SOtM SMS-200 Ultra + MQA

Audio Gear Talk MQA
1

Hello,
I have a NUC with ROCK -> SOtM SMS-200 ultra -> Luxman DA-06 DAC which does not support MQA.

What should I set to “device” inside ROON to have the highest quality with MQA files from Tidal? Decoder; Render; Decoder + Render; No MQA support. I have tried with no MQA support, but I can see that files are downsampled. If I set DECODER + RENDER I get the maximum quality and the DAC shows that the streaming is at 192 khz or more depending on the file.

Thanks.

2

No MQA Support.

Post a screenshot of the signal path.

3

Ok I can trust! But someone explain to me why if I set decoder + render the DAC shows the frequency of the MQA file? For example if the song is a 192khz MQA the dac shows me 192khz. While if I set no support it makes me a downsapling if I remember correctly always at 96 khz. Post screenshots as soon as possible if necessary. Later I post some screenshots, now I’m not home.

4

Sorry, I hold the post open, but I will not be able to post screenshots for another 10 days.

5

Here are the screenshots. If I choose decoder + render

Screenshot_20200925-012156_Roon
Screenshot_20200925-012156_Roon1080×2327 366 KB
Screenshot_20200925-012207_Roon
Screenshot_20200925-012207_Roon1080×2327 431 KB
seem to go to maximum quality. If instead I choose to set no MQA support, my DAC DA-06 Luxman does not support MQA, connected to SOtM sms-200 ultra, it seems to scale to 88.2khz. Which setting is the correct one?

6

With no support MQA

Screenshot_20200925-012235_Roon
Screenshot_20200925-012235_Roon1080×2327 406 KB
Screenshot_20200925-012245_Roon
Screenshot_20200925-012245_Roon1080×2327 435 KB

7

This is the correct setting. It’s not scaling to 88.2kHz, it’s MQA Core decoding from 44.1kHz to 88.2kHz.

This is impossible for playing a MQA music to a non-MQA DAC unless that DAC or the streamer is configured to upsample everything. If you see the DA-06 behave this way, please post a photo of the DA-06 front panel showing the 192kHz or higher sample rate. You should see 44.1kHz this way normally.

I think you have misunderstood the MQA sample rate in the signal path, it is a different thing from the actual playback sample rate. Check the DA-06 front panel for the actual playback sample rate.

8

You are right! Thank you! Setting decoder + render the Dac shows 44.1.
While if I set no MQA support, the DAC shows a higher sampling rate.
Which coincides with the one shown in the MQA Core Decoder item.
Doubt removed.
Thank you!
We can close the post.