Guest AndrewC Posted July 9, 2016 Posted July 9, 2016 Another manufacturer Benchmark has something to said about MQA... DOA? https://benchmarkmedia.com/blogs/application_notes/163302855-is-mqa-doa Excellent piece... thanks for the link! (Not sure I agree with Benchmark's views on the adaptive filters though :P).
MusicEar Posted July 11, 2016 Posted July 11, 2016 so this is the acclaimed MQA thread. visited a fellow forumers place to have a go at aurender with mytek. heard the MQA tracks on mytek... ok so what am i listening to? i can vaguely tell the difference. ok ok i strain my ears and close my eyes. slightly more life on MQA playback. my 2 cents i hear more diff playing DSD over USB native Asio. :P I think we are better off with present PCM/DSD playback.
malsound Posted August 12, 2016 Posted August 12, 2016 http://www.stereophile.com/content/mqa-questions-and-answers#RXJtRmkywMesc8Rw.97
malsound Posted August 12, 2016 Posted August 12, 2016 http://www.tonepublications.com/review/why-mqa/
Guest AndrewC Posted August 12, 2016 Posted August 12, 2016 http://www.stereophile.com/content/mqa-questions-and-answers#RXJtRmkywMesc8Rw.97 I don’t know about you guys, but [edit] I'm definitely sensing an increasing tone of desperation in Bob’s responses in these FAQs. I think he knows [edit] he's fighting a losing battle ;)
MusicEar Posted August 13, 2016 Posted August 13, 2016 http://archimago.blogspot.sg/2016/07/a-response-re-mqa-blocking-of-meridians.html The most intriguing statement was instead of trusting yourself to an A/B comparison, you should 'trust' the sound from a veteran audio guy. That really sounds silly to me.
Guest AndrewC Posted August 14, 2016 Posted August 14, 2016 In the latest issue of Stereophile (Sept’16), JA finally gives his subjective opinion about MQA… here’s the interesting bit (page 113); After doing all of my formal comparisons, I subjected myself to a sort-of-blind test… I scored four out of seven correct; though this is insufficient to prove formal identification, I feel that it is relevant information. While he then goes on to be fairly supportive of MQA, but reading between the lines, if even one of the most experienced listeners can only achieve a 57% recognition accuracy, it’s quite clear that MQA falls far far below the claims of Bob Stuart’s (and TAS’s Robert Harley’s) proclamation of MQA as virtually the 2nd coming ;D
lcheetec Posted August 15, 2016 Posted August 15, 2016 Been reading JA's writings and editorials in Stereophile many years (since 1994), and Robert Harley since before he moved to TAS. I must say, these comments are in line with which of these two I respect, and which I think pander to advertisers and reputation. Daniel Singapore
Guest AndrewC Posted August 16, 2016 Posted August 16, 2016 Been reading JA's writings and editorials in Stereophile many years (since 1994), and Robert Harley since before he moved to TAS. I must say, these comments are in line with which of these two I respect, and which I think pander to advertisers and reputation. ... I used to have some respect for Harley, but in the last 2 years or so, he's been so over-the-top (like JV) that its not even fun to read TAS for amusement. I'm planning to let my subscription lapse.
lcheetec Posted August 16, 2016 Posted August 16, 2016 I used to have some respect for Harley, but in the last 2 years or so, he's been so over-the-top (like JV) that its not even fun to read TAS for amusement. I'm planning to let my subscription lapse. I already bought the subscription twice over (because they sent me so many reminders when it wasn't ended yet), but I know exactly what you mean. It's quite tiresome. daniel
Guest AndrewC Posted January 6, 2017 Posted January 6, 2017 Here we go… key MQA updates, including new hardware support commitments; http://www.mqa.co.uk/customer/news/post/MQA%20amplifies%20hi-res%20audio%20activity%20at%20CES%202017 The AudioQuest support is interesting, anyone with the DragonFly would instantly have an MQA capable playback DAC ;)
Guest AndrewC Posted January 7, 2017 Posted January 7, 2017 Audirvana announces Plus 3 with built-in MQA decoder; https://audirvana.com/?p=4153. Available from late this month (unclear if there’s a path for existing Plus 2.6 customers. :P)
Guest AndrewC Posted January 7, 2017 Posted January 7, 2017 Sounds like MQA's gonna get some serious competition soon ;D... But unclear what technology (if any), is to be used for this "Stream the Studio" campaign. http://www.billboard.com/articles/business/7647454/major-labels-pandora-riaa-announce-support-hi-res-streaming-mqa All Three Major Labels, Pandora and RIAA Announce Support for Hi-Res Audio Streaming ... A large swath of the music business, including all three major labels (Universal Music Group, Sony Music and the Warner Music Group), the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and music platforms such as Pandora, Rhapsody/Napster and HD Tracks, all in concert with the Digital Entertainment Group (DEG), today announced their support for studio-quality hi-res audio for music streaming. ... The DEG, which advocates for entertainment products supporting music, film, television, consumer electronics and IT industries, and whose members include Amazon and Google Play, also revealed today a new "Stream the Studio" marketing campaign. The initiative is aimed at millennials, the largest music consumer demographic, and will promote the benefits of hi-res compatible devices, technologies and music . ...
lcheetec Posted January 7, 2017 Posted January 7, 2017 Audirvana announces Plus 3 with built-in MQA decoder; https://audirvana.com/?p=4153. Available from late this month (unclear if there’s a path for existing Plus 2.6 customers. :P) I don't use a Mac, so it looks like I'll have to wait till it comes to a Windows player. Thanks for the info. daniel
Guest AndrewC Posted January 8, 2017 Posted January 8, 2017 I don't use a Mac, so it looks like I'll have to wait till it comes to a Windows player. ... You might not have to wait that long actually! … Seems clear MQA have flip-flopped on their previous position of not allowing software decoding. Now that they do, the floodgates seem to be opened, with Tidal and Audirvana decoding in software. Roon also just announced software decoding support in a future version (I’m guessing Roon 2.0). Won't be long before we see the rest like JRiver etc. supporting software decoding. ;)
Guest AndrewC Posted January 8, 2017 Posted January 8, 2017 MQA’s laying it on very thick … :P [embed=425,349] [/embed]
lcheetec Posted January 8, 2017 Posted January 8, 2017 You might not have to wait that long actually! … Seems clear MQA have flip-flopped on their previous position of not allowing software decoding. Now that they do, the floodgates seem to be opened, with Tidal and Audirvana decoding in software. Roon also just announced software decoding support in a future version (I’m guessing Roon 2.0). Won't be long before we see the rest like JRiver etc. supporting software decoding. ;) I have a question. I currently have a laptop running Tidal, outputting PCM via USB (xmos converter) to an external DAC. What does this mean, when I am playing an MQA-encoded album? What I think is, since the laptop's DAC is bypassed, the PCM that's reaching the external DAC (not MQA-enabled) is the regular stream without MQA. Daniel Sent from my Redmi Note 2 using Tapatalk
Guest AndrewC Posted January 8, 2017 Posted January 8, 2017 ..I currently have a laptop running Tidal, outputting PCM via USB (xmos converter) to an external DAC. What does this mean, when I am playing an MQA-encoded album? What I think is, since the laptop's DAC is bypassed, the PCM that's reaching the external DAC (not MQA-enabled) is the regular stream without MQA. ... If you chose your external DAC as the output on Tidal playback via the laptop, it won't use your Laptop's DAC for Digital-to-Analog conversion. Then, as long as you don’t enable “Passthrough” on the settings within Tidal for your DAC, then Tidal will decode the MQA stream, and output an “unfolded” version of the high-resolution PCM stream to your USB DAC. You should be able to see the DAC showing the incoming stream as a 88.2/24 or 96/24 PCM. As an example, to get the highest resolution MQA stream playback out of my Mojo, I need to ensure the Tidal settings are; (I haven't tested if the "Force Volume" setting has any sonic benefits... technically I suspect it should if enabled).
lcheetec Posted January 8, 2017 Posted January 8, 2017 If you chose your external DAC as the output on Tidal playback via the laptop, it won't use your Laptop's DAC for Digital-to-Analog conversion. Then, as long as you don’t enable “Passthrough” on the settings within Tidal for your DAC, then Tidal will decode the MQA stream, and output an “unfolded” version of the high-resolution PCM stream to your USB DAC. You should be able to see the DAC showing the incoming stream as a 88.2/24 or 96/24 PCM. As an example, to get the highest resolution MQA stream playback out of my Mojo, I need to ensure the Tidal settings are; (I haven't tested if the "Force Volume" setting has any sonic benefits... technically I suspect it should if enabled). Useful! Thank you. Never knew. daniel
MusicEar Posted January 11, 2017 Posted January 11, 2017 There's been report that Tidal desktop app only does partial fold back up to 24/96k whereas a MQA USB-DAC can fold back to 24/192k via using Tidal desktop in 'Passthrough MQA' mode. https://community.roonlabs.com/t/tidal-master-albums-are-downsampled-in-roon-to-24bit-48khz/18160/7
MusicEar Posted January 11, 2017 Posted January 11, 2017 Finally, 'the cat is out from the bag'! Read this... http://www.audiostream.com/content/mqa-decoding-explained#yWY1YAh7CZ4E89sl.97 Guessed if you want a full blown MQA you need a buy a new MQA DAC!!! What a smart way to make lot of $$$!
Guest AndrewC Posted January 11, 2017 Posted January 11, 2017 Finally, 'the cat is out from the bag'! Read this... http://www.audiostream.com/content/mqa-decoding-explained#yWY1YAh7CZ4E89sl.97 Guessed if you want a full blown MQA you need a buy a new MQA DAC!!! What a smart way to make lot of $$$! Exactly as I said days ago on the Tidal thread here, well before Audiostream and you caught on ;D... Seems like MQA software decoding on the Tidal App is limited to 96/24 encodes only (at this time?)… 176.4/24 and above encodes require a hardware based MQA decoder like the Explorer2. Obviously its an artificial limit placed on App developers by MQA… (I’m guessing so as to not cannibalise Meridian’s high-end hardware platform sales, and/or to protect their MQA decoder licensing to 3rd party hardware developers. ::)) ... So, no, bit rate is not likely the issue. More likely they’re restricting higher bitrate output from software decoders due to content licensing restrictions, or their own commercial interest :) It’s an obvious move by Bob Stuart/Meridian since missing out on licensing revenues from MLP for DVD-Audio. Except of course MLP was completely lossless, but this time he’s figured away to extract licensing from a lossy packaging… and the Record execs and Audio Journalist are suckers to fall for it ::)
MusicEar Posted January 12, 2017 Posted January 12, 2017 Yeah, I agreed, it's all about making $$$ from a format that force you to buy a new hardware. Let's see how far Tidal and MQA can really go. Most of MQA tracks are from Warner Bros, we have see Sony and Universal, these two heavy weights are willing to jump in. To me it feel like sub standard when using software decoding and this create a bad outlook on the format.
Guest AndrewC Posted January 12, 2017 Posted January 12, 2017 Yeah, I agreed, it's all about making $$$ from a format that force you to buy a new hardware. Let's see how far Tidal and MQA can really go. Most of MQA tracks are from Warner Bros, we have see Sony and Universal, these two heavy weights are willing to jump in. ... They've already declared at CES that they're going to jump in, but whether with MQA or something else is yet to be announced... Sounds like MQA's gonna get some serious competition soon ;D... But unclear what technology (if any), is to be used for this "Stream the Studio" campaign. http://www.billboard.com/articles/business/7647454/major-labels-pandora-riaa-announce-support-hi-res-streaming-mqa ... To me it feel like sub standard when using software decoding and this create a bad outlook on the format. The counter argument is that you can't get 96/24 from any other mainstream Streaming services anyway, and you're not paying anything extra for the service,... So, MQA with software-based decoding seems better than nothing. ;)
InnocentBlood Posted January 14, 2017 Posted January 14, 2017 this is a good read that breaks it down for a layman like me :) http://www.digitalaudioreview.net/2017/01/mqa-tidal-where-are-we-now/ now what i am really looking fwd to are comparisons of MASTER vs HIFI of a known bad mastering. Something modern with a really poor DR, such as Metallica's Death Magnetic, Black Sabbath's 13, RHCP's Californication, etc. It would be interesting to know if the MASTER version actually improves upon the original HIFI version that suffers from very bad compression.
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