MQA DAC required
Discussion
I've recently bought a pair of Bowers & Wilkin PX8.
Lovely headphones and a massive step up from what i was using before.
I also have a Tidal HiFi Plus account and would like to make the most of the new headphones.
From my understanding, by using the Tidal app on the PC, the MQA (Masters) files are decoded/unfolded, so i can listen to the music.
However, these MQA files can be unfolder furthermore, to expand on the sound and clarity of the music?
This next level of unfolding seems to require additional hardware, namely a MQA DAC. Although i have no idea what i'm looking for.
When purchasing the headphones, the lovely guys at Sevenoaks sound mentioned that i am now at a level of hardware, where a £2,500 Naim amp is required to enrich the source of sound. I'm not looking to spend that much.
Any recommendations of which USB MQA DAC i should be looking at?
Lovely headphones and a massive step up from what i was using before.
I also have a Tidal HiFi Plus account and would like to make the most of the new headphones.
From my understanding, by using the Tidal app on the PC, the MQA (Masters) files are decoded/unfolded, so i can listen to the music.
However, these MQA files can be unfolder furthermore, to expand on the sound and clarity of the music?
This next level of unfolding seems to require additional hardware, namely a MQA DAC. Although i have no idea what i'm looking for.
When purchasing the headphones, the lovely guys at Sevenoaks sound mentioned that i am now at a level of hardware, where a £2,500 Naim amp is required to enrich the source of sound. I'm not looking to spend that much.
Any recommendations of which USB MQA DAC i should be looking at?
Thank you for the link.
Looking at the USB DAC section, there are about 50 manufactures, some i do not recognised.
Would it be safe to assume that all MQA DACs serve the same function, as mentioned in my previous post, and the extra that i pay would be for more features, more recognisable brand name etc?
Looking at the USB DAC section, there are about 50 manufactures, some i do not recognised.
Would it be safe to assume that all MQA DACs serve the same function, as mentioned in my previous post, and the extra that i pay would be for more features, more recognisable brand name etc?
Measurements (and ABX tests) have shown that MQA brings nothing to the table, and in many cases can actually be detrimental to sound quality.
This is an interesting article with a technical explanation
This is an interesting article with a technical explanation
Thanks for the link.
In MQA fairness, I've come from just listening to standard MP3 music that has been streamed to a pair of Bose QC25.
I upgraded to the B&W PX8, which was an "ear opener" and hearing more than what i heard before on the same tracks.
Now with the Zen DAC, I'm hearing even more, with more depth (lack of a better term) to the music.
I know FLAC is superior, but I'm not aware of any steaming service that offers that.
In MQA fairness, I've come from just listening to standard MP3 music that has been streamed to a pair of Bose QC25.
I upgraded to the B&W PX8, which was an "ear opener" and hearing more than what i heard before on the same tracks.
Now with the Zen DAC, I'm hearing even more, with more depth (lack of a better term) to the music.
I know FLAC is superior, but I'm not aware of any steaming service that offers that.
The key here is that you are happy with the sound, and that's all that matters.
I had thought that some of the larger streaming services do offer flac streams?
All of my music is stored locally in flac format, I don't stream at all, apart from radio, so not 100% sure about the various services.
I had thought that some of the larger streaming services do offer flac streams?
All of my music is stored locally in flac format, I don't stream at all, apart from radio, so not 100% sure about the various services.
bunchofkeys said:
Thanks for the link.
In MQA fairness, I've come from just listening to standard MP3 music that has been streamed to a pair of Bose QC25.
I upgraded to the B&W PX8, which was an "ear opener" and hearing more than what i heard before on the same tracks.
Now with the Zen DAC, I'm hearing even more, with more depth (lack of a better term) to the music.
I know FLAC is superior, but I'm not aware of any steaming service that offers that.
Qobuz streams in FLAC (and is significantly cheaper than Tidal Masters unless you're purchasing Tidal from Argentina...) catalogue isn't quite as large as Spotify/Apple/Tidal and it doesn't really have the 'music you might like' type algorithms of those services, but many argue that the sound quality is about the best available (it really majors on classical music) I've been using it for a couple of years now and it's more like a record shop whereby you find what you want to listen too versus stuff being presented to you - it's not perfect by any stretch but good enough for my needs (see a lot of younger folk on Reddit complaining that playlists top out at 1000 tracks "and I've got 10k+ in some of mine!", why?...In MQA fairness, I've come from just listening to standard MP3 music that has been streamed to a pair of Bose QC25.
I upgraded to the B&W PX8, which was an "ear opener" and hearing more than what i heard before on the same tracks.
Now with the Zen DAC, I'm hearing even more, with more depth (lack of a better term) to the music.
I know FLAC is superior, but I'm not aware of any steaming service that offers that.
Deezer is another who stream in FLAC but only CD quality (quality of mastering is far more important than bit rate and resolution)
I'm not a fan of Tidal and MQA from a moral standpoint, I view it as them trying to insert DRM via a proprietary algorithm and pass it off as superior sound quality that needs specialist equipment to play back in full MQA (you are correct in saying that a PC etc will do the first unfold, then a MQA specific DAC is needed to do the full unfold)
There's a lot of controversy and conflicting viewpoints around MQA - https://www.linn.co.uk/uk/blog/mqa-is-bad-for-musi...
Or this, it really caused a stooshie last year -
https://youtu.be/pRjsu9-Vznc
The difference at the lower end of the couple of hundred dollar Chinese DACs that have an MQA and non-MQA option was the circa $60ish - I've also see the iFi rep on AVForums saying they've no option to include it as it would lose them sales over a competitor who does include it - iFi stuff is excellent across the various price points they market at, good choice and good to hear you're pleased with it.
I take it you are using the PX8 in wired configuration given they're Bluetooth ANC headphones that you can wire into via USB C?
Yes, the PX8 are wired into the Zen DAC.
Although I've connected them to my phone via Bluetooth, so that the B&W app has a connection. I've not actually used them as a wireless headset, yet.
And spot on with the Tidal pricing, it was the main attraction compared to the other offerings from Spotify/Deezer.
However, i was not aware that Deezer offered FLAC, it just read as Hi-res lossy files.
I can only assume that if i were to purchase FLAC albums, they would be played through the Zen DAC without any compromise?
To an untrained ear, could i even tell the difference between FLAC and MQA?
Although I've connected them to my phone via Bluetooth, so that the B&W app has a connection. I've not actually used them as a wireless headset, yet.
And spot on with the Tidal pricing, it was the main attraction compared to the other offerings from Spotify/Deezer.
However, i was not aware that Deezer offered FLAC, it just read as Hi-res lossy files.
I can only assume that if i were to purchase FLAC albums, they would be played through the Zen DAC without any compromise?
To an untrained ear, could i even tell the difference between FLAC and MQA?
bunchofkeys said:
Yes, the PX8 are wired into the Zen DAC.
Although I've connected them to my phone via Bluetooth, so that the B&W app has a connection. I've not actually used them as a wireless headset, yet.
And spot on with the Tidal pricing, it was the main attraction compared to the other offerings from Spotify/Deezer.
However, i was not aware that Deezer offered FLAC, it just read as Hi-res lossy files.
I can only assume that if i were to purchase FLAC albums, they would be played through the Zen DAC without any compromise?
To an untrained ear, could i even tell the difference between FLAC and MQA?
Nah, you'd never notice the difference TBH (and regardless of what MQA say, it is a lossy format, but again you'll almost certainly never notice the difference...and at that price...)Although I've connected them to my phone via Bluetooth, so that the B&W app has a connection. I've not actually used them as a wireless headset, yet.
And spot on with the Tidal pricing, it was the main attraction compared to the other offerings from Spotify/Deezer.
However, i was not aware that Deezer offered FLAC, it just read as Hi-res lossy files.
I can only assume that if i were to purchase FLAC albums, they would be played through the Zen DAC without any compromise?
To an untrained ear, could i even tell the difference between FLAC and MQA?
As long as your PC is set to output bit-perfect into the iFi there'll be no compromises with FLAC files
I would avoid MQA, they haven't finished playing with it and it's not supported by some of the key manufacturers, like Chord who make, probably, the best DACs you can buy, because it damages the sound quality - google it and there are some very good reasons not to use MQA if you are spending a lot of money on your kit. Chord's portable Mojo is absolutely brilliant, stunning in fact for their cheapest product and Dave is something else !
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