Different setups different reaults.

I used to use Tidal until they hiked their prices. However, when I did use Tidal, it was run through an S.M.S.L M500 dac(full MQA support).

Ultimately, yes it sounded really good, in my opinion. MQA tracks were quite punchy. Unfortunately, the dac developed an issue that caused the output stages to sound distorted.

It was replaced with an RME adi 2 fs dac. No MQA support. But in principle, a better quality dac compared to the S.M.S.L.

First thing I noticed. I didn’t miss MQA. Tracks still sounded great! If not better, in my opinion. More neutral and balanced.

On a final note. To save a bit of cash, I moved to Amazon music HD. To be quite frank…its awful. I wouldn’t recommend it. Audio quality is fairly decent, but the interface, both for Windows and android, absolutely sucks.

Mildly confused by the statement of ‘its covered in gold for isolation purposes’ followed closely by another statement around having to purchase a super special grade USB cable to reduce hiss?

At £499 - hiss shouldn’t be a thing.

Equally, I use an amazon basics braded USB cable with my DAC. No hiss…