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Listen For Your Self 2 Albums in HiRez and MQA


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I was not going to spoon feed the lynch mob, but I decided to showcase two albums used

in my comparisons. The main motive is that the official 24 bit downloads are superior in every

way to the MQA versions, plus they are both two superb recent releases

 

Mavis Staples: If All I Was Was Black-24 bit, 96 kHz download from HDTracks:

http://www.hdtracks.com/if-all-i-was-was-black

mavis-if-all-I-was-was-black.jpg

 

Amadou & Mariam: La Confusion-24 bit, 44.1 kHz download from Qoubz

https://www.qobuz.com/fr-fr/album/la-confusion-amadou-mariam/5060525431685

5060525431685_300.jpg

 

Those of you with Tidal accounts, take out your credit cards, and feel free to do your comparisons

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1 hour ago, Brinkman Ship said:

I was not going to spoon feed the lynch mob, but I decided to showcase two albums used

in my comparisons. The main motive is that the official 24 bit downloads are superior in every

way to the MQA versions, plus they are both two superb recent releases

 

Mavis Staples: If All I Was Was Black-24 bit, 96 kHz download from HDTracks:

http://www.hdtracks.com/if-all-i-was-was-black

mavis-if-all-I-was-was-black.jpg

 

Amadou & Mariam: La Confusion-24 bit, 44.1 kHz download from Qoubz

https://www.qobuz.com/fr-fr/album/la-confusion-amadou-mariam/5060525431685

5060525431685_300.jpg

 

Those of you with Tidal accounts, take out your credit cards, and feel free to do your comparisons

Where do I download MQA versions of these again?

David

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Well done, you've come up with... wait for it... 2 albums.

 

1 hour ago, Brinkman Ship said:

The main motive is that the official 24 bit downloads are superior in every

way to the MQA versions...

 

From where did you obtain your MQA version of Amadou & Mariam: La Confusion? It doesn't appear to be on Tidal.

 

Mani.

Main: SOtM sMS-200 -> Okto dac8PRO -> 6x Neurochrome 286 mono amps -> Tune Audio Anima horns + 2x Rotel RB-1590 amps -> 4 subs

Home Office: SOtM sMS-200 -> MOTU UltraLite-mk5 -> 6x Neurochrome 286 mono amps -> Impulse H2 speakers

Vinyl: Technics SP10 / London (Decca) Reference -> Trafomatic Luna -> RME ADI-2 Pro

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1 hour ago, Brinkman Ship said:

I was not going to spoon feed the lynch mob, but I decided to showcase two albums used

in my comparisons. The main motive is that the official 24 bit downloads are superior in every

way to the MQA versions, plus they are both two superb recent releases

 

Mavis Staples: If All I Was Was Black-24 bit, 96 kHz download from HDTracks:

http://www.hdtracks.com/if-all-i-was-was-black

mavis-if-all-I-was-was-black.jpg

 

Amadou & Mariam: La Confusion-24 bit, 44.1 kHz download from Qoubz

https://www.qobuz.com/fr-fr/album/la-confusion-amadou-mariam/5060525431685

5060525431685_300.jpg

 

Those of you with Tidal accounts, take out your credit cards, and feel free to do your comparisons

 

 

Also...

 

For the Mavis Staples album, HDTracks shows a total length of 0:34:38, whereas Tidal shows a total of 0:34:33. It may be a simple mistake on one of their parts... but then again, it may not be.

 

Mani.

Main: SOtM sMS-200 -> Okto dac8PRO -> 6x Neurochrome 286 mono amps -> Tune Audio Anima horns + 2x Rotel RB-1590 amps -> 4 subs

Home Office: SOtM sMS-200 -> MOTU UltraLite-mk5 -> 6x Neurochrome 286 mono amps -> Impulse H2 speakers

Vinyl: Technics SP10 / London (Decca) Reference -> Trafomatic Luna -> RME ADI-2 Pro

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15 minutes ago, manisandher said:

Well done, you've come up with... wait for it... 2 albums.

 

 

From where did you obtain your MQA version of Amadou & Mariam: La Confusion? It doesn't appear to be on Tidal.

 

Mani.

yes, I can't find it either. Strange. I actually bought the download last month, the only MQA download I have purchased.

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2 minutes ago, Brinkman Ship said:

yes, I can't find it either. Strange. I actually bought the download last month, the only MQA download I have purchased.

 

Not so strange.  With Tidal (and streaming in general), albums come and go (and sometime come back again) all the time... 

 

edit:  I found the album, 16/44 - no MQA however, but again not surpising...

Hey MQA, if it is not all $voodoo$, show us the math!

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1 minute ago, crenca said:

 

Not so strange.  With Tidal (and streaming in general), albums come and go (and sometime come back again) all the time... 

 

edit:  I found the album, 16/44 - no MQA however, but again not surpising...

 

It wasn't streamed from TIdal. He said he purchased it, so has it as a download.

 

Mani.

Main: SOtM sMS-200 -> Okto dac8PRO -> 6x Neurochrome 286 mono amps -> Tune Audio Anima horns + 2x Rotel RB-1590 amps -> 4 subs

Home Office: SOtM sMS-200 -> MOTU UltraLite-mk5 -> 6x Neurochrome 286 mono amps -> Impulse H2 speakers

Vinyl: Technics SP10 / London (Decca) Reference -> Trafomatic Luna -> RME ADI-2 Pro

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1 minute ago, Brinkman Ship said:

yes, I can't find it either. Strange. I actually bought the download last month, the only MQA download I have purchased.

 

So you bought the MQA download did you? Shouldn't be difficult to find where you purchased it from.

 

Mani.

Main: SOtM sMS-200 -> Okto dac8PRO -> 6x Neurochrome 286 mono amps -> Tune Audio Anima horns + 2x Rotel RB-1590 amps -> 4 subs

Home Office: SOtM sMS-200 -> MOTU UltraLite-mk5 -> 6x Neurochrome 286 mono amps -> Impulse H2 speakers

Vinyl: Technics SP10 / London (Decca) Reference -> Trafomatic Luna -> RME ADI-2 Pro

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Why wouldn't the full process be revealed for verifying how each of the albums under test were obtained and how it was determined that identical masters were used?  From what I have seen from the analysis provided, it doesn't seem like much of anything would be audibly different between an MQA file and a non-MQA lossless file of the exact same master.   

 

Always the skeptic, this entire listening test seems suspect. 

 

 

 

 

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Just now, Brinkman Ship said:

yes, from e-onkyo. But it is no longer there. There are 2 other A & D titles.

 

Doing a Google on 'MQA Amadou & Mariam: La Confusion' comes up with... nada.

 

It should be trivial for you to prove you have an MQA version of it.

 

Mani.

Main: SOtM sMS-200 -> Okto dac8PRO -> 6x Neurochrome 286 mono amps -> Tune Audio Anima horns + 2x Rotel RB-1590 amps -> 4 subs

Home Office: SOtM sMS-200 -> MOTU UltraLite-mk5 -> 6x Neurochrome 286 mono amps -> Impulse H2 speakers

Vinyl: Technics SP10 / London (Decca) Reference -> Trafomatic Luna -> RME ADI-2 Pro

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4 minutes ago, Brinkman Ship said:

FYI:

 

The following catalogs are available on Tidal as MQA  and as 24 bit masters.  These were all used for comparison.

 

Iron Maiden

Stone Temple Pilots

Calexico

Mavis Staples

 

Here are new MQA releases, of which virtually all are available as 24 bit downloads from HDTracks, Superhirez,

7Digital, Qobuz etc-

 

https://www.onkyomusic.com/US/new-releases

 

 

Haha... nice deflect... NOT.

 

Mani.

 

Main: SOtM sMS-200 -> Okto dac8PRO -> 6x Neurochrome 286 mono amps -> Tune Audio Anima horns + 2x Rotel RB-1590 amps -> 4 subs

Home Office: SOtM sMS-200 -> MOTU UltraLite-mk5 -> 6x Neurochrome 286 mono amps -> Impulse H2 speakers

Vinyl: Technics SP10 / London (Decca) Reference -> Trafomatic Luna -> RME ADI-2 Pro

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4 minutes ago, Brinkman Ship said:

yes, from e-onkyo. But it is no longer there. There are 2 other A & D titles.

 

Not listed on Tidal Masters MQA Album List by LUMIN Music either:

 

Brinkman.thumb.JPG.7f11bd4d631d35432b34a04b15bfad39.JPG

 

Oh dear.

 

Mani.

Main: SOtM sMS-200 -> Okto dac8PRO -> 6x Neurochrome 286 mono amps -> Tune Audio Anima horns + 2x Rotel RB-1590 amps -> 4 subs

Home Office: SOtM sMS-200 -> MOTU UltraLite-mk5 -> 6x Neurochrome 286 mono amps -> Impulse H2 speakers

Vinyl: Technics SP10 / London (Decca) Reference -> Trafomatic Luna -> RME ADI-2 Pro

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1 hour ago, Brinkman Ship said:

The main motive is that the official 24 bit downloads are superior in every way to the MQA versions...

 

 I just want to get this straight. The 24 bit download of Amadou & Mariam: La Confusion is better than the MQA download that you purchased... that doesn't actually exist.

 

Pathetic.

 

Mani.

Main: SOtM sMS-200 -> Okto dac8PRO -> 6x Neurochrome 286 mono amps -> Tune Audio Anima horns + 2x Rotel RB-1590 amps -> 4 subs

Home Office: SOtM sMS-200 -> MOTU UltraLite-mk5 -> 6x Neurochrome 286 mono amps -> Impulse H2 speakers

Vinyl: Technics SP10 / London (Decca) Reference -> Trafomatic Luna -> RME ADI-2 Pro

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6 minutes ago, Sonicularity said:

Why wouldn't the full process be revealed for verifying how each of the albums under test were obtained and how it was determined that identical masters were used?  From what I have seen from the analysis provided, it doesn't seem like much of anything would be audibly different between an MQA file and a non-MQA lossless file of the exact same master.   

 

Always the skeptic, this entire listening test seems suspect. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ALL listening tests involving MQA are suspect because the "authenticated" part of MQA is garbage.  Maniandher used the 2L sources, which are probably the best way to do this, but then admits he has used Tidal as well.

 

I used a handful of albums that I have in >16/44 and the Tidal MQA versions, all of which I am reasonably convinced are the same master but then neither I nor anyone else can prove this with absolute certainty - it is in the end but an educated guess.

 

Note well, this situation benifits MQA and they have of course leveraged it in their own "demos"...

Hey MQA, if it is not all $voodoo$, show us the math!

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1 minute ago, manisandher said:

 

 I just want to get this straight. The 24 bit download of Amadou & Mariam: La Confusion is better than the MQA download that you purchased... that doesn't actually exist.

 

Pathetic.

 

Mani.

 

I thought he said it was up in the past on the onkyo site but has since been removed...

Hey MQA, if it is not all $voodoo$, show us the math!

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I notice, if the LP's don't sell, they are removed. All of the dealers in High Res do this, it seems.

Current:  Daphile on an AMD A10-9500 with 16 GB RAM

DAC - TEAC UD-501 DAC 

Pre-amp - Rotel RC-1590

Amplification - Benchmark AHB2 amplifier

Speakers - Revel M126Be with 2 REL 7/ti subwoofers

Cables - Tara Labs RSC Reference and Blue Jean Cable Balanced Interconnects

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2 minutes ago, crenca said:

 

I thought he said it was up in the past on the onkyo site but has since been removed...

 

11 minutes ago, manisandher said:

Doing a Google on 'MQA Amadou & Mariam: La Confusion' comes up with... nada.

 

I'll assume it has never existed and that @Brinkman Ship is lying that he purchased the MQA download... until proof is shown otherwise.

 

Oh, by the way, I purchased the whole Beatles catalogue in MQA 24/356. But it's been taken down now.

 

This guy's a farce.

 

Mani.

 

 

 

Main: SOtM sMS-200 -> Okto dac8PRO -> 6x Neurochrome 286 mono amps -> Tune Audio Anima horns + 2x Rotel RB-1590 amps -> 4 subs

Home Office: SOtM sMS-200 -> MOTU UltraLite-mk5 -> 6x Neurochrome 286 mono amps -> Impulse H2 speakers

Vinyl: Technics SP10 / London (Decca) Reference -> Trafomatic Luna -> RME ADI-2 Pro

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3 minutes ago, manisandher said:

 

 

I'll assume it has never existed and that @Brinkman Ship is lying that he purchased the MQA download... until proof is shown otherwise.

 

Oh, by the way, I purchased the whole Beatles catalogue in MQA 24/356. But it's been taken down now.

 

This guy's a farce.

 

Mani.

 

 

 

 

 

I say the burden of proof is on you.  I have seen albums come and go on all the download sites, as have others noted even on this little thread.  You appear to be throwing out the baby (of this listening test) with the bath water... ;)

Hey MQA, if it is not all $voodoo$, show us the math!

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