No MQA with Astell&Kern SP1000M

I have been attempting to use Audirvana with my A&K SP1000M but have been unable to get MQA to function properly. The SP1000M is a full MQA decoder but only shows 24/48/WAV when playing from Audirvana (with no MQA). Note that it works perfectly with Synology Audio Station. Perhaps the conversion to WAV is breaking MQA? Can I get Audirvana to send the unmolested flac stream to my DAP?

Yes, you need to set the MQA capability to MQA decoder.

Thank you for responding. I have already tried that and it didn’t help.

Debug info:

Audirvana Mac Version 3.5.44 (3574)
macOS 11.2.3 with 16384MB RAM

Registered to Richard Wright

SIGNAL PROCESSING:

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

UPSAMPLING:
SoX not in use
SoX filter parameters
Bandwidth at 0dB = 99.5
Filter max length = 30000
Anti-aliasing = 100
Phase = 66

AUDIO VOLUME:
Max allowed volume: 100
Replay Gain: None
SW volume control: OFF

LIBRARY SETTINGS:
Sync list: 1 folders
AUTO: /Volumes/music/
iTunes/Music library synchronization: not synchronized
Library database path: /Users/rick/Library/Application Support/Audirvana/AudirvanaPlusDatabaseV2.sqlite

ACTIVE STREAMING SERVICES
Qobuz: Connected as Qobuz Studio
TIDAL: Connected as HIFI

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

Preferred device: SP1000M Model UID:IRIVER Ltd. SP1000M UID:uuid:4d696e69-8398-7814-0102-0018d56d112f

Currently playing to UPnP device at 32 bits 48kHz
Selected device:
UPnP device at http://192.168.0.122:5500/upnp/dev/4d696e69-8398-7814-0102-0018d56d112f/desc
ID 0x0 SP1000M Manufacturer:IRIVER Ltd.
Model UID:IRIVER Ltd. SP1000M UID:uuid:4d696e69-8398-7814-0102-0018d56d112f

8 available sample rates up to 384000Hz
44100
48000
88200
96000
176400
192000
352800
384000
Volume control: No
MQA capability
Auto-detect MQA devices: No
Not a MQA device, user set to MQA Decoder
DSD capability: Raw DSD (MSB)
Device audio channels
Preferred stereo channels L:0 R:1
Channel bitmap: Ox3, layout:
Channel 0 mapped to 0
Channel 1 mapped to 1
UPnP/DLNA supported protocols:
http-get::audio/mpeg:DLNA.ORG_PN=MP3;DLNA.ORG_OP=01;DLNA.ORG_FLAGS=40000000000000000000000000000000
http-get:
:audio/mp4:DLNA.ORG_PN=M4A;DLNA.ORG_OP=01;DLNA.ORG_FLAGS=40000000000000000000000000000000
http-get::audio/x-wav:DLNA.ORG_PN=WAV;DLNA.ORG_OP=01;DLNA.ORG_FLAGS=40000000000000000000000000000000
http-get:
:audio/x-ms-wma:DLNA.ORG_PN=WMA;DLNA.ORG_OP=01;DLNA.ORG_FLAGS=40000000000000000000000000000000
http-get::audio/ogg:DLNA.ORG_PN=OGG;DLNA.ORG_OP=01;DLNA.ORG_FLAGS=40000000000000000000000000000000
http-get:
:audio/aac:DLNA.ORG_PN=AAC;DLNA.ORG_OP=01;DLNA.ORG_FLAGS=40000000000000000000000000000000
http-get::audio/x-ape:DLNA.ORG_PN=APE;DLNA.ORG_OP=01;DLNA.ORG_FLAGS=40000000000000000000000000000000
http-get:
:audio/dsf:DLNA.ORG_PN=DSF;DLNA.ORG_OP=01;DLNA.ORG_FLAGS=40000000000000000000000000000000
http-get::audio/dff:DLNA.ORG_PN=DSD;DLNA.ORG_OP=01;DLNA.ORG_FLAGS=40000000000000000000000000000000
http-get:
:audio/aiff:DLNA.ORG_PN=AIFF;DLNA.ORG_OP=01;DLNA.ORG_FLAGS=40000000000000000000000000000000
http-get:*:audio/flac:DLNA.ORG_PN=FLAC;DLNA.ORG_OP=01;DLNA.ORG_FLAGS=40000000000000000000000000000000
DLNA 1.5: No
Gapless playback: Yes
Missing events workaround: Yes
Can play native DSD: Yes
Number of channels: 2
Use as stereo device only: 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

Stream ID 0x0 0 channels starting at 0
27 virtual formats:
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 16 little endian Signed Integer 44.1kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer 44.1kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Integer 44.1kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 16 little endian Signed Integer 88.2kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer 88.2kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Integer 88.2kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 16 little endian Signed Integer 176.4kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer 176.4kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Integer 176.4kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 16 little endian Signed Integer 352.8kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer 352.8kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Integer 352.8kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 16 little endian Signed Integer 48kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer 48kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Integer 48kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 16 little endian Signed Integer 96kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer 96kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Integer 96kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 16 little endian Signed Integer 192kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer 192kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Integer 192kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 16 little endian Signed Integer 384kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer 384kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Integer 384kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 8 little endian Signed Integer 2822.4kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 8 little endian Signed Integer 5644.8kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 8 little endian Signed Integer 11289.6kHz

0 physical formats

Current device transportInfo:
CurrentTransportState: PLAYING
CurrentTransportStatus: OK
CurrentSpeed: 1
Current device MediaInfo:
NrTracks: 1
MediaDuration: 00:04:21
CurrentURI: http://192.168.0.92:49152/audirvana/audio_0_22.mqa.wav
CurrentURIMetadata: dc:titlePsycho Killer</dc:title>dc:creatorTalking Heads</dc:creator>upnp:classobject.item.audioItem.musicTrack</upnp:class>upnp:artistTalking Heads</upnp:artist>upnp:genre/upnp:albumArtURIhttp://resources.tidal.com/images/f2ff3691/2dd1/47f5/8ea0/214b5920eff3/640x640.jpg</upnp:albumArtURI>upnp:albumTalking Heads: 77</upnp:album>upnp:originalTrackNumber10</upnp:originalTrackNumber>http://192.168.0.92:49152/audirvana/audio_0_22.mqa.wav
nextURI: http://192.168.0.92:49152/audirvana/audio_1_23.mqa.wav
nextURIMetadata: dc:titleBurning Down the House</dc:title>dc:creatorTalking Heads</dc:creator>upnp:classobject.item.audioItem.musicTrack</upnp:class>upnp:artistTalking Heads</upnp:artist>upnp:genre/upnp:albumArtURIhttp://resources.tidal.com/images/0b37537f/52a9/460f/a0c7/0510516364f4/640x640.jpg</upnp:albumArtURI>upnp:albumSpeaking in Tongues</upnp:album>upnp:originalTrackNumber1</upnp:originalTrackNumber>http://192.168.0.92:49152/audirvana/audio_1_23.mqa.wav
PlayMedium: NETWORK
RecordMedium: NOT_IMPLEMENTED
WriteStatus: NOT_IMPLEMENTED

Current device AVT service description:

<?xml version="1.0"?> 1 0 GetMediaInfo InstanceID in A_ARG_TYPE_InstanceID NrTracks out NumberOfTracks MediaDuration out CurrentMediaDuration CurrentURI out AVTransportURI CurrentURIMetaData out AVTransportURIMetaData NextURI out NextAVTransportURI NextURIMetaData out NextAVTransportURIMetaData PlayMedium out PlaybackStorageMedium RecordMedium out RecordStorageMedium WriteStatus out RecordMediumWriteStatus SetRecordQualityMode InstanceID in A_ARG_TYPE_InstanceID NewRecordQualityMode in CurrentRecordQualityMode GetPositionInfo InstanceID in A_ARG_TYPE_InstanceID Track out CurrentTrack TrackDuration out CurrentTrackDuration TrackMetaData out CurrentTrackMetaData TrackURI out CurrentTrackURI RelTime out RelativeTimePosition AbsTime out AbsoluteTimePosition RelCount out RelativeCounterPosition AbsCount out AbsoluteCounterPosition GetTransportInfo InstanceID in A_ARG_TYPE_InstanceID CurrentTransportState out TransportState CurrentTransportStatus out TransportStatus CurrentSpeed out TransportPlaySpeed SetAVTransportURI InstanceID in A_ARG_TYPE_InstanceID CurrentURI in AVTransportURI CurrentURIMetaData in AVTransportURIMetaData Stop InstanceID in A_ARG_TYPE_InstanceID SetNextAVTransportURI InstanceID in A_ARG_TYPE_InstanceID NextURI in AVTransportURI NextURIMetaData in AVTransportURIMetaData GetCurrentTransportActions InstanceID in A_ARG_TYPE_InstanceID Actions out CurrentTransportActions Play InstanceID in A_ARG_TYPE_InstanceID Speed in TransportPlaySpeed GetTransportSettings InstanceID in A_ARG_TYPE_InstanceID PlayMode out CurrentPlayMode RecQualityMode out CurrentRecordQualityMode GetDeviceCapabilities InstanceID in A_ARG_TYPE_InstanceID PlayMedia out PossiblePlaybackStorageMedia RecMedia out PossibleRecordStorageMedia RecQualityModes out PossibleRecordQualityModes Seek InstanceID in A_ARG_TYPE_InstanceID Unit in A_ARG_TYPE_SeekMode Target in A_ARG_TYPE_SeekTarget Next InstanceID in A_ARG_TYPE_InstanceID Previous InstanceID in A_ARG_TYPE_InstanceID Record InstanceID in A_ARG_TYPE_InstanceID Pause InstanceID in A_ARG_TYPE_InstanceID SetPlayMode InstanceID in A_ARG_TYPE_InstanceID NewPlayMode in CurrentPlayMode NextAVTransportURIMetaData string NOT_IMPLEMENTED CurrentTrack ui4 0 CurrentTrackMetaData string NOT_IMPLEMENTED CurrentTrackURI string AVTransportURIMetaData string NOT_IMPLEMENTED LastChange string PossibleRecordQualityModes string NOT_IMPLEMENTED RecordStorageMedium string NOT_IMPLEMENTED UNKNOWN DV MINI-DV VHS W-VHS S-VHS D-VHS VHSC VIDEO8 HI8 CD-ROM CD-DA CD-R CD-RW VIDEO-CD SACD M-AUDIO MD-PICTURE DVD-ROM DVD-VIDEO DVD-R DVD+RW DVD-RW DVD-RAM DVD-AUDIO DAT LD HDD MICRO_MV NETWORK NONE NOT_IMPLEMENTED VENDOR_SPECIFIC RelativeTimePosition string NumberOfTracks ui4 0 CurrentRecordQualityMode string NOT_IMPLEMENTED 0:EP 1:LP 2:SP 0:BASIC 1:MEDIUM 2:HIGH NOT_IMPLEMENTED RecordMediumWriteStatus string NOT_IMPLEMENTED WRITABLE PROTECTED NOT_WRITABLE UNKNOWN NOT_IMPLEMENTED NextAVTransportURI string NOT_IMPLEMENTED TransportStatus string OK ERROR_OCCURED CUSTOM PossiblePlaybackStorageMedia string NETWORK A_ARG_TYPE_SeekMode string TRACK_NR ABS_TIME REL_TIME ABS_COUNT REL_COUNT CHANNEL_FREQ TAPE-INDEX FRAME TransportPlaySpeed string 1 A_ARG_TYPE_SeekTarget string RelativeCounterPosition i4 2147483647 AbsoluteCounterPosition i4 2147483647 CurrentTransportActions string AbsoluteTimePosition string CurrentTrackDuration string TransportState string STOPPED PLAYING TRANSITIONING PAUSED_PLAYBACK PAUSED_RECORDING RECORDING NO_MEDIA_PRESENT CUSTOM AVTransportURI string CurrentMediaDuration string 00:00:00 A_ARG_TYPE_InstanceID ui4 PlaybackStorageMedium string NONE UNKNOWN DV MINI-DV VHS W-VHS S-VHS D-VHS VHSC VIDEO8 HI8 CD-ROM CD-DA CD-R CD-RW VIDEO-CD SACD M-AUDIO MD-PICTURE DVD-ROM DVD-VIDEO DVD-R DVD+RW DVD-RW DVD-RAM DVD-AUDIO DAT LD HDD MICRO_MV NETWORK NONE NOT_IMPLEMENTED VENDOR_SPECIFIC CurrentPlayMode string NORMAL NORMAL SHUFFLE REPEAT_ONE REPEAT_ALL RANDOM DIRECT_1 INTRO PossibleRecordStorageMedia string NOT_IMPLEMENTED

Current device RootDevice description:

<?xml version="1.0"?> 1 0 urn:schemas-upnp-org:device:MediaRenderer:1 SP1000M IRIVER Ltd. http://www.iriver.com DMR on Astell&Kern AK Connect Renderer 1.0 http://www.iriver.com 0000-0000-0000-0000 uuid:4d696e69-8398-7814-0102-0018d56d112f 000000000000 image/png 48 48 8 /upnp/dev/4d696e69-8398-7814-0102-0018d56d112f/icon_48 urn:schemas-upnp-org:service:ConnectionManager:1 urn:upnp-org:serviceId:ConnectionManager /upnp/dev/4d696e69-8398-7814-0102-0018d56d112f/svc/upnp-org/ConnectionManager/desc /upnp/dev/4d696e69-8398-7814-0102-0018d56d112f/svc/upnp-org/ConnectionManager/action /upnp/dev/4d696e69-8398-7814-0102-0018d56d112f/svc/upnp-org/ConnectionManager/event urn:schemas-upnp-org:service:AVTransport:1 urn:upnp-org:serviceId:AVTransport /upnp/dev/4d696e69-8398-7814-0102-0018d56d112f/svc/upnp-org/AVTransport/desc /upnp/dev/4d696e69-8398-7814-0102-0018d56d112f/svc/upnp-org/AVTransport/action /upnp/dev/4d696e69-8398-7814-0102-0018d56d112f/svc/upnp-org/AVTransport/event urn:schemas-upnp-org:service:RenderingControl:1 urn:upnp-org:serviceId:RenderingControl /upnp/dev/4d696e69-8398-7814-0102-0018d56d112f/svc/upnp-org/RenderingControl/desc /upnp/dev/4d696e69-8398-7814-0102-0018d56d112f/svc/upnp-org/RenderingControl/action /upnp/dev/4d696e69-8398-7814-0102-0018d56d112f/svc/upnp-org/RenderingControl/event

UPnP devices found : 7
Device #0: ID 0x0 Denon AVR-S650H UID: uuid:57a3a1e3-b992-1414-0080-0005cddebf96 Location: http://192.168.0.130:60006/upnp/desc/aios_device/aios_device.xml
Device #1: ID 0x0 Pace RVU Client MediaRenderer UID: uuid:MediaRenderer-44_AA_F5_74_3B_CB Location: http://169.254.9.212:63445/upnp/xml/devices/MediaRenderer1.xml
Device #2: ID 0x0 Denon AVR-S650H UID: uuid:1b903588-dd3a-18f6-0080-0005cddebf96 Location: http://192.168.0.130:60006/upnp/desc/aios_device/aios_device.xml
Device #3: ID 0x0 Denon AVR-S650H UID: uuid:4ce44264-e141-11a2-0080-0005cddebf96 Location: http://192.168.0.130:60006/upnp/desc/aios_device/aios_device.xml
Device #4: ID 0x0 Denon AVR-S650H UID: uuid:6cc6fb6f-53d0-ece7-bce1-d413d113a485 Location: http://192.168.0.130:60006/upnp/desc/aios_device/aios_device.xml
Device #5: ID 0x0 Denon AVR-S650H UID: uuid:24919e17-a601-ddee-d041-4251e45d503a Location: http://192.168.0.130:60006/upnp/desc/aios_device/aios_device.xml
Device #6: ID 0x0 SP1000M UID: uuid:4d696e69-8398-7814-0102-0018d56d112f Location: http://192.168.0.122:5500/upnp/dev/4d696e69-8398-7814-0102-0018d56d112f/desc

CoreAudio audio path, buffer I/O frame size: 0

Max. memory for audio buffers: 4082MB

Local Audio Engine:
Exclusive access: Enabled
Integer mode: Enabled

Local devices found : 1
Device #0: ID 0x31 Built-in Output Manufacturer: Apple Inc. Model UID: AppleHDA:123 UID: AppleHDAEngineOutput:1B,0,1,1:0

No suggestions or support? Are A&K devices not supported for MQA decoding?

Audirvana is sending the audio in mqa, how are you connected to your A&K?

UPNP. Perhaps the A&K doesn’t support MQA in wav file. It works fine with Synology Audio Station and MinimServer but I expect they are sending flac. Can Audirvana send the flac rather than wav?

Audirvana send it in wav to not change the audio quality of the track, you can’t change the audio format used by Audirvana in UPnP. You need to ask A&K if they support wav with their product over UPnP.

MQA files from Tidal play back in wav, they just don’t decode MQA (as a renderer or decoder). Sounds like the answer is that Audirvana doesn’t support MQA on Astell&Kern devices. I’ll ask Astell&Kern but I’m sure they will point back to Audirvana as the issue. I thought MQA was encoded in a flac container. Why are you converting? Are the tags for MQA decoding preserved in wav?

Check with A&K if MQA decoding is supported over UPnP. Many DAPs only support MQA decoding from local files, Tidal app or USB.

As I said earlier, it works perfectly with Synology Audio Station and MinimServer with full MQA decoding over UPNP. It’s only Audirvana that doesn’t work. Thanks for the suggestion though.

So I guess this just doesn’t work. Change to a feature request to add Astell & Kern compatibility for UPNP and MQA. I suspect Roon will have this soon.