Well, I guess I should’ve expected this. It was good to be true. My issue came back after a couple of hours. So, I’ve done more testing and here’s what I have.
With the exact same setup
- Synology DSM 7 with Roon Core v1.8 b795
- Macbook Pro with Roon Remote app v1.8 b795 and TIDAL app v2.28.0.275
- 1Gb Ethernet network
- 200Mb optical fibre cable internet connection
- DAC #1: ifi ZEN Dac v2 (full MQA capabilities)
- DAC #2: Zorloo Ztella USB DAC with MQA (MQA rendering capabilities)
- Speakers: Edifier S2000MK III
- Song: Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue in D Minor, BWV 903: Fantasia by 2L on TIDAL
with TIDAL app and:
-
Zorloo Ztella: MQA playback as expected -
iFi ZEN DAC v2: MQA playback as expected
with Roon and:
-
Zorloo Ztella as MQA Renderer: MQA playback as expected
-
iFi ZEN DAC v2 as MQA Decoder and Renderer: MQA playback is stuttering -
iFi ZEN DAC v2 as MQA Renderer: MQA playback as expected
I guess it has to be something with Roon and iFi ZEN DAC v2 as full MQA decoder after all that triggered either by a Roon change or the DSM update.
I’m giving up for now. Pretty disappointed. And I’m not really hunting down MQA playback but I’m expecting everything to work as promised. 