As mentioned in my earlier post its unknown how many MQA encoded albums have been done to the original principles that the system intended (recording chain compensated, mastering engineers give the sign off etc) , or has just been pushed through the encoder to get the numbers up. I suspect the harsh realities of business means that to achieve a critical mass of material they need to automate processes and try and get the encoders as smart as possible.
I’ve got a lot of respect for MQA Ltd. though. They have encouraged labels to release material in high def formats as a standard expectation now and in practice the company / investors have lost loads of money per year on achieving their goals (search ‘Company House MQA Ltd’ in Google - they’re normally 4.5-5 Million in loss each year). They have a long way to go still to make the business profitable.
With my Naim hat off, I think the real area of improvement is not in the actual delivery format, but it’s in great production and mastering and I would like to see on higher budget productions where they release different mixes and masters. One for car/smart speakers/small devices/radio that need to go loud and proud. Then a studio mix where they mix it without all those commercial restrictions - higher dynamic range, less heavy handed use of compressors, get the layering in the tracks really landscaped. Series like Mix With The Masters ( https://www.youtube.com/user/MixWithTheMASTERS/ ) shows that there is still a lot of great guys and gals out there who are doing some fantastic audio engineering stuff and getting beautifully crafted recordings delivered to a decent streaming system in the native format that they used in the studio is the way to go.
I find using qobuz through the naim app generally ok. But one frustration is that the playlists do not show up in full through the app if they are long playlists. eg, I have a playlist of nearly 1000 tracks and it does not show fully when using qobuz using the naim app. In lieu of qobuz connect, any chance of this being remedied?
Apologies if this has been asked before.
Any more news on the Tidal Connect update? I know there are a few software projects (Spotify HiFi, Qobuz Connect) under development and I don’t want to sound ungrateful for a free update, but we’re approaching 7 months now.
I can’t be more specific on dates, i’m afraid. I think we’re good on Beta testers - we expanded the group a lot last year - but please feel free to email beta@naimaudio.com to check with our software test team.
I looked at the Tidal Connect page on Tidal and can’t for the life of me see what it does that you can’t currently do through the Naim or Tidal app…… it just allows you to stream to your device - yippee
But you can use the native Tidal app, and stream to a Naim streamer using Chromecast. The app controls the music selection and streams direct from the internet to the streamer. The connect feature lodes the add anything you can’t already do.
Is that correct, that Tidal Connect will play MQA music via the Naim app? I didn’t think it would be able to unfold the music? I’d agree with @Mike_S that its just another way of streaming direct.
The Naim Streamer is not going to support MQA files. You will have the functionality of the Tidal App to direct music to a Naim Streamer vs using the Naim App.
I’ve been using Tidal Connect for a few weeks on a non Naim streamer and dac. As some mentioned, the Tidal app is quite smooth and responsive and for me a good experience. You get all the features Tidal offers and I find the search function really nice.
Regarding MQA. In my setup, Tidal Connect does not decode MQA. If you have a dac or streamer that can decode MQA, Tidal Connect acts as a passthrough, i.e., it will pass the MQA file to the device for decoding if you have Master selected in the Tidal app for streaming quality. So far TC is stable and works well.
