In Reply to: RE: Dragonfly firmware update from AudioQuest posted by zacster on May 9, 2017 at 03:32:44:
" What is the bitrate for MQA on Tidal? Do we even know?"
A very good question. Reading MQA publicity it appears to require a 24 bit carrier for maximum hi-rez. However Bob Stuart has also indicated that a 16 bit carrier is feasible but that it has limitations compared to a 24 bit one. However I don't hink anyone has revealed what exactly Tidal provides nor what digital sample rate Warner have used to re-master their catalogue before it is MQA encoded. Of course the MQA hardware does not give any technical details away beside confirming that what you are hearing is MQA encoded or fully authenticated.
I doubt that Warners use higher than 96KS/s as higher rates than this are not that common in the recording world at present. If so, and as Tidal and Warner are currently almost the only source of MQA material ( only obscure stuff otherwise), I reckon that the Tidal " first fold" in-app software is probably all you really need in practice at this point.
BTW, that Dragonfly upgrade is "first fold" only which is only natural considering the limitations of the DAC itself.
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Follow Ups
- RE: Dragonfly firmware update from AudioQuest - PAR 07:32:43 05/09/17 (0)