So I have the following setup -
Tidal HiFi -> Roon -> Cambridge Audio CXN v2 -> Musical Fidelity M5Si -> PMC Twenty5 21i speakers.
Listening to MQA, Roon does the first unfold but the cambridge does not render. Is it worth doing the first unfold without the rendering?
Listen and see is the only way to tell, for you.
My Oppo 203 is not MQA capable, so I always let Roon do the decoding from 48kHz to 96kHz, etc. I’ve always thought I could hear the difference, but I don’t really know for sure. I let Roon do the MQA decoding even when using my MQA DACs. I don’t see any reason not to.
Looking for other peoples view on this 
The MQA DAC’s do the full render, so the 1st unfold on Roon and then the render on the DAC’s. Yeah, I don’t see a downside unless the 1st unfold is expecting or wanting to the render to take place somewhere down the line. I guess why do the 1st unfold if it’s not a benefit, I assume roon does do it because it is a beneift.
If you search the forum you will find that MQA and its benefits or detractions is one of the most hotly debated topics. You will not get a consensus just aggravation.
The decoding alone is only a benefit if your ears can hear a difference between 48 and 96 with your system.
Of course it’s worth it. The rest of your electronics will be the final arbiter on the sound.
This was recently posted on the MQA Audio developments Facebook page, taken from a Q and A on the Hitch hikers guide to Meridian forum Some years ago.
An interesting read given the developments since.
Without getting into any opinions about MQA, it certainly won’t hurt anything or degrade the quality from the non-unfolded file. Whether or not the first unfold will sound better is up to you. If you like it better then use it and don’t worry about it 
Whether it sounds better after decoding is up to the listener, I suppose. I certainly don’t know how it could sound worse. I guess that’s what you said. 
Yes. First unfold is the VAST majority of the extra info in the MQA file. Rendering only chooses between a set of upsampling filters.
MQA DACs come in two varieties: those that do the full decode - ie Roon does not do anything with MQA, and those that render, meaning the source needs to unfold the MQA stream, and the DAC simply chooses from one of the updsampling filters (32?). The differences in these filters are just tweaks in the upsampling parameters.
The answer to the OP is yes. If you have an MQA file the first unfold is essential, probably more so if your DAC doesn’t do MQA.
Yes. You are getting something closer to the original file, less lossy. Can’t hurt.
Thanks everyone! Really appreciate the feedback.
