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Category : MQA

Audirvana DAC Playback 24/88.2 kHz MQA Audio Playback

I was wondering why my MQA encoded FLAC files play at 24/88.2 kHz with Audirvana 3.2.10.  Here is an explanation that I have compiled from comments posted in this Youtube video.

MQA software decoders like Audirvana Plus or the TIDAL desktop App for Win/Mac are socalled MQA core decoders and their decoding is limited to 96kHz. For a complete and full decoding of MQA files with original sampling rates higher than 96 kHz, you need either a MQA certified hardware decoder DAC like Meridian Explorer2, Mytek Brooklyn, the Onkyo an Pioneer HighRes mobile players, etc (in this case Audirvana could even pass through the MQA files without any software decoding), or you need a combination of a core decoder like Audirvana Plus in combination with a socalled MQA renderer like the Audioquest Dragonfly. In this case Audirvana Plus does the core decoding to 96kHz and the MQA renderer will continue the docoding to its full original sampling rate. In your case the Chord Mojo is neither a MQA decoder nor a MQA renderer. It is a Non-MQA DAC and can only play MQA files either undecoded ( without audirvana; in this case the files behave like ordinary 16/44 or 16/48 files) or it plays the files at 96 kHz after core decoding by Audirvana or Tidal Desktop App.