I’m new to the community but has been lurking around in the shadows reading your interesting though somewhat expensive comments. I recently downloaded Audirvana to find out what difference the MQA-format might bring to sonic performance. I have now tried listening to both MQA and regular Tidal-files (i.e. Flac/wav). Switching between sending audio from my computer and phone through different tracks and different genres of music. Since my primary reason for streaming music is simplicity combined with a massive library of content I want everything to be wireless, so it is.
My system consists of ND5XS, NAC202, HiCap2, NAP200DR, Kudos 2X. It sound ok with both Audirvana and Naimapp, however with a slight advantage for Naimapp even comparing MQA-files to non-MQA. Audirvana tends to loose depth in soundfield and it’s more difficult to hear sounds coming from the back of the soundstage. Perhaps attack or leading edge is a tad bit less defined streaming from Audirvana. Sometimes I get the feeling of a sound larger than life if you get my meaning. From Naimapp sound seems more “together” or more “composed”. However, one thought that same to mind was that the depth of field could be over empathized. In particularly “Both directions att once” the percussion sounded as if it was placed very far back on stage. It’s really difficult to know what is most “real”, but in summary I prefer Naimapp.
What is your take on this?
Nick is taken from the ridiculous tv-series which I recently been hooked on