Tidal launches MQA streamimg.

[russellbobby]

TIDAL Launches New ‘Master’ Audio Feature

 

 

New York/London/Las Vegas, 5 January 2017: Global music and entertainment platform, TIDAL, today has announced the availability of ‘Master’ quality recordings. A wide variety of content from labels and artists, including Warner Music Group’s world-renowned music catalogue, is now available in Master audio across all of TIDAL’s available markets worldwide.

 

TIDAL has integrated MQA, the award-winning technology that enables this innovation, and has offered it to all TIDAL HiFi tier subscribers under a new ‘Master’ listing. Initially available on desktop, a wide range of recordings are already available and the collection will grow rapidly.

 

“TIDAL is committed to bringing members closer to their favorite musicians and offering MQA sound quality will allow subscribers to hear music just as it was recorded in the studio,” said a TIDAL representative. “We’re thrilled to bring master quality sound to our members.”

 

Mike Jbara, MQA CEO, said, “TIDAL is an artist-centric music company. We could not be more excited that they share our vision of having fans hear the authentic performance of their favorite music.”

 

Visit TIDAL.com/Masters to learn more, non-members can sign up for a complimentary 60-day trial.

 

-Ends

[savjam]

Will Roon support this? Do you need "MQA" ready hardware to play this format?

[witchdoctor]

MQA is Da Bomb! I just listened to Empire State of Mind in MQA through the Tidal desktop app (software decoding) and the initial bass lines that open the song damn near reached out of my desktop speakers and slapped me!

[arcman]

Apple needs to get out of their audio bubble. AirPlay is limited to 16/44. Apple TV limited to 16/48. iOS devices are 16/44 max.

 

I get that most consumers don't care about hi Rez. However

 

1. Just bury deep in the menu of Appletv an option for digital pass thru. Even if it's some funky , hidden key command.

 

2. Same options for airplay and iOS. Even make it Wi Fi only for higher streams.

 

Hi Rez is hitting the mid level consumer products now, and Apple is stuck in 2005 in terms of audio

[savjam]

Will Roon support this? Do you need "MQA" ready hardware to play this format?

Just tried playing an MQA file from Tidal through Roon. Resolution is limited to 44.1 kHz/24 bit.

[jhwalker]

Just tried playing an MQA file from Tidal through Roon. Resolution is limited to 44.1 kHz/24 bit.

 

That's because Roon has no built-in software decoding as of yet - so any DAC not itself MQA-enabled will only see the content which is not folded / compressed.

 

On the other hand, users who have MQA-enabled DACs are reporting playback at 96/24 and up to 192/24 with Tidal tracks streamed through Roon - so the stream is being passed unaltered.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Computer Audiophile

[GrahamJohnMiles]

Just an FYI my Explorer2 is showing the blue MQA light streaming from my Auralic Aries Mini. Aries Shows 24/44.1 output. I wonder if it is converted to 24/96 once it reaches the dac.