MQA Users & Discussion Thread

[JukKluk2]

I was in a hi-fi store in Canberrra  just prior to the pandemic and overheard this exchange:

 

Customer (late middle age or thereabouts): The best sound is from a high quality turntable, isn't it?

Sales-fellow (a comparative whipper-snapper): That used to be true until the arrival of MQA.

 

Perhaps not exactly the conversation but one hundred percent the gist. I'm still cringing whenever it comes to mind almost five years later. I still have no idea what he was trying to sell to the bloke. A Meridian DVD-A player possibly?

[ray4410]

On 07/04/2023 at 2:04 PM, Misternavi said:

Always have been curious about MQA, but never bothered.  Should I get a Tidal Subscription to listen to MQA before it disappears (My DAC does MQA)?

don't waste your money,seeing you like drinking put your hard earned towards more of the good stuff you like, your system will still sound great maybe even better after a few 

Edited April 10, 2023 by ray4410

[Volunteer]

23 minutes ago, roh008 said:

Thoughts on what this would mean for Tidal  HiFi streaming service?

Just signed up to a Tidal trial (could it sound better than Apple lossless?) liking what I hear so far. (Don't have a native MQA DAC though)

 

I'm not a mod, but for the sake of peace and harmony, maybe this thread: https://www.stereonet.com/forums/topic/577115-mqa-in-trouble is a better place for speculation?

 

Mods: @sir sanders zingmore , @buddyev , @Marc et al - please delete if my post is inappropriate.

 

 

 

[roh008]

6 minutes ago, El Tel said:

 

I'm not a mod, but for the sake of peace and harmony, maybe this thread: https://www.stereonet.com/forums/topic/577115-mqa-in-trouble is a better place for speculation?

 

Mods: @sir sanders zingmore , @buddyev , @Marc et al - please delete if my post is inappropriate.

 

 

 

Fair enough sorry 

[firedog]

31 minutes ago, Chigurh said:

It's also available from Radio Paradise if you play it through a Bluesound device.

yeah, but that's a really limited, source, for a super tiny market.

[Volunteer]

1 minute ago, roh008 said:

Fair enough sorry 

 

I'm not sure you need to apologise, it's just that MQA as a subject has proven contentious in the past. Would be unfair if you got flamed and you had not known. All good.

[Guest]

On 08/04/2023 at 2:17 PM, GregWormald said:

Just a heads-up: MQA has gone into receivership.

 

Existing discussion in a separate topic.

 

 

 

[Misternavi]

7 hours ago, ray4410 said:

don't waste your money,seeing you like drinking put your hard earned towards more of the good stuff you like your system will still sound great maybe even better after a few 

Noted. with all that drinking i'm doing what was the question I asked in the first place? (NO NEED to reply as I'm sure it wasn't important in first place)

[joz]

Another format that couldn’t keep

treading water, the last gasp!

[rand129678]

On 7/4/2023 at 12:58 PM, BugPowderDust said:

There's no love lost between Neil and Bob Stuart.

 

They were once besties

 

 

Edited April 10, 2023 by rand129678

[BugPowderDust]

53 minutes ago, rand129678 said:

They were once besties

No doubt they were. Go read this and report back: https://www.amazon.com/Feel-Music-Songwriters-Mission-High-Quality/dp/1948836386

[BugPowderDust]

A tl:dr version: https://audiophilestyle.com/ca/reviews/book-review-neil-youngs-to-feel-the-music-a-songwriters-mission-to-save-high-quality-audio-r834/

[Nada]

It wonder if Bob Stuart is going to lose money with MQA officially going broke?

 

It would only be fair. 

 

Long live FLAC. Truly lossless, open source and free.

[metal beat]

HIGH-RES MUSIC TECH COMPANY MQA ENTERS ADMINISTRATION IN THE UK

 

https://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/high-res-music-tech-company-mqa-enters-administration-in-the-uk/#:~:text=High-resolution music technology company,the US and other countries

 

 

[LogicprObe]

 

It was never Hi Res...........................it was just 'different'.

[Niktech]

Another take on the demise of MQA:

 

https://alpha-audio.net/2023/04/mqa-put-into-receivership/

[rand129678]

It's over

 

Tidal CEO says hi-res lossless coming

 

https://www.digitaltrends.com/home-theater/tidal-hi-res-lossless/

Edited April 12, 2023 by rand129678

[TheBlackDisc]

[aussievintage]

This should be the fate of any technology that attempts to do to the market what MQA did.   Even if it had worked,  I was against it.

Edited April 13, 2023 by aussievintage

[08Boss302]

https://twitteringmachines.com/breaking-news-tidal-set-to-roll-out-hi-res-flac-for-hifi-plus-subscribers-soon/

[hlov]

I recall reading several articles in Stereophile against the format ages ago. I personally liked it, Tidal masters uses it and it sounds great but to each his own

 

[Jay Garrett]

Yeah, I was certainly impressed by some releases.

 

It looks like TIDAL will be moving to full-fat FLAC -

Jesse Dorogusker on the relationship of Tidal and MQA:

 

“Hi-res FLAC will come soon. TIDAL added MQA when others were streaming low-bitrate AAC (and some still do). It was a balance of quality and bandwidth. Cell networks are better now. Hi-res FLAC files will be big, but we think the infra is ready, even on mobile.”

 

Member asked:

“Any chance Tidal might acquire MQA?”

 

Jesse Dorogusker:

“No, not acquiring MQA.”

 

[Grizaudio]

I wonder how Tidal manages this? Would they already store the original Flac files?

If Tidal restore availability to genuine lossless flac's (and not some version of converted MQA files) I would consider the service again, especially to gain access to a greater depth of electronic music.  

 

 

[Guest]

Tidal: FLAC is now our ‘preferred’ high-res format, not MQA

https://www.techhive.com/article/1974696/tidal-flac-preferred-hi-res-format-not-mqa.html

 

Just came across this 1 month old news.  Looks like Tidal will soon say goodbye to MQA ???

[hlov]

I think they say they will still provide Masters in MQA, I might sign up for a trial for doing a comparison as the node supports MQA