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Tidal’s New Lossless Tier Says Goodbye to MQA (but does it really?)

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Sal1950

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The atmos library is what would get me to upgrade.
Me too
It's slowly expanding but has been very thin. I was very interested until we listened around at a buddy's place with all the requisite gear. Almost every single Atmos version was very obviously bright compared to the stereo mixes, often painfully so.
I've got quite a few Atmos music files on my harddrive now and that has not been my listening experience??? That begs the question is the brightness in your buddy's Atmos speakers or software implementation, or something in the streaming software?
Switch to Qobuz,problem solved.
But its app so frequently freezes on Windows and behaves erratically on Android, far less stable than Tidal imho.
I had Qobuz here for the 90 day trial period when they first opened up the US market. I also found the Windoz 10 app buggy and prone to freezing. But that was what, 2 years or so back. I was hoping it would improve???
I'm currently on Amazon but they have yet to offer the 3D music to anyone that doesn't have a Echo station. What the hell do I want to listen to a Atmos file on a little Echo station for???.
Still keeping my fingers crossed for Spotify to offer Atmos files on their lossless tier at some point but will probably jump ship back to Spotify ASAP when the lossless tier opens. They still have IMO the best UI and catalog of any of the current group..
 

Sal1950

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And, for those of you that simply cannot resist sharing your unwanted opinions about MQA, please stop posting anti-MQA comments.

Especially, here in threads where owners of MQA capable equipment and subscribers to Tidal's MQA subscriptions are trying to share our enjoyment of those things.
Sorry, but a large number of us here put MQA in the same bag as high end power cords, ground boxes, and other Snake-Oil con's. We hope to educate the public at large on the BS ride they've been force fed..
I hate to see any thread dragged way off topic, but on the other hand I would no more support censoring anti-MQA comments any more than any other technological fact mis-information.
 

luft262

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Sorry, but a large number of us here put MQA in the same bag as high end power cords, ground boxes, and other Snake-Oil con's. We hope to educate the public at large on the BS ride they've been force fed..
I hate to see any thread dragged way off topic, but on the other hand I would no more support censoring anti-MQA comments any more than any other technological fact mis-information.

I would be OK with MQA if they were saying it's better than AAC or MP3 with the right equipment, but you can't get better than lossless and as far as I can tell it's lossy. I guess you could argue it's a verified, high quality master if you believe they're actually doing that. You might also argue you prefer a certain amount of distortion, but that's not what they're advertising...
 

mSpot

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Only available in a small number of countries. Doesn't help you if you aren't in one of those countries.
Not sure what you are questioning.
Last month Qobuz expanded to 18 countries (from 12).
Tidal: 61 countries
Deezer: 185 countries
Apple Music: 167 countries
Spotify: 170 countries

Is it feasible that the “Hifi” tier will simply be deliberately hobbled MQA (with the mqa flag removed)?
That's exactly what many in this thread believe.
 

goldenears

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listened around at a buddy's place with all the requisite gear. Almost every single Atmos version was very obviously bright compared to the stereo mixes, often painfully so

What gear was it? Set up properly?
 

mansr

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That leaves the other part of MQA, which is the codec itself - the "fold/unfold" and "render" and all the BS that goes with it. All of that stuff is based on the underlying conviction that ultrasonic frequencies are worth preserving in the first place - so much so that it's worth sacrificing some bit depth in order to preserve some of the ultrasonic content.
The design of MQA implies that ultrasonic content is important but that it doesn't matter a whit what it is.
 

OdysseusG

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Me too

I've got quite a few Atmos music files on my harddrive now and that has not been my listening experience??? That begs the question is the brightness in your buddy's Atmos speakers or software implementation, or something in the streaming software?


I had Qobuz here for the 90 day trial period when they first opened up the US market. I also found the Windoz 10 app buggy and prone to freezing. But that was what, 2 years or so back. I was hoping it would improve???
I'm currently on Amazon but they have yet to offer the 3D music to anyone that doesn't have a Echo station. What the hell do I want to listen to a Atmos file on a little Echo station for???.
Still keeping my fingers crossed for Spotify to offer Atmos files on their lossless tier at some point but will probably jump ship back to Spotify ASAP when the lossless tier opens. They still have IMO the best UI and catalog of any of the current group..
What gear was it? Set up properly?

We started sampling the slim selection of Atmos titles on Tidal which were rather bright, one after the other. Eventually we started going back and forth between Atmos and the traditional stereo mixes, all through Tidal. Immediate A/B, stereo sounded normal, Atmos bright. My assumption was that some wise guy behind the scenes at Tidal went "hmm, if human hearing is most sensitive to location cues in higher frequencies we can just pump that range up and it'll be extra surround sound-y".
IIRC he had a 9.1.6 system with all JTR speakers and a mix of Seaton Submersives and JTR subs running through a Marantz pre/pro then assorted MiniDSPs for Dirac and/or EQ. Source was an Apple TV, one of the very few devices which will do Atmos on Tidal.
 

Rottmannash

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Not sure what you are questioning.
Last month Qobuz expanded to 18 countries (from 12).
Tidal: 61 countries
Deezer: 185 countries
Apple Music: 167 countries
Spotify: 170 countries


That's exactly what many in this thread believe.
I suppose our definition of small differs.
 

Rottmannash

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I am trying my very best to Not get pulled into this MQA quagmire. Discuss whatever you want as long as it is MQA and Tidal related. But do it in a respectful manner please and thank you.

Please keep in mind that some do here enjoy Tidal and MQA. Think of it like how some here also like the Sound of Vinyl. There is room for both opinions.
 

pjug

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Instead of having moderators interfere too much, let's fund raise to buy some squishy toys to send out if feelings are hurt.
 

Sal1950

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Is there a list somewhere of what's available in Atmos or 5.1?
I believe doing a search there for "Atmos or 3D" will bring results.
 

Zensō

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Please keep in mind that some do here enjoy Tidal and MQA. Think of it like how some here also like the Sound of Vinyl. There is room for both opinions.
I don’t think the issue here has much to do with sound quality, or even technology. MQA as a business has been shown to be deceptive in their claims. This is what upsets people. If they had been honest and transparent from the start, this controversy most likely would not exist. If someone enjoys MQA, that’s great, but I’d expect these discussions to continue on until either MQA comes clean or disappears.

There also appears to be a double standard happening. This site calls out hardware snake oil such as the recently reviewed Dragonfly Cobalt, yet takes a neutral stance on software snake oil such as MQA. I’m curious as to why the hard line on hardware and what appears to be a different standard for software?

Thanks..
 

luft262

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I don’t think the issue here has much to do with sound quality, or even technology. MQA as a business has been shown to be deceptive in their claims. This is what upsets people. If they had been honest and transparent from the start, this controversy most likely would not exist. If someone enjoys MQA, that’s great, but I’d expect these discussions to continue on until either MQA comes clean or disappears.

There also appears to be a double standard happening. This site calls out hardware snake oil such as the recently reviewed Dragonfly Cobalt, yet takes a neutral stance on software snake oil such as MQA. I’m curious as to why the hard line on hardware and what appears to be a different standard for software?

Thanks..

I agree with you, but I don't think it's really the site that is sticking up for MQA. This is just a forum, and so far I've only seen like one guy who likes MQA. Golden Ears pointed out in his video critique of MQA that they don't allow a digital out on a DAC with MQA, so there is no really good way to test it (I think). I agree with what I've read, or think I remember reading, from Amir that MQA has the potential to do good things and that new formats, even if they cost something, have the potential to move the industry and what is available to consumers forward. But I agree with you that the seemingly dishonest claims from the company are disturbing. I'm especially unhappy about the fact that the format appears to be lossy and requires special hardware. I like the idea that they "verify" the quality of the master track, but it's hard to know for sure if they're actually doing that or if they're just rubber stamping what's already out there.
 
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