Nad d3045 rendering

How do I set up NAD D3045 with Roon to complete unfolding and rendering? I am using Tidal through Windows 10 via USB output to Nad D3045. Please advise. thank you.

Well, do you want the NAD to do the whole unfolding/rendering, or, have Roon do the unfolding part and the NAD the rendering? Each goal has different settings.

But, generally speaking, if you want the NAD to do it all, then set the MQA option for Decoder and Renderer and on the advanced page, Turn MQA renderer off in Roon. Also, do not add any DSP, volume leveling, etc as that will kill the MQA signal.

On the other hand, you can set the MQA option for Renderer only, leave the MQA renderer set to On in the advanced setting. this will have Roon do the first unfold and then send that so the NAD can finish the job.

Thank you for your prompt response. I have set Nad to do both decoding and rendering. Roon decoding is “off”. DSP is also "off’. Perhaps i do not understand how to “read the path” correctly. Snapshots that other people have posted indicate decoding and rendering but mine does not. See attached screenshot. The question I have …is my system decoding and rendering as it should or not?

Thank you.

Add images

That looks correct. Roon is verifying that it is an MQA file in the verification step, and then sending it to the NAD.

Thank you for getting back to me so quickly. I understand that Roon is recognizing an MQA signal from Tidal which is set to pass through MQA. Although Nad led indicates that it is receiving an MQA signal, there is nothing in the signal path to indicate that Nad is actually processing the signal (decoding and rendering) as it should. I am not sure if I am hearing an improvement. Speakers are Klipsch RF82-11 tower. I can certainly hear a difference in recording quality when comparing various albums but little or nothing when comparing different versions of the same album. I am sorry to take up your time.

Roon won’t know what the NAD is doing internally unless the NAD sends that information back to Roon. Roon doesn’t know and so can’t display.

Some hear an improvement, some don’t, some hear it as being worse than a comparable high res recording. Some MQA, not many, are the result of specific unique re-mastering. So, they cannot be directly compared to any other format as they are fundamentally different, Donald Fagen’s “The Nightfly” is an example. Once again, some like the new mastering, some don’t.

If you don’t hear any difference, then I would just check that off as something to not worry about.