MQA is Vaporware

[KeenObserver]

1 minute ago, The Computer Audiophile said:

There is not. 

The truly sad part of this is that there are people buying into this.

I suspect that some of them will follow MQA right over the cliff.

[KeenObserver]

It is incredible. Since 2014 MQA has been hiding behind smoke and mirrors. They have time after time put out "suggestions" that have been analyzed and been found wanting. Their whole scheme has been shown to be deceptive and to be pure BS. And yet, there are people who follow.

I have to wonder how many of the posts of people supporting MQA are actual users.

The whole scheme is just so full of Bob Stuart.

[KeenObserver]

In this world there are leaders and there are followers.

There are people that listen to unadulterated Hi-Rez PCM and there are people who listen to MQA.

There are people who rise up and there are people who accept the "Tot".

[KeenObserver]

1 hour ago, Ran said:

Anyone familiar?

 

 

 

Wow!

Has AES become that pathetic?

Do you think there will be any engineering discussions based on actual scientific principles?

[KeenObserver]

4 hours ago, SoundAndMotion said:

 

 

 

 

It is worthwhile realizing that the "AES Show Spring 2021" is a 4 day conference with dozens of lectures and themed sessions. The schedule is here (link). The session on streaming (with some MQA stuff, we presume) is 1.5 hours, with 1.5 other sessions competing at the same time.

 

The problem is that putting on this lecture under the aegis of AES gives credibility to this scheme. I give credibility to peer reviewed material, but not all material put out has been peer reviewed and examined closely.

[KeenObserver]

8 hours ago, Hifi Bob said:

 

The usual BS. But my, how dull can Bob be? I’d be surprised if anyone makes it to the end of the video.

Do you think the interviewer understood the full consequences of MQA?

[KeenObserver]

Let us go back in history. There was an audio engineer who was part of starting a company that was never financially successful during his tenure. The biggest success was selling a concept to Dolby, from which Dolby was able to reap much success. Upon seeing the success that Dolby had reaped from the idea, this audio engineer decided to implement a similar plan. Unfortunately, this plan was 20 years after it would have made sense. A company was formed. It received financing from a financial company underwritten by a South African billionaire who became rich during Apartheid. This wealth was possible in all likelihood because of Apartheid.

The company was populated by staff whose ethical standards were on display at RMAF 2018.

The company made all kinds of grandiose claims and told people not to look behind the curtain. People, being naturally inquisitive, looked behind the curtain and were horrified. Nothing was as described. Careful analysis was undertaken. Alas, nothing was true.

The smoke and mirrors continue to this day. The same misleading statements are repeated over and over. The same publishers publish the same BS over and over.

This horrible tale continues.

[KeenObserver]

Looking at the future of music, do you want to only have access to MQA?

Do you want MQA to be the ones that decide what you will or will not have?

Do you want the people from RMAF 2018 to be the ones that control the distribution of music?

[KeenObserver]

My God!

Hans has to be an expert beyond reproach! He has SCIENTIFIC INSTRUMENTS behind him!

 

That one on the top is the screen for a proctoscope.

[KeenObserver]

Coffee!

[KeenObserver]

2 hours ago, lucretius said:

 

MQA is giving Hans a PITA.

Hans was examining MQA.

[KeenObserver]

4 hours ago, GregWormald said:

May I suggest that to be taken seriously we need to avoid the same denigrative tactics and exaggeration (lies?) that MQA has used. They are already having to back down from some of their more suspect claims due to the diligence of some "auditors". If that can be kept up they may well have to back down to just being a lossy compression algorithm that may sound better than MP3 .

 

Remember that while "fighting fire with fire" can be tempting, the real professionals mostly use water.

 

Gosh!

It would be wonderful if we could warm up the lubricant for the music consumers while MQA goes about their business!

 

The real professionals use fire axes to smash down the barriers to the fire.

[KeenObserver]

Dismissing MQA as "just being a lossy compression algorithm that may sound better than MP3" is the epitome of misdirection.

MQA is a scheme whose purpose is to control the distribution of music and to impose a cost on every aspect of the music distribution business.  And if you think that if that happens, MQA and its supporting studios will not impose actual DRM on the music, you are delusional.

The future of music under MQA would be music corrupted by MQA and DRM. Innovation in the quality of music would disappear. Bob Stuart would be constantly reminding you that the music sounds better than the original.  Of course, there would probably  be people who would continue to actually believe this.

MQA is a scheme to royally screw the music consumer.  I am a music consumer. I take it personally.

[KeenObserver]

On 4/27/2021 at 10:03 PM, Gus141 said:

Bravo Chris. I don’t log in much anymore and post anything, but I still read AS daily. Thank you for not being afraid, even as a founder of the site, to express your well-informed opinion. Whether it’s MQA, Bluesound, Amazon Music HD, or about the summit-fi manufacturers, you say it like it is, or at least how you see it. Thanks for keeping it real.  And your comment on Roon and MQA and possible relations with BS is something I’ve always wondered and quietly wished would be addressed here.

 

To be honest, I’ve always wondered why @keenObserver didn’t include “Boycott Roon” in his “Boycott Warner, Boycott TIDAL” signature. I boycott Roon, and maybe if more people did, that would have a bigger impact on MQA/TIDAL’s success. 

 

Is there MQA without Tidal?

Is there Tidal without Roon?

Perhaps it is time to scrutinize Roon.

[KeenObserver]

If Roon is giving their tacit support to Tidal and MQA, then we should consider the alternatives to Roon.

[KeenObserver]

1 minute ago, lucretius said:

 

It's too late for us lifers.

 

That's unfortunate.  If MQA and Tidal died, would Roon survive? Is it in Roon's benefit to be tacitly supporting MQA?

[KeenObserver]

Perhaps it's time for Roon to get off the pot.

[KeenObserver]

10 minutes ago, firedog said:

Roon insists on having the streaming service appear totally integrated into it's UI. Understandable, since the UI is sort of the main selling point. This means the streaming service has to give up it's branding/look and UI, and has to allow Roon full access to it's database.

 

So far only Tidal and Qobuz are willing. 

Amazon doesn't care. Roon said they didn't even respond to enquiries.

Spotify will never do it - their UI is their money maker, and Roon isn't big enough to matter to them.

Same for the others.

 

Maybe in the future Roon will compromise with a special window within it's UI for one or more of the streaming services - but don't hold your breath. They seem to be doing quite well appealing to their audience with just Tidal and Qobuz.

 

Roon's competitors need to put out a better product with a better UI. They need to connect to a better service than Tidal.  And they certainly need to put out a better product than MQA, which is an easy task.

Outstanding software connected to a prime service putting out High-Rez music would be the audiophile's dream. It would certainly outclass Roon supporting Tidal and MQA.

[KeenObserver]

Since day one MQA has been all smoke and mirrors. It has perpetuated itself by illusion and self promotion. The carnival barkers at the publications sang its praises. The concept even appealed to me. Initially.

Until I looked behind the curtain.

The stink of this scheme became overwhelming to me.

There were equipment manufacturers that saw what affect this scheme would have on the future of the music business. To their credit they refused to become enablers for this scheme. They had ethical standards. That is the main reason that I bought my Benchmark Dac3.

There were other manufacturers that simply took the "give the customer what they want" attitude, whether they believed in MQA or not.

 

In essence, there are enablers of MQA, without whom MQA would have died the death the scheme should have.

 

I won't support anyone that enables MQA and allows them to continue pushing their scheme.

 

MQA is a pox on the music consumer.

[KeenObserver]

Today, they change your Redbook to MQA.

Tomorrow, they come for your Hi-Rez PCM.

[KeenObserver]

1 hour ago, The Computer Audiophile said:

I have no doubt 2L content on Apple Music will be mQa. The lossless container doesn't matter. 

 

2L has gotten up with fleas.

[KeenObserver]

I'll wait until they pound the stake through MQA's heart.

[KeenObserver]

28 minutes ago, StephenJK said:

I get that MQA is a lossy format that doesn't deliver as promised.  I understand that a lot of manufacturers have for one reason or another signed onto providing "MQA ready" gear for those who believe they should have it.  

 

What I don't get is the hysteria that some people here exhibit on this topic.  I mean, at the end of the day, how does this affect you?  It's not like MQA is the Axis and is making plans for military domination of Western Europe. 

 

At the sake of repeating something that has been stated many times before.

If MQA implemented their business plan as envisioned, all music would be distributed as MQA. The music consumer would no longer have a choice and would have to pay to implement every step of the scheme.

Equipment manufacturers that implemented MQA have to sign NDA's. They were not informing their customers that their DAC's were corrupting non MQA music.

MQA is a pox on the music consumer.

MQA SHOULD die.

[KeenObserver]

Look! There's bigfoot!

[KeenObserver]

58 minutes ago, MarkusBarkus said:

Oh you very bad boys! Using "unsafe levels of ultrasonic signals" 

you are going to hurt yourselves and put an ear out!

 

It's all fun and games until someone overloads the magic MQA machine!