[FAQ] Can I use my dCS CD player to playback MQA CDs?

[dCS_kb (dCS Knowledge Base)]

Not directly, as our MQA implementation splits the two MQA stages (decode and render) into different hardware components. The first stage (MQA decode) is implemented in the network streaming component and the second stage is implemented in the DAC’s FPGA. As there is no data pathway from the player’s CD mechanism through the network processor there’s no way for the unit to perform he decode stage from an MQA CD.

Instead, the CD can be ripped to FLAC files and played back either via USB or streamed via the network. This sends the MQA carrier to the network streaming component of the system and allows for the initial MQA decode to take place.

MQA requires some tags to be present in the files and those don’t get written when the CD is ripped. MQA has released a program that will read in the ripped CD files and write the appropriate tags. More information on this can be found here:

[Mosaic FAQ] I ripped an MQA CD and the files don’t illuminate the MQA indicator when played back via UPnP or USB. What’s wrong?

In order for the MQA authentication process to work correctly the file’s metadata tags need to include codes that the MQA decoder verifies. If you have edited the metadata of your MQA files then the tags may have become corrupted. This is a very common problem as the tags and artwork provided with the files may not match a listener’s preferred metadata tagging convention. This is also a common issue with files ripped from an MQA-encoded CD. This problem is easily solved using the MQA Tag Renami…