Roon, TIDAL and MQA

Or they might just be doing 1.3.

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All this MQA goodness is keeping us off their backs so they can get on with it lol

Is there an DAC-less hardware MQA decoder? If so, that would provide an easy upgrade path for current DACs without MQA without the need to change the whole DAC at high cost.

As I understand it there is no technical limitation on hardware v software decoding. There are commercial decisions here. A hardware decoder, like full software decoding, may not fit the business model. I hope to be proven wrong.

In ideal world the decoder needs to understand the DAC profile. (In Laymans terms)
If I bought a hardware decoder I would need a way to accomplish this or you would be better of with a dedicated Decoder DAC.
Thoughts, Chris

@Chrislayeruk, Hi Chris, Roon seems to be aware of the dac you are using already which suggests it could be capable of achieving in SW what currently can only be achieved by an MQA dac like a Meridian 818v3 for example?

Russ

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Do You know when Roon 1.3 will be available?

When all the new features are implemented and pass unit, regression and user testing. Putting an exact date on things increases pressure on the developers and test team. We donā€™t want that.

Hi Russ, yes within Roon or Sooloos SW MQA decoding (if the DACā€™s are known and tested) would produce better results ahead of just a generic profile delivered to unknown DAC.
I expect a lot of people would be very happy with this at this stage even if it is limited to 96/24 given the quantity of MS200/MS600ā€™s out there.
That would also buy Meridian and MQA breathing space to develop the next phase of integration.
Exciting times. Chris

when Roon does decode MQA, will it still send as RAAT?

Iā€™ve been long awaiting a solution to use both ROON and MQA on my MSB Dac V with network renderer.

Roon decoding sounds like a good partial solution - since MSB are at this time implementing MQA decoding only through quad-USB input.

But this doesnā€™t help with ROON, since MSB wonā€™t read the RAAT standard. Hoping for MSB to go RoonReady, but donā€™t know when/ifā€¦

I really like the network renderer, and donā€™t really want to have to go USB unless I have toā€¦

Do I have any worthwhile options??

RAAT is the language of Roon. There is more info in the Knowledge Database as to what it is and why. A really worthwhile readā€¦

RAAT

understand that. My question has to do with whether I have any options Iā€™m not aware ofā€¦

Hi, the truth is ā€¦ we donā€™t know yet ā€¦ so we have to wait and see. imho no point in trying to second guess.

In reality, HW decoding is superior.
With HW decoding, you get the MQA ā€œde-smearingā€ algorithm written specifically for your DAC vs the info contained in the playback file about the recording ADCs. Designed to compensate for both the recording and the specific DAC.

With SW decoding you get generic decoding that doesnā€™t give you everything MQA has to offer.

Theoretically, there could be SW plugins for different DAC models instead of MQA DACs. However, this is unlikely to happen, especially for a large number of DACs.

I agree that itā€™s commercially unlikely, but there doesnā€™t appear to be any technical reason why it couldnā€™t happen. A central repository of DAC specific filters which can be downloaded and applied in the background as DACs are detected in Roon seems quite technically feasible these days.

Roon does get used with a wide variety of DACs, just look at the thread where people say what DAC they are using. Someone would have to pay for the work in preparing a DAC specific filter. It may be unreasonable to expect MQA to do so in the absence of a licensing fee from the manufacturer.

I also accept that a hardware/firmware solution in a particular DAC may be faster and more accurate than a software solution. When we are talking about timing corrections of this magnitude the difference between on-board correction and a correction applied prior to sending the signal to the DAC over an indeterminate length of cable (or via Ethernet through a renderer) may also be a consideration.

Am I geting this right? If Roon 1.3 will have MQA decoding, would I still have to get a MQA DAC to get the full benefits of MQA? Or will Roon decoding make the 24/48 into 24/96 etc?
/Jonas

If Tidal HiFi option now includes MQA then does it really change anything from a cost perspective if you donā€™t have an MQA compatible audio path (whatever that might be) the cost of use is the sameā€¦unless they plan to eventually tier MQA files as yet another price point?

Hi @bigj,

Short answer is we donā€™t know yet, there is a very low signal to noise ratio atm. Longer answer is that one guess is that Roon will convert to 24/96 like Tidal app and hardware MQA DACs will do better.

Hmm. Playing through Tidal desktop I only get 24/48. Are you saying I should get more?
If Iā€™m happy with 24/96, Roon would suffice? If MQA decoding comes to Roon.

Yes. You have to update to latest version of the Tidal app.