MQA Rendering not working with DSP volume control on NAD D3045

[philr]

Roon Core Machine

Sonictransporter i5

Networking Gear & Setup Details

Poweline Ethernet

Connected Audio Devices

NAD D3045 connect via USB to Windows 10 computer running Roon Bridge.

Number of Tracks in Library

43,000

Description of Issue

MQA is only rendered properly when volume from Roon is 100%. When using volume leveling MQA signaling is preserved and MQA is decoded by Roon and rendered by the NAD. However when using DSP volume control as soon as the volume is adjusted MQA is not rendered. Why is this? Why does the DSP volume control not work within the DSP like the volume leveling and preserve the MQA signaling so it can be rendered?

Am I not using the right settings somewhere?

[Rugby (aka Daniel or Big Dan)]

@philr

However when using DSP volume control as soon as the volume is adjusted MQA is not rendered. Why is this?

DSP volume control is implemented by the endpoint, not in the Roon Core’s DSP Engine. See this link for full details.

DSP Volume Should Not Break MQA Rendering

Hello @David_Snyder, Our apologies, this slipped through the cracks. It is not possible to use DSP volume with MQA due to the architecture of RAAT. As shown in the Signal Path, DSP Volume control is handled on the RAAT “endpoint” instead of the Roon Core’s DSP engine. This can be confusing as the RAAT “endpoint” is often running on the same machine as the core, but they are actually two separate entities. If you check Activity Monitor on your Mac you’ll see the “RAATServer” process, this is w…

[philr]

Thanks Rugby, had not found this in my searches. So no way to use volume control in Roon and still get MQA rendering when using a USB connection.