Is MQA just on tidal……it seems not.

[Greenman]

I thought only Tidal has MQA.

I only have Qobuz, so imagine my surprise when I saw the MQA indicator on my DAC lit.

I was playing this album

Dominique Fils-Aime. Stay Tuned

Open Qobuz

open.qobuz.com

This album is marked as ’Hi Res: 24bit. 44.1 khz’. When I play it My WiiM shows it as playing at 16bit 44.1khz, yet on my DAC (connected by optical) the display shows ‘MQA 88.2khz’

so whats going on?

Does Qobuz just have some MQA encoded albums so it’s not unusual?
Is this a random aberration, someone has loaded the wrongly mastered file?
Is my DAC playing silly buggers and it’s not really an MQA file at all?

Anyone encountered similar?
Anyone want to check the above on Qobuz and check my findings?

 

[Chrispy]

Only streaming service I can think of that used mqa encoding. I think I have seen some mqa involved cds mentioned but don't know if those needed a particular dac chip for any additional information (or if the technology can merely leave a signature your dac detects?). I never wanted mqa so have no gear to test with.

 

[Greenman]

I didn’t do anything special to try to get MQA either, just happens my DAC does support it (as most released in past
few years do). A general google search suggests Tidal and purchased downloadable files and some CDs can encode it, but I can’t see any evidence that Qobuz should support it!

 

[staticV3]

There's some good info on this online:

https://www.reddit.com/r/qobuz/comments/trnsjr/hires_mqa_found_on_qobuz/

https://community.roonlabs.com/t/qobuz-delivering-mqa-material/67798

Qobuz does not support MQA but if a label only supplies MQA then they have no choice but to stream MQA.

MQA material on Qobuz also authenticates and decodes fully on a Lumin.

 

[mhardy6647]

It's sort of like viruses. Some folks have 'em but are asymptomatic.

 

[Greenman]

Interesting, you learn something new everyday! Thanks for that, I had a quick scan of those Reddit threads and it seems it’s been going on a while. Not really an issue for me either way (other than it seems either my WiiM or DAC can’t manage to seamlessly change tracks whist in MQA without a small click sound …which is a bit annoying). The above album sounds great, but then so does her mini album ‘Nameless’ with no MQA so…??

 

[staticV3]

The above album sounds great, but then so does her mini album ‘Nameless’ with no MQA so…??

MQA is a corporate scheme to collect royalty fees from customers and manufacturers alike.

It worked, because Meridian (the company behind MQA) managed to convince the public of its apparent value through marketing bullshit both cunning and brazen.

In reality, it offers no advantage over royalty-free alternatives like Opus or FLAC.

After folks like Archimago and Goldensound investigated MQA and exposed their lies, a large number of artists, customers, and manufacturers cut their ties with the brand and Meridian filed for bankruptcy.

 

[AdamG]

I thought only Tidal has MQA.

I only have Qobuz, so imagine my surprise when I saw the MQA indicator on my DAC lit.

I was playing this album

Dominique Fils-Aime. Stay Tuned

Open Qobuz

open.qobuz.com

This album is marked as ’Hi Res: 24bit. 44.1 khz’. When I play it My WiiM shows it as playing at 16bit 44.1khz, yet on my DAC (connected by optical) the display shows ‘MQA 88.2khz’

so whats going on?

Does Qobuz just have some MQA encoded albums so it’s not unusual?
Is this a random aberration, someone has loaded the wrongly mastered file?
Is my DAC playing silly buggers and it’s not really an MQA file at all?

Anyone encountered similar?
Anyone want to check the above on Qobuz and check my findings?

MXX is the word we don’t speak or Type here. Our Members have a severe allergic reaction to just the suggestion of this term and very soon all heck breaks out and we end up with a large group pile on. To answer your question. Yes only Tidal has (had) it and they are in the process of phasing it out with their new FLAC format.

I am closing this thread before the floor drops out.

If you want to read more: https://www.whathifi.com/news/tidal...lac-rollout-timeline-and-its-great-news-folks