MQA is Vaporware

[lucretius]

15 hours ago, KeenObserver said:

Curious as to what your connection is to Roon, a system that promotes MQA.

 

I thought I made myself perfectly clear earlier.  I have no connection to Roon nor am I receiving any benefits from referrerals. 

 

Roon doesn't promote mQa at all. Apparently, Danny from Roon doesn't even like it.  But Roon does provide a service to subscribers who want mQa/Tidal.  Earlier, I presented to you, the business argument why Roon would entertain mQa/Tidal subscribers. I have no influence over the business decisions made by Roon. Yes, Roon is a business, not an armchair activity.

 

15 hours ago, KeenObserver said:

And you actively promote Roon, offering deals.

I'm curious as to what the thought process is there.

 

Did we not go through this before?  So I reiterate, I am happy for those using the referral link I posted because they will receive an extra 30 days of Roon. Yes, Roon isn't for you.

 

15 hours ago, KeenObserver said:

Roon is keeping Tidal afloat.

 

I disagree. You can stream Tidal various ways without Roon.  Also, in Canada for example, we do not have access to Qobuz, so for streaming we fall back on Tidal.

[Samuel T Cogley]

Having a Roon referral URL in your signature on a "crass scale of 1-10" is about an 8.

[ChrisG]

On 8/2/2021 at 1:37 PM, Kal Rubinson said:

What if you use Roon to play an MQA-encrusted file from your own library? 

Looking back at a response from their COO, it looks like if you use Roon and do the core decode, Roon pays. If you don't, no payment https://community.roonlabs.com/t/why-do-manufacturers-support-mqa/155965/294?u=7ryder

[ChrisG]

22 hours ago, The Computer Audiophile said:

So you're sayin' your DACs are vaccinated :~)

My Linn Organik KDSM is fully vaccinated!

[lucretius]

2 hours ago, Samuel T Cogley said:

Having a Roon referral URL in your signature on a "crass scale of 1-10" is about an 8.

 

The URL has been removed.  Tough crowd!

[Stereo]

7 hours ago, ChrisG said:

My Linn Organik KDSM is fully vaccinated!

Good on Linn to openly stand against MQA from the beginning too!!!

[UkPhil]

Looking at the latest exported Tidal data there are approx 3500 MQA items that are only 16/44.1 released in the last week that have Sony / Columbia as it’s copyright 

[lucretius]

4 hours ago, UkPhil said:

Looking at the latest exported Tidal data there are approx 3500 MQA items that are only 16/44.1 released in the last week that have Sony / Columbia as it’s copyright 

 

@KeenObserverwill need to start boycotting all the major labels, various audiophile music players (including Audirvana and Amarra), many makers of DACs, streamers, amps with DACs, CD players with an MQA decoder, etc., and Qobuz (which hosts some MQA-CD), as well as, various audiophile websites (I dare not mention any names) that have any promotional links to any of the aforementioned.  😀

[KeenObserver]

10 hours ago, Stereo said:

Good on Linn to openly stand against MQA from the beginning too!!!

 

There were people right from the beginning that saw MQA for what it was and refused to "go along". Good on them!

[KeenObserver]

The bottom line to me is this:

 

What is the sense of buying high end equipment if you are going to be playing MQA on it?

[Samuel T Cogley]

1 hour ago, lucretius said:

 

@KeenObserverwill need to start boycotting all the major labels, various audiophile music players (including Audirvana and Amarra), many makers of DACs, streamers, amps with DACs, CD players with an MQA decoder, etc., and Qobuz (which hosts some MQA-CD), as well as, various audiophile websites (I dare not mention any names) that have any promotional links to any of the aforementioned.  😀

 

“First they ignore you. Then they ridicule you. And then they attack you and want to burn you. And then they build monuments to you,” - Nicholas Klein 1918

 

I'd say we're somewhere between #2 and #3.  The resistance to mQa is a long slog.  The only benefit of mQa is to Bob Stuart's net worth.  This mocking won't age well, I predict.

 

[lucretius]

30 minutes ago, KeenObserver said:

The bottom line to me is this:

 

What is the sense of buying high end equipment if you are going to be playing MQA on it?

 

I agree, if mQa is all or mainly what you'd be playing, no sense in buying high-end equipment.

[KeenObserver]

1 hour ago, lucretius said:

 

@KeenObserverwill need to start boycotting all the major labels, various audiophile music players (including Audirvana and Amarra), many makers of DACs, streamers, amps with DACs, CD players with an MQA decoder, etc., and Qobuz (which hosts some MQA-CD), as well as, various audiophile websites (I dare not mention any names) that have any promotional links to any of the aforementioned.  😀

 

I am sorry if I gored your ox, but with Roon's past history with Soolos and Meridian, Roon is an active promoter of MQA. They may say that they are only supporting MQA because their clients ask for it, but they have been intertwined with MQA since day one. They are talking out of both sides of their mouth.

Without Warner, Tidal, and Roon, MQA would have virtually nothing.

If Sony is now dumping this MQA crap on the market. then I would advocate boycotting Sony.

I have been boycotting Sony since the rootkit fiasco.

[lucretius]

45 minutes ago, KeenObserver said:

Roon is an active promoter of MQA.

 

Other than attracting mQa/Tidal folks by providing the facility to stream Tidal and decode mQa (just like Audirvana and Amarra), how is Roon actively promoting mQa?  Many of the Roon staff previously worked for Meridian* but Roon no longer has ties with Meridian, other than to make Roon available (i.e. to help Meridian make their equipment Roon ready -- which they will do for any manufacturer that is willing to work with them).  If Roon were to disappear, this would have only a negligible affect on Tidal or mQa.

 

*Are you going to hold Meridian employees personally responsible (even when they've changed employers)?

 

Quote

If Sony is now dumping this MQA crap on the market. then I would advocate boycotting Sony.

 

Why isn't Sony included in your signature?

[KeenObserver]

You OK?

[KeenObserver]

Go online and read reviews of Roon.  All the ones I read emphasize the fact that Roon supports MQA.

Roon provides more than negligible support for MQA.

 

We are all free to do what we want. Do as you wish.

 

As for me, I will avoid Tidal and Roon like the plague as long as they support MQA.

[lucretius]

12 minutes ago, KeenObserver said:

Go online and read reviews of Roon.  All the ones I read emphasize the fact that Roon supports MQA.

Roon provides more than negligible support for MQA.

 

We are all free to do what we want. Do as you wish.

 

Roon "supports" mQa/Tidal in exactly the same way Audirvana and Amarra does, as mentioned earlier.  In the Roon forum you will find some mQa evangelists that are active posters -- they have no connection to Roon other than being customers.

 

15 minutes ago, KeenObserver said:

As for me, I will avoid Tidal and Roon like the plague as long as they support MQA.

 

Similarly, you should also avoid Qobuz, Audirvana, and Amarra. And for consistency, that should be noted in your signature. 

 

 

[KeenObserver]

Riddle me this:

 

Without MQA and Tidal would Roon exist?

 

Without Tidal and Roon would MQA still exist?

 

Now this is becoming tiresome. I'm moving on.

[lucretius]

6 minutes ago, KeenObserver said:

Riddle me this:

 

Without MQA and Tidal would Roon exist?

 

I don't know.  Roon does get their fair share of mQa/Tidal customers.

 

 

7 minutes ago, KeenObserver said:

Without Tidal and Roon would MQA still exist?

 

You can make a reasonable argument that without Tidal, mQa would not exist.  Roon is irrelevant.

 

 

[Samuel T Cogley]

The OP has made this point many times: consumer audio at sample rates and bit depths above 44kHz/16 bits is a hard sell to consumers.

 

The fact that mQa is now infecting CD quality audio (and oddly, driving down the effective resolution to below that of CD), to me proves that mQa is about consumer chain domination and not about sound quality.

 

I'm still a little surprised that Spencer Chrislu's "crown jewels" sales pitch now extends all the way down to CD quality audio.  Funny how mQa never discusses why we need lower resolution CDs or lower resolution 44/16 files.

 

The mQa emperor truly wears no clothes.  Why would anyone want mQa to exist?

[KeenObserver]

I was having a discussion with an old "audiophile" friend of mine.  We were talking about the days when salesmen in hi-fi shops would have to push certain products. They would start by telling the customer how they have heard every product (appeal to authority) and the specific product was the best they've heard. They would quote a TAS or Stereophile review (have there ever been a bad review?). They would rave about the product (expectational bias). They would demo the product (with the volume on the target product slightly higher). While you were listening the salesman would be saying: " doesn't that sound better".

Compare that to the demonstrations MQA put on.

First off, they were tightly controlled by MQA. Bob Stuart would talk about what a new paradigm it was. He would display a chart that showed a line pointing upwards for MQA quality and arching downwards for non MQA quality. They would demonstate music that they supplied. ( people that have tested them say MQA music is slightly louder).

When I first heard various snippets about MQA I thought: "Great, someones taking the time to put out authenticated music".

Then I saw the demos and read the fluff that MQA was putting out. My BS meter was immediately pegged. It's been pegged ever since.

[KeenObserver]

MQA Ltd has been bleeding money since its inception. I am not familiar with UK financial reporting, but I believe someone is holding a note for a substantial amount. When people were questioning BS's integrity for promoting this scheme, I pictured people running around having a panic attack. I pictured them saying" Let's get the Royal Society of Engineers to give BS an award".

That's just my imagination though.😏

[Rt66indierock]

4 hours ago, Samuel T Cogley said:

The OP has made this point many times: consumer audio at sample rates and bit depths above 44kHz/16 bits is a hard sell to consumers.

 

The fact that mQa is now infecting CD quality audio (and oddly, driving down the effective resolution to below that of CD), to me proves that mQa is about consumer chain domination and not about sound quality.

 

I'm still a little surprised that Spencer Chrislu's "crown jewels" sales pitch now extends all the way down to CD quality audio.  Funny how mQa never discusses why we need lower resolution CDs or lower resolution 44/16 files.

 

The mQa emperor truly wears no clothes.  Why would anyone want mQa to exist?

 

The OP is now seeing lossless streaming to be a hard sell. It looks like you can keep 99% of people happy with 256k AAC or 320k Mp3 streaming.

 

The labels have been dumping some MQA files lately. I think most were converted prior to 2019 but not given to Tidal because of back royalties due. Square Inc bought Tidal for Hip Hop and access to artists with a good pitch we can help you sell stuff and pay you faster.

 

There doesn’t seem to a market for the “crown jewels” sorry Spenser Chrislu.

 

MQA should be liquidated and put this attempt to license the music chain from artist to consumer to bed. But the wrong side of the audio bell curve men like Ted Green, Bill Leebens, Jim Austin and Lee Scoggins are trying to keep a discussion about MQA alive.

[KeenObserver]

1 hour ago, Rt66indierock said:

 

The OP is now seeing lossless streaming to be a hard sell. It looks like you can keep 99% of people happy with 256k AAC or 320k Mp3 streaming.

 

The labels have been dumping some MQA files lately. I think most were converted prior to 2019 but not given to Tidal because of back royalties due. Square Inc bought Tidal for Hip Hop and access to artists with a good pitch we can help you sell stuff and pay you faster.

 

There doesn’t seem to a market for the “crown jewels” sorry Spenser Chrislu.

 

MQA should be liquidated and put this attempt to license the music chain from artist to consumer to bed. But the wrong side of the audio bell curve men like Ted Green, Bill Leebens, Jim Austin and Lee Scoggins are trying to keep a discussion about MQA alive.

 

There were people that bought into selling this scheme 100%.

If it goes down the tubes, they will be exposed for being the dupes and shills that they are.

 

MQA is absolutely no good for the music consumer. They are simply being screwed.

[KeenObserver]

1 hour ago, Rt66indierock said:

 

The OP is now seeing lossless streaming to be a hard sell. It looks like you can keep 99% of people happy with 256k AAC or 320k Mp3 streaming.

 

The labels have been dumping some MQA files lately. I think most were converted prior to 2019 but not given to Tidal because of back royalties due. Square Inc bought Tidal for Hip Hop and access to artists with a good pitch we can help you sell stuff and pay you faster.

 

There doesn’t seem to a market for the “crown jewels” sorry Spenser Chrislu.

 

MQA should be liquidated and put this attempt to license the music chain from artist to consumer to bed. But the wrong side of the audio bell curve men like Ted Green, Bill Leebens, Jim Austin and Lee Scoggins are trying to keep a discussion about MQA alive.

 

My personal opinion is that there may be more than 1% that cares about hi-rez music. Maybe not much more, but they would be the ones that got royally screwed if the only available music that was available was this MQA crap.