Continuing the discussion from No sound with Sony NW-ZX300 in exclusive mode:
I have Sony NW-A45 and same problem with TIDAL application. Have not tested with Roon.
I suspect this is caused by a flaw in Sony firmware and partly how TIDAL/Roon audio format selection logic works. Sony firmware reports that it supports 32 bit integer format when it (probably) actually does not. If you open MIDI tool you can see the formats that DAC has reported as supported.
TIDAL and Roon should select 24 bit integer format instead of 32 bit integer format. I can not fathom why TIDAL selects 32 bit integer format in exclusive mode when playing back MQA passthrough enabled - it does not make sense because MQA is always 24 bits and this could disable MQA detection in receiving DAC. I am no expert things MQA so this is pure speculation on my part.
EDIT: could be of course a bug in macOS High Sierra. Quality has been in decline since Big Boss left the company.
EDIT 2: No this is not it. I just tested this by setting 32 bit integer mode using MIDI tool and audio plays just fine. Stupid of me that I did not figure out that I can actually test this myself using MIDI tool. Ignore my stupid ramblings, please! However maybe the information that this is not Roon related only is of some use.
Hello @Leandro_de_Moura,
In the “Device Setup” for the Sony NW-ZX300, could you try setting the “Max Bits Per Sample (PCM)” to “24” and report back if you see any change in the behavior?
-John