Devialet Expert Pro - MQA support

[Confused]

Opinions vary on this one I know, but from a technical perspective, the ultimate approach is not to use MQA.

Whilst @Confused is probably right (I don't know enough about digital to make my own conclusion) it seems to be that every time a 'new and improved' format comes out, there's an effort to bring out better mastered versions. 

It's the mastering that can make the new version sound better, so there's no need to stick with the format. Playing MQA without unfolding will probably still sound better if the mastering has been done well. Having said that, I'd start with learning about speaker setup before anything else. Nothing beats that. Nothing.

MQA themselves are very opaque about this. From what can be gathered, MQA files are basically in two categories. Some have been given the "white glove" treatment (such as the ones used for the original demos), but the vast majority are put through some kind of MQA mass production conversion process sausage machine. If you look at the sheer number of MQA tracks available on Tidal now it is clear that is impossible that they have all been given the white glove treatment and then authenticated as being "as the artist intended". I am not sure of the exact number, but they are well into the tens of millions, which would be a lot of hands for those white gloves, unless it was an automated system. It is simply impossible that they have performed any kind of high quality remastering on thirty million tracks or whatever in such a short time period.

There are of course some good reasons why those that have had the "white glove" treatment could indeed sound good.

For the files fed through the MQA sausage machine, there is some evidence that a touch of equalisation has been added. This might be the reason why some people like MQA, or why some people prefer some tracks on MQA, but not others.

The curious thing about all of the above is that it has nothing to do with the MQA format itself. You could add a touch of EQ to thirty million FLAC files and a proportion of people would state that they prefer it. The difference with MQA is that they want you to use modified DACs that require payment of a licence fee to MQA and use of the music requires payment of a licence fee to MQA. Even Roon have to pay a fee to MQA every time their software conversion is used, this is money that would be better spent elsewhere in my view.