Roon audio quality not as good as direct play from Tidal on a Cambridge Dac Magic Plus

Roon Software Discussion
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Core Machine (Operating system/System info/Roon build number)

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Network Details (Including networking gear model/manufacturer and if on WiFi/Ethernet)

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Audio Devices (Specify what device you’re using and its connection type - USB/HDMI/etc.)

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Description Of Issue

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Sorry should have indicated that i am using a MacBook Pro laptop with USB 2 connection to a Dac Magic Plus. When playing Roon the DAC indicates rate of 44 and not the usual 192. Quality does not seem as good as a direct play from TIDAL. Any suggestions? Could i have set something up wrong to create lesser quality of sound???

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What source files are you playing? The DacMagic Plus indicates the incoming sample rate. TIDAL desktop will unfold MQA to either 88.2kHz or 96kHz but not 192kHz.

Roon can do this for you too, but you’ll need to make sure it is configured for ‘No MQA Support’ with ‘Enable MQA Core Decoder’ on.

You’ll need to set the DAC up for USB 2.0 to achieve 192kHz from your MacBook too. Finally, if you’re using the DAC to control volume, set Roon to fixed volume.

PS. Your first posts says nothing … did you replace the TEXT GOES HERE sections with information?

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sorry i am new to Roon just joined today and the setup features are hard for me to understand. i am not a computer person and really do not understand all the jargon. but i do have the DAC usb set to type 2. but the No MQA support and the Enable MQA Core decoder are like latin to me. But i guess i will have to play with it a bit. I guess these are in the settings functions somewhere? sorry for being an idiot but this is so new to me. It does look like sometimes the playback is at 44kHz and then switches to 192kHz on some tracks. the 192kHz setting seems much better.

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Hi @JIM_REVIS,

Can you share a screenshot of Device Setup for this device (you can find this by going to Settings | | Audio in Roon).

Can you also share a screenshot of the Signal Path in Roon?

Thanks!

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I suggest you read the Knowledge base. I know its it the manly thing to do but …

https://kb.roonlabs.com

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