MQA is Vaporware

[lucretius]

54 minutes ago, Rt66indierock said:

Getting this back on topic, MQA Ltd is looking for a Digital Marketing Manger and are willing to pay up to $44,000 per year. Duties include include working with whichever  MQA streaming services and  MQA download stores are still operating when you come on board. And management of the MQA website so that it gets more traffic than this thread.

 

Sounds like they are looking for an Executive Assistant -- pay seems to confirm this.

[Hugo9000]

2 hours ago, Rt66indierock said:

Getting this back on topic, MQA Ltd is looking for a Digital Marketing Manger and are willing to pay up to $44,000 per year. Duties include include working with whichever  MQA streaming services and  MQA download stores are still operating when you come on board. And management of the MQA website so that it gets more traffic than this thread.

I think there is a Russian Troll/Bot that is interested in this position.  His job application consists of the several hundred posts of FUD/pseudo-scientific-BS he has made in the past month on another forum, in a thread with "MQA" in the title.

[Paul R]

3 hours ago, Rt66indierock said:

Getting this back on topic, MQA Ltd is looking for a Digital Marketing Manger and are willing to pay up to $44,000 per year. Duties include include working with whichever  MQA streaming services and  MQA download stores are still operating when you come on board. And management of the MQA website so that it gets more traffic than this thread.

 

Just a reality check, do they really expect to find anyone with a salary like that? Other than perhaps a recent HS graduate? 

 

[Rt66indierock]

4 minutes ago, Paul R said:

 

Just a reality check, do they really expect to find anyone with a salary like that? Other than perhaps a recent HS graduate? 

 

 

And the job is in London.

[Hugo9000]

Isn't that where a certain infamous MQA "true believer" wanted to work?  Since he was supposedly uncompensated for all of his advocacy on this and other forums, surely a salary of any kind is just gravy for him!   

[Ralf11]

27 minutes ago, Paul R said:

 

Just a reality check, do they really expect to find anyone with a salary like that? Other than perhaps a recent HS graduate? 

 

 

but his living expenses will be quite low as he will be convoluted for free, and thus able to fit in a small box

[Shadders]

Hi,

@The Computer Audiophile , if possible, can you move the relevant posts from #15088 onwards, in this thread to the new one created :

 

 

Thanks and regards,
Shadders.

[firedog]

9 hours ago, Hugo9000 said:

I think there is a Russian Troll/Bot that is interested in this position.  His job application consists of the several hundred posts of FUD/pseudo-scientific-BS he has made in the past month on another forum, in a thread with "MQA" in the title.

Pretty much agree. No Bot needed: Just send in applications from a couple of the MQA fanboys banned from this thread. Real people  (trolls) that can out "bot" a Bot. 

[crenca]

Hey "Audio Press", this is what real product journalism looks like:

 

"Our testing shows that Toyota's claim is not true...."

 

https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a28101697/toyota-supra-vs-86-center-of-gravity-claim-tested/

[Rt66indierock]

Control4 a publicly  traded home automation company found themselves struggling. So they licensed MQA and sought a merger  partner. Another example of a poorly performing company licensing MQA. 

[Ralf11]

does this mean my Roomba can be 'upgraded' to MQA?

[The Computer Audiophile]

20 hours ago, Shadders said:

Hi,

@The Computer Audiophile , if possible, can you move the relevant posts from #15088 onwards, in this thread to the new one created :

 

 

Thanks and regards,
Shadders.

Done

[Hugo9000]

14 minutes ago, Ralf11 said:

does this mean my Roomba can be 'upgraded' to MQA?

Would it then avoid vacuuming under beds and in other areas that aren't readily visible?  Or perhaps it would somehow interpret such areas as being more important than the main pathways of your home?  

[esldude]

34 minutes ago, Rt66indierock said:

Control4 a publicly  traded home automation company found themselves struggling. So they licensed MQA and sought a merger  partner. Another example of a poorly performing company licensing MQA. 

I've this great idea.  We use the Roomba platform.  Each one gets a little speaker on it.  And we control it so we move speakers around so that each instrument in a mix gets its own speaker and an actual real imaging point for more realism.  Let us say up to 26 channels worth.  Then we can get both MQA and Good Housekeeping credentials.  

[Ralf11]

perfect realism for reproduction of marching bands !!

[crenca]

23 hours ago, Rt66indierock said:

Control4 a publicly  traded home automation company found themselves struggling. So they licensed MQA and sought a merger  partner. Another example of a poorly performing company licensing MQA. 

 

Why @Rt66indierock?  Do you have any idea?  Is it some strange hail mary pass effort of some strange sort??

[Rt66indierock]

On 6/22/2019 at 12:01 PM, crenca said:

 

Why @Rt66indierock?  Do you have any idea?  Is it some strange hail mary pass effort of some strange sort??

 

Evidence is accumulating that MQA was a hail mary  for high end audio. Those who see a bleak outlook are susceptible to this kind of approach. Especially an end to end group of products. Those with a more positive outlook are looking at the entry point to high end audio.

[rickca]

I wonder whether Berkeley Audio and dCS still feel positive about their decision to implement MQA.

[Rt66indierock]

20 minutes ago, rickca said:

I wonder whether Berkeley Audio and dCS still feel positive about their decision to implement MQA.

 

Berkeley Audio Design is still promoting their DACs as rendering MQA only. Does this mean they lack the power to fully decode an MQA file? A search of the dCS site finds the latest mention of MQA was October 2018.

[lucretius]

23 minutes ago, Rt66indierock said:

 

Berkeley Audio Design is still promoting their DACs as rendering MQA only. Does this mean they lack the power to fully decode an MQA file? A search of the dCS site finds the latest mention of MQA was October 2018.

 

Here's a quote from @The Computer Audiophile's review entitled Berkley Audio Design Alpha DAC RS2 MQA Update:

 

"The MQA part of the update enables the RS2 to handle MQA rendering only. That's the final step in the MQA process. Berkeley Audio Design believes that the decoding process, prior to rendering, is best done outside of the DAC. Similar to the company's belief that USB interfaces are best kept separate from the DAC (i.e. Alpha USB). The theme here is to keep all forms of noise outside the DAC and to keep its operation as stable as possible. 

 

Playing MQA content through the Alpha DAC Reference Series 2 requires an application or piece of hardware that decodes the MQA music for output to the DAC. This can be as simple as the Tidal desktop application, Audirvana+, or a hardware decoder such as the dCS Network Bridge or Aurender (coming very soon) that outputs AES into the Alpha DAC RS2 MQA for rendering."

 

Full article here: 

 

[Rt66indierock]

5 minutes ago, lucretius said:

 

Here's a quote from @The Computer Audiophile's review entitled Berkley Audio Design Alpha DAC RS2 MQA Update:

 

"The MQA part of the update enables the RS2 to handle MQA rendering only. That's the final step in the MQA process. Berkeley Audio Design believes that the decoding process, prior to rendering, is best done outside of the DAC. Similar to the company's belief that USB interfaces are best kept separate from the DAC (i.e. Alpha USB). The theme here is to keep all forms of noise outside the DAC and to keep its operation as stable as possible. 

 

Playing MQA content through the Alpha DAC Reference Series 2 requires an application or piece of hardware that decodes the MQA music for output to the DAC. This can be as simple as the Tidal desktop application, Audirvana+, or a hardware decoder such as the dCS Network Bridge or Aurender (coming very soon) that outputs AES into the Alpha DAC RS2 MQA for rendering."

 

Full article here: 

 

 

That is what you say when your DAC doesn't have enough power and you spent a man year writing code in assembly language to support MQA.

[The Computer Audiophile]

My wife has been using my Tidal account on her phone lately and I noticed a bunch of MQA content being "favorited." My wife has absolutely no idea what MQA is, she just searches for her music and clicks the offline button (which also seems to mark it as a favorite in the Tidal app (argh!)). 

 

This got me thinking about the Tidal guy(s) touting the "large number" of users who prefer/like the MQA version of music over the other options. Hmmmm. Based on my less-than-longitudinal study I believe 1) This has to be false, or 2) MQA Ltd. has a deal with Tidal to present the MQA version first or only the MQA version. 

 

I searched for the artist named Lizzo on the Tidal iOS app. I was presented with her albums. The one my wife likes is called "Cuz I Love You." On iOS I can only see the MQA versions of this album. Perhaps there is a way to get a non-MQA version, but let's be real, nobody is going to go out of their way to select a pure PCM version if they have no clue what MQA / Master even is. 

 

Anyway, more games being played with numbers and lack of choice, all brought to you by MQA Ltd. Thanks guys.

 

[The Computer Audiophile]

Ah, what do ya know, even with my streaming settings in the Tidal desktop all set to High, not even lossless let alone Master, the only version presented is the MQA version. 

 

 

[The Computer Audiophile]

After a bit more research, it appears the version actually sent to the player depends on the quality settings in the apps, but the album will always says Master. Ha! There's nothing like streaming a lossy MP3 while looking at the album that says Master. No market confusion at all with this one. 

 

To get the pure PCM version you have to select HiFi and stream the MQA version? Makes no sense. I wonder if this is the pure PCM version or just the un-unfolded MQA version. 

[Sonicularity]

Capture a bit and use @mansr's software that checks for an MQA format.