A question about MQA

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The haters keep hating and we continue to have access to more MQA content each week. Over 25000 currently available.

I don't give a crap what MQA is doing but the end result is what counts and I have yet to come across a album where the MQA version sounds worse than the CD version. Where I have purchased both hi-rez versions and have access to the MQA version any differences aren't even worth worrying about which release might be better. I still haven't paid one penny extra for MQA content or hardware and I have saved myself from having to pay for hi-rez content. There is no downside to MQA.
 
still-one said:
The haters keep hating and we continue to have access to more MQA content each week. Over 25000 currently available.

I don't give a crap what MQA is doing but the end result is what counts and I have yet to come across a album where the MQA version sounds worse than the CD version. Where I have purchased both hi-rez versions and have access to the MQA version any differences aren't even worth worrying about which release might be better. I still haven't paid one penny extra for MQA content or hardware and I have saved myself from having to pay for hi-rez content. There is no downside to MQA.
Click to expand...

Very interesting
Is it possible to give an example? What is this album that CD version is better than MQA version? Maybe I can test it also using Tidal 2 versions of MQA and CD
 
still-one said:
The haters keep hating and we continue to have access to more MQA content each week. Over 25000 currently available.

I don't give a crap what MQA is doing but the end result is what counts and I have yet to come across a album where the MQA version sounds worse than the CD version. Where I have purchased both hi-rez versions and have access to the MQA version any differences aren't even worth worrying about which release might be better. I still haven't paid one penny extra for MQA content or hardware and I have saved myself from having to pay for hi-rez content. There is no downside to MQA.
Click to expand...

You are strongly opinionated and you love MQA. Congrats on your happiness with MQA. I have access to all of the MQA files on Tidal and I don't share your opinion, but that's OK too.
 
skbe said:
Very interesting
Is it possible to give an example? What is this album that CD version is better than MQA version? Maybe I can test it also using Tidal 2 versions of MQA and CD
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This must be an English translation thing. He said the exact opposite of the question you are asking. NOTHING beats MQA according to Still-One.
 
mep said:
This must be an English translation thing. He said the exact opposite of the question you are asking. NOTHING beats MQA according to Still-One.
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Thanks!
No I am not using a translator! lol maybe I have to improve my English
Indeed I understood this when I read your answer
But in fact I make no difference in my experience - even HiRes and CD sound the same to me
 
skbe said:
Naaah i don’t have the time for that much reading. But I tend to believe Roon when they say MQA is lossless
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If you prefer to believe an argument from "authority", rather than informing yourself technically, that's your choice.
 
skbe said:
Thanks!
No I am not using a translator! lol maybe I have to improve my English
Indeed I understood this when I read your answer
But in fact I make no difference in my experience - even HiRes and CD sound the same to me
Click to expand...

I'm not surprised. It's on an open question how many Hi-Rez files are really 16/44.1 files that have been upsampled.
 
mep said:
This must be an English translation thing. He said the exact opposite of the question you are asking. NOTHING beats MQA according to Still-One.
Click to expand...

That is not what I said. (EDITED sentence follows) I stated that I have yet to find a MQA version of an album that is inferior to the CD version. (Over time some have stated that is because they are remastering the MQA . There is no way that the entire volume of MQA versions have been remastered for better sound but if some have then good, its free). When MQA was first readily available I did compare several albums where I had both hi-rez and access to MQA versions. There was no consistent result . Either could be better or no differences noticeable. I no longer pay much attention to which version Roon is offering up.
 
mep said:
I'm not surprised. It's on an open question how many Hi-Rez files are really 16/44.1 files that have been upsampled.
Click to expand...
Interesting I did not think about this. I guess this can be true for many old tracks
But for the latest ones, this would be outrageous for the end customers (who manage to make the difference)
 
still-one said:
That is not what I said. I stated that I have yet to find a CD version of an album that is inferior to the MQA version. (Over time some have stated that is because they are remastering the MQA . There is no way that the entire volume of MQA versions have been remastered for better sound but if some have then good, its free). When MQA was first readily available I did compare several albums where I had both hi-rez and access to MQA versions. There was no consistent result . Either could be better or no differences noticeable. I no longer pay much attention to which version Roon is offering up.
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Huh?? Your original statement: I have yet to come across a album where the MQA version sounds worse than the CD version.
Your new statement: I stated that I have yet to find a CD version of an album that is inferior to the MQA version.

You can't have it both ways. I think your original statement is what you intended to say unless you really mean that you have yet to find a CD version of an album that is inferior to the MQA version.
 
skbe said:
Interesting I did not think about this. I guess this can be true for many old tracks
But for the latest ones, this would be outrageous for the end customers (who manage to make the difference)
Click to expand...

If you are buying relatively new music that was originally recorded in a hi-rez format, that's great. Any music that was converted to digital from analog tape is a question.
 
mep said:
Huh?? Your original statement: I have yet to come across a album where the MQA version sounds worse than the CD version.
Your new statement: I stated that I have yet to find a CD version of an album that is inferior to the MQA version.

You can't have it both ways. I think your original statement is what you intended to say unless you really mean that you have yet to find a CD version of an album that is inferior to the MQA version.
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You are correct. I made a mistake in my second post where I flipped the two. The initial post was correct.

Where I said you misquoted me is that I have never stated that MQA was always better than any other version.
 
skbe said:
Ok. So you advice to stick to analog sources for the best audio hearing ?
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Skbe, I’m not in the analog vs. digital discussion camp. I do enjoy both in my system, either at a rather high level. Therefore, I would not discriminate between digital and analog.

My advice would be, enjoy the music. Use the formats you like, explore and try out different things. To me personally, that is a lots of fun.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
Guys did you do a blindtest with asking a friend to select the same songs with different formats in a playlist?

Would be interesting to have some feedback

I did it 2 times years ago and recently:
- I did not recognize Spotify over Qobuz and Tidal every time but was correct for say 70% of the times
- Never recognized CD vs MQA vs HR. The times I did were due to guesses not choices
 
Kuoppis said:
Skbe, I’m not in the analog vs. digital discussion camp. I do enjoy both in my system, either at a rather high level. Therefore, I would not discriminate between digital and analog.

My advice would be, enjoy the music. Use the formats you like, explore and try out different things. To me personally, that is a lots of fun.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

Yes of course and that exactly what I am doing ! :)

And the discussion is indeed very interesting
 
skbe said:
Guys did you do a blindtest with asking a friend to select the same songs with different formats in a playlist?

Would be interesting to have some feedback

I did it 2 times years ago and recently:
- I did not recognize Spotify over Qobuz and Tidal every time but was correct for say 70% of the times
- Never recognized CD vs MQA vs HR. The times I did were due to guesses not choices
Click to expand...

As long as I have functioning eyeballs, I won't be doing any blind testing.
 
mep said:
As long as I have functioning eyeballs, I won't be doing any blind testing.
Click to expand...

Why?
Isn't it a good way to test if within your system and your own hearing capabilities you can recognize which sounds better to you?
Because at the end of the day what is the point of MQA, HIRES, original analog sound, CD if one cannot hear the difference?
 
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