Tidal settings for Sonos: Use HiFi or Master Quality?
I know that Sonos does NOT stream the Master Quality Audio (MQA) offered by Tidal … but will Master Quality work on Sonos (via Connects & Amps) so I can use it via other devices (i.e. get MQA on BlueSound Vault) or do I need to set it on HiFi (to get lossless Flac 16 bit/ 44.1kHz) on Sonos?
The other way to ask this would be: Would Sonos automatically down sample the MQA hi-res files to CD-quality lossless?
Thanks! Could not find answer anywhere in forum or via the Tidal FAQs.
Given this, there'd be no real point in sending MQA to Sonos as it would in fact be slightly worse quality than Red Book 16-bit due to the way the lowest bits are encoded. It should however play, so if you're after the convenience of a single source format everywhere I believe it will work. YMMV, so you'd have to try it.
https://en.community.sonos.com/music-services-and-sources-228994/connect-meridian-and-mqa-6764735
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In this case though if there is no cost implication to you, toggling back and forth and sticking to the one that sounds better would be simple to do.
In my opinion, no need to set to HiFi on Tidal app just for Sonos to be able to play. Once you stream Tidal content to Sonos via Airplay, you will notice on the Tidal app that the “Masters” label changed to “HiFi” by itself, a self downgrade for compatibility.
In my opinion, no need to set to HiFi on Tidal app just for Sonos to be able to play. Once you stream Tidal content to Sonos via Airplay, you will notice on the Tidal app that the “Masters” label changed to “HiFi” by itself, a self downgrade for compatibility.
I’ve noticed the opposite. Assuming a song which is available as a “Master” version, with “Master” set as the streaming option in the Tidal app, when I select a Sonos speaker for output from the Tidal app, the maximum quality allowed by Tidal is “HiFi”- as you’ve noted. However, if I select AirPlay as the output from the Tidal app, and then check the box within the Airplay menu for same Sonos speaker, the maximum quality is uprated to “Master”. You can see this behavior occur immediately within the app with songs which are available in “Master” quality. Switching back and forth between the Sonos speaker and Airplay (to the same Sonos speaker) causes the song selected to be displayed as “HiFi” vs. “Master”.
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