Lenbrooke acquires MQA

[voodooless]

I wonder where? Sampling frequency in FLAC is limited to ~650 kHz by the spec:

source

That’s old news. The latest spec cites this:

So just above 1 MHz To be fair though, this spec is still in draft.

 

[danadam]

That’s old news. The latest spec cites this:
View attachment 314652
So just above 1 MHz To be fair though, this spec is still in draft.

I stand corrected. Yes, the value 0 in the frame header would allow this:

0000 : get from STREAMINFO metadata block

I think here's the discussion when it was added.

 

[AudioSceptic]

I always thought it was Josh Coalson who conceived it (circa 2000), before Xiph.org 'incorprated' it.

Even wikipedia provides this statement:

Developer(s):	Xiph.Org Foundation, Josh Coalson, Erik de Castro Lopo

------------------------

Yes, and where did I say otherwise?

 

[AudioSceptic]

May I ask why just once?
Hasn't Linn done much good for the industry/consumers while things were still analog?
As I recall, Linn was also one of the original and DRM-FREE digital music purveyors, during the industry's transition.

Linn gets a lot of flak (!) here because some (all?) of their stuff is overpriced, and for promoting subjectivism. I still like the stuff I've got, though.

 

[pseudoid]

Yes, and where did I say otherwise?

I was agreeing with you and provided a name for some bonus points.

 

[Sal1950]

The real mystery is why someone like Bob Stuart, respected for Meridian digital products, would play any part in this.

Easy, money.

A lot of companies seem to have only included it because customers wanted it, so to that extent the subjectivist public do carry some responsibility, especially when they kept asking as the details came out.

I can't blame the company's that added MQA capabilities to their products.
They're in business to make money and considering the brainwashing the MQA
proponents were spreading thru the industry, not doing so could have had a large
negative impact on their bottom line.
But I do give a tip of my hat to the hardware manufacturers that did say "hell NO".

Linn gets a lot of flak (!) here because some (all?) of their stuff is overpriced, and for promoting subjectivism. I still like the stuff I've got, though.

If I had any interest at all in buying a TT, it could very well be a Linn Sondek.
And for a number of reasons beyond pure performance.

And by the way, some MQA does sound absolutely fantastic

But does it sound like the master tape or the artists intentions?
I think the answer to that has been definitively answered NO, it's changed the sound.

My guess would be that enough people believed the hype for Tidal to feel that they needed to offer it, rather than have that custom go elsewhere.

I did find it VERY interesting that in the main all the other streamers resisted the push for MQA ???

 

[AudioSceptic]

I was agreeing with you and provided a name for some bonus points.

Sorry, I thought you misunderstood what I said as I also mentioned Josh Coalson.

 

[Galliardist]

I always thought it was Josh Coalson who conceived it (circa 2000), before Xiph.org 'incorprated' it.

Even wikipedia provides this statement:

Developer(s):	Xiph.Org Foundation, Josh Coalson, Erik de Castro Lopo

------------------------

May I ask why just once?
Hasn't Linn done much good for the industry/consumers while things were still analog?
As I recall, Linn was also one of the original and DRM-FREE digital music purveyors, during the industry's transition.

On FLAC and MQA - MQA was conceived as a big picture development - massively multichannel and presumably with developments like Atmos already in mind. FLAC was developed as an open source product - different ethos - and only had one eye on the future rather than both, as it were.

Linn started in a dubious way, embedded subjectivism in UK hifi culture, treated some of their long standing dealers terribly, and have produced a fair few frustratingly unfinished technologies down the years.

 

[unexperienced]

English is not my native language, I use Google auto-translator. It may incorrectly translate what I really mean. Lenbrook equipment, for example, is all made in China. I have never had any complaints about its quality. I meant that maybe there was a place to be equipment that is manufactured by little-known companies. Sorry, please.
But.
In fact, who among those present in this topic has the proprietary Lenbrook technique with BluOS in use? I'm afraid the answer is obvious, and most likely the statements will be in the style of "I'm not rich enough to throw money away."

 

[Mart68]

BluOS is for multi-room sound, I don't see the relevance?

Digital replay was finished, done, with 16/44.1 which is more than enough. Overkill in fact. Everything since (SACD, DVD-A, MQA) has been a con.

I recall the press launch for SACD, the mug journalists marvelling at the SQ - they just remastered it! Put that master on a CD - same sound!

As it happens my CD transport decodes MQA CD. Ofc I don't have any, why would I?

This has nothing to do with how much money anyone has.

 

[voodooless]

English is not my native language, I use Google auto-translator. It may incorrectly translate what I really mean.

No, I think what was said was pretty clear...

In fact, who among those present in this topic has the proprietary Lenbrook technique with BluOS in use? I'm afraid the answer is obvious, and most likely the statements will be in the style of "I'm not rich enough to throw money away."

No, the most likely statement is: why does any of that matter? BluOS isn't magic. It's just multiroom streaming software like many others

 

[AudioSceptic]

English is not my native language, I use Google auto-translator. It may incorrectly translate what I really mean. Lenbrook equipment, for example, is all made in China. I have never had any complaints about its quality. I meant that maybe there was a place to be equipment that is manufactured by little-known companies. Sorry, please.
But.
In fact, who among those present in this topic has the proprietary Lenbrook technique with BluOS in use? I'm afraid the answer is obvious, and most likely the statements will be in the style of "I'm not rich enough to throw money away."

Just curious, but where are you? You can put that in your Account > Profile if you like.

 

[Zensō]

I did find it VERY interesting that in the main all the other streamers resisted the push for MQA ???

Interesting indeed. I suspect Tidal needed a differentiator to justify their wildly overpriced $19.95 tier. MQA was there at the right time to fill that need and it appears to have benefitted both companies for a time. That’s all history now of course; it‘ll be interesting to see if Tidal survives against the big 3 tech streamers. It seems unlikely.

 

[kacos]

It seems unlikely.

They still have Roon and as long Qobuz availability remains limited to only a few countries, they should be ok

 

[Zensō]

They still have Roon and as long Qobuz availability remains limited to only a few countries, they should be ok

We shall see. It probably depends upon Dorsey's willingness to continue to pour money into a company that is bleeding profits. At least the class action case went their way, though the judge was pretty brutal in her assessment of the deal:

May 9 (Reuters) - A Delaware judge on Tuesday dismissed a shareholder class action seeking to hold Jack Dorsey and other board members at Block Inc (SQ.N) liable for approving the payments company's purchase of Jay-Z's streaming service Tidal.

Chancellor Kathaleen McCormick in Delaware Chancery Court said the Florida pension fund leading the case did not show that Block's directors acted in bad faith though the purchase it "seemed, by all accounts, a terrible business decision."

Once known as Square, Block agreed in March 2021 to pay $306 million for an 87.5% stake in Tidal. After adjustments, it paid $237.3 million for an 86.2% stake. Block's board was faulted for approving the purchase though Tidal was losing money, had lost major contracts, faced a Norwegian criminal probe into its streaming numbers, and had accepted a $50 million loan from Jay-Z to shore up its finances.

The pension fund also said Dorsey, a co-founder of Block and Twitter, was Block's only top executive who supported the purchase, and bought Tidal because he and Jay-Z were friends. Its complaint quoted a New York University business professor who called the purchase "a $300 million bar tab to hang out with Jay-Z." But in concluding that Block directors did not breach their fiduciary duties, McCormick said she could not "presume bad faith based on the merits of the deal alone."

 

[Sal1950]

That’s all history now of course; it‘ll be interesting to see if Tidal survives against the big 3 tech streamers. It seems unlikely.

Time will tell, I'd hate to put money on things either way.
For whatever reason (myth, BS, smart marketing?) both Tidal and Qobuz have gained a reputation in the believer community to have superior sound quality than the rest. I don't know if that can generate enough customers to keep them afloat or not.. Personally I'm thrilled with Apple even though I'm bias'd against the corp. Their multich-spatial catalog far exceeds all others in size and gets bigger every day.

 

[Mulder]

Time will tell, I'd hate to put money on things either way.
For whatever reason (myth, BS, smart marketing?) both Tidal and Qobuz have gained a reputation in the believer community to have superior sound quality than the rest. I don't know if that can generate enough customers to keep them afloat or not.. Personally I'm thrilled with Apple even though I'm bias'd against the corp. Their multich-spatial catalog far exceeds all others in size and gets bigger every day.

The problem with Apple is they tend to restrict everything to Apple hardware. It is not likely we will ever be able to stream Apple music with ROON.

 

[Reed]

I wonder if the acquisition has more to do with SCL6 than the “hi-fi” characteristics of MQA. This article makes me think maybe so.
What is SCL6? All the facts on the future of wireless audio
This would certainly affect their Bluesound hardware and it could play a part in NAD’s multi-channel offerings. Would this let you have a mixed environment of wired and wireless speakers and avoid timing issues for multi-channel/Atmos? Is this something that lets them avoid paying Sonos royalties?

 

[pseudoid]

For whatever reason (myth, BS, smart marketing?) both Tidal and Qobuz have gained a reputation in the believer community to have superior sound quality than the rest.

So?
We must be at an inflection [?] point NOT just about MQA but this whole new music delivery system, which has become defined as "streaming".
I ask, because before AppleMusic, Spotify, Tidal, Qobuz "network streamers", we "streamed" our music thru our local libraries and/or thru the airwaves and/or word-of-mouth.
"Myth, BS, smart marketing?" << but the whole industry not just MQA affiliates.
IMO: Music foraging used to be old-skool fun! For me, it still is!

 

[Timcognito]

The problem with Apple is they tend to restrict everything to Apple hardware. It is not likely we will ever be able to stream Apple music with ROON.

Yes, Apple and Sony have the budgets to support their attempts at an audio and music market DRM. MQA did not and lied about it being superior technology.