Ability to opt out of MQA

Feature request: ability to opt out of MQA (and other audiophile snake oil) :rofl:

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So… all high res, then? :sunglasses:

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MQA is not lossless high resolution, it’s lossy compression high resolution and is not really necessary now that there is lots of bandwidth and lots of inexpensive storage. However MQA does generate a nice revenue stream for Bob Stuart. To his credit, Mr. Stuart is better at these audiophile games than Mr. Young and his failed Pono. However I believe that old cranky Young has more tricks up his sleeve, so I guess we will have to wait and see.

But I repeat, if I’m paying for the right to use MQA (via Roon) then I want the ability to opt out.

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It’s part of the Roon feature set. It would be like someone saying that they don’t care about metadata and would like to opt out of any fees associated with metadata. Or someone that doesn’t use zones and would like to opt out of the costs associated with developing that feature.

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Except that metadata and zones are useful features, the jury is still out on whether or not MQA is actually useful :upside_down_face:

I was hinting that any high res is snake oil. It was a joke, but I guess it isn’t funny. Let’s leave it there.

Just don’t play MQA music, in the same way I don’t play DSD or MP3
I don’t see the problem here at all.

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I agree. I would opt of of MQA. Give me the ability to select other formats when streaming Tidal, please. My DAC is not set up for MQA and I suppose the core computer is doing the conversion, but on my system MQA sounds like crap. Reduced dynamics and an almost muffled sound compared to 16 bit 44.1 khz. Anyone else experiencing this?

Whether or not high resolution is snake oil is for each listener to decide. My point is that the need for MQA is slowly fading with the availability of greater bandwidth and inexpensive file storage. Once 5G is in wide spread use, MQA will be hard pressed to prove its value.

I agree and I don’t use MQA since my Tidal subscription is for Premium (the lower tier). However the money I save is all spent on medical bills that result from my ears bleeding from listening to 320 bit rate ACC (not mp3) streams. If I’m going to listen to lossy compression then I go all the way to bleeding ears :drop_of_blood::ear:

NOTE: the above is meant to be a joke, so please lighten up.

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It’s interesting, I find MQA as the best sounds I have ever heard and people who experience it have jaw drop moments.
I’m not just saying this, this is my experience. I wonder what’s wrong in your system as something has to be?

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Not really I find mqa very hit and miss. More miss of late if I am honest and I am not a hater.

I think it has something to do with you being British :wink: You know rally 'round the flag and all that.

However kidding aside, I’m quite happy with 24bit/96kHz when available and really don’t have issues with a good mastering played back at 16bit/44.1kHz. Haven’t found MQA, the few titles that I’ve listened to through the Pro-Ject Pre Box S2 Digital - full decode, all that compelling.

By the way, Chris I am really, really jealous of all that wonderful live music you are always posting about. Not that folk music is my cup of tea but all live music is worthwhile. Funny thing is I love jazz and live near NYC, the jazz capital of world, but getting into NYC to hear live jazz can be very tiring and very expensive. Nonetheless you really are a true music lover!

Thank you for your kind words, I fell into the opportunity to get involved in live music and had no idea as to how it would change my life.
I am truly blessed, it’s a lot of work but I’ll do it whilst I can. Well presented live music is just the best thing as I’ve been introduced to so many artists I would never have connected with.
My advice to anyone is, get to the gigs, find your local circuit and you’ll never look back.

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No, it’s not. You need an MQA DAC. The Roon software only does the first unfold.

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I agree (10).

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you should be able to hide the MQA albums

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I’m missing something I think. Can’t you just not add the MQA versions of albums to your library?

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But you call MQA snake oil. Should it not be up to each listener?

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Isn’t all audiophile snake oil up to each listener? That’s the beauty of all audiophile marketing - first and foremost remove the science from the discussion, or only invoke science when it works in your favor, i.e. larger or, in some cases, smaller numbers. Otherwise, it’s just up to each listener. You hear the BIG difference, don’t you? My golden ears heard it, can’t you? :thinking:

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You can now, go to Settngs, Services, Tidal…change it to CD.

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