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so the community says MQA does nothing to improve sound quality, but does it reduce it?

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whoatacos
100
Jul 28, 2021
I would also factor in the wide range of opinions regarding audio formats, hardware, headphones, etc, as well as the subjective nature of listening preferences. A wise man once said, "Opinions are like a$$holes, everyone has one and most of them stink."
  • Is this going to be better on your phone than a bluetooth connection? Absolutely!
  • Is this going to be better than a no-nonsense USB-C or Lightning to ⅛" adapter? Probably, but depends.
  • Is this going to be better than a desktop setup of reasonable quality? Probably not.
There are specific circumstances where you will get optimal performance from this device:
  • Listening to MQA encoded music at a high bitrate (think Tidal Hi-Fi) with decent quality IEMs or higher sensitivity on-ear or over ear cans.
YMMV with other services and/or headphones. Whether or not you enjoy the sound quality improvement is really the most important thing. There are other mobile DAC/AMP options in this price range, and you should do your research to make sure this is the right unit for you.
rastus
1391
Jun 17, 2021
It is essentially a remaster, with embellishments. So,, not better or worse, but a new interpretation, an option. You can also just play around eq’ing, but it seems that MQA is an adaptive algorithm, so tough to duplicate. Some MQA I have sampled sound quite nice, some overdone… if some hardware has it built-in great, if not, great too.
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