MQA is Vaporware

[ralphfcooke]

Would it be possible to get this topic away from the first school playground and back towards some kind of adult discussion?

I'm happy to admit that I use Meridian DSP speakers, but I definitely do not want MQA. 

[KeenObserver]

Financials have been filed.  Being processed, available in 5 days.

 

Was hoping the financials were late because they were dissolving the company.

[Ishmael Slapowitz]

It's a shilly morning! Brrrrr!!!

 

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/mqa-sounds-really-good.9512/

[Thuaveta]

1 hour ago, ralphfcooke said:

I'm happy to admit that I use Meridian DSP speakers, but I definitely do not want MQA. 

 

Well, there's a software update  if you change your mind. How a signal path of "1st unfold" => room correction dsp => "2nd unfold", which to my understanding is possible, would, in the mind of the true believers, compute with the whole BS marketing line of "pure unadulterated sound from the musician to your speakers, guaranteed by the magic blue light" is beyond me, as is the logic of any other cult.

[daverich4]

1 hour ago, Ishmael Slapowitz said:

It's a shilly morning! Brrrrr!!!

 

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/mqa-sounds-really-good.9512/

Not real sure where the “shilling” is supposed to be. There’s the initial post followed by three pages of MQA bashing, same as would happen here. 

[Tintinabulum]

6 hours ago, crenca said:

A happy victim...and yet here you are

Not at all. Yes here I am!

[Fast and Bulbous]

Thought it worthwhile to return just to post this.

 

https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/09123512/filing-history

Screen snapshot is the summary page. Two figures: turnover: £376,950. loss: £4,601,788. Yep, £375K turnover, £4.6m loss. 21 employees and the biggest salary was over £400K.

In comparison, in 2017, turnover was £149K, loss was £7.2M. 

If I read it correctly, it will go forward funded by loans, still.

Am tempted not to say any more and just leave it at that. Numbers talk for themselves.

As Charley said "MQA - More Questions than Answers". Another site has a post asking someone to write a song to the tune of YMCA and call it "Why MQA?".

[Fast and Bulbous]

Here is the full 33 page PDF...

 

 

MQA Accounts 2018.pdf

[FredericV]

With 5G and home ISP speeds where MQA's compression scheme no longer is a USP for saving bandwidth, it's obvious they fear the shelf life of their solution has almost expired, and claiming the 5G marketing is misleading, is very weak.

They should buy a big mirror as MQA's marketing is misleading. It's not the studio master, not the quality, not authentic. It's not lossless ...

 

If you limit hi-res to 24/96 flac with entropy optimization, you can still outperform MQA's compression scheme, for which the secret DRM'ed part does not compress at all using FLAC. For anything higher than 24/96, MQA is not even encoding that data, with the result that a 24/96 or 24/384 MQA file of the same master, both distributed as 24/48, will be about the same size, with the main difference in the metadata where they tell the render to upsample ..... so it's like cheating.

MQA compresses so well because it's not encoding all the hires data. If that matters or not is a different discussion. I still prefer 2L.no's DXD versions over the weaker MQA counterparts.

I even baited into the GO LISTEN argument and bought that MQA studio DAC .... but I still prefer the real master.

[kumakuma]

From MQA's filing:

 

[KeenObserver]

"Yes sir!  The buggy whip will make your automobile go even faster!

[KeenObserver]

1 minute ago, kumakuma said:

From MQA's filing:

 

 

Why would you continue to dump money into a losing proposition unless you expected huge profits in the future?  MQA must be expecting to royally screw the music consumer.

[kumakuma]

3 minutes ago, KeenObserver said:

 

Why would you continue to dump money into a losing proposition unless you expected huge profits in the future?  MQA must be expecting to royally screw the music consumer.

 

One possible explanation:

 

Quote

Escalation of commitment is a human behavior pattern in which an individual or group facing increasingly negative outcomes from a decision, action, or investment nevertheless continues the behavior instead of altering course. The actor maintains behaviors that are irrational, but align with previous decisions and actions.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Escalation_of_commitment

[KeenObserver]

MQA's window of opportunity was ten or fifteen years ago.  It is a totally useless product ( for the consumer) today.

[KeenObserver]

I suppose if you are getting a salary and they are contributing to a retirement fund, you would want to keep it going for as long as possible.

[The Computer Audiophile]

2 minutes ago, KeenObserver said:

I suppose if you are getting a salary and they are contributing to a retirement fund, you would want to keep it going for as long as possible.

Consumers and the industry be damned. Very Presidential.

[KeenObserver]

They could make a movie about it.  Unfortunately Zero Mostel isn't around to play the lead role.

[Ishmael Slapowitz]

Wow. A 7 million dollar bleed out. So unless a white knight investor comes along, it is just a matter of time until life

support is plugged. Truly stunning that there total net assets are less than than the value of a one bedroom apartment in New York City.

[crenca]

I doubt things are as they appear.  The losses, which may or may not be an accounting maneuver, must be serving a function (tax?) to the parent company.

[rickca]

So MQA says that agreements between the labels and music services are largely beyond their control.  Unless the services adopt MQA, all these MQA-enabled devices are just potential.

 

So the question is how aggressively are the labels going after the services about getting on board with MQA?  I suppose the labels could just jam it down their throats if they wanted to do that.  I wonder what the services are telling the labels about the value of MQA?  It sure hasn't done much for TIDAL.

 

If the labels lose confidence in MQA, the company is toast.

[Fast and Bulbous]

Whatever the accounting manoeuvres, the turnover figure says a lot. Is less than the highest salary.

 

Turnover may have more than doubled since last year, but is still very low. If they are expecting a hockey stick, it feels like it needs to happen soon for the whole thing to be viable. It also looks like the delay in posting the accounts may have been while they secured the funding they need to stay afloat. Hence the reference to "by November". Growth will need to be very non linear to pay back the sunk costs. Very. 

 

I wonder when DRM will get switched on? That could be the magic bullet the labels need and the reason to keep backing it. I hope not, I really do. Whenever the question of whose problem does MQA solve comes up, it isn't the listener or any decent hardware company that needs it. CEO from Warner Bros...

 

 

[KeenObserver]

3 minutes ago, rickca said:

So MQA says that agreements between the labels and music services are largely beyond their control.  Unless the services adopt MQA, all these MQA-enabled devices are just potential.

 

So the question is how aggressively are the labels going after the services about getting on board with MQA?  I suppose the labels could just jam it down their throats if they wanted to do that.  I wonder what the services are telling the labels about the value of MQA?  It sure hasn't done much for TIDAL.

 

MQA is a major win for the labels.  It gives them DRM and allows them to sell a crippled recording.  This opens the door for another re-issue in the future.  The labels are going to push MQA.

[crenca]

8 minutes ago, rickca said:

I wonder what the services are telling the labels about the value of MQA?  It sure hasn't done much for TIDAL.

 

Yes, this is where I agree with you and @Rt66indierock.  MQA is a "Hi Res" play, and since the market (the 99%) wants <256Kbs compression, MQA/Hi Res/Flac compressed 16/44 or greater is all a fail.

 

The labels are powerful, but they are not that powerful...

[KeenObserver]

It will be telling to see where this new funding (by November) will be coming from.

[kumakuma]

28 minutes ago, Fast and Bulbous said:

It also looks like the delay in posting the accounts may have been while they secured the funding they need to stay afloat. Hence the reference to "by November". 

 

I agree. 

 

The financials were not approved by the board until October 14th. The company has undoubtedly been scrambling to line up additional funding in recent months so that they could say they are still a "Going Concern".