Larry
I’m in Pittsburgh. But I have specific albums that have issues that reoccur, I’m thinking that if it were in the external connection, it would be more random.
If it is my network, then I get that specific songs or albums may have more data at a given point and that is cooking up against a bandwidth issue.
Bevan
@bevan_court and @Ricardo_Ferreira I’ve just noticed the same with the same Pro-Ject S2 DAC, listening to Majid Jordan - Space Between - Track #2 mainly, ‘Gave Your Love Away’ in MQA.
Frustratingly I can’t reproduce it at the exact same parts of the same song but I can reproduce it with the song.
For me the sound doesn’t drop out but I get static for a couple of seconds and the MQA light flashes during this static sound.
I’m playing Kaleo A/B now and get the static sound for a few seconds on track #1
My unit’s firmware is the latest v2.12.
I’ll try the same albums and problem tracks with Audirvana to see if I can rule out Roon.
Ok so…
When I have Audirvana doing the 1st unfold (like I’ve been playing with MQA for a few months now), I have no issues - not surprising, as I never noticed anything the past months.
But when I changed Audirvana to MQA pass-through mode (set the Pro-Ject DAC as a decoder)… for the first time, since I never had an MQA until now…I get the same issue Roon was having.
This is definitely a DAC & MQA issue, not Roon specific.
I can rule out a networking issue too because Audirvana is playing from memory (I can see the whole track has already been buffered as the MQA static/drops occur).
And I can rule out my USB audio chain - it’s definitely bit perfect. I’m very padantic about this ha.
I can reproduce this on track #2 of Majid Jordan Space Between and track #1 on Kaleo’s A/B, even with Audirvana - but only when A+ is in pass-through mode (just like Roon).
We (as customers) should refer this to Pro-Ject since this is not a Roon specific issue but I’m wondering if @mike or @brian has contact with the Pro-Ject Technical Team and can pass the feedback, since this is a Roon Tested device? At least A+ is still useful for something 
My understanding is that Pro-Ject are aware of this issue and are working with MQA to resolve it.
Great stuff, thanks Brian
Hi,
I actually think this is a multi layered problem. Although the DAC is probably mainly responsible for the drop-outs (I contacted Pro-Ject via Twitter and they assured me a new firmware was in the works, but had no ETA for it), I think the way Roon outputs the signal (or its RAM management, or something of the kind) has its share of responsibility, because I get no dropouts while streaming MQA on the Tidal desktop app.
Also, I think my original idea of the power stability on the system having something to do with this had, after all, some merit. I just bought a Linear PSU (this one: https://www.ebay.com/itm/LHY-LPS-Linear-Power-Supply-USB-5V-DC-5V-output-25W-TALEMA-Low-Noise-PSU/263024207845?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649) and the dropouts on MQA were considerably reduced. Before, it was impossible to listen to a track without having some dropouts, now they are more rare and some tracks even play flawlessly, sometimes.
It is completely unpredictable, as far as I can see.
Besides, this power upgrade offers a really noticeable difference on the sound. Bass is more controlled, the soundstage is more defined… Really, the sound is better. And I was using, before this, an iFi iPower, that was, itself, a better solution than the standard wall wart.
I really recommend it to all Pro-Ject Pre Box S2 Digital!!
The difference is that by default, TIDAL is performing the MQA Core Decoding, and Roon doesn’t have that feature, so they are sending different streams. This bug only happens when the DAC is processing un-decoded MQA.
When configured the same way (no software decoding of MQA), both players have hiccups during MQA playback. So does Foobar, Audirvana, etc under the same circumstances. I’ve had discussions with MQA about the issue and its root cause, and at this point it is well established what is going wrong and where it needs to be fixed. It’s just a matter of waiting for it to be rolled out.
It should be noted that if everything were working properly, TIDAL would not be decoding the MQA signal–it’s against MQA’s product guidelines to engage a software decoder when speaking to a DAC that is capable of MQA decoding. It’s only because of that bug, that the bug reported in this thread is being masked when using the TIDAL app.
I’ve seen similar with this DAC. It can be pretty finicky when bus powered, and MQA seems to increase power requirements enough to push it over the line into instability.
Have you tried the Tidal Desktop App in pass-through mode (NOT 1st unfold mode)?
Whoops, I replied at the same time as The Guru. I’ll step away now ha
Sorry, I forgot to clarify: the experience I’m reporting with the Tidal app is always with passthrough activated. And I get no dropouts!
Hmmm very easily reproducible with both A+ and Tidal Desktop App for me.
Brian’s hinted it’s an MQA issue and both Pro-Ject and MQA are aware, so we just need to wait for the fix.
I get it also with passthrough activated on the Tidal app. Seems to be that some albums are more difficult to to handle in some way. Hotel California is now playing fine now I switched the filter, but Kaleo isn’t.
Looking forward to it being resolved.
Glad I found this thread. I have been having MQA dropouts since I purchased my S2. I figured it was because my Roon Endpoint was connected via WiFi. I pulled a cat6 cable to my listening room and unfortunately I’m still getting dropouts. Patiently waiting for Pro-Ject to release a fix.
Hehe don’t hold your breath but the wheels are in motion at least. We can’t ask for more than that.
Thanks all - I am waiting too 
I have never posted in any community before so I hope I do not do any community label violations. The problem I have when I play MQA files in Roon is the same as several others but I write a short account of the problem and ask a question at the end. I use Roon on a computer connected to a Pro-Ject Pre Box S2 Digital with firmware V2.12 via USB cable, I have a Tidal account connected to Roon. When I listen to MQA encoded files with Roon, I get random dropautes music hacks and the MQA selection on the Pre box disappears for a moment. I do not have these issues when using Tidal with full MQA unfolding in the Pre Box. I have also tested MQA files from my hard drive with JRiver with full MQA unfolding in the Pre Box without getting any dropouts, the same files give dropouts in Roon. I have a stable network tested at 95Mbit / s, i7 processor, ssd disk and Win10home latest updates. Provide different usb cables and power supplies as well as tested amounts of settings on Roon nothing helps. I know that more people with Pro-Ject Pre Box S2 have the same problem and are waiting for a new firmware. But is it just DAC and MQA that is the problem when Tidal and JRiver work perfectly?
I hope my Google English is understandable.
Jan Johansson
Maybe this sound to be good to be true. But today I tried TIDAL MQA with S2D and as expected it worked fine. However, I was prompted to install a Tidal update on the iMac which I did. No apparent differences. Then started Roon on my iPad - just to try again. Now I’ve listened to 2 MQA albums without any dropouts at all:face_with_raised_eyebrow: Can it be true that the problems have been solved?
Was too good indeed! Didn’t work today…
The sound is to good to be true. 5 days ago the dropouts just disappeared without me knowing why. I have not changed any settings installed any updates in any program, just sat and listened to MQA fils with S2D and Roon and the dropouts just ended. So I wonder if anyone knows if there have been any changes in the file format or something else has been changed. It would be good to know, so I wait a bit to cry out hurry.
Unfortunately the status remains the same but a firmware update is being worked on, as discussed further up the thread.
We just need to remain patient. But you should still contact Pro-Ject Support to vent your concerns. Don’t assume they read these forums.
In the meantime, if you let the Tidal desktop app (or Audirvana) do the 1st unfold, you won’t (shouldn’t) hear any issues.
