Jump to content
IGNORED

MQA is Vaporware


Recommended Posts

39 minutes ago, daverich4 said:

This is old and might even have been posted in this thread in the past but it’s still relevant...

 

https://www.linn.co.uk/blog/mqa-is-bad-for-music

 

 

It was posted here previously, but it bears repeating as it's just as true and relevant today as it ever was. Though the MQA performance claims are dubious/specious at best, this blog post illustrates the crux of the matter.

no-mqa-sm.jpg

Boycott HDtracks

Boycott Lenbrook

Boycott Warner Music Group

Link to comment
1 hour ago, lucretius said:

 

Sadly, this cheapens the prize for previous and future recipients.

In the past, other awards have been cheapened for doing NOTHING, and the self-congratulation prices in various industries (movie, publishing) have also been totally devalued.

When I worked in industry, I saw a lot of true innovation, and people seldom get acknowledgement.  Well, once in a while people would get a $200-$1k prize from a company for a truly innovative patent, but even stupid patents get the same prize.  (I am a party to some really dumb patents, but was pushed into getting them by office politics.  They meant so little to me, I don't even remember how many actually got past scrutiny -- because they were TOTALLY bogus.  If I was an employee instead of long term contractor, I would have gotten a 'prize' also.)

There is just too much public acknowledgement for being mediocre, but true innovation is so often ignored because of political or PR reasons.

Public prizes:  mostly, bah Humbug.   A few acknowledgements ARE clean/accurate/worthy, but devalued.

 

John

 

Link to comment
41 minutes ago, FredericV said:

MQA will fail at the signals indicated with red, it cannot fully reproduce them:


 

mqa_lossy_signals.png

You are of course absolutely correct, however many qualified people refuse to accept that they even matter due to current widely accepted  knowledge about the limits of human hearing. 😟

 

 

How a Digital Audio file sounds, or a Digital Video file looks, is governed to a large extent by the Power Supply area. All that Identical Checksums gives is the possibility of REGENERATING the file to close to that of the original file.

PROFILE UPDATED 13-11-2020

Link to comment
45 minutes ago, UkPhil said:

Do you think hardware manufacturers are proactively looking at adding MQA into their new product or is the audiophile consumer asking for it still so putting pressure on them to include it anyway, It's now 2020 and we still see reputable manufacture's integrating MQA into their new products, as seen in KEFs refresh of the LS50 speaker ?

https://www.whathifi.com/reviews/kef-ls50-wireless-ii

 

The KEF speakers likely use a module from StreamUnlimited that offers MQA support in addition to DLNA, Roon Ready, AirPlay, Chromecast, etc... It’s just a checkbox KEF selected and didn’t need to develop anything itself. 

Founder of Audiophile Style | My Audio Systems AudiophileStyleStickerWhite2.0.png AudiophileStyleStickerWhite7.1.4.png

Link to comment
On 9/23/2020 at 12:00 PM, The Computer Audiophile said:

The KEF speakers likely use a module from StreamUnlimited that offers MQA support in addition to DLNA, Roon Ready, AirPlay, Chromecast, etc... It’s just a checkbox KEF selected and didn’t need to develop anything itself. 


They were not far from our room at Munich 2017. Consumers were not allowed to enter their booth. Usually with these OEM's you pay for every checkbox. I had the chance to ask some in depth questions, and they are more oriented to features than research sound quality (e.g. custom kernels and linux OS tuning for software defined sound quality, is not what they offer).

Designer of the 432 EVO music server and Linux specialist

Discoverer of the independent open source sox based mqa playback method with optional one cycle postringing.

Link to comment
  • 1 month later...
Just now, KeenObserver said:

I have noticed that some people are reporting that " Hi Rez" masters being supplied to streamers and downloading services by some of the studios are MQA mastered.  They are supposedly being distributed without informing the consumer.  Can anyone confirm this?

This has been the case with 2L. I haven't seen anything new, but can test if anyone has an idea which albums to test.

Founder of Audiophile Style | My Audio Systems AudiophileStyleStickerWhite2.0.png AudiophileStyleStickerWhite7.1.4.png

Link to comment

I'm in the middle of a major changeover.  I don't stream and haven't downloaded in a while.  I imagine if such is the case, then it is probably the most recent additions to the services catalogues.  I'll see if I can track down anything.

 

Seems like a backdoor way of initiating DRM and taking control of the mastering business.  Has the smell of the Sony rootkit fiasco.

Boycott Warner

Boycott Tidal

Boycott Roon

Boycott Lenbrook

Link to comment
45 minutes ago, KeenObserver said:

I'm in the middle of a major changeover.  I don't stream and haven't downloaded in a while.  I imagine if such is the case, then it is probably the most recent additions to the services catalogues.  I'll see if I can track down anything.

 

Seems like a backdoor way of initiating DRM and taking control of the mastering business.  Has the smell of the Sony rootkit fiasco.

I know this is a glass half empty view, but this could get bad if the labels seed the services with MQA material and hardware manufacturers no longer implement it. Leave everyone with a half baked listening experience. 

Founder of Audiophile Style | My Audio Systems AudiophileStyleStickerWhite2.0.png AudiophileStyleStickerWhite7.1.4.png

Link to comment

Looking at past history of the labels, I wouldn't put it past them to try and slip this in.  It slips in DRM and gives them a chance down the road to sell their library over again.  They'll claim their MQA versions are a corrupted, lossy version.

 

I've made inquiries as to whether the labels are supplying MQA masters and the end consumer is unaware.

Boycott Warner

Boycott Tidal

Boycott Roon

Boycott Lenbrook

Link to comment
3 minutes ago, KeenObserver said:

Looking at past history of the labels, I wouldn't put it past them to try and slip this in.  It slips in DRM and gives them a chance down the road to sell their library over again.  They'll claim their MQA versions are a corrupted, lossy version.

 

I've made inquiries as to whether the labels are supplying MQA masters and the end consumer is unaware.

 

Also people should keep in mind that MQA was sold to the labels as a single deliverable for all outlets. One MQA file delivered to all the streaming services etc... In addition, labels would rather streamline things and provide an MQA file everywhere rather than  44.1, 96, 192 files to Qobuz and MQA to Tidal etc...

 

People take the path of least resistance. 

Founder of Audiophile Style | My Audio Systems AudiophileStyleStickerWhite2.0.png AudiophileStyleStickerWhite7.1.4.png

Link to comment

People could be unaware that they are playing a corrupted music file.

 

The labels are not going to archive their libraries in MQA, so they are still going to have "Hi Rez" archives.  The way the labels see it: if they sell an uncorrupted version now, they won't be able to sell an "uncorrupted" version in the future.  Or at least won't be able to dangle that carrot in front of the music consumer.

Boycott Warner

Boycott Tidal

Boycott Roon

Boycott Lenbrook

Link to comment

This whole MQA thing is tiresome.  But it is something that we need to be aware of.  Otherwise, we will all be paying for it down the road.

When the financials come out next month perhaps we will get a better idea if the underwriters are continuing to fund this scheme.  If they are still underwriting it after the losses they have incurred,  they must expect to make substantial profits in the future and take absolute control of the music business.  All at the expense of the music consumer.

Boycott Warner

Boycott Tidal

Boycott Roon

Boycott Lenbrook

Link to comment

is it me, or does an MQA version of a piece just sound the same as the original piece but maybe with a "loudness" button pushed, or a V shaped EQ?

 

I was listening to a recording of Steely Dans "Hey Nineteen"  in both 44.1/16 and MQA ... and the MQA just sounded like the loudness button was activated. 

Link to comment

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now



×
×
  • Create New...