If you are using a fully MQA capable DAC, set it to Decoder and Renderer and set Roon to No MQA decoder. If your DAC is an MQA renderer only, set it to Render Only and set Roon decoding to On. If your DAC has no MQA capability, set Roon decoding to On.
Most of the time I’m using my iPad and iPhone to listen to Roon through a Hidizs S3 PRO Hi-Res DAC which is MQA supported. These devices are set as end points on the Core which is on my Mac Mini.
That’s not the best advice, as it means that if DSP is enabled on Roon, MQA will be lost.
There are very few occasion when it may be desirable to switch force the Roon MQA decoder off.
Remember that when Roon is configured for “Decoder and Renderer” it will only enable it’s MQA decoder if DSP is in use.
So do I need to switch on “Enable MQA core decoder” in Advanced settings to get maximum value from MQA? If so, do I need to switch it off manually if I’m not using an MQA supported DAC?
Yes, if you’re using Roon DSP. Not necessary if you never use Roon DSP, but it doesn’t hurt anything to switch it on. When you’re not using an MQA DAC you want to set Roon decoding to On unless you don’t want to decode any MQA files that your are playing. Some people hate MQA. I like it.
The DAC you’re using does rendering, not the first unfold. So you should set turn on “Enable MQA core decoder”. If your device has an LED or similar indicator that it is receiving MQA, make sure that is the case.
Not true, if the DAC does not support MQA decoding then it needs to be enabled.
As I said early, for the vast majority of users Roon’s Core MQA decoder should be switched on.
Switching it off is a brute force option. When enabled Roon will use it or not as appropriate depending on how the zone’s device settings are configured.