MQA is Vaporware

[DuckToller]

34 minutes ago, Shadders said:

Or akin to all Germans wearing shorts, with braces, short sleeved shirts, and a trilby hat with feathers in it, bending their knees and extending the braces whilst saying "ooom pa pa pa pa" ???

Shadders,
shame on you,

you have  embezzled white tennis socks and sandals, this is archetypally for Germans, you may sound like someone, who has never visited a Germans invaded beachside in Mallorca ?

😂 Cheers, Tom

[DuckToller]

1 minute ago, Shadders said:

Luckily, the site is not PC, so we can have some fun without people being truly offended. 😋

 

Luckily, the site is not PC, so we can have some fun on ourselves without have other people being truly offended. 😋
Being German by nature, I still love citing that cliché´... because it has so much validation in real life ...

[DuckToller]

Chris, it's the last mile that matters 😉

[DuckToller]

Chris,
I was wondering whether you can reproduce the TIDAL MQA effect when you use the Optical Rendu & LMS with Tidal plugin ?
If yes, that may sort out Roon from the equation somehow ...
Best, Tom

[DuckToller]

Just got introduced to the ES9068 DAC chip, which includes MQA on the chip. (The first one with mqa?)
"When equipped with ES9068AS, not only it supports MQA full decoding via USB, but also can directly process SPDIF and I2S input MQA first-order expanded digital audio signals. There is no need for X16 to add MQA-related identification and control circuits, so as to achieve as little interference as possible by external control signals when the DAC is working, and finally achieve the ideal MQA playback experience." (Gustard X16)
Given the price/performance ratio - the well equipped balanced DAC with 2xES9068 goes at some reasonable 379 Euros incl. shipping at shenzhenaudio -  the unit may be predestined for high demand. 
This looks like MQA will using the hardware strategy as a way to intrude the living rooms.

 

[DuckToller]

2 minutes ago, firedog said:

What does the chip do when you feed it a non MQA stream? Does it process it with the MQA filters or does it use the other filters in the DAC?

It decodes a number of other codecs too, though I would guess , mqa free decoding is on the chip as well

[DuckToller]

specs say: USB ：   PCM 16-32bit/44.1-768kHz；DSD DOP64-DOP256；NATIVE DSD：DSD64-DSD512

 

https://shenzhenaudio.com/collections/all/products/gustard-dac-x16-bluetooth-5-0-two-es9068as-mqa-full-decoding-xu216-processor-oled-screen-high-performance-audio-dac

[DuckToller]

Here's some some science genius at work:

 

And your wife doesn't bother to profit from the music origami? ;-)
Proper and tidy pre-ringing, blurring & transient clean up ? You should - "seriously" -  talk to her ...

IMHO, too sad having this MQA marketing aspect of the Gustard unit dominating its sales proposal, the unit itself seems to have everything we would appreciate for the next best fully balanced DAC under 400 Euro in our systems (for a period lasting 9 -15 month, I would assume).

[DuckToller]

"... to transport you to the original performance"
...  with automated (filter) batch processing for millions of Tidal files, really ??

[DuckToller]

1 hour ago, Daren F said:

RecordingsNugs.Net Opens the Floodgates to Live Hi-Res Recordings

Source - https://www.soundandvision.com/content/nugsnet-opens-floodgates-live-hi-res-recordings

 

According to this graphic, MQA is superior to FLAC-HD.

If MQA is announced to be superior (top shelf quality), will PCM FLAC (4 shelfs below) come at a more interesting price in the future???

[DuckToller]

Am I the only one who sees a concordant strategy from MQA and the Post Election POTUS campaign on dead voters fraud and other negligence ...
Creating a narrative, abandoning science, facts, truth and verity and pushing your claims to find company that can see leverage in supporting you.
Audiophiles who believe in you will stop listening and start throwing stones synergistic fuses on the agnostic ...

[DuckToller]

I have learned in the past 4 years that "beautiful" is not anymore what it meant to be -
but a modern metaphor for "you will pay for it"

1 hour ago, UkPhil said:

Looks like the fan boy site is getting a bit of hammering too 

 

[DuckToller]

Guyz,
is there already a thread in our forums (or others) that lists MQA certified devices which have shown problems decoding non-MQA streams ?
- If yes, pls guide me there ...
- If no , pls let me know if you have experienced such performance problems or seen others indicating that? Pls provide links ...
 - Provided there are some reliable sources ... I may then start & curate such a thread in the DAC forum
cheers, Tom

[DuckToller]

Universal has bid for the Bob Dylan catalogue. Soon to be had in MQA qualities  ...
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2020/dec/07/bob-dylan-sells-publishing-universal-music

[DuckToller]

1 minute ago, firedog said:

Question about MQA DACs: is it true that newer DAC chips that incorporate MQA know how to switch filters automatically between MQA and non MQA filters, depending on program material? I'm thinking about chips like the AK4497 and the newest ESS chips. I was told this, wat to know if it's true.

AFAIK MQA capabilities are provided by the XMOS Chip programming in conjunction with the DAC chip (i.e. BB DSD1793 from 2003 used by iFi), I have noticed only the newest ESS DAC (Gustard X16) having MQA on the chip.

Do you have information that the AKM 4497/4499 have that function on the chip implemented as well?

For the iFi iDSD BL the user had the choice to use either a firmware with DSD512 or one with DSD256 and MQA, as the XMOS could not manage both. For the new iDSD signature both functions are announced, however the MQA firmware (5.30) on my review model did neither perform DXD / DSD256 flawless nor offers 2xDXD/PCM768/DSD512.
It's understood that I did not care to test MQA ...

[DuckToller]

10 minutes ago, firedog said:

I looked at the 4497 data sheet and didn't see anything about it. 

That is about as much as I have read about the AKM's as well.
It seems mainly the XMOS programming with the "not" latest DAC chip generations that provides BS "oeuvre" and the MQA part.

[DuckToller]

44 minutes ago, UkPhil said:

Universal has bought Dylan's back catalogue, this will be another good marketing angle for MQA as I am sure Universals MQA processing is going on behind the scenes at the moment and this scoop will be just what MQA needs to keep the ball rolling

 

https://news.sky.com/story/bob-dylans-entire-back-catalogue-bought-in-nine-figure-deal-12154238?fbclid=IwAR0fRufgsqAmTwInHxfrECSXseZjUhAudqCZfxjHsqqkV-TLDyZXOPeT8Yo

On a sidenote:

"Townes Van Zandt is the best songwriter in the world and I'll stand on Bob Dylan's coffee table in my cowboy boots and say that" ( Steve Earle )

"I've met Bob Dylan's bodyguards, and if Steve Earle thinks he can stand on Bob Dylan's coffee table, he's sadly mistaken"
(Towns van Zandt )

[DuckToller]

6 hours ago, GUTB said:

However, what we CAN verify is that MQA has the capacity to sound significantly better than standard resolution audio if you use a a decent MQA-compatible DAC

If I am not mistaken, you've listed the Holo Audio Cyan and Schiit Yggdrasil as your recent DACs. Both aren't the pinnacle of a "decent MQA-compatible DAC" afaik.
Thus, makes me wonder how you've achieved your verification of MQA's capacity???

[DuckToller]

11 minutes ago, IT Freak said:

In short :

1. They promote MQA-CD which is by definition a 16bit format.
2. They promote it by using an album from Eudora records that is 24bit.

So they lie !

I understand that you seem to be correct in your findings, but I am struggling a bit with a senseful interpretation of these results.
You have MQA-CD files that you've decoded with the shown result!
Did you rip & decode them personally from an physical existing MQA-CD or did you dl MQA CD files from a source that sells them as MQA-CD online? Which source (they?)?
Just asking to avoid misinterpretation and exclude external factors responsible for your findings ...

 

[DuckToller]

1 hour ago, IT Freak said:

Here is the source ... from MQA themselves... all bla bla bla about MQA-CD but you cannot find a single 16bit MQA of that album. All MQA's you find online (purchase/streaming) are 24bit so not MQA-CD at all. Just plain 24bit MQA. They want to make us believe the 16bit ones would sound the same. I made a REAL 16bit MQA-CD from the 24bit MQAs by stripping of the lower byte and it sounds WORSE (yet all lights remained on on the MQA-DAC). 
So I would suggest no one to buy it on a CD medium. It's just upsampling from 44.1k to 352.8k and not unfolding from 44.1k to 88.2k etc...

https://www.mqa.co.uk/newsroom/news/eudora-records

Still wondering about the buzz ... and where the source file you've encoded is arriving from if you haven't got the MQA-CD of that album? Download from Tidal, Eudora, HDtracks, other ???
It appears that you have neither the original MQA-CD nor the files from a rip of an original MQA-CD and you assume that from your methodology you can prove they are scam? Did I summarize your intention correctly ?

I understand that you may have proved something to be incorrect and you are unhappy with MQA's woeful & untrue marketing efforts: If I am not mistaken, this doesn't look like the hottest news from the MQA kitchen, ymmv.

Would you please explain to me why you think that this is utterly important because I didn't get that point from your postings??

And no,  I am not an MQA troll, I am just trying to emphasize what people starting reading this threat may understand and what not.
Cheers, Tom

[DuckToller]

 

31 minutes ago, IT Freak said:

The link on MQA's website says "you can purchase the MQA-CD on the Eudora website" and when you click the link and you buy them, you don't get the "MQA-CD" but you get 24bit MQAs. That's the "buzz".
The stream from Tidal is 24bit as well, easy to check with Audirvana, Roon, ... when playing you see 24bit

Did you buy these 24bit MQA's from there then and where they confirmed from Eudora as MQA-CD DL files or did they announce them as 24bit files on the invoice ???
Did they send you the wrong DL link ?
Did you talk with the label about that offer & your experience before publishing your analysis here?
And how did they respond ?
Perhaps, the MQA-CD you intent to analyze and encode isn't yet available from them?
If you find my suggestion strange please tell me ...

[DuckToller]

42 minutes ago, IT Freak said:

People will actually believe that MQA-CD sounds that good, because they don't know they are listening to 24bit MQAs. What will be the next step? Replace all CDs in stores with MQA-CDs - not because they sound better but because they convinced us they sound just like 24bit MQAs with such tricks? lol

 

Excuse me if that sounds a bit paranoid to my ears. I got the - perhaps limited - experience that most "people" or customers are more interested in music than format.
- if there is no MQA available (which seems to be the case) they just look for another format (sigh!).
- The ones intending to have MQA urgently will be deeply disappointed from this marketing hole.
- The handful of blinded and brainwashed MQA follower who can't read properly a website or do not understand what they buy and hear may be tricked into an impulse buy.(so sad)
- The ones who understand that the format isn't available there will either come back later or ...

Seriously, I did not expect after all these controversies we have seen that MQA or the companies/actors close to the BS universe work with open and objective information to the customers. We have seen a long time ago that the "people" aren't their target customers. They are just there to believe in this "beautiful" format and trigger social media feed.
Mutuality to political party BS is just accidentically.
 

[DuckToller]

3 hours ago, GUTB said:

How they chose to market it isn't relevant to me, I only care about the sonic benefits. Don't you care about the sonic benefits?

That may work on a individual scale with selected "white gloved" recordings due to expectation bias and perhaps available "craftmanship", who knows? As a mass processing with hundred thousends of tracks from different provenance with different masterings - it's a recipe for a sonic benefits desaster, imho. And eventually your preferences aren't too relevant for the majority and any scientific approach on the subject ?

[DuckToller]

18 hours ago, Norton said:

looks to me that the CD layer on the hybrid SACD is MQA. See the footer on penultimate  page of  booklet. If I’m right, it may be confusing that they also describe this layer as “Standard CD Stereo”

Attached the response from Eudora Records, for everyone who wants to know the truth:
"thank you for your email and your interest. Yes, you can buy it at our website, you have the "BUY SACD" button next to the cover:) It is a hybrid SACD disc, one layer is the SACD/DSD version, and the other layer the MQA-CD. Let me know if you still have doubts!"

Case closed ?
 

[DuckToller]

29 minutes ago, ShawnC said:

Next I’ll have to get an MQA toilet to crap right. 

time-aligned ??? 😇