MQA is Vaporware

[kumakuma]

48 minutes ago, mansr said:

I'm only aware of obscure audiophile labels like Blue Coast and Sound Liaison that provide such details. Their recordings are generally superb, but I can enjoy music just as well without knowing the brand of microphone cables used during the recording. I listen to music, not equipment.

 

I also couldn't give a crap about the equipment used but I do like to know the provenance of the formats sold. For example, I'm not going to buy a recording in DSD format if it's simply a conversion from PCM. I'd rather buy the PCM version instead.

[kumakuma]

Brian,

 

A question for you.

 

I noticed that the 24/44.1 version of Shania's recent album is less compressed than the CD version.

 

Was the decision to make the CD version more compressed your decision or was it made by the label?

 

[kumakuma]

3 minutes ago, Brian Lucey said:

They are the same files here, less 8 bits.

 

Actually, they aren't the same. Look at the images.

 

The first is 24/44.1 version and second is the 16/44.1 Redbook version. 

 

I'm guessing that the latter is your work.

[kumakuma]

2 minutes ago, The Computer Audiophile said:

 

I let adults be adults. But, when they act like children they get banned. Bye Brian. 

 

I'm surprised he lasted this long.

[kumakuma]

4 hours ago, Shadders said:

On the upper 8bits being clean - someone else on another forum showed this - 24bit recordings, the 8 upper bits were clear. We should not have to check that we are being conned.

 

Can you point me to a reference to this?

 

I checked the Shania recording I mentioned above and the 8 upper bits of the 24/44.1 release are NOT clear as you can see in the Bit Monitor in upper left hand corner:

 

[kumakuma]

3 minutes ago, Shadders said:

Hi kumakuma,

It was another forum, and not the Shania Twain recording. I will try and locate it - was about 5 years ago now.

Regards,

Shadders.

 

 

No need to bother.

 

HDTracks (and others) had some real quality control issues in the early days and ended up selling some upsampled releases as received from the labels without checking to see if they were legit.

 

In my experience, these problems are a things of the past and it is extremely rare to find HR releases these days that aren't legit.

 

[kumakuma]

1 minute ago, Samuel T Cogley said:

 

I think we agree.  My only issue is that in his zeal to (correctly IMHO) point to the misinformation about MQA, he apparently missed the second word of the title of this site/forum: Audiophile.  And while I would be lying to say I've never coveted a shiny audio object, I would like to think that I'm somewhat discriminating regarding precisely which shiny object I'm coveting.  A distinction without a difference, perhaps.

 

 

It seemed to me that he has a picture in his mind of what an audiophile is and no interest at all in altering that view of the world.

 

It's a shame because if he'd taken the time to listen to what people were telling him, he would have found that many of the folks agree with much of what he had to say.

[kumakuma]

15 minutes ago, Rt66indierock said:

 

Reading The Part Time Audiophile is like watching ads on the Golf Channel. And I like Scot Hull. I will get on an airplane and attend a service when he gets a church.

 

I'd never visited the site before but I see what you mean. At least Stereophile and the other trade rags try to have some Chinese wall between editorial content and advertising. 

 

[kumakuma]

46 minutes ago, Fair Hedon said:

The DR lynch mob was over the top, and the last 12 months has proven being nice gets you nowhere.

 

This isn't really correct.

 

If you read the thread, you can see that the vast majority of posts discussing DR were respectful.

 

Things only went off the rails when BL started to show his naked disdain for both audiophiles and the audience for the music he masters (you are only consumers, you create nothing, you are nothing in the music world, you are the bottom of the food chain).

[kumakuma]

21 minutes ago, Lee Scoggins said:

 

My sources tell me Meridian is actually tremendously profitable firm and has made a boatload on licensing deals.

 

Rather than simply believing what you are told, take a look at their actual financial statements:

 

https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/02710631/filing-history

 

The company lost money in 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2016. They would have lost money in 2015 as well but they recorded a one-time sale of their intellectual property. I suspect this was related to the spin-off of the MQA assets into a separate company.

[kumakuma]

9 minutes ago, opus101 said:

 

More ridiculous than the posts themselves is the lack of posts - i.e. complete absence of any answer (even an acknowledgement) to the highly pertinent question of ringing.

 

Lee's checking with his sources...

[kumakuma]

4 minutes ago, Lee Scoggins said:

 

Which file is the financial statement here?  All the annual returns I liked at were missing statements.

 

The links named "Group of companies' accounts" contain the financial statements. 

[kumakuma]

3 minutes ago, Lee Scoggins said:

 

Oh, fuck off. We tracked the savings and the number I reported was less than the actual amount.

 

[kumakuma]

1 hour ago, Lee Scoggins said:

 

This shows an antiquated view of corporations.  Their must be some value for the consumer or it won’t sell.  The new world has the consumer having a lot of power.  For this to work well, there has to be good selection and good sound quality at a decent price.

 

Your Brave New World only exists in markets where there is real competition, not in an industry which is controlled by a handful of companies.

[kumakuma]

6 minutes ago, Lee Scoggins said:

So even the four major labels will have to be careful, imo, to create something perceived to be of value.

 

There are only three now.

 

[kumakuma]

6 minutes ago, Lee Scoggins said:

 

Including the indie consortium Merlin who is now under contract with MQA.

 

I wouldn't consider Merlin to be a recording label.

[kumakuma]

39 minutes ago, christopher3393 said:

 

Colorful word choices. Not as colorful as last week's anal rape metaphor (which I personally found offputting), but still another post that seems just a touch histrionic. coupled with a few of your more hyperbolic and vitriolic posts (examples can easily be supplied) , I wonder if you are undermining your credibility a little?

 

While it is an unfair characterization of CA as a whole, it doesn't take too many heavy-handed posts in a thread to leave some with the impression of a "snake pit". IMO.

 

 

[kumakuma]

2 minutes ago, Lee Scoggins said:

 

The Cheskys are millionaires.

 

Meridian (Audio) Millionaires?

[kumakuma]

43 minutes ago, Lee Scoggins said:

Remember I worked on some the the earliest hirez releases at Chesky Records in 1993 and I have been doing professional hirez recordings since 1996.

 

According to AllMusic, your last credit was more than 20 years ago:

 

https://www.allmusic.com/artist/lee-scoggins-mn0001761138

 

What albums have you worked on since then?

 

[kumakuma]

Just now, Mordikai said:

Don't hold your breath for that proof.

 

Yup, it's after 5:00 in the UK so Bob's probably in the pub with a pint.

[kumakuma]

8 minutes ago, Lee Scoggins said:

 

Classy.

 

Classier than your comment about Charles Hansen...

 

 

[kumakuma]

19 minutes ago, Lee Scoggins said:

 

So far I have only seen UK statements on Meridian UK and not all the subsidiaries.  What if there are more profitable subsidiaries? Is Meridian America profitable?

 

This is incorrect.

 

The financial statements freely available from Companies House are the consolidated results ("Financial Statements for Meridian Audio Limited and its subsidiary undertakings")

 

.

 

 

 

 

[kumakuma]

6 minutes ago, Lee Scoggins said:

We cannot claim Meridian is in any financial trouble without having a look at all the statements.

 

See my post above. The financial statements that you have seen show the complete picture for Meridian and it's subsidiaries.

[kumakuma]

8 minutes ago, Lee Scoggins said:

 

Just for the UK though.  How much money does MAI make?

 

Again, NO!

 

Meridian's financial statements are consolidated statements that show the combined results for the parent and the following subsidiaries:

 

 

Note that MAI is included.

[kumakuma]

11 minutes ago, mansr said:

Where did that money come from?

 

According to financial statements, Meridian received £13.5 million on June 7, 2015 from the assignment of IPR to their parent company (Reinet SARL).  They returned roughly £10 million to Reinet to pay back loans that Reinet had made to Meridian. Another approximately £3.2 million was used to pay back loans from Boston Bank which had been "facilitated" through the Charles H Taylor Family Trust.