All of a sudden I find files with no file information showing in Roon.
What’s going on here?
I have to play them to see what it is.
Swedish House Mafia - Ray Of Solar
1 Like
@Mike_O_Neill I agree that with time this will become clearer. But let me explain the distinction I’m trying to make.
Yes, Roon tells us there are two versions and we can choose between them. But what will happen when Tidal begins to release Hi-Res versions, now labeled as MAX, that are not MQA versions? If an MQA version also exists, will users be able to choose it or will Tidal default to the non-MQA Hi-Res version?
The latter appears to be Tidal policy from what it has said publicly so far.
It is possible I suppose that Roon will offer a choice Tidal doesn’t. It is noteworthy that in the example of the Who album you cited, Tidal does not identify the Hi-Res version as MQA on its own site. Roon does. But again, what will happen when there are two Hi-Res versions of the same album?
As you suggested this will all become clearer with time.
I’ve just done some testing on this.
Tidal’s client is now streaming true lossless hires FLAC, and in most instances it’s the same copy as Qobuz.
Here’s the spectrogram of delta, showing the difference between the version of Travis Scott’s ‘HYAENA’ played at 88.2khz through Tidal client vs Qobuz client:
However Roon is still picking up the old MQA version, which can either be played in ‘folded’ 44.1khz which of course is not ideal whether you want MQA or not, OR, can be ‘unfolded’ to 88.2khz, but then it’s not the same as the lossless version:
So it seems that the MQA versions are still on Tidal’s servers, but whilst the Tidal native client is no longer serving them where a hires version is available, Roon is not able to see the hires version and is still playing the old MQA version.
Looks like Roon does need to update this
UPDATE: Also seems like Tidal Connect endpoints are not yet working with the new ‘MAX’ system and are not correctly streaming the hires versions of stuff yet. Choosing MQA instead even when hires is available. Hopefully will be updated soon. And not sure if this indicates that it’s Roon that needs to update or Tidal needs to change some backend/API stuff
16 Likes
Thanks very much. This is exactly the issue.
Tidal Connect endpoints will also need a firmware update, which may take some time - see @wklie posts above.
This might be right. Looking at boygenius “the record” today through Roon, there are two Tidal versions. One is FLAC 44.1/16 bit. The other is FLAC 48/24 bit, MQA 48.
Just canceled my Tidal sub. I might go back once they get this CF sorted. Don’t really need it though, it was primarily a back up for Qobuz.
there is definitely some weirdness going on. I added two “Max” albums via the desktop app, Taylor Swift’s Evermore, and the complete Mozart works for Violin and Orchestra w/ Henryk Szeryng.
After adding, both show up in Roon as MQA. Taylor’s version plays back as MQA; Henryk’s plays back as 16/44 FLAC.
Note that Tidal said they would have 6 million hires tracks at launch. That’s about 6% of their library. They will be adding more over time.
I’m more interested in the hifi (not plus) “cd quality” tier, which was littered with 16/44.1 mqa releases. Looks like those are being replaced, too.
Once mqa is purged from the hifi tier, that’s all I need.
2 Likes
the 16/44 MQA releases were one of the best things about Tidal. I hope those don’t go away altogether.
6 Likes
Sarcasm?? LOL
not at all. folks who think MQA is only about “origami” or data rates, miss one of its primary benefits. I listen to a lot of older jazz and classical recordings, many of which don’t have higher resolution masterings. I’ve found MQA, fully decoded at the hardware level, provides a much appreciated improvement in natural dynamic range, and openness, especially at the bottom end. Classical voices in particular benefit.
to my ears, in my system, of course.
12 Likes
Can you elaborate as to how 16/44.1 mqa is preferable to redbook?
1 Like
see post above yours.
1 Like
Hi guys,
Please keep this topic on track, this is not a MQA (Pros/Cons/Love/Hate) discussion topic.
To avoid this topic derailing, any further comments on the merits or demerits of MQA will be removed.
7 Likes
Maybe the Roon administration will already give information about when the Hi-Res Flac Tidal versions will be available in Roon?
The silence drags on 
.
2 Likes
I think you are right about this being a transitional move.
It’s 6% of the total catalog, not of the existing Hires portion of the catalog, which is far smaller on all existing hires platforms. For all we know, the hires catalog may only be about 10-15 million. And if that’s the case, having 6 million on day 1 is a big step in a very short period of time, which bodes well for this transition.
It’ll be nice to know when hires flac will be available in Roon so I can drop Qobuz. Qobuz has great sq but outside of Roon the experience is abysmal.
4 Likes
So, what I understand is that Tidal is distributing hires ALAC for beta iOS Tidal users. They no longer get MQA. Tidal will soon be distributing hires FLAC, which is I assume 24 bit, 41, 82 or 164 Mhz. I think if your server and DAC can handle that, and you have enough bandwidth, you’re golden, or am I wrong?