MQA not recognized

[Mats_Rahm]

Roon Core Machine

Windows 11, 64 bit
Intel® Core™ i7-9700F CPU @ 3.00GHz
16,0 GB
Roon 1.8 (Build 1021)

Networking Gear & Setup Details

Ubiquitin UniFi Router and Switches, connected by Ethernet cable.

Connected Audio Devices

Hegel H390, Bluesound Node (v1)

Number of Tracks in Library

26,086 tracks

Description of Issue

Hi.

I haven’t played using Roon on my main listening kit for a while until today when Hegel finally got its H390 Roon Ready.

After upgrading the amplifier firmware, I added the amplifier as an audio output device in Roon as I previously added other MQA capable devices e.g. the Blouesound Node.

When I started to play an MQA track on my Hegel H390, I couldn’t get the amplifier to recognize the track as MQA. I only got it to decode it as a basic 44.1 kHz track.

I tried to switch to my Bluesound Node, but also here I only got the amplifier to decode it as a basic 44.1 kHz track. Previously when I have checked, playing over the Bluesound always resulted in the amplifier recognizing the track as MQA but not this time.

I went back to check my settings, googled a bit, and found the setting “How do you like Roon to treat MQA coded content?” that I hadn’t seen before. I changed it to “Prefer MQA over anything else” and retested. Still no MQA indication.

Am I missing something from a setup standpoint? Is it a problem with the Hegel firmware? Please help me to identify and, if possible, resolve it.

I am attaching screenshots of my configuration.

Kind regards,
/Mats Rahm

Track being Played

Signal Path

Device Setup (1 of 2)

Device Setup (2 of 2)

Preferred MQA Treatment

Amplifier display

hm

[philr]

From your signal path you are playing a nonMQA file. Pick a file you are sure Is MQA and try that.

Also in your device settings for the Hegel try setting it as renderer only. Looks like for you that is enable MQA decoder.

[Mats_Rahm]

Hi Philr.

I am playing an MQA track, please see image #1.

Image #3 shows the Hegel set up as Decoder and renderer. Are you referring to some other setting?

Kind regards,
/MAts Rahm

[philr]

Yes is there a render only option? Try that.

Despite image 1 your signal path in image 2 says it is not an MQA file. Try something else.

[Mats_Rahm]

Yes, there seems to be some kind of tagging problem in Tidal. Even though the album is tagged as MQA, the tracks are not.

When I test with another MQA track, everything looks OK.

Sorry for stirring things up. Thanks for the assistance.

Kind regards,
/Mats Rahm

[philr]

No worries unfortunately the tagging is sometimes off and that causes a lot of confusion.