Theo, I know this wasn’t directed at me. But I’ve talked to Bob Stuart and other members of the MQA team on several occasions, and corresponded extensively by email. MQA very definitely do claim that the format improves the sound–specifically, by removing timing artifacts introduced by digital converters.
Be Well,
Jim
DAC built inside these active speakers: https://www.meridian-audio.com/en/products/loudspeakers/reference/special-edition-dsp5200/
Well, maybe not… See this post. There are test files higher in that thread for those who’d like to try it out at home.
My favorite is the Allo DigiOne endpoint (S/PDIF) connected to both a Meridian 218 using SpeakerLink for MQA final decode in the speakers and a C61R surround processor for Trifield, subs etc. otherwise. I’d rather use the surround unit instead of my 218 once I can have it both ways with MQA and room correction.
We’ll see how the Roon implementation goes. For now, I get the best sound using Audirvana providing the first MQA unfold to the DigiOne via UPnP/DNLA.
I’m afraid the average person may not truly understand all these intricate discussions, and draw the wrong conclusions. I’ve just read a user of a certain brand of network player, when that brand releases an MQA update for another model (not to his model yet), suggests people not to upgrade their firmware because of fearing MQA to control all of their music playback, and compares it to Cinavia. (For his brand of network player, MQA processing is not activated for playback of non-MQA music, so there is no reason not to upgrade the firmware due to MQA.)
I’ve read that for some DACs the MQA filters are always on irrespective of whether the music files contain MQA data or not. Personally I like MQA but I agree that always on is not an approach I would take.
One good example is Aurender A10 which is recently reviewed by Stereophile. The MQA filter is a default setting even it is not playing back MQA.Using MQA filter and playback non MQA content can cause aliasing especially 44.1kHz.
I think people are fearful that firmware update will default to using MQA filter when playing non MQA content, this has happened to Aurender A10 streamer. Ultimately we no longer able to select the type of digital filters offered by DAC manufacturers and also to our preferences. Playing back non MQA content using MQA filter will resulted in aliasing and possibly degraded quality playback.
There’s are many information about MQA posted in some of forums but this one really put everything in one convenient stop for everyone to read 
!
A bit of perspective here from a trade publication (finally):
For now, I am reasonably confident that this DRM, voodoo “deblurring” software is a dead man walking. I sure hope Roon has not $invested$ too much into it…
Its takes a long time… guess almost 4 years? But we are almost there.
Always a great challenge to try and give a simple explanation to something which is complex and perhaps unprecedented. Whilst this is a considerable challenge for the MQA comms team, I am encouraged that MQA is a really good development not only by my ears, but by the companies that have succeeded in their implementations. Bob Stuart’s quiet dignity in not responding to a small group of extremists who are beyond reason is also compelling. I wonder how many of the current critics have a Qobuz Sublime+ account (not that you can use it with Roon…) etc that they champion instead.
We must now be close to the Sony releases. Week after week I save a fortune on excellent MQA releases through Tidal which I would have bought. Whilst not for everyone, the recent Christa Ludwig box set in 96k MQA is astonishing in quality and value; no purchase required.
Looking forward to exciting times for people who love their music more than posting on forums.
Hans Beekhuyzen weighs in on MQA. Apart from the man apparently owning just one shirt, this is well worth watching – if only for a bit of perspective:
For comedic relief maybe. The part where he says that in his opinion MQA has less loss than PCM and DSD was a real knee slapper.
The perspective that Hans Beekhuyzen offers is, in a word, ignorance. Half of what he says is just plain wrong, and the other half is simply his impressionistic feelings. MQA is just software, and thus just math. Hans gets the math wrong. For a correct understanding of the math/technicalities see:
I had to give this post a like. Bob Stuart’s “quiet dignity” by offering us an end to end $land grab$ (as some manufactures and consumers have described it) is I suppose, something. I guess it is better that someone be “dignified” when trying to fleece you 
No need to disparage people. Reasonable minds may differ on something like MQA. There are recording engineers who feel their legacy is being erased. And there are those of us, like me, that have no real strong opinion on the sound of MQA but don’t like its DRM potential.
Maybe go back and play all your DRM CD’s on a CD-ROM and see how much fun that is.