mackh

Yes - I have considered Roon, but I really don't think that I would make much use of its key features. It's relatively expensive to set up properly, and I think it may be one of those things that requires a decent demonstration in order for the concept to be fully appreciated. I am relatively happy using Lumin with my microRendu/Mytek Brooklyn+ for normal listening, or MConnect when I want to listen to Tidal Masters (which incidentally I have found to be surprisingly (to me) very good indeed). I will shortly be updating the firmware on my microRendu to vs 2.7 which will allow me to use Linn Kazoo on this setup - I already use Kazoo on my main system which uses a Linn Klimax DS/1. This of course will not be without its problems, because Kazoo will not be able to identify Tidal Masters. My intention will be to create Tidal playlists using MConnect which I can then play on Kazoo. It becomes almost as complex as setting up a Roon enabled system.

As a footnote to this saga. I have now had a chance to listen to quite a number of Tidal Masters, and I have to say that I am pretty impressed by the sound quality of most of them. However, I believe that the Lumin app must be doing 'something' to the Tidal stream, because although some albums are delivered to my Brooklyn DAC in MQA, most Tidal Master albums I stream using the Lumin app do not register as MQA on the DAC. In contrast, it appears that all Tidal Masters (including those that don't work when using the Lumin app) are delivered correctly to the DAC when I use the MConnect app. Very strange - I don't understand how the Luman 'problem' can be inconsistent in this way.

Undoubtedly! However, I had read in other posts that when Lumin was being used to give access to Tidal it appeared not to provide a bit-perfect stream. It appears that this is not the case.

Thanks Jesus, and many thanks for sorting out this problem for me. I don't think I'd have got there by myself. I have fixed the attenuation problem on my Brooklyn+ DAC with some advice from my retailer, and so music files (of all formats) are now playing without any of the overload distortion I was getting with the controller volume set to 100%. I am now able to stream MQA files to my DAC in bit perfect form from both Tidal Masters and my own Synology NAS, and they are now unfolded properly by the DAC. I have come across a couple of supposedly 'Master' albums on Tidal that do not display the appropriate blue or green light, but the problem there must lie with Tidal and I guess they are not actually MQA encoded. I can also confirm (for anyone else going down this route) that I am not limited to the MConnect app, because the Lumin app that I prefer also streams bit perfect MQA to my DAC as well. I have ordered a 2.7 upgrade, and when I get that I will probably switch to Linn Kazzo which I am familiar with on my other system. Once again, thanks very much for your help and patience.

Thanks for the help to resolve my Brooklyn+ MQA problem. Although I do now obtain an MQA light on my Brooklyn+ streaming via the microRendu from Tidal Masters, I still have a problem in that with the ympd player volume set to 100% I now get very severe distortion on almost all MQA tracks I play which makes them completely unplayable. I obviously need to attenuate the USB volume on my Brooklyn DAC to avoid this, but when I was experimenting before your fix, I appear to have set the USB volume control in the Brooklyn menu to 'disable' and I am not able to re-enable it. It's getting late here. I'll try to get some advice from my Brooklyn retailer tomorrow. Thanks.

Sorry - ignore my last post. just realised I can email you from the Sonore site

Hi, I will do but not sure how to find your email address. Is there a way to email you from within the forum?

As far as I am aware or can see, the Brooklyn+ does not specifically display 'DSD' or 'PCM'. The DSD files I have tried were originally downloaded from Blue Coast Music a couple of years ago when I was testing my Chord Hugo. I think that they had been mastered in DSD256, but I can't be certain about that. The files played on my old Chord Hugo DAC, but do not play on my Linn Klimax DS streamer (which doesn't support DSD). They do play on my Brooklyn and the Brooklyn display indicates they are 32bit, 352.8kHz, but as far as I am aware there is no equivalent of the MQA indicator lights for DSD files.

Thanks again for the quick reply. I have tried refreshing the DAC status page with music playing and the DAC diagnostic report remains exactly the same. Is this a problem? I don't have many DoP files, but I do have a few. I have just played a 'Blue Coast Collection' track by Keith Greeninger. This plays and displays on the Brooklyn+ DAC as 32bit/352.8kHz, and so I guess it is playing as it should be. I am happy to pay for the 2.7 SD card to see if that makes a difference. I am based in the UK. Do I have to order this from the States or can I get it from a dealer in the UK?

Hi, I have now power cycled everything - microRendu/Brooklyn+ DAC and the network switch to which the microRendu is connected. I still get exactly the same DAC diagnostics as before, although music (of all FLAC formats including hi-res) does play with the exception of the fact that the MQA indicator dot does not light for MQA files. I have also tried changing the settings in bubbleUPnP server so as to not create an OpenHome renderer, since someone suggested to me that MConnect light would provide its own connection to Tidal. I was able to connect to Tidal using MConnect, but still no MQA light for Tidal Masters. It certainly looks from the DAC diagnostics that something isn't right. Do you think its likely to be a problem with my microRendu or with the DAC? By the way, MQA is definitely 'enabled' in the DAC. When I connect my laptop directly to the DAC over USB and feed it Tidal Masters from the Tidal Windows app, the MQA dot lights up (green or blue) to indicate that the unfolding is happening. Do you think my microRendu has developed a problem given the DAC diagnostics results? I don't know what 'amixer' is, but the 'broken pipe' diagnostic doesn't look right.

Hi that is very interesting. I have just tried playing this same MQA track using both the Lumin app and the MConnect Lite app on my iPad. The track plays, but the MQA indicator (green or blue dot) does not appear in either case, although I notice that there is a (digital) volume control on the Lumin iPad app that I can't find any way to disable. Which app are you using - Kazoo? As a matter of interest, I have just looked at the DAC diagnostics in my mmicroRendu for my Mytek Brooklyn+ DAC. Does this look ok to you? Refresh Status USB output Set DAC to MAX volume DAC description: Brooklyn DAC+ 25ce:0025 Diagnostic information for this DAC /proc/asound/card0/stream0 access: RW_INTERLEAVED format: S32_LE subformat: STD channels: 2 rate: 44100 (44100/1) period_size: 5513 buffer_size: 22050 amixer: Mixer hw:0 load error: Broken pipe Thanks for your help. Do you think an upgrade to version 2.7 on my (1.3 board) microRendu and a switch to Linn Kazoo might resolve my problem whether or not I use bubbleUPnP server?

Thanks very much again for your quick response. This sounds very promising, but with a pretty big caveat in the case of Tidal MQA. I guess the new features that will allow me to use Linn Kazoo are in version 2.7, which means that all I need to do is buy v2.7 on a new SD card and install that in my microRendu. If this works for my version of the microRendu (earlier board) I'd be very happy to do this. I assume that this will also allow me to pass through MQA content from my NAS, although at the moment I have very little. Unfortunately though, there is one problem with Tidal using this method. I actually already use Linn Kazoo on my Windows 10 desktop to control a Linn streamer I use in a completely different HiFi system in my study, so I decided to try a search for MQA in Linn Kazoo as you suggested. The problem is that this search finds only 6 albums including the Mozart violin concertos you found and tested. Tidal has many hundred MQA masters, but since the search only finds 6 of them, it appears there is no way to find them in Linn Kazoo. Do you know of any other apps that would work without bubbleUPnP, such as say MConnect, or is Linn Kazoo the only option?

Thanks, but it just is not doing that, because the MQA files from both Tidal and my NAS are not recognised as MQA by the DAC. As far as I can see, the only element that could potentially be altering the stream is bubbleUPnP server which is installed on the microRendu and which provides me with the OpenHome renderer I use. I have switched everything I can see (such as transcoding of any sort) on bubbleUPnP but to no effect.

Thanks very much for the reply. One last question. I now have a Mytek Brooklyn+ DAC (replacing a Chord Hugo), and cannot get my microRendu to deliver an MQA stream from either Tidal or my local NAS to the Brooklyn+ DAC. The only way I have been able to play MQA files is by using the Tidal app on my laptop directly attached over USB to the DAC. This is something I don't want to do. I want to stream music files from both my local NAS and Tidal via the microRendu or possibly in the future an ultraRendu. I have seen a number of posts and questions about this, but haven't come across a resolution. I would just like to know if I am completely wasting my time trying to get MQA files to my fully MQA enabled DAC via the microRendu. Is this just not possible? I am using minimserver on my NAS, and have installed bubbleUPnP server (with a Sonicorbiter OpenHome renderer) on my microRendu to get access to Tidal. I can see and 'play' Tidal Master files from my Lumin or Mconnect apps on my iPad, but the Brooklyn+ does not recognise them as MQA. Is what I am trying to do just not possible, and if so what is the stumbling block? I am aware that MQA is controversial and the Sonore has apparently decided (possibly because of the controversy) not to release an MQA update for its products. However, I have a fully MQA enabled DAC and simply want to pass through MQA files (without any unfolding) through to my DAC. I'd be very grateful for any advice to avoid wasting my time if there is no solution.

Thanks, do you know if the new microSD card with software version 2.7 is compatible with the Version 1.3 hardware, or is the 1.4 main board upgrade a pre-requisite for 2.7.