John
Back in January, a firmware update was announced – not by AudioQuest but by MQA (the company): full MQA compatibility would soon, very soon, come to AudioQuest’s DragonFly Black and Red dongle DACs. The over-the-air firmware update would arrive before the month was out. Time passed. January ended. February came and went. Nothing. More time went by. Some got tetchy. Yet more time went by.
Now we’re well into May and that DragonFly-related MQA update is at last scheduled to arrive next week, Wednesday 17th, just in time for Munich High-End 2017. As before, this announcement comes from MQA’s press department and not AudioQuest’s.
Joining AudioQuest at the M.O.C. with MQA-compatible product announcements will be the following brands: CanEVER Audio, dCS, Esoteric, Audiolab, Quad, Krell, Lumin, Mark Levinson, MOON by Simaudio, Pro-Ject Audio Systems, TEAC and Wadax.
We’re now a little more likely to hear a response in the affirmative when asking “Does it do MQA?”.
Further information: MQA
Here’s a full breakdown of MQA’s scheduled Munich action:
- AudioQuest – A4 E122 [DragonFly Black and DragonFly Red portable USB DACs]
- Aurender – A4.1 F108 Audio Components room [A10 demonstration]
- Bel Canto – Hall 3 J07, Taurus High-End [AC I600 on display but no demonstrations. Team available for discussion]
- Bluesound and NAD – A3 C112 [Full Bluesound range and M32, M50.2]
- Brinkmann – A4 E108 [Brinkmann Nyquist]
- CanEVER Audio – Halle 3 K08 [ZeroUno DAC + ZeroUno PLUS] (subject tocertification)
- dCS – A4.2 F209 [Rossini CD Player preview demonstration on request] (subject to certification)
- Esoteric – A4.1 E118, A4.1 E119 [Will be integrating MQA in N-05 Network Audio Player] (subject to certification)
- IAG – Halle 3 L07 (subject to certification)
- Krell – A3.1 D111 Audio Reference room [Will be integrating MQA in Digital
- Vanguard integrated amplifier + Vanguard Universal DAC] (subject to certification)
- Lumin – Hall 4, W10 booth [Preview demonstration of Lumin S1] (subject to certification)
- Mark Levinson – A4.1 F119 Harman Lifestyle Audio [Will be integrating MQA in the No. 519 Audio Player] (subject to certification)
- Meridian – A3 D111 Audio Reference room [Ultra DAC and preview of the new 218]
- MOON by Simaudio – A4.1 F114 [Prototype of 780D playing MQA files from a computer] (subject to certification)
- MSB – A4 E221 [Select DAC and New Reference DAC]
- Mytek – Halle 2 E08 [Brooklyn, Manhattan 2 plus preview of Clef demo]
- Onkyo and Pioneer – A4 E119 [Pioneer XDP-100R / XDP-300R / Onkyo DPX1]
- Pro-Ject Audio Systems – Halle 3 L02 [Preview demonstration of Pre Box S2
- Digital, DAC Box S2+ and Head Box S2 Digital] (subject to certification)
- TEAC – A4.1 E118, A4.1 E119 [Will be implementing MQA in NR7 CD Player](subject to certification)
- Technics – A3 C114 [SU-G30 with beta firmware for TIDAL integration]
- Wadax – A4.1 E106 [MQA module for Atlantis Digital Line will be a static display] (subject to certification)
Comments on this post are closed. Readers are asked to save ’em for DAR’s latest MQA op-ed – here.
