MQA is Vaporware

[Confused]

13 hours ago, Shadders said:

Hi,

Regarding Brexit, there are always scare stories on the disastrous consequences of Brexit - there were predictions of severe economic impact that never happened. The BBC News website always presents the calamity predictions and even reports Brexit is to blame when decisions were made before Brexit was voted on.

 

The BBC News technical areas never report on Windows 10 telemetry, or other aspects of severe privacy infringement.

 

Some of the politicians and critics of the EU have always referred to the problem that the EU is not for the people, for which it has always stated its function, but favours corporations.

 

So, when MQA slowly makes inroads into the mainstream music market, the BBC will NOT be challenging the scam, but since it favours corporations, it will support it. It is sad that the BBC whose remit is to "Inform, Educate and Entertain" fails dismally on so many fronts for the common man.

 

The Hifi press should be reporting MQA for exactly what it is - but they won't.

 

We cannot rely upon any of the media outlets to report accurately and in support open systems which allow freedom. So, forums and the internet are the only places to challenge MQA.

 

Regards,

Shadders.

[Confused]

34 minutes ago, new_media said:

 

I have to wonder how much of a problem piracy even is anymore. Why bother downloading pirated files when you can listen to anything and everything on the free Spotify tier? I'm sure the RIAA still tracks data on it but I haven't seen them publicize it recently.

 

I think at this point music sales is mostly competing with streaming. The labels can only charge so much for a CD or a download before customers will just give up and stream everything.

Yes, and not just Spotify, I believe YouTube holds the top spot for "free" streaming.

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20 hours ago, shadowlight said:

Yes, but isn't the risk decision based on what your risk tolerance is?  Something that is low risk to you and me might be medium to high risk for other folks.

There is no agreement as to how much risk MQA actually presents to anyone, this is probably due to the fact that assessing the risk involves predicting the future, and to quote Neils Bohr, "Prediction is very difficult, especially about the future".

 

So if we cannot accurately predict the future, maybe we should look at this another way, in terms of a risk-reward ratio.  Very often in life it is worth taking a risk, or even necessary to accept risk, in order to gain certain benefits.  We all get into cars, cross the road, maybe take flights because the clear benefits outweigh the known risks.

 

With MQA the risks are maybe not clear yet, but the benefits, and indeed the shortcomings, are now very clear to many.  So if you consider that MQA offers very little if any benefit and comes with obvious shortcomings, balancing this against a perhaps unknown risk becomes easy.

 

If you consider an unknown risk, versus zero benefit and some shortcomings, the risk-reward ratio is something approaching a calculated figure of infinity to 1 against taking the risk, however small the risk may be.

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5 hours ago, FredericV said:

 

Next up are blu-rays remastered ...

https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Star-Trek-The-Next-Generation-The-Best-of-Both-Worlds-Blu-ray/65637/

Resistance is futile.....

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46 minutes ago, daverich4 said:

 

Bob Meridian's Stuart ??

 

Yes, I read the article. Is he related to Meridian’s Bob Stuart?

That's his name with aliasing artefacts.

[Confused]

I attended a Devialet event at Oxford Audio Consultants in the UK yesterday.  OAC were hosting Mathieu Pernot, who is now Devialet’s “Global Head of Development, Devialet Expert Pro”.  Grand job titles apart, he was Chief Engineer during the development and release of d-Premier and Expert amps.

 

The event included a Q&A session, using questions compiled from members of Unofficial Devialet forum.  Question 6, and the response, have some relevance here.

 

6) What plans are there to support MQA directly in the Expert?

There are no plans for MQA support directly in the Expert.  Devialet see less and less call for it, and it is technically incompatible with SAM.
 

[Confused]

There have been a few suggestions recently regarding listening to MQA vs PCM . 

 

As a genuine question, if I wanted to do this, can anyone advise where I can obtain some files for comparison?  I would be looking for "pairs" of MQA and PCM files that are confirmed to be from identical masters, preferably with a variety of music genres.  Preferably I would not want to subscribe to Tidal.

 

Any suggestions?

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13 hours ago, lucretius said:

 

A reference to Monty Python’s Black Knight?

May I offer the current MQA debate in fish form ….

 

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4 hours ago, Paul R said:

 

What does MQA sound like to you vs. PCM?  

 

Can you provide some links or pointers to files for comparison?  Specifically files confirmed to be from identical masters. 

[Confused]

The AXPONA presentation reminded me of this......

 

 

 

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4 hours ago, GUTB said:

 

Why won't you listen to MQA before making a judgement on it? If you're not an audiophile, okay, I understand that you don't value quality enough to make MQA playback work.

 

 

Would you be kind enough to provide some links / pointers to examples of MQA and PCM files that are confirmed to be from the same master?

[Confused]

2 hours ago, firedog said:

 

No connection to USB DACs. Only SPDIF and Meridian proprietary link. It seems to be intended for use with Meridian equipment.

Agreed.  Although another way of looking at it is that most “network attached endpoint” devices only have USB out, which is of no use to someone who has a DAC that works best with S/PDIF input, or a DAC that does not have USB input at all.  I have zero idea if it will be any good though.  I also suspect is popularly may be poor on this thread.🙁  

 

I also see that it appears to have a blue light, which is nice.

[Confused]

3 hours ago, Ishmael Slapowitz said:

 

And when did John Dark get a middle initial?

Around about the time his birth was registered, I would imagine.....

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5 hours ago, Ishmael Slapowitz said:

This guy David Elias has been the only recording artist that Stuart seemed to have under his spell. He has been  pushing MQA for several years now, Interestingly he was a DSD disciple 5 years ago, I mean devoted to it, even recording albums live to DSD..   

MQA Sampler - Just A Buck

I’ve revised the tracks on the MQA Sampler. It’s now 10 songs with various resolution bit rates: 44.1, 96, 352.8k 

 

You can get this collection of some of my best known tracks from different albums of mine for just $1 US.

 

Use this Discount Code on checkout:  JustABuck  (don't type any spaces)

https://davidelias.bandcamp.com/album/david-elias-10-tracks-mqa-sampler

If you know some of my music, even dating back to my first CD recorded in 1995 and you want to hear what MQA remasters sound like, you can try it for $1. No special hardware of software media players are required to hear the better than CD quality remasters (much better to my ears). Just download and then listen to it the way you hear everything else on your smartphone or computer.

Bandcamp always provides unlimited downloads (any format supported) and unlimited streaming (online via browser or smartphone via Bandcamp free app).

Please share this with any groups or friends you can. Offer good until midnight UTC on September 25th.

Many thanks!  Happy Fall to the Northern Hemisphere and Spring to those in the Southern sphere.

DE 
https://davidelias.bandcamp.com 

I’d buy it if you could also get a non-MQA FLAC for comparison, but it looks like you can’t, so I won’t.

[Confused]

Maybe just a time domain error....?

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14 hours ago, KeenObserver said:

The blue light did not come on at Companies House.  The financials could not be authenticated.

 

 

Or maybe a blue light illuminated on the top of the car that was chasing the accountant as he tried to escape?

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Not much of a mention at the UK's HiFi Show Live at Ascot last week.  it's almost like it's...…., now what's an appropriate word?  Vaporware maybe?

 

Some nice kit though, pictures per the links for those interested:

 

https://hifipig.com/uk-hifi-show-live-20...ow-report/

https://www.stereonet.co.uk/features/uk-...nd-gallery

[Confused]

Another thought re the above.  I read Hifi News and Record Review each month, being lucky enough to receive a subscription as a gift each year.  Recently there has been some reviews covering kit capable of MQA decoding.  Nothing unusual or interesting about that.  What is striking though is how MQA is covered.  In each article the fact that MQA capability is there as a feature is accurately reported.  But that is pretty much it, nothing about what MQA offers or it's influence on sound quality.  As a typical example from the dCS Bartok review:

 

"….the Bartok used via the dCS app offers instant access to streaming services such as Tidal and Spotify and plays a wide range of file formats including MQA".  

 

And that's it, no other mentions, just a matter of fact note that MQA as feature is there.  It s much the same with reviews for the dSC Rossini, Audioquest DragonFly Cobalt, and others.  

 

 

[Confused]

7 minutes ago, lucretius said:

 

It will be hard to tell the difference between you and the invisible man.

or this:

 

 

 

 

 

[Confused]

2 hours ago, Shadders said:

Hi,

I thought the purpose of MQA was to correct the dispersion in the existing recordings. Dispersion is due to non linear filters (example) which do not have a constant group delay.

 

AES Paper : A Hierarchical Approach to Archiving and Distribution

 

So, in MQA claiming that they solve the timing issues, what they are neglecting to recognise is that the missing time alignment in the majority of speakers swamps any correction they claim by MQA in a recording.

 

As such, MQA claims to solve a problem that we can never benefit from from the majority of hifi setups.

 

Regards,

Shadders.

To add to this, most recordings are not truly time aligned....

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1 hour ago, ShawnC said:

Maybe the group that just saved Aston Martin from going into bankruptcy will step in.  Although being it was an F1 racing group, they probably only care for the sound of  V10 engines running at maximum performance.

They are turbo hybrid V6’s these days, although form an audiophile perspective the V10’s did sound better.

[Confused]

59 minutes ago, Ralf11 said:

we need a Most Mellifluous Motor thread...

Mellifluous Quality Automobile.

[Confused]

9 hours ago, KeenObserver said:

Is MQA dead yet?

 

I'd like to move on, but I don't feel I can if the threat of MQA still hangs over the heads of the music consumer.

 

Is there any way of determining if MQA Ltd secured further funding to stay in business?

 

Has MQA had a presence at any Hi-Fi events?

It is the Bristol Sound and Vision show in the UK this weekend.

 

https://www.bristolshow.co.uk/

 

https://www.bristolshow.co.uk/showguide.lasso

 

We have a few shows in the UK, the Bristol show tends more to the "consumer" end of the market, but does usually have some pretty decent kit on show.  (We have other UK shows that serve the more costly end of the market.)

 

The Bristol show is in part sponsored and organised by UK magazine What Hifi.  This gives some significance to this thread, as What Hifi are pretty much the only UK magazine that has been actively promoting the delights of MQA.  

 

What Hifi have their own demo area at the show, a few years ago they were doing a demo with a laptop / headphone set up, where you could listen to pairs of tracks, first on MP3 format, then compare the same track via MQA.

 

Maybe two or three years ago, Pioneer had a big room and were playing exclusively MQA material on a rather nice system, with many MQA posters on display.

 

So in the past, there have been signs of MQA activity at the Bristol show, although a quick review of the 2020 show guide would actually indicate a MQA free show this year.

 

If my weekend goes to plan, I should be visiting the show this weekend.  For what its worth, I will keep an eye and an ear out for any MQA promotion, although I suspect there will not be much there other than maybe the odd MQA logo on music servers and similar.

[Confused]

48 minutes ago, Archimago said:

 

Regardless of whatever might or might not show from MQA, this sounds like a great time!

 

Enjoy man!

 

Thanks!  As it happens, my main reason to go is because GIK Acoustics are exhibiting and I thought it would be a good opportunity to get a close look at their products and have a chat with them about some plans I have to improve my room a little.  
 

MQA hunting, and anything else I see or hear, will be a bonus, but it should indeed be fun.  I see they will have the £170k Naim Statement Amps there, so I shall have a listen to them now my harmonic distortion detecting skills have been honed thanks to your blind test initiative.

[Confused]

2 minutes ago, The Computer Audiophile said:

Great move. You can improve the sound of your system immensely with good acoustics. make sure to ask them about room assessments. 

 

Have fun!

I will, my main objective here is to deblur my room.