How many of you believe in MQA?


I have recently purchased a Bluesound Node 2i.  The dealer suggested I connect the Bluesound by way of digital coax to a Pro-Ject S2 DAC by way of RCA anologue to my ARCAM AVR550.  However, I found out I will not be able to control my Bluesound with an iPhone, iPad or PC notebook.  The only way to hear MQA completely unfolded is to plug in a computer USB.  This would mean I would have to get up from where I am sitting, go to the computer to change songs and albums.  I believe the Pro-Ject RS2 DAC would work, but not sure what the sales price is or if this is a good option.

The dealer asked me why I wanted to even bother listening to MQA completely unfolded when the DAC sounded better than the DAC inside the Bluesound.  He thinks MQA is way over rated and it may not be around a year from now.  If I hook things up with the Pro-Ject S2 DAC I will be able to hear one unfold which would be at 24 bit/88.2 kHz.  If I do this, I will be giving up the opportunity to hear MQA recordings recorded at 24 bit/96 kHz or 24 bit/192 kHz.  

How many of you are enbracing MQA?  
128x128larry5729
I don't want to join either side of the MQA argument yet, as I haven't had enough exposure to it, especially as I've had none in my reference system (Avalon Eidolon, Spectral DMA 250, Bel Canto DAC3.5VB MK II, Bel Canto REFStream, Bel Canto Phono 3, Thorens TD 2015, SME 309, Ortofon MM Bronze [soon to be replaced by Lyra Kleos], Niagara 5000, mostly MIT cables w/some Audioquest & Straight Wire).
Larry5729As you can see from my system above, I highly recommend Bel Canto. While I haven't heard the e.One Stream, based on past experience with many Bel Canto products, I have found them to be very detailed as well as highly musical and emotionally communicative. The e.One stream should also sound that way, but you should of course try it out in your system to make sure it is your cup of tea.

Regarding MQA, I will tell you my 2 experiences. At RMAF 2018, I compared in the Bel Canto room the MQA version vs. the non-MQA file of a track from Steel Dan's Gaucho album. The MQA file sounded different, but not better. At RMAF 2019, I went to the MQA demo in the B&W/Simaudio room. I had visited the room the day before and only spent 5 minutes there because the system did not impress me, despite the top of the line equipment. I asked Ken Forsythe of MQA if he could compare an MQA and non-MQA file for me. He gave what I thought was a valid answer: He couldn't do this because he could not guarantee that the non-MQA file came from the same master as the MQA file. This makes sense. For example a recording whose source was a 1st generation analog tape would sound different from one whose source was an nth generation copy of a digital safety recording from the same recording session. MQA has their recording company partners (or the artist, recording engineer or producer of the recording) certify that their file comes from the earliest generation master in existence and that if there were time domain & other errors in the equipment that made the recording, that these errors have been corrected in the MQA process (what MQA calls de-blurring is part of this process).

He then put on a Sinatra plus big band (don't remember the track or album) track from a 1st generation analog master. It was a revelatory experience, a real epiphany for me. The sound system completely disappeared and there was just very live sounding music playing before me. He then played a track from the Ella & Louis album: same result. I own this album in a superb Analogue Productions 45 RPM 2-LP set and the MQA file was at least the equal of it, as I have heard on my equipment. What was most extraordinary is that this was happening on a system that I didn't much care for the day before. Will all MQA files sound this good? While it doesn't seem likely, I won't know without trying many of them in my own system.

I haven't made up my mind about buying a DAC that can fully unfold MQA because as others have said here, the DAC whose sound you love best in your system may not have MQA capability. I am leaning towards the Ayon CD 35 (CD/SACD player/DAC/preamp/server & streamer in one box), which doesn't have MQA, because it was part of the Ayon/Lumenwhite room at RMAF 2017 & 2018 that I though had the best sound of the entire show. The sound in that room was also revelatory for me and in all the tracks played, including the 16/44 FLAC file of the same Ella & Louis album. So as many have said above, there is more than one way to get your musical thrills.
@bkepke,
Nice first post and welcome to Audiogon!
Also, nice system.
I asked Ken Forsythe of MQA if he could compare an MQA and non-MQA file for me. He gave what I thought was a valid answer: He couldn't do this because he could not guarantee that the non-MQA file came from the same master as the MQA file
Though it sounds reasonable, I have some reservations.
If MQA is superior, why not have comparative MQA and non-MQA tracks available for comparison?
Second, is asking this question to someone from MQA is kind of like that Robert Klein skit on Hair Club for Men:
'I wouldn't lie to you for a very good reason- I am President of the company'.
'WHAT POSSIBLE MOTIVE COULD I HAVE'?


Bob
Thanks. Good point Bob. Why didn’t I think of that? 😊 Likely because I was so gobsmacked by the sound quality that I was removed from the analytic plane. 😇 I will ask that at next MQA demo. Certainly once MQA has the 1st gen. master, they could easily make simple FLAC files at CD or hi-res resolutions to compare with the MQA file. 
bkepke,

I did not realize there was a Bel Canto room at the 2019 RMAF?  I looked for them in the directory and was unable to see them listed as an exhibitor.  I really wanted to meet with them.  I wonder if you were referring to the 2018 show?

I wanted to go with the Bel Canto eOne streamer, but triple the price of a Bluesound was a budgetary concern.  I had just purchased a pair of REL S3 SHO's and adding another $1,600 would have really upset my wife.  I wonder how many of us have a wife factor to contend with?
Larry
Bel Canto wasn't there. I said it was 2018 where I had them do the MQA vs. non-MQA demo. See 1st line of my 2nd paragraph.

Here is a high praise review for the e.One Stream at HiFi News:
https://www.hifinews.com/content/bel-canto-eone-stream-network-bridgedac