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Dolby AC 4 how will this compare to MQA?

amirm

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It is not a competitor to MQA. MQA is backwards compatible with CD. AC-4 is not at all. It is a lossy, scalable codec. Kind of late to be coming up with a new lossy codec. So in that sense it shares something with MQA.
 

Darwin

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All three major studios have signed on to MQA and it is streamable.
I like it but my feeling is it won’t catch on unless some other that Tidal implements it and you can get decoding on a smartphone app not needing a physical decoder or desktop app decoder.
 

Cosmik

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MQA is backwards compatible with CD...
Will that always be the case - both ways without caveats?

Is it possible in the future that MQA or Dolby equipped devices will refuse to play anything that isn't 'kosher'? It's the old proposed watermarking schemes now made viable, with unhackable hardware decoders fitted universally to all new audio devices (as demanded by consumers), and universal internet connectedness allowing future dynamic rights management of content. You can have offline storage that stays alive so long as you connect to the internet now and again.

Do we even know that the current MQA-encoded physical discs aren't individually watermarked to enable future blocking of widely pirated copies?
 

amirm

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Will that always be the case - both ways without caveats?
It will be a different animal if this is taken away. It takes the company the size of Dolby to sell something that cannot be played at all without any decoders. I suspect even they will struggle selling AC-4.

Do we even know that the current MQA-encoded physical discs aren't individually watermarked to enable future blocking of widely pirated copies?
Since you don't need to use their software to play them in backward compatible mode, there is no concern here. They cannot block what is standard PCM.

The only risk there should there be watermarking is to have government mandate that all playback software must deploy detection of such mark. Last time this remotely came to pass had the kids of congressmen telling them they better not vote that way and that was that. :)
 
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