One thought comes to mind: is it now possible to configure Roon to upsample non MQA music, but to disable that for MQA tracks ? Or will that come in a later build?
@Alastair_Roberts It already does that.
My Meridian 818v3 MQA DAC is set up as Decoder and Renderer. Sample Rate Conversion is set to Max PCM rate (Power of 2).
- MQA is decoded, DSP applied, signalling re-embedded, and renderable output sent to the DAC.
- RBCD is up-sampled to 176.4kHz without any change in settings.
That’s fantastic! Can’t wait to try all of this.
1 Like
I think (and I have) a slightly different question… Lets say I have a full-MQA decoding DAC (I do, dCS Rossini).
So the questions are:
-
Can I set DSP to upsample standard PCM to max-power-of-two while leaving MQA untouched?
-
Can I set Roon to unfold MQA and NOT upsample it (ie letting the DAC do the upsampling via rendering) while upsampling PCM to max-power-of-two?
-
If I do any other DSP in Roon (such as convolution) - can I still do the same as in ‘2’ - ie MQA → unfolded → Convolution (possibly at a very high rate) → rendering in the DAC?
-
Yes*.
-
Yes*. This is the default behaviour if your endpoint is a Renderer or Decoder and Renderer (which it is): to prevent up-sampling and preserve the signalling information necessary for subsequent rendering.
-
Yes!
* Different rules are applied for MQA content and non-MQA content.
2 Likes
Apart from the technicalities…
My first impression is that Roon sounds even better than before!
How come?
I play with a Meridian Prime, preferably MQA files
1 Like
Just starting to listen with the new update - 3 cheers to the ROON folks - I know of no other software/product/service that provides the quality, response, and communication that you folks do. Your only fault is that you aren’t the software developers for Devialet…(a bit of humor here).
I have no preconceived opinion of MQA - but, now I can try it and decide for myself.
Great Job
1 Like
I think they added a british accent to the PCM stream that the Meridian likes better.
6 Likes
I have the Oppo UDP 205 which I have been using to listen to MQA encoded albums from USB drives. Frankly I struggle to hear the difference from ordinary full fat HD files. Until today I thought Roon delivering Tidal MQA to the player sounded great. Still think it sounds great after updating to 1.5 with more presence to the music. That of course may just be confirmation bias kicking in.
Bit perfect before 1.5, and presumably exactly the same now. How come?
Maybe upsampling is improved? Not everyone has disabled all DSP.
Very much appreciate this update!
Roon, now with greater perfection. Even more perfecter.
AJ
1 Like
Outstanding!!
Just heard a 352 kHz file unfolded in Roon and fully rendered by my Berkeley Alpha DAC 2-MQA. Best thing I’ve ever heard.
Tip: if you are using a Berkeley Alpha USB converter before an MQA rendering DAC then you have to go into the device settings in Roon for the Alpha USB and change it from “no MQA” capabilities to “renderer only”.
Thanks Roon Team!!!
Trudat! 
Hi Guys,
Mods are clearing up the MQA battlegrounds to make room for new, fresh forlorn hopes and ditches to die in. I’ve set this topic to close 48 hours after the last reply. Post if you’d prefer that it be kept open.
4 Likes
Rather than searching through the long threads, let me post what I have now playing MQA files. This is to play through Luxman DA-06 (non-MQA) DAC. Is everything alright? I didn’t have to change any setting. They sound great. Thanks!
Looks spot on to me!
2 Likes
A post was split to a new topic: Roon Decoding MQA Listening Impressions
Yes. The Luxman not being a renderer is simply getting upsampled data.
I would like the Roon team to consider an upsampling filter selection specific to MQA content when playing an MQA file - ie something akin to the MQA filter transfer functions.