Tidal MQA vs Qobuz hi-res


My brief experience.. for posterity.

Comparing Tidal MQA to Qobuz hi-res, you -will- hear degredation/loss in the high frequencies (violins in an orchestra etc) on MQA... assuming you have reasonably resolving equipment. For me, that’s Macbook USB to a $150 Audio Engine D1 DAC going to a $600 used Parasound A23 going to used $600 Kef LS50’s, $100 Transparent speaker cables and cheap USB and RCA cables.

The Audio Engine is surprisingly good for it’s price BTW. Over the years, trying different DACs in audio stores when I had an opportunity, I feel like you’d need to spend close to $1,000 to get something significantly better.

The A23 and LS50’s are really good too for today’s used prices. New, they would’ve been $2,500 a few years go

bataras
MQA sounds great most of the time, same goes for dsd. Get a good dac and you will hear a difference.
Good luck on getting the Hegel supporting Roon. I have had 3 Hegel integrated amps and for a couple years now, Hegel was promising to support Roon. I gave up and went another direction 
It’s hard to know what sounds good if one cannot here it matched with one’s own system. People insist on a particular DAC chip as being preferred above all others but implementation is key, filtering, power source, etc... Most people will buy over the internet, especially those living in smaller towns. A good DAC is essential but how that DAC functions with the other components is just as important. Most brick and mortar stores are struggling and may only carry a hand full of companies so we Audio lovers are at a disadvantage.
Wow - OP - your system is only as good as your weakest link - you have multiple weak links - hear is my system - 

Source - Tidal Hi Fi with MQA accessed via a LUMIN T2 (has the Sabre DAC)
Integrated amp - Krell K300i
Speakers - Maggie 1.7i with Maggie base panel
Cables and speaker wire by Anti cable.

my results with Tidal using MQA are amazingly good - I find new music all the time and the Soundstage is the best I have ever achieved. Horns and strings and vocals POP. Retired my turntable.

just my 2 cents 
Happy Listening

I for some reason think MQA on Tidal sounds quite good.  It is supposed to be what was recorded originally.  I have a Bluesound Node 2i and when I purchased it I also purchased an external DAC.  After comparing with and without the DAC, I found the Node 2i to sound best without the DAC.  The bass sound thin with the DAC.  Ended up selling the DAC for half price on Audiogon.  I also like the graphics and layout of Tidal.  I have not seen the layout Qbuz offers.  Tried the three month free trial on Amazon Music and preferred Tidal.
After I upgraded my Ayre DAC, I noticed my factory Mac mini was in need of replacing. I only played cd’s from my hard drive, no streaming. I’ve ever cared about streaming because higher end remasters from Analogue Productions, etc... are not available on streaming services. But just for grins, I will try streaming with my transport hard wired to my router.
Seeing that we are in somewhat of a digital renaissance, there seems to be a great deal of emphasis placed on streamers and transports. While I understand and agree with the need for a solid digital source, I still believe in a stronger need for a quality set of speakers, amplifier, DAC, and cables. Spending $ 22,000.00 on a streamer wouldn’t make any sense if the intended speakers for that system were somehow lacking in high quality reproduction and that’s not to mention other parts of the system.