oneway23

Appreciate that very much, @daverich4!

Worse yet, pretend the original was something which never actually existed in the first place.

It's bad enough that the 16/44 versions have replaced the original masters, but, the huge swath of new 24/44 files by artists as diverse as Melvins, Mr. Bungle, Jane's Addiction, Madonna, & Notorious BIG will likely never be offered to consumers in their unmolested "hi-res" form, despite the fact that there were clearly a number of new masters prepared, which were subsequently folded into the MQA origami. This is a dangerous development, not only for the anti-MQA crowd, but, just as importantly, also a blow to those of us who still purchase digital files for our personal collections.

@daverich4 You mentioned earlier that you had some help from a thread over on the Roon forum. I'm now actively following Chris' thread there, but, I'm having a good deal of trouble finding another where this issue, in particular, is being discussed. Would you please be so kind as to link me to the relevant topic? Thank you.

Thank you for posting your response, Chris. This is bonkers. Deciding whether or not to use Tidal may be an irrelevant choice, frankly. As I said earlier, there's absolutely nothing to prevent WMG from passing these same files to the folks at Qobuz, or anywhere else. If WMG wants to use just one file to provide streamers with content, welp, that's it, then.

I respect that this is working for you, but, I'd prefer that the original masters be exposed within Roon, since these unmolested versions are clearly still readily available on Tidal's servers. That's not something which gets done for everyone on my end.

You're right, firedog. You've been generous enough with your time to help me over there, as well, and I always appreciate hearing from you. In this particular case, I'm just discovering all of this for the first time, I'm still wrapping my head around it, and I'm not really sure how to drop all of it into a cogent post just yet without it looking like a novella. Let me throw something together and hop over there. Thanks, fellas.

Thanks for that update, Chris, I really appreciate you taking the time to write that reply. I'm one of those dead-weight Roon lifers, so, I won't unhitch from Roon for this oversight. It's unfortunate that a music first program for audiophiles would expose only MQA files while concealing readily-available non-MQA original masters, but, I know the Roon folks to be good people. I'm hopeful that they will elect to respect user settings in a future update. As for Tidal, I've stuck with them against both my better judgement, and the wisdom of others, primarily because I have previously found a number of holes in Qobuz's catalog in terms of artists I enjoy after doing a head-to-head comparison to both my own library and that of my saved artists. Perhaps it's time to give another look. My fear is that I will open Roon one day soon to find Qobuz streaming these, as well. After all, if WMG is intent on "shipping a single deliverable", there isn't too much any streaming provider could do, is there?

What used to be the original masters of Bowie's albums (the ones at 16/44) for example, now have the MQA logo , as well...Is this a new development? Unless this is a temporary mistake from within Roon, many original masters are seemingly quickly disappearing.

I've not been here for a while, apologies for being late to the party, but, I just read about WMG and MQA, and I'm more perturbed by the fact that many of these albums are not and have never before been available to purchase as "hi-res" files at any of the common retailers. In fact, in some cases (I searched for Faith No More), the original version of the album is no longer available to even stream at all. Is this the start of a new reality for those of us who still enjoy purchasing digital files? Will these eventually be made available to buy in their original, unmolested 24/44 form, or will they continue to be trapped behind streaming paywalls and crackpot compression schemes?

Currently too many holes in direct comparison between Tidal & Qobuz for me to consider switching to Qobuz at this time, beta status notwithstanding. I do enjoy any and all genres, and, in my particular case, after spending a slightly unreasonable amount of time doing direct comparisons, I've personally found Qobuz to come up short. Also, the oft-repeated point against Tidal as having some form of rap/hip-hop focus is simply a phantom argument, period...end of story. I haven't been keyed in to that world since around 1996 (think the last rap CD I bought was Jurassic 5 in 2000) and I have no issue whatsoever with zeroing in on precisely what I'm looking to listen to, at any time, all without the feeling that I'm somehow, or in some way, being inundated with something I don't find enjoyable. The front page, even without Roon (which I do use on my PC), is a complete non-issue. Insofar as hi-res is concerned, while I've been quite an advocate in the past, I've grown quite weary over the last couple of years having to A. Wait for someone on SHF to take a bullet for the team, so to speak B. Buy it blind & hope for an improvement, and/or C. Find the release through "other means" and use that trial run as some sort of barometer to determine whether or not said release is worth owning. In this instance, one would presume that having access to a great deal of hi-res material would be ideal, right? Well, maybe not. In theory, it sounds wonderful. In practice? I'm not so sure, as of yet. Is it cool? Absolutely! Is it a vital part of your experience? That's in the eye of the beholder. As an early hi-res adopter, I've found, over the last couple of weeks during my trial, that I already own in hi-res most of the albums which I'd consider to be essential, and the ones I don't? Not sure they mean enough to have them available in hi-res for the additional fee should I ever want to listen. The value proposition here is tricky, since one who has never really dealt in hi-res before might consider this an untapped treasure trove, I don't know. For me, I find interest waning and interesting releases slowing. YMMV. Sorry for prattling on. Just some thoughts...Thanks for looking!

I appreciate the info, Frederic, as I'd yet to hear about this. Enough with the formats already. Let's focus on better-sounding albums! By the way, your room is obviously outrageously amazing, as if you needed my validation.

Yes, David has been a rockstar in support so far! I am confident that we will get there..thanks!

Hey again, Shadow! Are you following me across the internet? ? Shadow is the wonderful person from the Roon forum who suggested that I re-engage with you fine folk! Roon does have exclusive control, yes, however, I have ABSOLUTELY tried, countless times, in fact, to run Qobuz on its own, to no avail. Hi Chris @The Computer Audiophile!! Long time, no see. Always nice to see you in a thread...Kindred Pearl Jam aficionados, we two!

Thanks, @David Craff, I'm using a Schiit Yggdrasil DAC via USB with the Wasapi setting