MQA is Vaporware

[The Computer Audiophile]

11 minutes ago, Rt66indierock said:

 

Andy, if they were doing just fine the following would have been addressed. The website would be updated so the store button would say where to buy since they haven't had a store since 2018. 2L used to be a site for people who liked Norwegian music to go. Without the store it is work to find this music and this customer base should have cared for better. That 2L hasn't done these two things causes me to wonder about other things like finances. 

 

The New York Times is doing just fine if you think a decline in revenue from 2005 to 2019 of over 40% is good. I don't. They are still struggling with their digital revenue model. 

Not everything is a nail to your hammer. 

[MikeyFresh]

3 hours ago, Ishmael Slapowitz said:

Mr Fresh, have we not been through this cycle 15 times before with AQ?

 

The same rinse and repeat nonsense about civility blah blah blah.

 

Yes we most certainly have been, AR is seemingly under the erroneous impression that everyone here has a very short memory.

 

3 hours ago, Ishmael Slapowitz said:

I believe your response here is the most devastating I have seen and should put an end to this.

 

It probably won't given the history/pattern, however maybe the next step is to just put AR on the ignored members list. I'd love it if that happened en masse, he is not a voice of authority, nor is he the influencer that both he himself and the MQA cadre fancies him to be.

 

3 hours ago, Ishmael Slapowitz said:

Mr, Quint talks about alternate facts but continues to repeat the absurd canard that MQA would have "engaged" with folks if there was toast and tea and mints on the table. Pure fiction.

 

That is a fantasy, and one he is hoping CC among others buys into, hence the civility crusade.

 

3 hours ago, Ishmael Slapowitz said:

Mr. Quint has not once, not even ONE time answered for his magazine and his colleagues coverage of MQA.

 

No he hasn't, but he sticks to the basic playbook with remarkable predictability.

 

3 hours ago, Ishmael Slapowitz said:

P.S. there were folks who did not "like" CD when it first arrived but it's benefits were clear, and the market agreed, it had a pretty good 30 year run.

 

Even if I and other folks did not "like" MQA and it clearly solved technical issues and had undisputed benefits, then it would not matter what detractors think....and this thread would not even exist. But it does.

 

Well said, that's both an interesting analogy, and a sign of things not to come for MQA... no traction yet with anything but tiny Tidal does not bode well at all, market acceptance has not happened despite the (free?) trade press blitz they have been the recipient of.

 

I guess only a very small fraction of the magazine readers (and as well the hi-fi gear manufacturers) were effectively snookered.

[firedog]

38 minutes ago, MikeyFresh said:

 

I guess only a very small fraction of the magazine readers (and as well the hi-fi gear manufacturers) were effectively snookered.

It also shows that very few people are actually interested in hi-res and willing to pay for it. How many subscribers did hi-res and MQA gain Tidal? Very few. Qobuz is also very small- a few hundred thousand subscribers each. 

We live in our audiophile bubble and forget that the vast majority of the public isn't interested. 

[Ishmael Slapowitz]

1 hour ago, MikeyFresh said:

 

Yes we most certainly have been, AR is seemingly under the erroneous impression that everyone here has a very short memory.

 

 

It probably won't given the history/pattern, however maybe the next step is to just put AR on the ignored members list. I'd love it if that happened en masse, he is not a voice of authority, nor is he the influencer that both he himself and the MQA cadre fancies him to be.

 

 

That is a fantasy, and one he is hoping CC among others buys into, hence the civility crusade.

 

 

No he hasn't, but he sticks to the basic playbook with remarkable predictability.

 

 

Well said, that's both an interesting analogy, and a sign of things not to come for MQA... no traction yet with anything but tiny Tidal does not bode well at all, market acceptance has not happened despite the (free?) trade press blitz they have been the recipient of.

 

I guess only a very small fraction of the magazine readers (and as well the hi-fi gear manufacturers) were effectively snookered.

and indeed if ARQ chooses to yet again disingenuously post the same debunked nonsense again it can only be seen

as nothing but intentional trolling pure and simple. 

 

Interesting note, disingenuous trolling was the modus operandi ad nauseam for ARQ's new boss. Birds

of a feather...

[yahooboy]

On 3/27/2020 at 4:08 AM, ARQuint said:

 

I am almost sure that 2L is doing just fine.

 

The above comment reminds me of Donald Trump perpetually referring to "The failing New York Times" because the paper says things he doesn't like.

 

The New York Times is doing just fine, too, in case anybody had doubts. At least I'm almost sure.

Well if You consider a result before taxes going from 264K NOK in 2015 declining to 49K in 2019 doing just fine, then You're right 

[Rt66indierock]

On 3/27/2020 at 11:13 AM, The Computer Audiophile said:

Not everything is a nail to your hammer. 

 

The following people can be considered nails:

Robert Harley

Alan Taffel

Jim Austin

Alex Crespi

[christopher3393]

[The Computer Audiophile]

29 minutes ago, Rt66indierock said:

 

The following people can be considered nails:

Robert Harley

Alan Taffel

Jim Austin

Alex Crespi

That’s disgusting. Get over yourself. 
 

Nobody has made more claims than you, but never backed up a single one. 
 

I also find your convenient calling of Charles Hanson a good friend, only after his death, despicable. 
 

Your falsehoods and empty promises are too big to recount. 

[Rt66indierock]

On 3/29/2020 at 12:09 PM, The Computer Audiophile said:

That’s disgusting. Get over yourself. 
 

Nobody has made more claims than you, but never backed up a single one. 
 

I also find your convenient calling of Charles Hanson a good friend, only after his death, despicable. 
 

Your falsehoods and empty promises are too big to recount. 

 

Chris,

I have an article coming about Robert Harley and MQA. I was missing a good citation in one case and the most current definition of a computer software topic. I found both.

 

I’m writing a follow up to Alan’s review of the Dragonfly Cobalt review. A couple people have asked me to write a review. I’ve always said be careful what you wish for.

 

I’m signing my name to both, so I hope you publish them.

 

Jim Austin is showing Stereophile can’t complete in the marketplace of ideas so there will be another Dear Jim on Audio Asylum since he doesn’t visit Audiophile Style.

 

As for Alex, he’s made a few comments that should be discussed away from his products. Seems simple enough to me. Your choice here or Audio Asylum.

 

If that’s disgusting, I’m fine with that.

 

Finally, I haven’t cared about what the press said about me since I was a teenager. And quoting PaulR (May 2019) and Daffy Duck won’t win you any points anyway.

[Rt66indierock]

On 3/26/2020 at 9:06 PM, ARQuint said:

 

I feel that MikeyFresh understood my point exactly. The health of  2L has nothing to do with that of  MQA, Inc. (about which I have no special insights.) So, to wonder aloud about the stability of the record company because they have connections to the technology concern is irresponsible and potentially damaging to the former. As is the editorial policy of the Times, I think we should correct "alternate facts" when they are disseminated.

 

The discussion of MQA has been profoundly political from the very beginning (my TAS editorial "The Politics of MQA" was printed two-and-a-half years ago) as reflected by the prominence of political tactics—ad hominem, conspiracy theories, insults, bullying, etc. There's a lot less of that at AS since Chris made it less welcoming for those who were here mostly to engage in this kind of sport. And we can go back to that happy state when, right now, I return to lurking and listening!

 

Andy

 

Andy, the marketing and promotion of MQA was political from the first showing of the compression technology to Craig Kallman, CEO of Atlantic Records in late 2011. It became more political when it was shown to Robert Harley, John Atkinson and Kal Rubinson at CES in January 2014. 

 

Bob Stuart at the time had no choice; he didn’t have the resources to do anything but play politics because Meridian had seven figure operating losses for more than ten years. Robert Harley and John Atkinson did their part starting in late 2014 with a string of articles promoting MQA.

 

When Bob Stuart secured funding in 2015 MQA Ltd started using strong arm political tactics on manufactures something you either ignore or refuse to acknowledge. Many of us objected to these tactics and threw them back in their faces.

 

It is a simple concept when someone is playing politics you play politics back.

[Currawong]

On 4/1/2020 at 8:50 AM, Rt66indierock said:

When Bob Stuart secured funding in 2015 MQA Ltd started using strong arm political tactics on manufactures something you either ignore or refuse to acknowledge. Many of us objected to these tactics and threw them back in their faces.

 

Details?

[Confused]

Slightly off the MQA topic I know, but perhaps relevant to the greater "hi-res" market situation.  Does anyone know what is behind this?

 

Maybe nothing more than an efficiency related consolidation to HDtracks.com?

 

https://www.hiresaudio.online/hdtracks-co-uk-to-close-on-31st-march/

[firedog]

17 minutes ago, Confused said:

Slightly off the MQA topic I know, but perhaps relevant to the greater "hi-res" market situation.  Does anyone know what is behind this?

 

Maybe nothing more than an efficiency related consolidation to HDtracks.com?

 

https://www.hiresaudio.online/hdtracks-co-uk-to-close-on-31st-march/

No sales = no site. I think it is as simple as that.

 

CD and hires quality streaming has surely reduced the amount of album downloads for $10-$30 people are willing to buy. It has for me, and since becoming a Qobuz Sublime+ member, I rarely buy any download other than from Qobuz. I used to be a big HDT customer, but is rarely worth it for me to buy from them anymore. Some of the specialized sites sometimes have prices competitive with the Qobuz discount or an item not at Qobuz, but not often. 

[The Computer Audiophile]

2 hours ago, Confused said:

Slightly off the MQA topic I know, but perhaps relevant to the greater "hi-res" market situation.  Does anyone know what is behind this?

 

Maybe nothing more than an efficiency related consolidation to HDtracks.com?

 

https://www.hiresaudio.online/hdtracks-co-uk-to-close-on-31st-march/

My guess is that the hassle of licensing and running a site for such a small market just isn’t worth it. 

[#Yoda#]

3 hours ago, firedog said:

CD and hires quality streaming has surely reduced the amount of album downloads for $10-$30 people are willing to buy. It has for me, and since becoming a Qobuz Sublime+ member, I rarely buy any download other than from Qobuz. I used to be a big HDT customer, but is rarely worth it for me to buy from them anymore. Some of the specialized sites sometimes have prices competitive with the Qobuz discount or an item not at Qobuz, but not often. 

It's the same for me. If at all, I bought some productions from Chesky Records or DSD 128 from 2xHD there. The HDT store in Germany was closed at the end of 2019. But at the same time HDT has lifted its strict geo blocking. I haven't tried it yet, but it should now be possible for Europeans and Brits to buy the albums in the US store for which HDT also has the distribution rights in other countries.

[UkPhil]

3 hours ago, Confused said:

Slightly off the MQA topic I know, but perhaps relevant to the greater "hi-res" market situation.  Does anyone know what is behind this?

 

Maybe nothing more than an efficiency related consolidation to HDtracks.com?

 

https://www.hiresaudio.online/hdtracks-co-uk-to-close-on-31st-march/

It is still running as of this morning 

 

 

[JoeWhip]

Time to get rid of these regional restrictions. They are easily avoided with a VPN anyway.

[Confused]

9 minutes ago, UkPhil said:

It is still running as of this morning 

 

 

Yes, the shutdown was planned for the end of March, but now postponed until the end of April.

[Nikhil]

MQA is actively recruiting on Facebook these days.  Saw this on the TIDAL High Fidelity Music Streaming group.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/tidalmusic/permalink/887531075030390/

 

[The Computer Audiophile]

5 minutes ago, Nikhil said:

MQA is actively recruiting on Facebook these days.  Saw this on the TIDAL High Fidelity Music Streaming group.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/tidalmusic/permalink/887531075030390/

 

Wow. Really trying to jam it down people's throats in a desperate way. Usually technologies that are good or needed don't require this kind of forcefulness. 

 

I remember when TV went from SD to HD. I don't recall anyone needing to proselytize how much everyone needed it at the time. One look and everyone was sold. MQA? One listen and one look at the company's actions and everyone is un-sold. 

[firedog]

It's been years, and the only real source of MQA is Tidal, a tiny insignificant player in the streaming market. It's so small that in most articles about the streaming market it doesn't even get mentioned. And this is with it's celebrity owners - still no mention most of the time. 

If people wanted it and were willing to pay for it, Tidal Hi-fi - Masters would have added millions of subscribers. 

It hasn't. 

[lucretius]

3 hours ago, Nikhil said:

MQA is actively recruiting on Facebook these days.  Saw this on the TIDAL High Fidelity Music Streaming group.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/tidalmusic/permalink/887531075030390/

 

 

Looking at Peter Veth's list of MQA albums on Tital, I see it's only about 2% of the size of Warner Music Group's catalog, If MQA were the next best thing (since sliced bread), shouldn't that number be bigger?

 

 

[The Computer Audiophile]

3 minutes ago, lucretius said:

If MQA were the next best thing (since sliced bread)

As they say, if my aunt was a man he’d be my uncle. That’s a big if that’s just not the case. 

[Nikhil]

 

Well that TIDAL group is "infected" with MQA - one of every four posts is MQA related.  

 

 

 

 

.

[John Dyson]

On 4/5/2020 at 6:48 AM, firedog said:

No sales = no site. I think it is as simple as that.

 

CD and hires quality streaming has surely reduced the amount of album downloads for $10-$30 people are willing to buy. It has for me, and since becoming a Qobuz Sublime+ member, I rarely buy any download other than from Qobuz. I used to be a big HDT customer, but is rarely worth it for me to buy from them anymore. Some of the specialized sites sometimes have prices competitive with the Qobuz discount or an item not at Qobuz, but not often. 

Just IMO -- NOT intending on shilling my project, but if the distributors -- esp HDtracks -- would actually provide much higher quality than otherwise available, not just more bits, then they might really expand their market and create loyalty.   As it is, a slightly (very slightly) clearer version of a 'CD with more bits', with some of the noise/splats/errant signals above 20kHz -- should be filtered out anyway, is not a compelling purchase.

If there is something that actually makes a product SUPERIOR and not just better in a very 'esoteric' way, then they just might make a real place for themselves in the market.

 

John