Hello All,
Just to clear things up, any Roon Ready or locally attached audio device supporting 24bit/88.2kHz + 24bit/96kHz playback will default to “MQA Renderer” mode.
Regardless if the device is configured for “MQA Renderer” and “No MQA Support”, Roon will perform the MQA Core decode during MQA playback and unfold the content to 24bit/88.2kHz or 24bit/96kHz.
The difference between the two modes is wether the MQA signaling information is included in the audio stream.
MQA Renderer mode results in the inclusion of the signaling information in the lower bits of the audio stream. This allows any potential downstream MQA DACs to execute the MQA Rendering process. This signaling information is typically around -130dB or lower – below the threshold of audibility for mere mortals.
Configuring the setting to “No MQA Support” results in the MQA Core Decoder not including the signaling information in the audio stream.
-John