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Worth checking out, I believe. http://www.hdtracks.com/critics-album-picks/stereophile?utm_source=iContact&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=!HDtracks%20Newsletters&utm_content= Use promocode HD20STEREO The offer expires 01/26/2017 11:59PM (EST)!

Based on the irrational comments in the "MQA Conceptualized" post, I have no choice to consider the staff at Stereophile snake oil salesmen. Many here have worked under the delusion that they would start to temper their support once all the widely available data was examined. Keep dreaming. These excerpts show they have doubled down: JIm Austin: "MQA is currently in "bootstrap" or "startup" mode. (It may graduate from that or just disappear. Only time will tell.) As a result, processes are still being worked out. But what you describe--your desire to sign off on the MQA version--is completely consistent with MQA's creators' vision; this is what the blue light (as opposed to the green light) is intended to mean" "As for MQA, a current problem is that, away from the mastering studio, artists commonly lack access to an MQA-capable DAC (and, very likely, a system capable of resolving those differences)." "You said you'd never heard MQA. When you do--when you compare MQA and non-MQA versions of your work--I think you will be surprised how similar they sound. I have never heard a piece I thought MQA made worse, but in general the change is quite subtle, IMO. (YMMV.)" Jason Victor Serinus: (Try not to laugh) "If MQA didn't audibly improve sound quality to our ears, our coverage would be minimal." "MQA's argument is that you and recording engineers are currently hostage to DAC timing errors. If MQA can truly correct those errors, does that make you a double hostage, or are you actually freer to move closer to the source?" "How would you feel if I reviewed your recording without listening to it? I ask because you have just made absolute pronouncements about something you have never heard and, admittedly, have not taken the time to read about or understand." If your answer is affirmative, you have just read what a lot of us, including a host of major sound and mastering engineers and recording label executives, have been saying. That doesn't mean that, once you listen, you have to agree. But Lord almighty, don't you hope people will come to your music with an open mind? Why not extend the same courtesy and curiosity to MQA?" Sickening . And when you are sick, the last thing you need is SNAKE OIL. https://www.stereophile.com/content/mqa-contextualized https://www.stereophile.com/content/mqa-contextualized

Hi, May be of interest - UK and US Hifi magazines now owned by a single entity. https://www.stereophile.com/content/avtech-media-ltd-uk-acquires-home-tech-network-ten-publishing-media Regards, Shadders.

The Entertainment Network (TEN) which owns Stereophile and other brands Sound & Vision, Shutterbug, AnalogPlanet, Audiostream, and Innerfidelity has been sold to AVTech Media Ltd (UK). https://www.stereophile.com/content/avtech-media-ltd-uk-acquires-home-tech-network-ten-publishing-media There also appears to be some changes in some of the Stereophile staff.

Zen & the Art of A/D Conversion: "In a series of recent feature articles for Stereophile, Jim Austin has examined how the controversial MQA codec works: "MQA Tested, Part 1," "MQA Tested Part 2: Into the Fold," "MQA Contextualized," "MQA, DRM, and Other Four-Letter Words," and, most recently, "MQA: Aliasing, B-Splines, Centers of Gravity." I doubt there is a Stereophile reader who is unaware of the fracas associated with MQA, and I have been repeatedly criticized on web forums for describing its underlying concept as "elegant." But elegant it is, I feel. MQA Ltd.'s Bob Stuart has described the goal of MQA as being to reduce to "plumbing" everything between the original analog signal fed to the analog/digital (A/D) converter and the analog signal output by the digital/analog (D/A) converter, other than routing the signal from the original event to the end-user's system. In other words, the A/D conversion of the output of the microphone preamps (in a purist recording) or the mixing console (in a conventional recording), the transmission, storage, and subsequent D/A conversion will be transparent, except for an ultrasonic rolloff equivalent to a signal path of a few feet in air." https://www.stereophile.com/content/zen-art-ad-conversion#bf4kky2Hi5SiOKXP.99

Hi guys, Just letting you know (if you're not aware) that Neil Young's Pono Player has won Stereophile mag's POTY Digital Component award for this year (out of several categories). Check it out! > Stereophile's Products of 2015 Digital Component of the Year | Stereophile.com