MQA is Vaporware

[Ishmael Slapowitz]

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 

[Samuel T Cogley]

34 minutes 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..  

 

I got some of his material in his "DSD period".  Pretty sure it was a free sampler.  The best way I can describe it is Audiophile Music.  All the audio aesthetics are there, just none of the passion.

 

YMMV, of course.

[Ishmael Slapowitz]

1 hour ago, Samuel T Cogley said:

 

I got some of his material in his "DSD period".  Pretty sure it was a free sampler.  The best way I can describe it is Audiophile Music.  All the audio aesthetics are there, just none of the passion.

 

YMMV, of course.

Hmmm have to disagree specific to the music. I think your assessment is a bit harsh. It really shades towards Americana or roots music...no where near typical vomit inducing Audiophile fare...er...like "female vocals"...true story..at several dealer speaker demo  events I was at there were the typical grizzled 'philes calling out for "female vocals"...lol

[esldude]

4 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 

Does this mean they were remastered or just MQA'd?

[Confused]

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.

[Ishmael Slapowitz]

4 hours ago, esldude said:

Does this mean they were remastered or just MQA'd?

I'm guessing just run through the MQA sausage maker. 

[lucretius]

20 hours ago, Samuel T Cogley said:

 

I got some of his material in his "DSD period".  Pretty sure it was a free sampler.  The best way I can describe it is Audiophile Music.  All the audio aesthetics are there, just none of the passion.

 

YMMV, of course.

 

Yes. As I remember, it was free.

[lucretius]

17 hours ago, esldude said:

Does this mean they were remastered or just MQA'd?

 

Since you can get his sample stuff in various PCM resolutions and DSD, I would assume the additional MQA file came from the MQA sausage maker.

 

http://davidelias.com/mqa_downloads/mqa_sampler___9_songs_various_resolutions_1644.1_mqa_to_dxd_24352.8_mqa/

[lucretius]

21 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..  

 

Looks like he's desperately trying to stay relevant.

[Archimago]

2 hours ago, lucretius said:

 

Looks like he's desperately trying to stay relevant.

 

I chatted with David a few times I think back in 2017. Nice enough fellow but I think he does get a bit too excited about the technology whether it be DSD or now MQA. The music is recorded well and sound quality is good because of that rather than whatever format du jour...

 

[jma2]

Because it is all available on a sampler, I wouldn't be surprised if there was some pre-MQA-transformation-processing done for giving the masters (from which the MQA is supposed to be derived) the proper "sound", which even Mr Elias is not aware of.

 

In any case, there's also other lossy codecs which sometimes can sound pretty good, though hardly ever as good as the original (without remastering).

So if Mr Elias likes the lossy MQA sound or even prefers it over his DSD versions, OK for me. After all, it supposedly generates the sound the artist wanted it to sound, no?!

 

Jan

[Ishmael Slapowitz]

2 hours ago, Archimago said:

 

I chatted with David a few times I think back in 2017. Nice enough fellow but I think he does get a bit too excited about the technology whether it be DSD or now MQA. The music is recorded well and sound quality is good because of that rather than whatever format du jour...

 

Actually his recordings are really good. High quality gear and attention to detail. I though his DSD albums were very analog sounding. 

[The Computer Audiophile]

24 minutes ago, Ishmael Slapowitz said:

Actually his recordings are really good. High quality gear and attention to detail. I though his DSD albums were very analog sounding. 

Analog as in high distortion and pop & ticks?

[esldude]

5 hours ago, lucretius said:

 

Since you can get his sample stuff in various PCM resolutions and DSD, I would assume the additional MQA file came from the MQA sausage maker.

 

http://davidelias.com/mqa_downloads/mqa_sampler___9_songs_various_resolutions_1644.1_mqa_to_dxd_24352.8_mqa/

I actually was aware of and had listened to some of these prior to it being mentioned here.  Yes, he does good recordings.  But he believed all the lies he was told about MQA sounding better even in an encoded CD that doesn't get decoded.  Maybe the masters were untouched, but then MQA people say that don't they.  Not speaking of him just MQA folks.  

[Kal Rubinson]

43 minutes ago, Ishmael Slapowitz said:

I though his DSD albums were very analog sounding. 

I thought the sound was better than that. 😉

[crenca]

28 minutes ago, Ishmael Slapowitz said:

Actually his recordings are really good. High quality gear and attention to detail. I though his DSD albums were very analog sounding. 

 

3 minutes ago, The Computer Audiophile said:

Analog as in high distortion and pop & ticks?

 

I think I know what you mean Ishmael, but The Computer Audiophile has a very important point.  What, exactly is an "analogue waveform" and his is it materially different from an "digital waveform"?  We know that factually they are the same, and when we use "digital sound" vs. "analogue sound" in a subjective descriptive sense that these are mere experiential descriptors based on the product/recording history more than anything else.  

 

The problem is that the Audiophile Confidence Game that Bob Stuart plays, and apparently this particular artists believes, asserts that there is in fact something different between "analogue" and "digital" waveforms...

[labjr]

41 minutes ago, The Computer Audiophile said:

Analog as in high distortion and pop & ticks?

 

I was at a flea market several years ago and I heard Johnny Cash music playing at a table about 50 feet away and it sounded pretty good. I walked over to see that it was a record playing on a 70's Soundesign all-in-one stereo. You know, the kind that has an 8-track player built in. Listening to recorded music isn't always about the ultimate resolving system. Especially the way multi-track recordings are made. Vinyl sounded pretty good for what it was. And better than CD's or anything digital until recently.

 

[Ishmael Slapowitz]

45 minutes ago, The Computer Audiophile said:

Analog as in high distortion and pop & ticks?

Ha, no, actually in the sense of easy and organic flow. 😃

[Samuel T Cogley]

IMHO, we should resist the temptation to go down the analog vs. digital road in this thread.  Plenty of other more on-topic places than here to have that mud fight.

[Ishmael Slapowitz]

26 minutes ago, crenca said:

 

 

I think I know what you mean Ishmael, but The Computer Audiophile has a very important point.  What, exactly is an "analogue waveform" and his is it materially different from an "digital waveform"?  We know that factually they are the same, and when we use "digital sound" vs. "analogue sound" in a subjective descriptive sense that these are mere experiential descriptors based on the product/recording history more than anything else.  

 

The problem is that the Audiophile Confidence Game that Bob Stuart plays, and apparently this particular artists believes, asserts that there is in fact something different between "analogue" and "digital" waveforms...

Interesting points...ok...to clarify, by "analog" I mean it sounds like tape. And regardless of what every anyone thinks....tape has a very seductive and organic sound. Technical flaws and all.

[KeenObserver]

Looks like MQA LTD is waiting for the last minute to file.  Indicative of something.

[FredericV]

Today when prepping room 17 at the X-FI show in Veldhoven, The Netherlands, I noticed an MQA lecture by this guy, which was on all TV's in the hallways. Translated: "What is MQA and what's the use of it?"

 

I googled the guy in the left, and he works for Viertron, the Dutch Meridian distributor. As I have my own room to take care of, I can't attend at 11:00 on any of the two days and ask all the difficult questions or correct his mistakes which will probably stall the guy.

The show organizers are clearly not in the know what MQA really is, or they would not have given him a voice ...

 

[Thuaveta]

2 hours ago, FredericV said:

The show organizers are clearly not in the know what MQA really is, or they would not have given him a voice ...

 

That seems like quite a bit of trust to put in an institution that also hosted a conference about the fundamental importance of power cords.

[Ralf11]

Hey man - no cord, no power !!

[Rt66indierock]

3 hours ago, FredericV said:

Today when prepping room 17 at the X-FI show in Veldhoven, The Netherlands, I noticed an MQA lecture by this guy, which was on all TV's in the hallways. Translated: "What is MQA and what's the use of it?"

 

I googled the guy in the left, and he works for Viertron, the Dutch Meridian distributor. As I have my own room to take care of, I can't attend at 11:00 on any of the two days and ask all the difficult questions or correct his mistakes which will probably stall the guy.

The show organizers are clearly not in the know what MQA really is, or they would not have given him a voice ...

 

 

MQA is a 30 million Euro rat hole of Reinet Investments.