How can I add MQA decoding with my current setup?

I found the Mytek Liberty to be very analytical. It didn't last in my system very long.

@arvincastro Thank you. I was actually looking at the Mytek dacs. 

@ricmech23 

Hello!  

At the $3K price point, you’ll have many choices. However, one manufacturer that gets universal praise for how their DACS perform with MQA is Mytek, specifically their Liberty and Brooklyn models.  The main difference between the two is the Liberty is strictly a DAC, while the Brooklyn adds pre-amp functionality.  You can get the older Liberty or the new Liberty 2 DAC for under your price point; the first generation Brooklyn will also be under $3K, however the latest version lists for just under $4K. 

Both DACS will perform the full MQA un-fold, as well as handle files at up to 384K resolution.  I’ve heard both and have found them to be similar, presenting a rich, detailed sound that is easy to listen to; closer to an analog presentation, most definitely not “digital’.

Another DAC to look for on the used market would be Berkeley Audio Design’s Alpha DAC.  Pre-owned first generation Alpha DAC’s are usually out there for under $3K; if you find one, make sure it’s had the MQA upgrade performed.  If not, you can buy the upgrade from Berkeley, but not sure how much it costs.  While I’ve never listened to an Alpha DAC, the reviews of it (and Berkeley DAC’s in general) place it among the best DAC’s regardless of price.  

Good luck…Happy listening!

Arvin

If I were to get a new DAC that has MQA capabilities what would be the recommendation for a price point around three thousand? I would be ok with used if that presented a better deal. 

I spent a couple of hours at my dealer listening to several recordings that I knew really well with Roon and MQA.  I was very familiar with all of the equipment used except the amplification, which was McIntosh.  There were 2 pieces where I slightly preferred the MQA, in the rest Qobuz won every time.

It hasn’t been too long since I got the PreDac so I really do not want to change it out yet. I may look into Qobuz as a solution. I’m starting to wonder if going through the trouble of even getting a DAC that would unfold MQA is even worth it since some say it doesn’t make a noticeable difference. That’s not the first time I’ve heard that. 

You need hardware to do a full unfold. Roon on its own doesn't get you there. Bluesound will do a full unfold through its analog outputs.  As others said, consider ditching Tidal and go with Qobuz. No special hardware needed. Then you can add an external DAC when you're ready to upgrade and not limit yourself. 

Roon will allow you to decode MQA, unfortunately, you have to pay for the service.

JRiver seems to not be wanting to do so.

If I recall, Bluesound does the first unfolding, but not the full unfolding in the Node.

To add to what others have opined, MQA is a lossy format that you have to pay for, so why bother? I just moved to Qobuz and listen to high rez lossless.

Bob

I'll stick with QobuZ as do the majority at shows, no MQA please.

I had a Topping D90SE DAC that does MQA. I sold it and a few years later (last month) bought the $100 less Topping D90LE. Both are great DACs and a used one should be about $500. 

I also had a PeachTree Nova 150 and the DAC in that is not comparable to the latest iteration of DAC, including the low-cost Topping.

BTW - I ditched the MQA when the MQA guys gave a demo I was at, with about $200K+ of gear. I could not hear anything magical with MQA. I likely will also ditch my Qobuz and just use Tidal, so I have more than enough reasons to use MQA. I think my Qobuz is messing up somehow (or it could be something in my streaming chain).

The way MQA is set up, if you want the fully unfolded MQA data, it has to be performed by the DAC (or whatever piece of hardware has the DAC incorporated). Since your Peachtree’s internal DAC does not unfold MQA you’d need a new DAC to do this. There are some reasonably priced ones that do MQA. See: https://www.mqa.co.uk/playback-devices

Since your Peachtree has analog inputs you can connect a DAC or Streamer/DAC’s analog output to it.

But if you want to try just the first unfold of MQA (24bit/96kHz max), then you have many more options, and maybe even some software on your PC could do that part I’m not that familiar with music playing PC software, so hopefully someone else might chime in on that aspect.