Which DAC for Tidal streaming?

[Knightrider7007]

Big fan of iFi audio here. Look at they ZEN range - the ZEN DAC is MQA compatible and is a dac/amp combo or you can pair it with their new ZEN CAN. Both are now on my Christmas list.

The ZEN DAC is getting massive support on other forums where iFi gear is a bit more talked about.

It has also just won what looka like a big award as well as all the others you can find when you read the reviews on their site. Seems like a no brainer to me.

 

[Puma Cat]

My digital listening consists of exclusively Tidal streaming. It’s so convenient that I haven’t spun a record in a year. Without a music library consisting of files would a high-end DAC still be beneficial? If you were only a Tidal streamer which DACs would you consider? I presume one with MQA decoding would be essential? I currently have a LUMIN D1 with the outboard Sbooster BOTW P&P ECO MKII linear power supply. I also have a Naim 272 preamp (with the NAP 250DR POWER AMP) with Tidal integrated into it. Finally I have the Border Patrol SE.

I’m wondering what improvements I’d hear with something a bit more “high end”?

Thanks for your ideas.

Here's my 2¢ FWIW:
Forget about MQA. Qobuz hi-res sounds better and works with any DAC.

Schiit Audio and Linn don't support MQA for very sounds reasons; its a another scheme by Meridian to collect licensing fees at every step of the recording, mastering, and distribution chain. Schiit is also correct that approx. 99.9% of all digital musical content is standard Redbook specification 16 bit /44.1 KHz sampling.

Here's the bottom-line: what matters MOST in any form of music, be it it analog or digital: the quality of the recording and in particular, the mastering matter more significantly than any other factors, BY FAR.

I've got everything from Cookie Marenco direct-to-DSD, 16/44, 16/48, 24/96, 24/172, 24/192, SACDs, blah, blah, blah.

You know what consistently sounds better than almost ALL of them? My Audio Wave XRCD24 Blue Note Jazz CDs at...16/44. Why? Because they were re-mastered with exquisite care, craft and expertise by Alan Yoshida. In fact, these CDs sound very, very close in quality to the Music Matter 45 rpm LPs.

Ask any of the great mastering engineers: Bernie Grundman, Bob Ludwing, Alan...they will all tell you the same thing. Mastering is what matters.

So my recommendation? Get a Schiit Bifrost 2 and call it a day. You'll get very close to Yggy performance for $699. You'll get a DAC with a 5-year warranty. You'll get a DAC that is upgradeable by popping in new cards into the back of it.

Spend any remaining discretionary funds on music on a Shunyata Venom NR-V12 or V20 power cable for your DAC. Oh, and a Venom V14D Digital PC to power your S-booster LPS.

 

[Puma Cat]

As others mentioned, You ought to try Qobuz. It is about $10 cheaper per month than Tidal and IMO it sounds better (I used to subscribe to Tidal and switched to Qobuz).
Qobuz does not require a special MQA-decoder DAC. If you still decide that you want to upgrade your DAC, you will have more choices.

Agreed 100% with Nicoff.

Bang on the money.

 

[exupgh12]

From my experience, Qobuz does sound different from Tidel (not arguably better)
As for DAC, try to find and Listen to Cary Audio DMS 600, I find it hard to beaten (great sound quality and can do all machine), I have tested Moon 780, 680, Brinkmann Nyquist, didn’t find any of them to be better than the Cary.
Hopefully, in the coming weeks, I'll have the chance to test Dcs Bartok and Rossini on my setup if any of those will be better I'll probably switch my DAC.