The Bridge is needed to do any MQA unfolding beyond the first unfold that Roon does.
Roon is able to full decode mqa, and deliver pcm to your dac/endpoint/digital converter. That is the setting I use with my Vivaldi upsampler. Sounds way better then delivering mqa directly. Just select âenable mqa decoderâ in advanced device settings in roon.
I believe you are mistaken.
Take a look here: Roon Knowledge Base - MQA.
A âMQA DACâ (Roonâs phrase, not mine) is required to complete the rendering process according to the linked source of information. In the case of PSAâs DS and DS Jr., the Bridge Ethernet endpoint is required to make PSAâs DACs âMQA DACsâ.
Cheers.
Wow. That is surprising for me. Since all my devices are mqa enabled, I cannot test the extension of the deciding function. But my Vivaldi reports PCM 24/48 as input format when I enable such setting, and MQA when I disable it.
Sorry for any mix up here.
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I went to school again to track this down. It seems that you do not need a MQA enabled DAC to play MQA with roon. If your DAC is non-MQA, then you will lose the ârendererâ part of the MQA process, envolving specific filtering and upsampling (be that what it may), but you will get music. Did I get this right?
Please see:
(there is a link to a good MQA article on audiophilestyle)
And specially this, from Roon FAQS:
I donât have an MQA DAC, how does DSP work in Roon?
First, Roon will decode the MQA file or stream to an MQA Core stream. This produces a PCM stream at 88.2kHz or 96kHz. Then, any selected DSP is applied to that stream, and the output is sent to your DAC.
https://kb.roonlabs.com/Roon_x_MQA
In fact, to my ears, the standard dcs filters sound much better than the MQA one.
You got it. Roon does the first unfold or what is called the MQA core. Any DAC, MQA or non-MQA will be sent this MQA core from Roon. A renderer(for instance BridgeII) then takes that and continues unfolding up to the limitations of the DAC( 24bit 192khz on the BridgeII) or the limits of the file. Quite a few of the MQA files you see on Tidal are only 24bit 88.2/96khz even when unfolded completely.
Did I ever say âdictatesâ? Nope.
I still fail to see how adding all these converters and cables improves soundâŚbut opinions vary. Dont want to start any subjective $hit storm, so all I can say is enjoy your setup!
From @cbnbmore:
âA renderer(for instance BridgeII) then takes that and continues unfolding up to the limitations of the DAC( 24bit 192khz on the BridgeII) or the limits of the file. Quite a few of the MQA files you see on Tidal are only 24bit 88.2/96khz even when unfolded completely.â
This is the key point I am not sure you are/were clear on.
FYI/Cheers.
I assumed the same thing about the Bridge II. it was simple to execute even if ConversDigital support sucks. I bought a Matrix X to try and I was surprised at the difference. The I2S interface is PS Audioâs preferred interface. Visit the Matrix thread there are many Opinions. There are also numerous people on the forum who use Roon Rock servers as a direct feed to the DSD.
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Thanks for your patience. Just to check my understanding: MQA-core will be playable by any DAC. But should you want all the bells and whistles of the MQA tech (further unfoldings), you should use a MQA enabled DAC. Is that it?
If so, these further unfoldings sound much worse to my ears than the standard processing of the MQA core.
IME, recording quality and musicianship trump digital resolution specifications and MQA bona fides. Some MQA files, fully ârenderedâ do not sound particularly good. Others are marvelous.
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