MQA Volume Fixed At Max

Audio Formats
1

Hi all,

I’m new to Audirvana - really like it so far and will probably stick with Studio.

Is there any software-based workaround to MQA tracks bypassing software volume control and sending a fixed/max volume to the DAC?

I do not care much if I’m not getting full MQA quality since Tidal seems to be moving away from that format anyway. Would also be happy with a solution of disabling MQA tracks from showing up in my Audirvana altogether. There are typically alternative formats within Tidal for MQA albums. Fine with playing an alternative.

Running Audirvana via USB to Gustard R26 to Emotiva power amp to Axiom towers.

Thanks!

2

Hi @Todj86,

Can you send us a copy of the “Debug Info” when you have this behavior? You can get it in Audirvana Settings>My account

Note: By clicking on the Debug Info button, Audirvana automatically copies all its content, all you have to do is paste it in response to this message

4

@Antoine
Here’s the info - thanks!

Audirvana Studio 2.7.0 (20700)

Windows 11 (22621) with 12GB physical RAM

Connected account of : Timothy Olson

NETWORK
Status: available
Available network interfaces:
SonicRacer5 ({201827d1-2e6a-42bc-b14d-332ebcb6f811}) is PUBLIC
Windows Defender Firewall status for this instance of Audirvana Studio
Active profile types: all
Private profile:
Firewall: enabled
Inbound: blocked
Outbound: allowed
Notifications: enabled
Public profile:
Firewall: enabled
Inbound: allowed
Outbound: allowed
Notifications: enabled

SIGNAL PROCESSING:

Polarity Inversion:
	Globally: OFF
	Per track: ON
Effects plugins NOT ACTIVE

UPSAMPLING:
r8brain with 2x upsampling
r8brain filter parameters
Bandwidth = 99.5%
Stop band attenuation 218dB
Phase linear

AUDIO VOLUME:
Max allowed volume: 58.2418
Replay Gain: None
SW volume control: ON

LIBRARY SETTINGS:
Sync list: 1 folders
AUTO: C:\Users\afine\Music
Library database path: C:\Users\afine\AppData\Local\Packages\Audirvana.Audirvana-4118-9684-d80dbb7827cd_q3nymrkmej12j\LocalCache\Local\Audirvana\Audirvana\AudirvanaDatabase.sqlite

Local audio files fingerprinting
Tracks with no MBID: 234

Remote Control server:
Listening on 2600:1700:1d24:6380:67b2:1d22:3e1d:6a25 on port 61763

ACTIVE STREAMING SERVICES
TIDAL: Connected as HiFi Plus

=================== AUDIO DEVICE ========================

Active method: Local

Max. memory for audio buffers: 6144MB

Local Audio Engine: WASAPI
Use max I/O buffer size: ON

Preferred device:
Speakers (Gustard USB Audio 2.0)
Model UID:TUSBAUDIO_ENUM\VID_20B1&PID_3033&REV_5111&KS
UID:\?\SWD#MMDEVAPI#{0.0.0.00000000}.{246d3acb-feae-4fce-8886-69cf429e1307}#{e6327cad-dcec-4949-ae8a-991e976a79d2}

Currently playing in Integer Mode:
Device: 2ch 32bits Integer, 8 bytes per frame 88.2kHz

Active Sample Rate: 88.2kHz

Bridge settings:
Sample rate limitation: none
Sample rate switching latency: none
Limit bitdepth to 24bit: OFF
Mute during sample rate change: OFF

Selected device:Speakers (Gustard USB Audio 2.0)
Manufacturer: Gustard
Model name: Gustard USB Audio 2.0
Model UID: TUSBAUDIO_ENUM\VID_20B1&PID_3033&REV_5111&KS
UID: \?\SWD#MMDEVAPI#{0.0.0.00000000}.{246d3acb-feae-4fce-8886-69cf429e1307}#{e6327cad-dcec-4949-ae8a-991e976a79d2}
USB Vendor ID: 0x20b1
USB Product ID: 0x3033

10 available sample rates up to 768000Hz
44100
48000
88200
96000
176400
192000
352800
384000
705600
768000

Volume Control
Physical: No
Virtual: No
Max volume alert: Enabled

MQA capability
Auto-detect MQA devices: No
MQA Decoder device

DSD capability
DSD via PCM 1.1

Device audio channels
Preferred stereo channels L:0 R:1
Channel bitmap: Ox3, layout:
Channel 0 mapped to 0
Channel 1 mapped to 1

Audio channels in use
Number of channels: 2
Use as stereo device only: No
Simple stereo device: No

1 output streams:
Number of active channels: 2, in 1 stream(s)
Channel #0 :Stream 0 channel 0
Channel #1 :Stream 0 channel 1
2 ch Integer PCM 16bit little endian 44.1kHz
2 ch Integer PCM 24bit little endian aligned high in 32bit chunk 44.1kHz
2 ch Integer PCM 32bit little endian 44.1kHz
2 ch Integer PCM 16bit little endian 48kHz
2 ch Integer PCM 24bit little endian aligned high in 32bit chunk 48kHz
2 ch Integer PCM 32bit little endian 48kHz
2 ch Integer PCM 16bit little endian 88.2kHz
2 ch Integer PCM 24bit little endian aligned high in 32bit chunk 88.2kHz
2 ch Integer PCM 32bit little endian 88.2kHz
2 ch Integer PCM 16bit little endian 96kHz
2 ch Integer PCM 24bit little endian aligned high in 32bit chunk 96kHz
2 ch Integer PCM 32bit little endian 96kHz
2 ch Integer PCM 16bit little endian 176.4kHz
2 ch Integer PCM 24bit little endian aligned high in 32bit chunk 176.4kHz
2 ch Integer PCM 32bit little endian 176.4kHz
2 ch Integer PCM 16bit little endian 192kHz
2 ch Integer PCM 24bit little endian aligned high in 32bit chunk 192kHz
2 ch Integer PCM 32bit little endian 192kHz
2 ch Integer PCM 16bit little endian 352.8kHz
2 ch Integer PCM 24bit little endian aligned high in 32bit chunk 352.8kHz
2 ch Integer PCM 32bit little endian 352.8kHz
2 ch Integer PCM 16bit little endian 384kHz
2 ch Integer PCM 24bit little endian aligned high in 32bit chunk 384kHz
2 ch Integer PCM 32bit little endian 384kHz
2 ch Integer PCM 16bit little endian 705.6kHz
2 ch Integer PCM 24bit little endian aligned high in 32bit chunk 705.6kHz
2 ch Integer PCM 32bit little endian 705.6kHz
2 ch Integer PCM 16bit little endian 768kHz
2 ch Integer PCM 24bit little endian aligned high in 32bit chunk 768kHz
2 ch Integer PCM 32bit little endian 768kHz

Local devices found : 3
Device #0: VoiceMeeter Input (VB-Audio VoiceMeeter VAIO)
Manufacturer: VB-Audio Software
Model UID: VBAudioVMVAIO
UID: \?\SWD#MMDEVAPI#{0.0.0.00000000}.{7d706fcf-6522-44e8-8757-b8f5b709c8ad}#{e6327cad-dcec-4949-ae8a-991e976a79d2}
Model name: Unknown model
Device #1: Speakers (Realtek(R) Audio)
Manufacturer: Realtek
Model UID: HDAUDIO\FUNC_01&VEN_10EC&DEV_0256&SUBSYS_104317EF&REV_1000
UID: \?\SWD#MMDEVAPI#{0.0.0.00000000}.{de1bb507-b383-4d60-8a7d-a390078d6ccd}#{e6327cad-dcec-4949-ae8a-991e976a79d2}
Model name: Audio Device on High Definition Audio Bus
Device #2: Speakers (Gustard USB Audio 2.0)
Manufacturer: Gustard
Model UID: TUSBAUDIO_ENUM\VID_20B1&PID_3033&REV_5111&KS
UID: \?\SWD#MMDEVAPI#{0.0.0.00000000}.{246d3acb-feae-4fce-8886-69cf429e1307}#{e6327cad-dcec-4949-ae8a-991e976a79d2}
USB Vendor ID: 0x20b1
USB Product ID: 0x3033
Model name: Gustard USB Audio 2.0

UPnP

UPnP devices found : 0

Chromecast

Chromecast devices found : 0

5

Hmm, before posting I restarted the app and it was still maxing out MQA. Tonight I closed the app again for a while, reopened Audirvana, and now the MQA settings seem to have applied as I thought they would.

The app seems to not be trying to send MQA to the DAC anymore, and software volume holds. Seems to be good for now. Thanks!

6

Can you try to remove the software volume control?

7

I think I’m all set. The NOS setting I’m trying to use on my DAC requires DAC to be at fixed volume. So currently the software volume control is my only volume control, eventually leading to a power amp (not integrated amp).

I have an SPL Volume2 arriving soon. If that doesn’t trash the sound quality, I’ll use it as a very simple preamp and run everything else at fixed volume. Thanks!

8

@Antoine

The same thing just happened again with an MQA file. I know for sure that I’ve played this before and the software volume control held. This time it maxed out again and stopped showing where the volume was set. Seems to be an intermittent issue.

Just closed the software and reopened. Tried the same song. Audirvana showed the volume slider active with the volume all the way down but the music left the computer at full blast.

Info:
Audirvana Studio 2.7.0 (20700)

Windows 11 (22621) with 12GB physical RAM

Connected account of : Timothy Olson

NETWORK
Status: available
Available network interfaces:
SonicRacer5 ({201827d1-2e6a-42bc-b14d-332ebcb6f811}) is PUBLIC
Windows Defender Firewall status for this instance of Audirvana Studio
Active profile types: all
Private profile:
Firewall: enabled
Inbound: blocked
Outbound: allowed
Notifications: enabled
Public profile:
Firewall: enabled
Inbound: allowed
Outbound: allowed
Notifications: enabled

SIGNAL PROCESSING:

Polarity Inversion:
	Globally: OFF
	Per track: ON
Effects plugins NOT ACTIVE

UPSAMPLING:
r8brain with 2x upsampling
r8brain filter parameters
Bandwidth = 99.5%
Stop band attenuation 218dB
Phase linear

AUDIO VOLUME:
Max allowed volume: 96.044
Replay Gain: None
SW volume control: ON

LIBRARY SETTINGS:
Sync list: 1 folders
AUTO: C:\Users\afine\Music
Library database path: C:\Users\afine\AppData\Local\Packages\Audirvana.Audirvana-4118-9684-d80dbb7827cd_q3nymrkmej12j\LocalCache\Local\Audirvana\Audirvana\AudirvanaDatabase.sqlite

Local audio files fingerprinting
Tracks with no MBID: 397

Remote Control server:
Listening on 2600:1700:1d24:6380:67b2:1d22:3e1d:6a25 on port 52321

ACTIVE STREAMING SERVICES
TIDAL: Connected as HiFi Plus

=================== AUDIO DEVICE ========================

Active method: Local

Max. memory for audio buffers: 6144MB

Local Audio Engine: WASAPI
Use max I/O buffer size: ON

Preferred device:
Speakers (Gustard USB Audio 2.0)
Model UID:TUSBAUDIO_ENUM\VID_20B1&PID_3033&REV_5111&KS
UID:\?\SWD#MMDEVAPI#{0.0.0.00000000}.{246d3acb-feae-4fce-8886-69cf429e1307}#{e6327cad-dcec-4949-ae8a-991e976a79d2}

Currently playing in Integer Mode:
Device: 2ch 24bits Integer, 8 bytes per frame 44.1kHz

Active Sample Rate: 44.1kHz

Bridge settings:
Sample rate limitation: none
Sample rate switching latency: none
Limit bitdepth to 24bit: OFF
Mute during sample rate change: OFF

Selected device:Speakers (Gustard USB Audio 2.0)
Manufacturer: Gustard
Model name: Gustard USB Audio 2.0
Model UID: TUSBAUDIO_ENUM\VID_20B1&PID_3033&REV_5111&KS
UID: \?\SWD#MMDEVAPI#{0.0.0.00000000}.{246d3acb-feae-4fce-8886-69cf429e1307}#{e6327cad-dcec-4949-ae8a-991e976a79d2}
USB Vendor ID: 0x20b1
USB Product ID: 0x3033

10 available sample rates up to 768000Hz
44100
48000
88200
96000
176400
192000
352800
384000
705600
768000

Volume Control
Physical: No
Virtual: No
Max volume alert: Enabled

MQA capability
Auto-detect MQA devices: Yes
MQA Decoder device

DSD capability
DSD via PCM 1.1

Device audio channels
Preferred stereo channels L:0 R:1
Channel bitmap: Ox3, layout:
Channel 0 mapped to 0
Channel 1 mapped to 1

Audio channels in use
Number of channels: 2
Use as stereo device only: No
Simple stereo device: No

1 output streams:
Number of active channels: 2, in 1 stream(s)
Channel #0 :Stream 0 channel 0
Channel #1 :Stream 0 channel 1
2 ch Integer PCM 16bit little endian 44.1kHz
2 ch Integer PCM 24bit little endian aligned high in 32bit chunk 44.1kHz
2 ch Integer PCM 32bit little endian 44.1kHz
2 ch Integer PCM 16bit little endian 48kHz
2 ch Integer PCM 24bit little endian aligned high in 32bit chunk 48kHz
2 ch Integer PCM 32bit little endian 48kHz
2 ch Integer PCM 16bit little endian 88.2kHz
2 ch Integer PCM 24bit little endian aligned high in 32bit chunk 88.2kHz
2 ch Integer PCM 32bit little endian 88.2kHz
2 ch Integer PCM 16bit little endian 96kHz
2 ch Integer PCM 24bit little endian aligned high in 32bit chunk 96kHz
2 ch Integer PCM 32bit little endian 96kHz
2 ch Integer PCM 16bit little endian 176.4kHz
2 ch Integer PCM 24bit little endian aligned high in 32bit chunk 176.4kHz
2 ch Integer PCM 32bit little endian 176.4kHz
2 ch Integer PCM 16bit little endian 192kHz
2 ch Integer PCM 24bit little endian aligned high in 32bit chunk 192kHz
2 ch Integer PCM 32bit little endian 192kHz
2 ch Integer PCM 16bit little endian 352.8kHz
2 ch Integer PCM 24bit little endian aligned high in 32bit chunk 352.8kHz
2 ch Integer PCM 32bit little endian 352.8kHz
2 ch Integer PCM 16bit little endian 384kHz
2 ch Integer PCM 24bit little endian aligned high in 32bit chunk 384kHz
2 ch Integer PCM 32bit little endian 384kHz
2 ch Integer PCM 16bit little endian 705.6kHz
2 ch Integer PCM 24bit little endian aligned high in 32bit chunk 705.6kHz
2 ch Integer PCM 32bit little endian 705.6kHz
2 ch Integer PCM 16bit little endian 768kHz
2 ch Integer PCM 24bit little endian aligned high in 32bit chunk 768kHz
2 ch Integer PCM 32bit little endian 768kHz

Local devices found : 3
Device #0: VoiceMeeter Input (VB-Audio VoiceMeeter VAIO)
Manufacturer: VB-Audio Software
Model UID: VBAudioVMVAIO
UID: \?\SWD#MMDEVAPI#{0.0.0.00000000}.{7d706fcf-6522-44e8-8757-b8f5b709c8ad}#{e6327cad-dcec-4949-ae8a-991e976a79d2}
Model name: Unknown model
Device #1: Speakers (Realtek(R) Audio)
Manufacturer: Realtek
Model UID: HDAUDIO\FUNC_01&VEN_10EC&DEV_0256&SUBSYS_104317EF&REV_1000
UID: \?\SWD#MMDEVAPI#{0.0.0.00000000}.{de1bb507-b383-4d60-8a7d-a390078d6ccd}#{e6327cad-dcec-4949-ae8a-991e976a79d2}
Model name: Audio Device on High Definition Audio Bus
Device #2: Speakers (Gustard USB Audio 2.0)
Manufacturer: Gustard
Model UID: TUSBAUDIO_ENUM\VID_20B1&PID_3033&REV_5111&KS
UID: \?\SWD#MMDEVAPI#{0.0.0.00000000}.{246d3acb-feae-4fce-8886-69cf429e1307}#{e6327cad-dcec-4949-ae8a-991e976a79d2}
USB Vendor ID: 0x20b1
USB Product ID: 0x3033
Model name: Gustard USB Audio 2.0

UPnP

UPnP devices found : 1
Device #0: XBOX
UID: uuid:15942303-8799-4a1a-90cd-bbacef411cdf
Location: http://192.168.1.79:2869/upnphost/udhisapi.dll?content=uuid:15942303-8799-4a1a-90cd-bbacef411cdf
Manufacturer: Microsoft Corporation
Model name: Xbox One

Chromecast

Chromecast devices found : 0

9

Hi @Todj86,
I understand this requirement, but please try reproducing your behavior without enabling software volume control.

10

@Antoine

I need software volume control. The problem is that the software volume control isn’t working correctly.

If I disabled software volume control, there would not be a decreased volume to jump up from. What am I missing?

Thanks!

11

MQA capability
Auto-detect MQA devices: Yes
MQA Decoder device

You could manually set the DAC as non-MQA. When the DAC is recognized as a decoder, the original signal will be passed on to the decoder in the DAC. If you set it to no MQA in Audirvana, the core decoder of Audirvana does the first decoder step, and then you can simply use the volume control. At least that’s how it should be :wink:

1 Like