Ref 6 vs Ref 5 SE

Joe, you posted that "[y]ou'll get MQA up 96 kHz via your computer. A macintosh will not need drivers. A windows pc might. Anything you can hear on the computer can be played on the stereo."

What is MQA? Is that medium quality audio? If so, that implies that the PC is a bottleneck to streaming excellent quality music.


BIF ​
 
MQA is an essentially new decoding technique to recreate in your home what the mastering technician heard creating the album. For the most part it’s wonderful, my opinion. But you need an MQA authenticated dac. Your ARC piece will not decode MQA. That’s not a dealbreaker. A computer and the Tidal application will only give you the first unfold of a Tidal MQA file. Believe it or not, full blown MQA from an essentially cd quality Tidal file has the ability to be extracted to 24/352(?) I forget the maximum but it also depends on the file. So you will have plenty of room to grow. Because your downstream dac from the computer is not know to the software, the Tidal app only gives you limited MQA decoding but you get cd quality from everything else and potentially much higher resolution from Tidal MQA files.

You need to start somewhere and get your feet wet. Running a pc into your dac is an inexpensive way to start.

Of course, buying a Lumin U1 and feeding it to your ARC will give you a wonderful experience, however it retails for 5-6K. You get the full blown streaming service and the ability to attach a drive containing your music and never have to touch a shiny disc again.
 
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Thanks Joe. Looks like I have a lot to learn. I saved the MQA article into my Outlook files for future reading.
 
All you need to start is a computer or a laptop to start and plug it into your dac with a $20/month Tidal subscription. See how it goes and don't stress. There are a myriad of ways to get better sound but cost goes up.

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Bifwynne said:
Joe, you posted that "[y]ou'll get MQA up 96 kHz via your computer. A macintosh will not need drivers. A windows pc might. Anything you can hear on the computer can be played on the stereo."

What is MQA? Is that medium quality audio? If so, that implies that the PC is a bottleneck to streaming excellent quality music.


BIF ​
Click to expand...

Hi BIF - glad to hear you’re loving the REF6. I sure love mine. You may want to look at a an all in one digital solution like the Lumin D2. It does MQA, has Tidal integration and more. No computer needed.


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As a point of reference, cds are only 16/44.1 pcm.

Anything higher is hi res, or high resolution. But there's also two types of music. PCM and DSD. Each is decoded differently.

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