MQA is Vaporware

[KeenObserver]

The problem I have with people listening to MQA is that MQA themselves put on a  number of demonstrations where they completely controlled all aspects of the demonstration and did not allow examination of the sources.

In other cases comparisons were made where the provenance of the recordings could not be authenticated. It would have been more authentic if an independent mastering engineer had processed both versions from exactly the same master.

In some cases comparisons are made after the listeners are told which is which.

There are people who say that they prefer MQA. I do not believe that they are a preponderance of of music consumers. In blind tests it shows that people do not pick MQA.

For the minority of people that say they prefer MQA, is it worth the cost of implementing MQA and the loss of choice to the music consumer?  Is it worth all the BS that goes along with MQA?  We absolutely do not need MQA in order to get the best music!  MQA is simply a scheme to take money from the music consumer and restrict the availability of music to the music consumer. The studios want to tell you what music you will have access to and how often you will pay them for the next "remake".

[Rt66indierock]

1 hour ago, Ishmael Slapowitz said:

Posted by Twitless Machines-

 

https://twitteringmachines.com/mqa-that-sounds-good-to-me/

 

"t’s OK to enjoy MQA. You can even say, “MQA sounds good!” without adding “to me” because when we say things like “sounds good” or “tastes good”, we are necessarily voicing an opinion. And we all know no one owns the right opinion."

 

In this context MQA is bad for artists, bad for the recording process, bad for consumers and doesn't sound better. In any case on February 6th MQA will only be available on two small platforms, Tidal and Nug.net. Tidal kept afloat in 2019 by not paying its bills. And where can you download MQA files in the United States these days?

[Archimago]

11 hours ago, Ishmael Slapowitz said:

Posted by Twitless Machines-

 

https://twitteringmachines.com/mqa-that-sounds-good-to-me/

 

"t’s OK to enjoy MQA. You can even say, “MQA sounds good!” without adding “to me” because when we say things like “sounds good” or “tastes good”, we are necessarily voicing an opinion. And we all know no one owns the right opinion."

 

The way I see it, it's certainly OK to "enjoy the music" regardless of the container. It's rather silly to say "I enjoy MQA" as if this container actually added anything to the enjoyment of music. One could just as well enjoy the music with high bitrate MP3 or AAC or Ogg Vorbis (eg. Spotify)! Heck, in my blind test years ago, some people even preferred MP3-encoded music even though I trust no audiophile would advocate that MP3 is better than lossless because that would be factually incorrect fidelity-wise. So too MQA cannot be considered higher fidelity than the original hi-res PCM based on facts.

 

The point for Lavorgna is not that one cannot enjoy music as MQA, but that MQA holds no real value (except for those who make money off licensing, as suggested by @Rt66indierock). And if one were to compare directly between MQA and the original hi-res, one could potentially appreciate the superiority of the standard FLAC PCM without the unnecessary processing and diminished resolution of the MQA version.

[asdf1000]

10 hours ago, Rt66indierock said:

In any case on February 6th MQA will only be available on two small platforms, Tidal and Nug.net.

 

What's so special about the date Feb 6th?

 

What happens that date?

 

 

10 hours ago, Rt66indierock said:

Tidal kept afloat in 2019 by not paying its bills

 

And 2020?

 

MQA aside they are still spending on development - the Tidal app continues to get lots of great improvements. And Tidal Connect is a great new feature coming to more gear.

 

 

 

[GUTB]

Just a note. I listened to the Schiit live Q&A session today and heard that the new Schiit CD transport is going to have a USB output capable of connecting to USB DACs. That's big, it's the only transport capable AFAIK that can do this, and there's no digital interface that I know of that offers SPDIF-to-USB functionality. That means MQA-CD is opened up to a much larger pool of MQA DACs.

[Archimago]

10 hours ago, KeenObserver said:

The problem I have with people listening to MQA is that MQA themselves put on a  number of demonstrations where they completely controlled all aspects of the demonstration and did not allow examination of the sources.

In other cases comparisons were made where the provenance of the recordings could not be authenticated. It would have been more authentic if an independent mastering engineer had processed both versions from exactly the same master.

...

 

Absolutely. This was one of the early clues that there was something very wrong with MQA and its strongly hyped claims. The fact that they did not openly share, or even attempt some kind of A/B comparison at the audio shows using what should be their "reference" gear suggests that there was something they needed to hide.

 

At the 2016 Vancouver Audio Show, @mitchco and I specifically went early and grabbed some prime seats at the MQA demo to be treated to that kind of demo. Questions were specifically asked to perform even an open A/B comparison between RedBook and this so-called "hi-res" MQA audio. They simply would not do it. IMO, this is clearly no way to introduce new technology that's supposed to be better and worthy of consumer attention!

[UkPhil]

7 minutes ago, Archimago said:

 

Absolutely. This was one of the early clues that there was something very wrong with MQA and its strongly hyped claims. The fact that they did not openly share, or even attempt some kind of A/B comparison at the audio shows using what should be their "reference" gear suggests that there was something they needed to hide.

 

At the 2016 Vancouver Audio Show, @mitchco and I specifically went early and grabbed some prime seats at the MQA demo to be treated to that kind of demo. Questions were specifically asked to perform even an open A/B comparison between RedBook and this so-called "hi-res" MQA audio. They simply would not do it. IMO, this is clearly no way to introduce new technology that's supposed to be better and worthy of consumer attention!

The same goes for erasing the 16bit PCM versions off Tidal and leaving the MQA equivalents only nobody could compare them 

[Archimago]

28 minutes ago, UkPhil said:

The same goes for erasing the 16bit PCM versions off Tidal and leaving the MQA equivalents only nobody could compare them 

 

I don't want to be paranoid or make up conspiracy theories... But sometimes when this kind of thing happens, it's hard not to!

👽😈

[Archimago]

35 minutes ago, GUTB said:

Just a note. I listened to the Schiit live Q&A session today and heard that the new Schiit CD transport is going to have a USB output capable of connecting to USB DACs. That's big, it's the only transport capable AFAIK that can do this, and there's no digital interface that I know of that offers SPDIF-to-USB functionality. That means MQA-CD is opened up to a much larger pool of MQA DACs.

 

That's nice that a CD transport can do this... Billions of CDs out there to play!

 

But these days, it's not like CDs are hot items. I don't know what cost-benefit equation would compel the record label to purposely mass encode MQA into standard 16/44.1 for the sake of the few consumers who might have this CD transport or MQA-capable CD player.

 

Seriously guys, MQA-CD has to take the cake for being the most ridiculous thing they could do with MQA. What a waste of a perfectly good data bit which could be used for real audio instead of MQA control/"authentication" content!

 

Reminder: 

"MQA-CD x UHQCD" Listening Test by Agitater.

[The Computer Audiophile]

3 hours ago, Archimago said:

 

That's nice that a CD transport can do this... Billions of CDs out there to play!

 

But these days, it's not like CDs are hot items. I don't know what cost-benefit equation would compel the record label to purposely mass encode MQA into standard 16/44.1 for the sake of the few consumers who might have this CD transport or MQA-capable CD player.

 

Seriously guys, MQA-CD has to take the cake for being the most ridiculous thing they could do with MQA. What a waste of a perfectly good data bit which could be used for real audio instead of MQA control/"authentication" content!

 

Reminder: 

"MQA-CD x UHQCD" Listening Test by Agitater.

One never knows, the letter carrier could be changing bits on those CDs during delivery. Only a blue light will enable the consumer to know the music was hand delivered authentically. 

[Thuaveta]

On 1/12/2021 at 12:24 AM, The Computer Audiophile said:

This is truly amazing. As of December 4, 2020, MQA is still using the lossless term and at the same time suggesting its better than lossless. Wow, can we get just a tiny bit of honesty from this company. 

 

https://mqa.jp/article/is-mqa-lossless/

 

 

 

Waitwaitwait... "the unified standards team that first developed lossless compression 30 years ago" ?!?!?!

 

Anybody mind elaborating on that please ?

 

(and yeah, MLP, I get it, but, still... if there's no nuance stripped in translation, a bit of a bold claim, no ?)

[KeenObserver]

9 hours ago, GUTB said:

Just a note. I listened to the Schiit live Q&A session today and heard that the new Schiit CD transport is going to have a USB output capable of connecting to USB DACs. That's big, it's the only transport capable AFAIK that can do this, and there's no digital interface that I know of that offers SPDIF-to-USB functionality. That means MQA-CD is opened up to a much larger pool of MQA DACs.

 

That is truly a monumental event in world history! That is truly a paradigm shift of unspeakable magnitude!

 

The world now has access to 13 bit CD's!

[Rt66indierock]

9 hours ago, asdf1000 said:

 

What's so special about the date Feb 6th?

 

What happens that date?

 

 

 

And 2020?

 

MQA aside they are still spending on development - the Tidal app continues to get lots of great improvements. And Tidal Connect is a great new feature coming to more gear.

 

 

 

 

Xiami Music is closing down February 5th so no Chinese steaming service using MQA.

 

I try to stick to facts anyone can see for themselves so I posted information from the recently published 2019 financial statements.  2020 may see Tidal closing in on financial neverland where trade and other payables exceed revenue.

 

Xiami Music had  a nice app too and it didn't help them.

[KeenObserver]

It is indeed incredible.  We have been refining our playback equipment to infinitely more minute precision. We argue about levels of precision that can only be measured with the most precise scientific instruments. We even argue endlessly about minute matters that cannot be measured.

And, we have been listening to ever more precise and expanded digital music for decades.

Now the majors are saying that was a mistake.  We cannot let you have access to that music.  We know we made billions by selling you "perfect sound forever". But now we need to deny you access to "perfect sound forever".  We need to limit your access to music to MQA.

MQA is trying to institute a Dolby like system for music. Thirty years after the fact.

The genie is out of the bottle.  The horse has left the barn.

After all the refinements to equipment and having access to true Hi-Rez music, the audiophile is not going to accept a crippled music system that they have to pay to implement.

[Kal Rubinson]

7 minutes ago, KeenObserver said:

Now the majors are saying that was a mistake.  We cannot let you have access to that music.  We know we made billions by selling you "perfect sound forever". But now we need to deny you access to "perfect sound forever".  We need to limit your access to music to MQA.

"Perfect sound for now."  🙉

[KeenObserver]

And, I think the worst part is looking at that video of RMAF 2018 and thinking that these are the people that want to control the future distribution of music.

[KeenObserver]

Video files are absolutely huge. Compression was, is, and will be for some time, a critical matter with digital video.

 

Compression was a critical matter with audio.  It is becoming almost totally irrelevant. There are open compression methods that are totally lossless if compression is a concern.

 

Instituting a Dolby like system for music thirty years after the fact has nothing to do with compression.  It has to do with DRM and controlling the distribution of music.  And generating wealth.  At the expense of the music consumer.

[Rt66indierock]

9 hours ago, Archimago said:

 

I don't want to be paranoid or make up conspiracy theories... But sometimes when this kind of thing happens, it's hard not to!

👽😈

 

Let us avoid paranoia and conspiracy theories and go with this. Mike Jbara CEO MQA Ltd., and I talked, emailed, and had a phone conversion after 2018 RMAF that began after Chris’s MQA presentation. Our October 16^, 2018 emails discuss that there is more content prepped than are on the streaming services today.

 

For Tidal adding more MQA content from Warner may have a simpler explanation. Give Tidal something to market to help keep them alive or make Tidal look more attractive to a potential buyer like Jack Dorsey.

 

Because at some point the labels would like to be paid and they are not currently.

[KeenObserver]

Project Panther Bidco financials for 2019 that were just posted, do not look good.  It seems like now is the make or break time for Tidal.

Was the introduction of the new Warner MQA titles a boost or a bust for Tidal?

Dorsey may be buying Tidal at a firesale price.

The results of the infusion of MQA titles to Tidal will have ramifications for MQA Ltd.

[The Computer Audiophile]

1 hour ago, KeenObserver said:

And, I think the worst part is looking at that video of RMAF 2018 and thinking that these are the people that want to control the future distribution of music.

I wouldn’t want them washing my car. I can see it now, “that scratch was there before you came in” “you never said don’t use sandpaper” etc...

[KeenObserver]

Just now, The Computer Audiophile said:

I wouldn’t want them washing my car. I can see it now, “that scratch was there before you came in” “you never said don’t use sandpaper” etc...

 

Yes, but you would have a nice deblurred finish!  Just like the original manufacturer intended.

[GUTB]

2 hours ago, KeenObserver said:

 

That is truly a monumental event in world history! That is truly a paradigm shift of unspeakable magnitude!

 

The world now has access to 13 bit CD's!

High resolution CDs.

[Thuaveta]

18 minutes ago, The Computer Audiophile said:

I wouldn’t want them washing my car.

 

Nice car you have there, Chris. It's a pity you scratched it. You wouldn't want that to happen again, now would you ?

[MikeyFresh]

23 minutes ago, The Computer Audiophile said:

I wouldn’t want them washing my car. I can see it now, “that scratch was there before you came in” “you never said don’t use sandpaper” etc...

"You can barely see that scratch, it is perceptually lossless".

[KeenObserver]

You guys having coffee too?