MQA: A Review of controversies, concerns, and cautions

[Frank Dernie]

I’m having a hunch, that some of you stalwarts and professors are teaching me wrong

IME there is a lot of misinformation and misunderstanding spread on the internet.
There is sound (pun intended) technical expertise here which is rare on hifi forums.
The people who are trying to help you here have decades of real experience and knowledge.
Really.

 

[Thomas savage]

It can be explained to you, but it can't be understood for you . That's up to you.

So Mansplaining isn't just ineffective with women .

Always learning at ASR .

 

[Wombat]

You guys are funny... Enjoy your CDs!!

Enjoy your modified for streaming material.

 

[Wombat]

Haha ok I get it, no more debating on this. Adios Amigos.

It is not about debating. It is about you verifying your claims.

Debating is a pseudo-intellectual contest/game carried out in archaic bastions of thought.

 

[BDWoody]

It is not about debating. It is about verifying your claims.

Debating is a psuedo-intellectual contest/game carried out in archaic bastions of thought.

There are definitely some masturdebaters around..

 

[Wombat]

Circulartrons?

 

[sergeauckland]

you do realise that people often pose this very same question whenever there is something new in the market or when there is a generational shift in technology.
I am sure people were repeatedly distraught over the decades when we moved from mono channel to stereo and then to multichannel audio. But yeah, tech keeps progressing man.

Since the first Berliner/Edison reproducers, there has been steady progress.

Cylinders, then flat records
Acoustic then electrical recording then tape
Shellac then vinyl
78 then LP
Mono then stereo (with an aside to Quadraphonic)
AM then FM
LPs to CDs

In every case there has been a clear and unequivocal improvement obvious even to a layman, not just engineers.

We reached a state with CD (16/44.1) that was audibly transparent on every test done, and at about the same time, amplifiers because transparent, so as far as sources and electronics went, that was the end of the road, full transparency. Any improvements have come from reliability, power efficiency with Class D, power output and £$€ per watt. Not anything audible, but of some value certainly.

Since then, there has been some improvement on the remaining issue, that of loudspeakers, although in some respects it's gone backwards as manufacturers try and 'stand out', but notwithstanding that, the best loudspeakers of today are measurably better than the best of the past. Not yet perfect, but better.

However, manufacturers of electronics can't just say, 'Here is yet another transparent amplifier, just like all the others' so there has been a whole industry devoted to creating a mystique about improvements, higher sample rates, more bits, lower and lower SINAD etc etc. That's without considering the real snake-oil of cables, supports etc etc.

It's hard to accept that our hobby has reached the end of possible improvements in electronics, which is why so many have gone back to valves, vinyl, tape as something to play with rather than just to use as a tool to listen to music with. I too like restoring vintage electronics, not because it sounds better, it doesn't, but both as something to do, and to keep good stuff out of landfill.

I think you confuse the desire for and interest in technical improvements with the need for them. There is no need, but I accept the desire.

S.

 

[BDWoody]

Since then, there has been some improvement on the remaining issue, that of loudspeakers,

I would also add the increasing focus on the other part of the system too often ignored: the room.

The speaker/room system is where those night and day differences can be had. Assuming fundamental competence in the rest of the chain, the SQ improvements aren't in the electronics or higher than Redbook sample rates.

 

[watchnerd]

LOL. What site is this from?!

Vice

https://www.vice.com/en_au/article/qvmkjx/whats-inside-a-scientology-e-meter

 

[watchnerd]

Cruising with Cruise.
In no way could that Netflix exclusive go wrong. No way at all.

Cruising for loooove...

 

[krabapple]

you do realise that people often pose this very same question whenever there is something new in the market or when there is a generational shift in technology.
I am sure people were repeatedly distraught over the decades when we moved from mono channel to stereo and then to multichannel audio. But yeah, tech keeps progressing man.

And so you offer another lame analogy.

No one questioned that mono and stereo and multichannel sound significantly different.

I see elsewhere you are also moving the goalposts for what needs to be 'proved' to you about the audibility of high rez audio. This is a classic audio crank debating tactic. Anyone who spent time at rec.audio.opinion, rec.audio.high-end, hydrogenaudio.org, and Computer Audiophile (now Audiophile Style), not to mention the subjectivist bastions The Absolute Sound and Stereophile, will find it tediously familiar.

I propose that it has no place here.

 

[Sal1950]

I see elsewhere you are also moving the goalposts for what needs to be 'proved' to you about the audibility of high rez audio. This is a classic audio crank debating tactic. Anyone who spent time at rec.audio.opinion, rec.audio.high-end, hydrogenaudio.org, and Computer Audiophile (now Audiophile Style), not to mention the subjectivist bastions The Absolute Sound and Stereophile, will find it tediously familiar.

I propose that it has no place here.

AMEN

 

[MattHooper]

Dipping in to any thread on MQA, on any forum, in any comment section on the internet, has only left me completely thankful that I don't give a damn about this MQA stuff.

 

[watchnerd]

Dipping in to any thread on MQA, on any forum, in any comment section on the internet, has only left me completely thankful that I don't give a damn about this MQA stuff.

I find there is a huge difference in what the conversation is about now vs prior to release.

Before release, it was a lot DRM related debates, questions about how lossy it really is, etc.

Now the debate seems to resemble the DSD debates -- believers who thinks it sounds better.

 

[watchnerd]

I would also add the increasing focus on the other part of the system too often ignored: the room.

The speaker/room system is where those night and day differences can be had. Assuming fundamental competence in the rest of the chain, the SQ improvements aren't in the electronics or higher than Redbook sample rates.

I don't think MQA can even work with DRC like Dirac without being converted to regular PCM, can it?

And won't that break the "MQA authenticated" chain?

 

[Thomas savage]

I don't think MQA can even work with DRC like Dirac without being converted to regular PCM, can it?

And won't that break the "MQA authenticated" chain?

It will comprise the blue light , if they want it to sound good after all that room correction/PCM dirty stuff we need a green light to come on saying nothing was damaged .

Until this happens I'm against MQA .

 

[Jimbob54]

It will comprise the blue light , if they want it to sound good after all that room correction/PCM dirty stuff we need a green light to come on saying nothing was damaged .

Until this happens I'm against MQA .

I think my m500 gets the magenta light if I do eq in roon then send on. But I've left tidal so no more mqa to check.

 

[watchnerd]

I think my m500 gets the magenta light if I do eq in roon then send on. But I've left tidal so no more mqa to check.

Oh but doesn't magenta mean Roon can't tell if its bit perfect?

 

[Jimbob54]

Oh but doesn't magenta mean Roon can't tell if its bit perfect?

Oh lordy, can't remember. I think roon said something like "eq performed but mqa signalling left in tact" in the signal chain. If I disabled eq, the M500 light would be green or blue

 

[Thomas savage]

Oh lordy, can't remember. I think roon said something like "eq performed but mqa signalling left in tact" in the signal chain. If I disabled eq, the M500 light would be green or blue

Christ, and this did not make you feel ill ? How could you listen with this light making the sound bad and just be ok with it ?

Anyone who goes regularly to live music gigs and spends big on the best seats in the Hall knows blue and green lights sound the best .

You must hate music and yourself.

This sites full of music haters , I'm out of here.