They are the same for the capability of playing MQA tracks, but the DAC specific filters are tuned for different hardware.
OK, thanks.
I’m about to ask the same. But after reading all the comments. This is what I understand. Correct me if I’m wrong. (Edit: I’m really wrong, read more below)
(1)Tidal source 44.1/48 khz (MQA - available) or whatever MQA capable
(2)Tidal decoding (First unfold from 44.1k/48k > 88.2k/96 )
(3)Tidal send (2) to Roon
(4)Roon send to DAC and tell DAC “ORFS(original frequency sampling rate)” so that DAC know what’s coming.
(5)After this is all DAC job is to do the ‘Renderer’ thing(2nd or 3rd unfold if capable 88.2/96++). Roon most likely cannot track what DAC is doing anymore since most DAC likely not report back to Roon.
- That’s MQA Core decoding. Calling it Tidal decoding is wrong because Tidal service is not decoding it for you, and not all Tidal music are MQA music.
- No. Tidal sent the raw MQA before any decoding. Roon decodes it in your setup.
- DAC does not need Roon to tell it the OrFS. And full MQA DAC do not have to rely on Roon for MQA Core decoding.
- MQA Rendering always occurs with hardware MQA Renderer and Full MQA DAC for MQA music, regardless of sample rate.
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Thanks for your explanation! 