MQA is Vaporware

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Just now, Brian Lucey said:

 

I'm busy making music and trying to have a conversation here.  Unlike you I'm not an armchair listener with free time.

 

You see, this is exactly when I know you have lost the argument. Because every time you do, you pull out the busy famous professional card.

 

A busy professional who has a suspiciously large amount of free time to go foruming, by the way.

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2 minutes ago, Brian Lucey said:

 

MIC not mike, there are no Mikes in a recording you arrogant fool.

 

 

You seem even to be unraveling a lot faster this time around. Over under on the next forum goodbye, anyone?

 

in between your busy record making time, maybe you could try learning English the Queen’s way before calling others names

 

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/mike

 

see, now that is what one would call “Ignorance “.

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16 minutes ago, Em2016 said:

 

"5.1 SURROUND + STEREO produced in DXD (Digital eXtreme Definition 352kHz/24bit) by Lindberg Lyd, Norway "

 

Does this mean it was recorded in 24bit/352kHz? A fair assumption? Please excuse my ignorance.

 

 

 

Yes, that would be correct.

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9 minutes ago, Em2016 said:

 

Interesting, it's available in 352k MQA as well on Tidal. But Audirvana only plays it at 88k for me (first unfold only), to my Hugo2 non-MQA DAC.

 

What are your thoughts with the MQA version?

 

To be fair, I don’t yet have any MQA capable hardware or software at my disposal. I tried a demo of Amarra and it was crashing every 10 seconds, so I gave up on that.

 

my initial feeling, which I may reconsider now is that the MQA Version(non unfolded) sounded a bit reverbey and the 192khz version sounded better.

 

next week, I will be getting a DAP which does MQA, PCM and DSD, after which I will be able to evaluate things more evenly.

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7 minutes ago, Brian Lucey said:

 

No one who makes music uses that spelling, it's stupid.   Microphone.  Mic.  The end.

 

“There is no U in color” - Mastering engineer Brian Lucey.

 

England in uproar. The queen mobilizes troops. More at 11.

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57 minutes ago, Brian Lucey said:

 

Really? 

 

1. He implied I was not busy, so quantity was appropriate.

 

2. Maybe you would talk yourself up?  I don't need to do so.

 

 

Try again to be insulting, you are not up for this.

 

He doesn’t need to.

you have given enough evidence that you operate the McDonalds drive thru equivalent of music mastering and are ill equipped to objectively take part in any discussions that revolve around high quality music production, the likes of which audiophiles have an affinity to.

 

If I ever wanted advice on how to batch normalize tracks and set volume to 11, you’ll be the first to be contacted.

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By now you have called me an arrogant fool and an armchair asshole and yet you’re the one complaining that people are getting personal here. Oh Brian...

 

dont be too offended, I know people who think that a Big Mac is the best burger in the world. I don’t bother correcting them, maybe I should have done the same here too.

 

and cookie cutter music? The answer was in the original post itself. The stuff that you work on. That’s cookie cutter music.

 

now let me ask you a question, did you mean it when you bid goodbye to the forum a few days ago? Yes or no?

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3 minutes ago, Brian Lucey said:

 

Some very real sense of false authority in people who are consumers, first, second and third.

 

Hey Brian, who’s your favorite sports team?

 

are you devoid of opinions on how they perform? Or should I say, armchair opinions?

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4 minutes ago, firedog said:

Not really. Did you not notice that even on the page you linked to it has "mic"" as an alternative spelling?

So  maybe you shouldn't rush to call others names......

 The difference is that i didn’t insist that my way was the only way.

 

much like the discussion on music quality.

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I’ve heard that Bob Stuart has invented a biscuit that unfolds into a cake.

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5 minutes ago, mcgillroy said:

 

Actually he proved that scrambled egg is only temporarily blurred.

 

Authenticated by the chicken that laid the egg no less.

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Just now, Shadders said:

Were they free range, or high dynamic range chickens.....

 

High dynamic range chicken are OLD

if you like their eggs, you are WRONG!

 

lies!

 

etc... etc...

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And you are an inconsequential part of the production line who, if replaced by a robot, none of your target consumers would miss.

 

your audience cares about Shania Twain and Marilyn Manson. They don’t care about Brian Lucey. They don’t even know Brian Lucey exists. 

 

Your delusions of grandeur are hilarious and sad simultaneously.

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You’re a guy who painted a house that someone else designed and someone else built. 

 

Good for you. Your paint job sucks. Get over it.

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“Projection “ does not mean what you think it means. 

 

But it by all means, carry on.

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1 hour ago, Traildog said:

He was calling the people who were calling him names idiots and fools. I suggest that calling someone a whore is several steps worse than calling someone a fool.

 

But anyway, it's your show and you can do what you like. But I really feel he's been unfairly treated on this thread and I'm surprised he stayed around. 

I am the person whom he called an armchair asshole an idiot and so on.

 

i have not called him any names. I have only criticized his general unpleasant behavior and he holier than thou attitude. Life has taught me that the smartest guy in the room never has to proclaim repeatedly that he is so. 

 

i did not ask him to be banned because I can take some heat, especially when it is dished out by someone too insecure in their own shoes. But I respect @The Computer Audiophile‘s decision and hope that Mr.Lucey finds more productive things to do with his free time.

 

onwards with MQA, then?

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MQA listening experience update.

 

The Onkyo DP S1 arrived. Finally, I have one device to test PCM, DSD and MQA on.

 

its about the size of a credit card holder. Sounds rather nice, but this is the second device with ESS Saber chips that I have found to sound rather clinical. I wonder if that’s their signature.

 

Tested a few tracks with my B&O H6 and B&W P7. Decided to do the comparison tests with the P7 as it has a more rounded sound. 

 

Quick check with the “Blågutten” track from 2L. PCM to MQA switching is not instantaneous. The player takes a few seconds before determining that it is an MQA track. Blue dot comes on. 352.8khz.

 

Very rough first impression is that the PCM 192khz file sounds more warm. The MQA file sounds a bit hollow in comparison. It is especially felt on the percussion. Then again, this was not a blind test.

 

tomorrow, I will copy the DSD file on to the card as well, put all three tracks in random and do a blind test and report back.

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1 hour ago, crenca said:

 

That is their reputation, as it appears to be a trait no matter the implementation.  Is it a higher end tilt?

 

No doubt someone will post the exception however

 

I see, thank you.

 

i am not sure if I like this sound signature very much. I have owned several devices with Wolfson chips and they sounded warm and inviting. My current DAC has Analog Devices chips and it sounds wonderful as well. 

 

I will play around with the filters a bit to see if things sound any different.

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17 minutes ago, Samuel T Cogley said:

 

 

Thanks for this.  Your experience with MQA on a DP-S1 mirrors mine on a DP-X1.  I liked vanilla PCM better.

 

Youre welcome!

 

There definitely is a difference between folded and unfolded MQA, but so far, PCM is winning.

 

i will do the blind tests later today.

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Blind test completed.

I added all three tracks into a folder, set it to play in random and put the player in my pocket for a good hour or so. I lost track of the number of times I heard the song play, but it was a LOT. Now and then, I took the player out of the pocket and checked the screen to see if I got the format correct.

 

I picked the MQA file correctly every single time. Towards the end of the test I didn't even need to take the player out, I just knew when the MQA file was on.

 

 

The file overall sounds very brittle compared to the PCM and DSD versions. The highs have a certain "Cheesegrater" quality to it, which is quite evident in my test track with some prominent percussion and wind instrumentation. The PCM and especially, DSD files feel much more mellow in comparison. I felt that the MQA sounded a bit more compressed as well, but I can't say this with certain authority. No no no, do not want.

 

So overall, I have decided to give MQA a miss. No thank you. If I wanted grating highs, I'd buy an old Philips CD player and some Grados.

I should also add that I found the DSD file very pleasant. I should be spending a bit more time with the DSD format and give it a fair shake, which I haven't really done till now.

 

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On 12/21/2017 at 8:39 PM, Ralf11 said:

 

Were the 3 tracks all from the same 'album'?

 

It's possible that some other album sounds better with MQA

 

but...  why bother is the issue

 

 

I had mentioned previously that it was the same demo track from the 2L downloads .