TBH it doesn’t matter the format being streamed. When it doesn’t work, it doesn’t work. Roon’s infamous skipping issue is pretty catholic.
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Whilst I hear what you say, I genuinely have know idea what you are hearing. The whole point of MQA is to eliminate time smear and a more natural recorded sound is the result for me.
One day, I’d love someone to come to my system and point out the perceived flaws because I do not hear this.
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Just invite your local salesman round. I’m sure he’ll tell you to it all wants replacing 
Your system looks nice and your obviously very happy with it. Job done…
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I preferred Qobuz Hi-res to Tidal MQA, but both services are very good. Probably a lot of this comes down to what you prefer presentation wise, and associated equipment. Personally, I thought Qobuz had a more natural sound and ended up picking Qobuz in spite of their having a narrower US catalog.
It is possible that it’s all in my, and your, auditory systems and how the sound is processed by our brains. You might hear deficiencies in certain sources that I do not, and vice versa. Every signal source has deficiencies. How we detect them, or don’t and,how well it fits in our system, will determine how we like it’s sound. I remember some unit that John Atkinson at Stereophile tested (I think a digital product). He said it was one of the worst testing units ever on his bench, and was befuddled that it was also one of the best sounding. And he’s had units that tested superlatively, but didn’t sound so good. All that matters is how the end result sounds to us, which will always be somewhat different, sometimes radically, sometimes barely perceptible. And that’s okay with me. I accept what you hear as what you hear, and that you love MQA. I accept that what I hear is what I hear, and I don’t like MQA. And WE ARE BOTH RIGHT!! And I don’t give a damn about the theories of how it should sound, or how it measures, etc. the only thing that matters is how or brain tells us it sounds. And, although I may discuss what I hear, I will never try to convince you that that is how you should hear it. You are you, I am me, just the way it should be.
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No, they just advertise it as such.
If they used the term “eliminate transient smear” it would have been more accurate. Minimum phase filters reduce ringing at the cost of high frequency timing. Thus introducing time smear not eliminate it.
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Again, I ask. Why am I not hearing this so called smear? I have beautiful high frequency response from my Berylium tweeter and the finest recorded sound I have ever heard.
People’s jaws drop at the clarity when they hear my system, and I am constantly surprised at how realistic the sound is.
Don’t say I don’t know what to listen for as I am human and live in the real world with 62 years of experience listening to real sounds and plenty of live music. I know what real sounds like.
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I think you just described a couple reasons why you would have difficulty hearing it.
The other reason is your Meridian system has always been using minimum phase filters and that’s what you are used to and have no comparison to linear filters in your system.
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My final point Chris is that you have zero recent frame of reference to hi-res content being played back with linear phase filters through a nice system in your room yet you proceed to tell everyone MQA is the bomb and solution to problems in those systems. It really gets old.
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Having listen to a lot of Hi Fi before finding my home with Meridian and their philosophy along with their general approach to Hi Fi and music enjoyment, I find I have never been happier with the sound.
I also have some Bluesound equipment, Pulse Flex Mini and Pulse 2 which I find extremely satisfying, punching well above it’s weight.
The innovations and awards these companies have won over the years did not happen by accident and the same thinking has led to a culmination in MQA.
The more I listen (Ward Thomas‘s new EP In MQA just now) The more I read into the research & philosophy, the more I am appreciating the results in recorded musical enjoyment.
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There are plenty of us who can go back and forth between DSD, DXD, 24/192, 24/96 and still believe that many MQA files stand up to those alternatives.
Chris just happens to be the one who doesn’t t tire of being the whipping boy for the anti MQA crowd. The rest of us are enjoying new MQA releases each week.
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No argument. A proper frame of reference in each persons room is needed. Anything else is just believing and repeating the marketing of a company trying to make money.
I stream from Tidal and Qobuz. They both sound equally great to me. While I don’t have a $50,000 sound system, I do have a decent sound system and three good headphone situations, two of which use MQA capable DAC’s. It’s all good.
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Hello,
My personal opinion here is, Vinyl sounds better, better than the digital scource. DSD Comes close, but mqa sucks
I use my digtal music only when i got more then 2 glas of wine
Mike
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I definitely agree with you.
It’s not a matter of theory…if something sounds better…it sounds better.
Period.
Nothing else matters.
MQA is the greatest thing that ever happened to me as music lover.
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I don’t think I have ever heard a Tidal MQA that didn’t sound good. Whether it sounds better than a Qobuz 24/96 or 24/192 is debatable, I think. I guess some do and some don’t.
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Wow, I drop out for a few days and come back into another 40 comments on this one.
Ladies and Gents, it may not be your thing but personally, I just want to listen to wonderful, emotional, inspiring music. I wanna chill out after a crappy day at work, escape from real life and just “connect”.
So don’t argue and fight over bits and bytes, just kick back on your favourite chair, pour a nice glass of vino, and just relax. Music gets into your soul, it’s your memories, your moments, where you were when you heard that song. I actually don’t care if 128kbps old skool AIFF does it for me, it’s the MUSIC that achieves that, not the format. If you prefer one to another then awesome, go with the one you prefer.
This thread reads a bit like trying to argue that a BMW is better than an Audi (no that doesn’t mean start that debate!!).
Just think of how many wasted minutes of LISTENING to your awesome personal set up (whatever that may be) with your awesome personal music collection (whatever that may be) in your favourite format (whatever that may be) while typing these up.
That, my friends is what is important. 
…I’m off to find that glass of vino.
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But, if you’re going to listen to music, you might as well listen to what sounds best to you on your system.
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best to you yes - so get on with listening
I can multi-task. Unfortunately, I’m also away from home and my Roon system.