess Just kidding. You can go into the Masters list and see all 500 available MQA titles, not a problem there. BUT, then there is a spreadsheet generated list with 800 titles, including the 500 that are in the Masters list that supposedly are in the regular Tidal listings. These 300+ additional albums are not marked in anyway.

Everything in the Masters list is MQA. It's that there are MQA titles that are not in the Masters section and the only way to find them is to search for an album and if you see that the search results provide 2 or 3 different copies of the album, you have to play each of them and see if you can find the MQA, only going by what you hear.....what a PITA!

Audiophil can help with this as he knows more about this list and he has also been finding the non documented titles. Phil, help please.

[CPP]

It's a mess Just kidding. You can go into the Masters list and see all 500 available MQA titles, not a problem there. BUT, then there is a spreadsheet generated list with 800 titles, including the 500 that are in the Masters list that supposedly are in the regular Tidal listings. These 300+ additional albums are not marked in anyway.

Everything in the Masters list is MQA. It's that there are MQA titles that are not in the Masters section and the only way to find them is to search for an album and if you see that the search results provide 2 or 3 different copies of the album, you have to play each of them and see if you can find the MQA, only going by what you hear.....what a PITA!

Audiophil can help with this as he knows more about this list and he has also been finding the non documented titles. Phil, help please.

it appears that Tidal has failed to add all the MQA albums in the Masters list. I like you found more MQA albums outside of the Masters area. But once you search for your artist and pull up the albums on the right, clicking on play of any of the tracks will either show you at the bottom right hand corner, a HIFI or MASTERS identifier. Not very professional if you ask me, either put them all in the Masters or being able to search by some MQA identified from the main search.

[Rhapsody]

it appears that Tidal has failed to add all the MQA albums in the Masters list. I like you found more MQA albums outside of the Masters area. But once you search for your artist and pull up the albums on the right, clicking on play of any of the tracks will either show you at the bottom right hand corner, a HIFI or MASTERS identifier.

Thx Chris, that is very helpful!

[joeinid]

Looks like it may take a while for all the gears to align and come together. All the more reason to tread lightly and take MQA as it comes.

[still-one]

It is going to take some time for Tidal to work out all of the issues identifying MQA albums. Remember not all music is allowed to be streamed or sold in every country or region. Depends who owns the rights for each region. So not every MQA steam from Tidal or MQA download from Hiresauio is averrable in every country to purchase.

It is a hassle identifying which version is the MQA when the same title can be listed multiple times in Tidal. Until Tidal gets them all listed under Masters I will continue to use the Masters listings plus those additional titles contained in a spreadsheet on the Roon forum. I then play a track from each version 'till the display in my 808 shows MQA. I then tag that version for my music library.

[nonesup]

It's a mess Just kidding. You can go into the Masters list and see all 500 available MQA titles, not a problem there. BUT, then there is a spreadsheet generated list with 800 titles, including the 500 that are in the Masters list that supposedly are in the regular Tidal listings. These 300+ additional albums are not marked in anyway.

Everything in the Masters list is MQA. It's that there are MQA titles that are not in the Masters section and the only way to find them is to search for an album and if you see that the search results provide 2 or 3 different copies of the album, you have to play each of them and see if you can find the MQA, only going by what you hear.....what a PITA!

Audiophil can help with this as he knows more about this list and he has also been finding the non documented titles. Phil, help please.

An advantage of the Lumin application is that it facilitates a lot of the search of these,
MQA albums, which are not in the Master section of Tidal Desktop.
The Jagged Little Pill search gives me the result I attached.
The second starting from the top and from the left is 44.1 / 24.
The comparison between 44.1 / 16 and 44.1 / 24 is very easy.
Thanks Lumin

[nonesup]

And by the way, you do not need to put it in Tidal Favorites, as we thought it was necessary to do, to reproduce 44.1 / 24 or 48/24

[Rhapsody]

An advantage of the Lumin application is that it facilitates a lot of the search of these,
MQA albums, which are not in the Master section of Tidal Desktop.
The Jagged Little Pill search gives me the result I attached.
The second starting from the top and from the left is 44.1 / 24.
The comparison between 44.1 / 16 and 44.1 / 24 is very easy.
Thanks Lumin

Looks like Lumin has their act together with MQA. Btw, Fransciso you have a GREAT system, I'm sure the MQA sound great on it. Love the Atrias....nice.

[nonesup]

Thank you.

[Randy Myers]

The Jagged Little Pill Collectors Edition high res download that I have is 24/192 Khz...

[wklie]

And by the way, you do not need to put it in Tidal Favorites, as we thought it was necessary to do, to reproduce 44.1 / 24 or 48/24

This was suggested because I thought it would be easier to use the desktop app to find MQA music, other than looking up the spreadsheet...

[Rhapsody]

A different twist to my MQA equation- So I was totally smitten by the sound of MQA in my set up. Went through the several iterations, SW decoded, HW decoded, back to SW decoded waiting for my MQA DAC module which is coming in a week and now I am happily back to streaming Tidal at 16/44.1.

I enjoyed the MQA and even finding new artists in the Masters 500, BUT, BUT, BUT - I have not been enjoying my overall listening experience as much as I did when I was listening to regular Tidal. With HiFi Tidal I am listening to 20 artists that I lOVE listening to as well as finding new music that people suggest. I am not hooked on "the sound", I am hooked on "the music".

Last night I went back to listening to Agnes Obel, Angus and Julia Stone, Ben Howard, London Grammar, Malia, Miles Davis, Ben Webster, Gene Ammons and on and on. Tidal gives me all of this music and I just love the selection.....it trumps the SQ for me. Saying that you have to understand that I have optimized my system(s) around streaming Tidal via the Aurender N10 and either the MSB Select II DAC or the Goldmund Satya system. Before anyone would pass judgement they would have to hear Tidal streaming HiFi through my system(s) to understand where I am coming from.

The trick to enjoy listening to the music I love with Tidal Hifi is to not listen to the MQA right before listening the HiFi. Some sessions it will be fun to listen to the MQA, but until, if ever, the music I want to listen to is MQA'd then I will revert mostly to streaming Tidal HiFi. I did the exact same thing with vinyl, R2R, DSD and High Res PCM. They all sound "better" than Tidal HiFi if you go back and forth, BUT, if I don't listen to the other formats and just turn on Tidal HiFi I am in Sonic and more importantly "Music Heaven".....to each their own

[Rhapsody]

https://parttimeaudiophile.com/2017/...g-impressions/

[joeinid]

Bob,

I agree that it's the music, not the medium for me too. I stream a lot and get ribbed for it, but I'd venture to say that I get more emotional enjoyment from my music/system than most. Heck, when I'm stuck at work, late at night and all I have are my crappy desktop speakers, I've had some of the best listening sessions.

[Rhapsody]

bob,

i agree that it's the music, not the medium for me too. I stream a lot and get ribbed for it, but i'd venture to say that i get more emotional enjoyment from my music/system than most. Heck, when i'm stuck at work, late at night and all i have are my crappy desktop speakers, i've had some of the best listening sessions.

agreed 101%!!!

[La Dolce Vita]

Joe, that's a great point. I probably would NOT buy MQA files, it's just a personal thing. I don't like buying DSD or High Res PCM either. They sounded better than 16/44.1 and I didn't buy them so even though (to me) MQA is a mind blower I would not buy MQA files, ESPECIALLY because I am a Tidal Addict......I've been a Tidal Addict for over a year and have never enjoyed music more than the last year and that goes back to the 50's and 60's!

A LOT of my enthusiasm with MQA is that it is available in Tidal. For a few days I was frustrated with the amount of Tidal/MQA albums that became available. Over the last few days I am totally happy and grateful to even have the 500 titles available in the Masters list on Tidal.

At night I've started to listen to the Masters list, at least a track or two, starting with Beyonce (that lasted 10 seconds) and then moved to the second album Sturgill Simpson, who I never even heard of and ended up listening to his entire album and really enjoyed it. I plan to at least play a track or two from all of the albums that I have never heard in the list of current 500 and search for new treasures.

Anyway, good point about buying MQA files, personally that would not make so excited.....MQA on Tidal does.

+1 I agree with Bob here. The beauty of MQA to me is that it can be streamed! I already own plenty of DSD and am not looking to own more music (other than vinyl)


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Rhapsody]

Another "hierarchy" relationship for me regarding vinyl, R2R, DSD, CD and MQA SW decoded, MQA HW decoded in my system(s) and to my personal preferences are:

Top Tier - All a bit different but top of the class regarding SQ

In no particular order - R2R, Vinyl, Native DSD and HW encoded MQA (None are "better" to me, they are all sonic nirvana with a good recording in these formats)

Second Tier - Still musical satisfying but second tier with respect to SQ compared to the Top Tier

In no particular order - CD, non-native DSD, SW encoded MQA

Third Tier - The trick is that even though SQ wise Third Tier has less SQ than Tiers 1 and 2 Tier 3 is still is TOTALLY musically involving and gives the greatest music selection by far.

Tidal streaming 16/44.1

I listen Tidal streaming pretty much 100% of the time.....it works for me.

[CPP]

Streaming to me has a convenience factor but for critical listening I will always fall back to my LP's and well recorded digital or CD's. I found MQA fun, but cumbersome with the same artist all spread out when looking for MQA files not to mention its got a PC attached to it which I don't like (my opinion of course). I just like most of my music upsampled to DSD via my Lumin and I just can't do that with MQA., it is what "ever it is". .

[Rhapsody]

Streaming to me has a convenience factor but for critical listening I will always fall back to my LP's and well recorded digital or CD's. I found MQA fun, but cumbersome with the same artist all spread out when looking for MQA files not to mention its got a PC attached to it which I don't like (my opinion of course). I just like most of my music upsampled to DSD via my Lumin and I just can't do that with MQA., it is what "ever it is". .

Insightful Chris....."the long and winding road"

[rbbert]

After just a few days I think I'm also done with streaming, at least or until we see what the other major (and minor) labels are planning for hi-res sreaming. Whether or not my next DAC (whenever that may be) has MQA may affect that as wel, but for now there is no sound quality advantage to streaming, and no real exciting content that I don't already have, and Tidal's interface and search function need significant improvement.

[still-one]

According to the spreadsheet being maintained on the Roon site the number of MQA files is up to over 941.

[Rhapsody]

According to the spreadsheet being maintained on the Roon site the number of MQA files is up to over 941.

Jim, do you have the link to that updated spreadsheet?....thx

[still-one]

Jim, do you have the link to that updated spreadsheet?....thx

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets...vid=1968149103

NOTE: The reason that it is probably over 941 is that the don't list all of the 2L recordings. 2L has their entire catalog available to purchase in MQA.

[Rhapsody]

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets...vid=1968149103

Thank you!

[still-one]

Jim, do you have the link to that updated spreadsheet?....thx

See my post above with the latest data.

I must say since MQA was released on Tidal about 10 day ago I have had some of the most enjoyable listening sessions in all of my years in his crazy hobby. Some of the releases streamed thru my system exceed any SQ I have heard anytime, anywhere. Not every title exceeds some of the better Hi Rez PCM or DSD recordings but none of them sounds bad in comparison. If the Master list I posted above continues to be updated it becomes pretty easy for me to find music I might enjoy the correct MQA version and tag it in Sooloos. I have done this with ~20 albums.

Just as I do with the CD's and Hi Rez music I want to own I look forward to being able to purchase MQA versions of some of this music especially newer releases. If anything happens to Tidal I will want to own some of the releases.

[Jack]

Bob

Did you ever get your Windows laptop to recognize your DAC? If not and you were a fairly early adopter of 10 then go into your device manager and delete your audio driver whether Realtek or some other. Re-start the laptop and Windows will install a repaired driver. The original software update had a corrupt USB driver. I fought with it a while before I remembered.