TIDAL (hifi)/MQA on Ipad => ?? => Denon X6200W

[perthpete]

Having recently ‘discovered’ MQA on tidal I am getting more and more interested in understanding how to get the best out the higher bitrate and frequency.

 

While pretty happy with what I got here, would be good to hear of useful ways to improve what gets to my receiver which as per specs should be able to work with up to 192kHz (for FLAC FILES).

 

Current setup:

IPad with Tidal. Also using mconnect at the moment to play Tidal.

Sending over wifi through router/modem to Denon X6200W (connected to router thru network cable).

 

One of the reasons why looking further is I am seeing tracks recognised by the mconnect app as MQA original 96 kHz however as details played on app: FLAC / 24 bit / 48 kHz / 1220 kbps.

On the Denon the only info shown then is 48 kHz.

 

So, some immediate thoughts / questions are:

- is the mconnect app unable to work with 96 kHZ?

- are there better apps to use on the ipad to play Tidal?

 

Other ones (more impact presumably) in regards to ‘connecting’ my Tidal music to my receiver:

- are there different / better ways to get Tidal music (MQA) to the receiver using any other ways?

- anyone having a similar / better setup (in Perth, WA obviously :-)) and willing to show? cappuccino or different coffee at out place in return :-)

 

Happy for any advise, tips and ideas!!

 

[KRSDarwin]

Hi Perthpete, I am a long way from being an expert (or maybe even fully competent) but I have recently pursued MQA decoding on Tidal, kicked off by reading reviews in Stereophile. I am not familiar with the mconnect but can say:

 

- To properly use MQA I believe you need a MQA decoder in your DAC, I purchased the Mytek Brooklyn DAC+ specifically to do this (photo below).  I love it but would also say it is not always better and I can sometimes get just as good sound (or better in some cases) with other non MQA DACs in other systems I have. 

 

- Roon is a great way to use Tidal with your existing music library and has added, for me, a great deal of additional information and way to explore new music and obtain information on artists and albums

 

- my main system is all connected by Ethernet cables, USB cables and interconnects and I am not sure whether wi-fi will allow you full access to these called hi-res audio. 

 

Lots of reading Hi-Fi magazines and sites such as this helped me on my journey.

 

PS. This was typed on the iPad that controls the Roon software which includes Tidal (iPad screenshot below) while listening to Keith Jarrett via Tidal Masters (from a Roon Nucleus) using the Brooklyn DAC, Musical Fidelity amplifier  and Paradigm Studio 100 speakers. 

Edited April 6, 2019 by KRSDarwin

[perthpete]

Thanks KRS. I was at a local hifishop yesterday and they suggest to consider looking at two products from Pro-ject Audio: the Stream Box S2 Ultra (which would be the streamer) and the Pre Box S2 Digital, which would be the DAC (interconnected thru USB, which appears to be the architectural choice for their devices). And indeed advised to not go wifi, but rather connect through Ethernet cable instead (which would mean I should consider moving the router/modem, which in turn would mean having to go for very long ‘telephonecable’ (the Telstra cable from wall to modem).. so have to look into that too..
I am going to look around bit more (never just one advice:-)) and see what other options are going to be mentioned.
Meanwhile, anyone here any experience with these Pro-ject Audio devices? Or any other ideas btw!
And experiences with having a very long (20-25 meter) cable from wall point to modem/router?

[Bunno77]

If planning to use the Denon for a long time I wouldn't bother adding any other boxes. I have used a few ($100-$12,000) and the bottleneck is the receiver. Just use Airplay and enjoy.

Differences between bitrates/formats are usually minimal and everything will be let down by the receiver regardless of this or external DACs and streamers.

[Ed Sky]

It is possible to get the first unfold of MQA without an MQA DAC. That would take you up to 96 kHz / 24 bits. To do this you would need to introduce a mac or PC into the mix and also some software (either Audirvana or Roon). You can then control the music via their respective remote control app on the mobile phone.

 

Audirvana is probably the cheapest option as is costs a little over $100, once off and $15 for the phone remote app. Audirvana does provide a 14 day trial so you can try it out and see if it works for you. (Roon does also provide a trial but is a much pricier product.)

 

So effectively you would need to do the following.

1. Download Audirvana to your PC or mac and activate the 14 day trial.

2. Connect to Tidal via Audirvana.

3. Get Audirvana to stream over WiFi to your Denon (via a protocol called UPnP). It sounds complicated but it's dead simple. Audirvana will just show your Denon as one of the output options.

 

Audirvana will unfold MQA up to 96 kHz but it can also be set to up-sample lower resolution tracks to 96 kHz or even higher which does improve the sound quality. (My experience is that over WiFi anything over 96 kHz can be a bit choppy unless you have a wired ethernet cable.)

 

So effectively the flow of data is Tidal --> Audirvana --> UPnP (over WiFi) --> Denon

 

If the above works smoothly you can then download the Audirvana mobile app which allows you to remote control Audirvana on the PC or mac. 

 

For the above to work smoothly you need a fairly stable WiFi network, preferably operating in the 5G band (but don't worry about these scemantics, just try it out and see if it works smoothly for you).

 

Hope the above explanation is clear. If you need any clarifications let me know.

[perthpete]

Thank Ed, i think i get what you’re saying. A big downside (for me) would be having to use a pc. I am pretty much glued to using the ipad (quick startup, small light, etc:-)). An obvious alternative could be to actually buy a little laptop (small, light, fast with SSD etc) however that would then just be an additional device besides my ipad (which is used for many other things too (multitasking ).

[mikk]

For what it’s worth, I was using an iPad mini 4 with Tidal for all my music.
The iPad fed a Chord Hugo DAC via its FireWire to USB camera connector, with a Curious cable.
It sounded great, but once I tried using a cheapo laptop solely used for music/tidal, feeding the Chord Hugo vis a PS audio LANRover, the audio quality took a significant jump up.
Also on the plus side is that the LANRover sender can be a looooong way from the receiver, with a very long Ethernet cable connecting them, in case that’s advantageous in your situation?
So yes, iPad is great, and so much easier to use than a PC, but once audio quality is also considered a pc isn’t too bad after all...

[Chigurh]

An Audioquest Dragonfly Red could to MQA with your iPad. It would require an analogue connection to your receiver though.

[perthpete]

Yeah, I am pretty much decided now on getting a Pro-ject Audio Stream Box S2 Ultra and a Pro-ject Pre Box S2 Digital combination. And going to move my router/modem close® to the audio/video setup, going for a long line cable! And short Ethernet ones (one for the receiver and an additional one for the Pro-ject box)....

[perthpete]

So I’ve got my (can I say cute? :-)) little boxes (stream box S2 ultra and pre box S2 Digital), all connected (usb in between them and RCA from pre box to receiver) and listening to Tidal by using the Project app on the ipad..

 

A challenge at the moment is anything I play shows up on the pre box as 44.1k or 48k and NOT getting MQA indicator in any track... even when playing playlist with only MQA tracks (including tracks which should be 192k).

 

Not too sure what is missing (if anything) OR whether the issue that the full unfolding / MQA only can be achieved when managing the streamer/pre box from an actual computer (in others words not from ipad).

 

I would think it should not make a difference given I am using the ‘embedded in the Project app Tidal so for now a little vexed... I have send an email to Pro-ject (which is forwarded to distributor), so hoping for some help from there...

 

If anyone has experience with this particular setup (or additional ideas) again, appreciate any advice... [emoji16]

 

(Note: should change the title of the topic, not sure if I can though)

 

 

[perthpete]

Right, got it (thanks to someone on avsforums) I did not realise that while the app managing the Stream Box has a volume dial (virtual), it MUST be set to 100. If any other level you’d actually be editing the signal which means it will stick to 44.1 or 48 kHz max..